Carving like modeling
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Hi all,
first I must say thank you to the folks responsible for this site, it's simply amazing.
I've trying to figure out a mean to do this kind of work.(as an example)
I have 2 objectives in mind, first I'd like to create a virtual showroom on my site with design that I like (woodworking) and eventually create the model using a CNC router.
It's probably me that is looking at the problem the wrong way and it take for ever to no avail yet, so I'd like your ideas on the strategies and tools (plugins) that I could use. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Felix -
Hi Felix and welcome!
I think what you should start with is this tutorial.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9781 -
@gaieus said:
Hi Felix and welcome!
I think what you should start with is this tutorial.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9781Thanks Gaieus,
you where right, I learned a few things even in a brief look and as expected I was possibly (and still) looking at the problem the wrong way. I could add that what I want to do is basically the inverse of what he's doing or kind of. To make it short, I need (also) the geometry of the holes (in is model) because that's what needs to be carved out with the CNC though I admit it would be relatively simple to get the required geometry in this particular case.
But still, I'm stuck with the idea of simulating the effect of using say a V carving bit on a "tool" path. For this I thought of using some kind of lofting tool using one or more rails (to no avail at this time, wrong tools or more likely wrong user (me)) in combination with a "Boolean" subtraction to remove the unwanted material from the stock, just as V tools and its friends would do. This could be the reason I can't get it done, I don't know???
I thought it would be easy to create the geometry to use for the "Boolean" part and it is relatively simple to do using the follow me tool or similar for rudimentary simple shapes.
If you look at the spirals at the bottom of the image I supplied, you can see (starting near the smaller details near the center of say the left spiral) that a V shape tool and or the geometry used to simulate it's passage isn't so simple to (re)create. The path start on the surface of the "stock" board and goes down to a certain depth (it's relatively easy to create this Z level path) following the general path of the spiral but you can see as well that the angle of the sides vary along that path (which I find very attractive, looks hand made). This is why I thought of using some kind of lofting tool but the ones I've tried so far are not very helpful (most likely the problem is me) or maybe a "skinning" tool to put faces (skin) on a series of varying cross sections profiles along a path or something like that but I must say I haven't tried this yet.
I have a few programs that could probably do what I want no sweat but I kind of like using
Sketchup, the more I use it the more I like it. I'm getting old (late fifties) and my memory is not what it use to be, for this reason alone, I'd like to stick with as few programs as possible.One last thing, I wouldn't mind spending a few bucks if absolutely needed.
Thanks again,
Felix -
I think SketchUp is not suitable for this kind of work - look here for some sweet programs
http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/vcp/vcp_index.htm -
@dedmin said:
I think SketchUp is not suitable for this kind of work - look here for some sweet programs
http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/vcp/vcp_index.htmDedmin,
I know about Vectric, V-Carve, Aspire among a few others and there are quite a few others out there. Considering that V-Carve is among the least expensive. there are others that are the price of a used car and even some where one would have to mortgage the house. At the price range of $3000 and under, none of them can machine something like this http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=28586&start=360#p279557 here even if one could manage to recreate the model with them, except for one that is absolutely free but I would need to learn to use GMAX (free) or 3DMAX (again ~$3000) and the plugin that's required to create the code to drive the CNC. One needs 5 axis machining capability to work like the rings of Charly2008.I tried using GMax for a while but for me it's like having to learn to do the Michael Jackson moon walk (I think) and taping my head and and ..... all at the same time. With SU, I feel fine with the majority of the work I want to do except for the kind of work I've shown previously and I admit I have a cheap CAD/CAM program I don't like using either but it can do what is called 4 axis code which enables you to do 3D stuff on a cylindrical part. I would be happy with that I hope.
Back to the subject, I'll try skinning and other stuff today with Curviloft by Fredo6, hopefully I'll get it to work for me and I'll also try to design the model instead of the tool path may it will work better for me and be more efficient.
Thanks,
Felix -
Wahouu!! Ver-ry nice
*s -
What format is needed for sending this to CNC machining? I think is .stl and if You need mesh model Blender can do the job - see this is done in Blender by ΠΠΌΠΈΡΡΠΈΠΉ
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[quote="dedmin"]What format is needed for sending this to CNC machining? I think is .stl and if You need mesh model Blender can do the job - see this is done in Blender by ΠΠΌΠΈΡΡΠΈΠΉ
Thanks Debmin,
very nice work you've done there. It would be relatively easy to find 3D artwork, I know of a few sources on the net. I also know a tiny bit about blender and I'm sure the kind of work I'd like to be able to do MYSELF could be done in blender. I find blender to be a bit awkward to use especially compare to SU. For me it is much more comfortable to use then anything else I've used.
Yesterday I've tried the skinning approach and I manage to make it work for me. I've been trying with SU for about a month now and I have no intention of quitting just yet or start from scratch with Blender which will be my last resort.
I'm only looking for ideas, tools or strategies I could use with SU to simplify my life as much as possible and be able to create my own personal and unique artwork.
I would have the same problem anyway with Blender or anything else. I just don't enough about these programs and even less about the possibilities they provide and probably the worst of all, I wouldn't know where to begin, what tool to use, etc.
I'll give myself more time with SU and see what I can do. So you'll have to be patient if you thought I would post models, I think it take some time, lots of it.
Thanks all,
Felix -
Debmin,
I just thought of this, would you happen to know where I could see or read a tutorial (even in Blender or whatever) for this kind of work?
Thanks again (your work is just awesome)
Felix -
This is not my work - it is made by a russian guy called ΠΠΌΠΈΡΡΠΈΠΉ
There a tons of tutorials for Blender - see this
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=29521
http://moriscanet.blogspot.com/2009/06/bas-relief-for-cnc-carving-with-blender.html
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=111476&page=1
http://www.becausewecan.org/taxonomy/term/16 -
Debmin,
thanks for the links, very interesting. As for the models, even if there are not from you they are still awesome.
In this tutorial http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=111476&page=1 it shows exactly what to do and this represents a very labor intensive approach, it's created vertex by vertex, edge by edge and face by face.
Even if I could do the same (or almost) in SU my reasons for asking the question here was to find out a better way and a more efficient way to do this. For example, I've seen a bumpmap technique used to do basically the same thing (3DSMAX, GMAX) and it's an improvement over the "raw" technique.
Compared with what you've shown us, the result of both the tutorial (grape) and the bumpmap technique (same grape) are not in the same league. Basically I don't like the squash look of result but it could still be useful in some cases.
For example, lets say that I'm able to recreate the models you've shown above, I know that blender as a tool to "ruin it" or making it less geometric (and more organic) by adding some kind of texture locally, a bit like was done for some leaves in these models which look more natural.
I must thank you again, with these links I found out that Blender 2.5 as a new UI, maybe it's more user friendly now. I'm beginning to think that I'll have no choice but to learn more then one program in order to do the kind of models I like.
Thanks again,
Felix -
Blender has this - to make a mesh from a picture "displace-modifier"
Blender is lighter even than SketchUP and this carving modeling is by nature manual work. So, You can start with displace-modifier and tweak it with excellent blender mesh modeling tools which SketchUP lacks.http://www.davidjarvis.ca/dave/blender/tutorial-16.shtml
http://www.gotmyidea.com/67998-blender-tutorial-displace-modifier.php
http://www.blendercookie.com/2010/04/06/tip-adding-extra-detail-with-a-displace-modifier/
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=31339&hilit=Rhino&start=15
http://www.blendermasters.com/cms/en/materials/displacement-maps-3d-objects-based-on-2d-maps-3.htmlStick with Blender - if You insist to learn the basics they will became your second nature - I'm a Blender newbie and even made my keyboard shortcuts in SketchUp as in Blender.
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Blender-Source-Modeling-Animation/dp/1430231262
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