Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 21:09:35 -0700 From: Seclusion Subject: Re: [IML] IFW: lmeasurement suggestions?, long ok peoples.... what's the easiest way to make an object when you know the dimensions of all the components, but not in an x,y plotting format? (like, a desk as seen from above). I made this desktop with graph paper and a protractor and I'm trying to toss it into Imagine. I don't have a scanner, or else I could just put it in the background and create the points and lines over it (and yes, I could just go to Kinko's, but if there's an easier way than what I'm doing, I want to know it anyway). My current method is to convert 1 (real life) inch = 10 Imagine units (and 1 inch = 1 foot on my graph paper) and use the transformation requester on a point by point basis...which I'm not really fond of, cuz I keep dealing with 1/8th and 1/16th of an inch conversions which becomes like, 3.0625feet x 12 = 36.75 inches which becomes 367.5 IU which gives me the distance from the original starting point of measurement to place the point in question. If some of you didn't follow that, you got my point (or I did a bad job at explaining =) anywho, I'm thinking of just using the metric system for 1 thing. for 2, this is for me, so I could just shave little bits off here and there to only deal with round numbers, but I'm really curious to know how people deal with this effectively... General question: I ran into problems with using the transoformation requestor to change the size of some of my object because it seemed to give me the size of the axis, not the object size...say it ain't so! (unless it is so) Quick comment: I've been using Imagine for a while and I like to just play around and see what I get, but I've been trying to get a little more precise with it, hence my questions and observations...I pretty much just eyeballed everything up until now. FEATURE REQUESTS: the ability to create an edge/line by selecting the endpoint of an exsisting line and an angle of direction for the new line to flow along, for the user defined distance. perhaps even a protractor background that shows the angle in the status line at the bottom, allowing you and easier way to visualize what angle will work best (heck, I guess I could just get a pic of a protractor (somewhere?) and load that into the backdrop, but it's not quite the same thing). multi-colored gridline: a larger gridline, say, a line every 100 IU, when you zoom, you can still see the larger grid, but another more detailed one appears (like 1 every 10 IU), and in more to 1 per 1 IU. (the three grids being in different colors, or whatever the user sets them to be). On a sidenote, how about partial transparency...I know you can turn the grid off, but the only reason I do is because it clutters/clashes with what I'm working on, if it were only 20% visible or something, I think it might help...or maybe letting the grid color bet set by RGB valuse instead of the wacky pallette method ;P the guy who wants a tutor. Bill? =) heh. ---------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 16:24:05 +0500 From: Rhithyn Yr Arth Organization: Rhithyn Creations When I was modelling homes for a multimedia company here in Calgary, I was given blueprints to input into the computer and end up with the final house modelled for perspective view renders. The technique I used was very simple, and I still have the conversion chart I was using at the time for fractional to decimal value conversions. I would measure the object with a ruler to a 1/16 of an inch from origin lines I would sketch onto the blueprints, convert it to decimal and place the bounding points at that position. As for scale in Imagine, I would set grid size to 6.25, multiply the inch values by 100 and use that value for the points positions. e.g.: IF - grid size is set to 6.25, - measured size is 5 7/8 from origin by ruler, THEN - set gridlock on, (_important_ for relative precision) - converted to decimal is 5.875, X100 = 587.5. RESULT - place your point at 587.5. With gridlock on, it is easier than trying to place it close and being a little off. It takes a little getting used to the grey matter of all those gridlines, but you can be sure to get it at the location you desire. The added feature of this is if you know your (x,y,z) location of the bounding points of a sloped line, you can easily duplicate the slope desired. One note on doing this technique: be *sure* your origin line is in the same location on all three objects and the separate views are to the same scale. You should also be safe and place an axis at Imagine's origin and scale it out so you can reference your drawn origin with Imagine's origin more easily. Hope this helps. ---------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 22:15:07 -0400 From: Gerry Sylvia I have a pretty simple system that I use. I've used it to build a deck and I'm currently using the same system to model the renovations to my house. I have built exact replicas of my furniture and 'stuff' and the entire floor plan of the house all to scale, so I can move things arround and see if I have clearance to open doors and all that. Then I render "walk throughs" to see how it will feel to walk through the house. When I built the deck, over all I was off by one inch, due to the fact that the ground in the back yard was not as flat as the one on the computer! not to mention that the guys at the lumber yard freaked when the saw my "blue prints" were fully rendered 3d, and full color.... I said " hi I'm buliding this..." so here is what I do.... for larger object, set the grid to 60, and one grid space = 1 foot, I chose 60 because it just fit right on the screen and the math works out, see bellow. so then when the grid is set to 30 one grid space = 6 inches etc.... here is how it breaks down: grid size/world size 60 = 12" 55 = 11" 50 = 10" 45 = 9" 40 = 8" 35 = 7" 30 = 6" 25 = 5" 20 = 4" 15 = 3" 10 = 2" 5 = 1" 2.5 = 1/2" 1.25 = 1/4" .626 = 1/8" this is about as much resolution as I ever need so for your desk top, let say it is 4 feet wide 36" deep, set the grid to 60, place an axis SNAP IT TO GRID! very important, draw a line 4 units wide set grid snap, so that both points snap to the grid, change the grid size to 30, go three units down, for your 36", then close the box. Then you can fill in the faces using the edge fill thingy, you can extrude it using the same scalling, i.e if it is 2" thick, set the grid size to 10, and extrude it by 1 unit, or set it to 5 and extrude by 2 units! The reason you want to make sure you snap the axis to the grid before you start to build the box, is so when you build the rest of the desk you can snap all the object right into place, and they all have a common scale base... Here is an other little tip, if you have ever used Photoshop, you can set grid lines (guide lines?) to help you place objects within specific areas, what I do is just draw a line (edge) and use it as a 'place holder' this works well if you are having to zoom out to create a large object and need to set your origin or destination point, just delete them when your done, great to set specific angles as well.... I hope this makes sense..... if you want I can post some pics on my web site or create a tutorial........ ......oops.. I haven't said anything for the last year and now you can't shut me up....... see ya! Gerry Sylvia come visit the Bears http://www.magic.ca/~grsylvia 3d comic strip! more to come soon! p.s. a few months ago at a very bad time in my life, a very wise man said to me: "don't stay in front of the computer all day, go outside" so I took the deck out of Imagine and made it real....Thanks Mike, I had a cold Canadian Beer out there for you when I was done..... ---------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 22:23:52 +0200 From: Thomas Zander First this, you can scale objects very easy and precisely so makeing something 10 times as big is not a big issue.. (or 12 times for that matter) Normally I just take the mesurements in centimeters and draw them beside the drawing of the object. Then I make planes etc. to match the size and set the sizes accordingly. Depending on the sort of desk you are creating it might be easy to create some stuff in the forms editor. An example might be a curved front and back of the tabletop which are easy to model in the forms editor. Just build things one by one allways reflecting the mesurements in your drawing effectively on the object at hand, you might find creating a lock for the drawers easyer to create at a larger scale (smaller grid) and downsizing it afterwards.. > I ran into problems with using the transoformation requestor to change > the size of some of my object because it seemed to give me the size of > the axis, not the object size...say it ain't so! (unless it is so) > It's so, just resize your axis (shift s) to match the size of your model.. > FEATURE REQUESTS: > > the ability to create an edge/line by selecting the endpoint of an > exsisting line and an angle of direction for the new line to flow along, > for the user defined distance. perhaps even a protractor background > that shows the angle in the status line at the bottom, allowing you and > easier way to visualize what angle will work best (heck, I guess I could > just get a pic of a protractor (somewhere?) and load that into the > backdrop, but it's not quite the same thing). > Use the grid intelligently. 1 left 1 up = 45 deg. 2 left 1 up is 26 deg. why?? (up/left)=tan(direction) (in degrees naturely) So with this, who will make that arexx script... Hope this helps..