Hello. First of all, I must admit that even though I surfed the knowledge base for answers to the questions I will present, I didn’t try really hard. I just couldn’t figure out how to propperly express it.
Second. As a poor student with no money for an expensive 3d Modeller(therefor forced to commit piracy crimes :)), I’m fascinated with the existence of Blender and have been exploring its capabilities for about a week(so you’ll excuse me, but I’m still a n00b). So far, I think the blender interface is really amazing, specially when I compare it to Microstation’s interface(Bentley’s Microstation being the 3d software of choice at my University(Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, of Chile)… unless you count AutoCad as real 3d, which I do not).
Well, getting back on topic, I really like the blender interface, and so far I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of the models you can accomplish. Still, as an architecture student, I have noticed the lack(so far in my learning experience) of a way of tracking units with some degree of exactitude, or meassuring. Also, I’ve noticed that elements are incorporated to the blender model as finished objects(which of course can be manipulated) rather than being constructed from scratch.
What I mean is that the way I’m used to desing is constructing a network of lines and from there advancing to surfaces(specially in modellers that can dinamically track changes in the lines and transmiting them to the corresponding surfaces). But in blender it seems that even lines(curves, actually) come already built and can only be transformed from there(which I guess works fine it you’re just “sculpting” your design but it just makes no sense for the methods I use)
So in short(yeah, I know this is a bit long). Does blender not support a more CAD-like design or am I just completely lost?
I believe that the visual way of constructing models works quite fine for animation/VideoGame oriented design, or even for Industrial Design or Achitectural VISUALIZATION, but when it comes to real life product or building designing it isn’t very satisfying.
that would be all, I’m sorry, I intended to do this in at least half the words.
PS: does anyone here uses blender for real life design/architecture authoinng? could you share your experiences?
thnks. bye.
Like you already mentioned, Blender is not a CAD program. It is not made for precise CAD drawing. If you need that, use your favourite CAD program to make you 2D or 3D drawings and import them into Blender for visualization.
Also, I’ve noticed that elements are incorporated to the blender model as finished objects(which of course can be manipulated) rather than being constructed from scratch.
What I mean is that the way I’m used to desing is constructing a network of lines and from there advancing to surfaces(specially in modellers that can dinamically track changes in the lines and transmiting them to the corresponding surfaces). But in blender it seems that even lines(curves, actually) come already built and can only be transformed from there(which I guess works fine it you’re just “sculpting” your design but it just makes no sense for the methods I use)
You can do that in Blender. Create a plane, select all vertices, press X and delete the vertices. Now press Ctrl-LeftMouseButton to create new vertices and edges. To close a shape select both ending vetices and press F to create an edge. Use Shift-S to snap in various ways.
Curves can also be extended by selecting an end vertex an press Ctrl-LMB. Close a curve by pressing C.
Another thing you can do is use Amapi 5.15, which is free and has beter tools for presision like units, measurement and has also more CAD-like tools. The Amapi models can be exported to Blender for vizualization. Here’s a link: http://www.amapi.net/amapi.php?va1=ZG93bmxvYWRz
Blender is not a cad program but an artists tool and the only way of locating verticies with precision is with use of the “n” key with a vertex selected. Coordinates shown are always world coordinates, relative coordinates don’t exist. Fuctions such as drawing lines tangent to a curve, trimming lines etc. as well as all but the most rudimentary snapping are also missing.
Any real world visualization I have done I have always imported a dxf file and then used blender for texturing, rendering and lighting. To be fair to Blender I would have to say that other 3d software such as Maya, 3DS etc. are almost as bad as Blender in this area.
I haven’t used Maya(well, once and for like 5’), but I can assure you that at least StudioTools(our architecture dept. held a license for it a while back) has a very nice and convenient set of line tools, and surfaces from lines. As far as I understand, Maya’s capabilites descend from StudioTools so…
And I think 3ds must be precise as well, cause most architects round here use it.
well, thanks.
PS: could plugins eventually be written to “solve” this “problem”?
The interface of Amapi should be English (if it is French you can set it under preferences->interface). Here’s a link to the English documentation: http://www.amapi.net/docs/Manuel_Amapi_515-US.zip
Amapi is not opensource. It is free for non-commercial use I believe.
Yes, there was an attempt to bring more CAD tools into blender but this project is not very active. (BTW, www.Blender3d.it is the new development site of BlenderCAD)