Render or Hatch?

[Bobzy20]

I have a 3D model of a comms panel I’ve drawn and I would like to turn it into something like the first image below?

 

It’s just to show in schematic drawings so having it as an image would be fine in this case. I don’t know much about rendering so would anybody know the best way to turn my 3D wireframe model into something like the first image below?

 

Having it viewed in a Top View would be fine.

 

My drawing is at the bottom.

 

Bob

[Cad64]

You're using the terms render, hatch, drawing, model and wireframe all interchangeably so it's a little confusing as to what you're asking?

 

Are you asking if it's possible to take your 2D drawing and stick it on to the back of your 3D model as a texture? Or are you asking how to build a 3D model that's based on your 2D drawing? Or do you have the model built and you just want to render it with the colors applied like in the 2D drawing? I'm confused.

[Bobzy20]

Sorry about the confusion.

 

I have a 3D solid model (image 2) and I wanted to know if I could make it look similar (the same sort of colour look) as image 1. Image 1 has a sort of graphic look, it’s not really a render nor a hatch look.

 

Anyway I now know that image 1 was taken from a 3D SoildWorks model and has had its colour added in SoildWorks.

 

I was wondering if AutoCAD could produce similar results.

[Cad64]

So you want it to have that hand drawn graphic look with the dark outlined edges? I haven't used Autocad in a long time, but have you tried rendering using the Conceptual visual style?

[SuperCAD]

FLATSHOT with tangent edges turned on? Is this a solid model or a wire mesh?

[Bobzy20]

Yeah Soild all the way.

 

I'll try FLATSHOT next week - Thanks.

[Denimoth]

Sorry about the confusion.

 

I have a 3D solid model (image 2) and I wanted to know if I could make it look similar (the same sort of colour look) as image 1. Image 1 has a sort of graphic look, it’s not really a render nor a hatch look.

 

Anyway I now know that image 1 was taken from a 3D SoildWorks model and has had its colour added in SoildWorks.

 

I was wondering if AutoCAD could produce similar results.

 

The 1st image looks like it was done using a conceptual visual style.

 

There are a few ways to achieve this look. The way I would go about it is pretty simple (to me anyway). I think you want to show the internal components of the box you modeled. The top lid is in the way so you'd have to cut it off or hide it. To achieve this, you can either slice through your solid (this modifies your solid, so slice a copy of it, not the original. OR, you can use Section Plane to cut through the object without making actual changes to the model. If you modeled the lid part on it's own layer, you could just hide it.

 

Once you have this figured out, go to your layout tab (paperspace) and create a viewport using the MVIEW command. Position and rotate the object to your liking. A good practice when your done is to lock the viewport so you don't accidentally zoom or pan while inside the viewport (my biggest pet peeve with most draftsman).

 

The MVIEW command has many neat features you should explore. The options are displayed on the command line after you type MVIEW. Should be similar to this

 

[ON/OFF/Fit/Shadeplot/Lock/Object/Polygonal/Restore/LAyer/2/3/4] :

 

Type S at the prompt to get into the Shadeplot feature of MVIEW. You should see this at the prompt:

 

Shade plot? [As Displayed/Wireframe/Hidden/Visual styles/Rendered] :

 

Here you can either select "As Displayed" if you already have the visual style inside the viewport displayed as Conceptual (or whatever you want). If you do this, the current visual style of that viewport is what will be printed out. OR, type V to specify the type of Visual Style you want the viewport to print out. This last option is recommended if your graphics card is poor and if visual styles slow down your computer, which is common in larger and more complex 3D objects. Specifying the Visual Style of the viewport will print out to that visual style, regardless if you change the current style inside the viewport while working on your drawing.

 

If you specify the type of Visual Style you want, the next options you should see is this

 

Enter an option [3dwireframe/3dHidden/Realistic/Conceptual/Other] :

 

Type C to select Conceptual, and select the viewport. That should do it. When you print, the viewport you selected should look similar to that first image. The advantage of using the method I explained is that you can have several different styles showing on the same layout. No need to render images that you have to render again if you change your model.

 

The Conceptual Style colors are determined by the layer or object colors you give it. If you want the model to be a darker grey, either change the color to your layers as dark grey, or select the object and change it's property color.

[Denimoth]

FLATSHOT with tangent edges turned on? Is this a solid model or a wire mesh?

 

This will produce a standard 2D line drawing of the object. There won't be any colored areas as per the 1st image. And the OP mentioned it's a solid model in his second post. But yes, this could be an option the OP might like to explore. Same result can be achieved with a 3D Hidden visual style inside a viewport with a minor tweak using the Visual Styles Manager if you want to see the hidden lines.

[Denimoth]

Just a quick followup on my first reply. The visual style could also be set to "Shades of Grey". You might need to open the Tool Palettes and go to the Visual Style tab to get that option. I can't say for sure if this option is now available if you use the Visual Style Manager in AC2013. It's not shown on AC2010, hence having to use the Tool Palettes to select it. If you use this, set your viewport to "As Displayed".

[SuperCAD]

FLATSHOT will create a 2D line image, then you can apply a solid hatch with color to make it look like the first image. Just make sure that your hatch patterns are set to always go behind the objects to make sure they don't cover up any lines. HPDRAWORDER set to 1 should do it.

[JD Mather]

Anyway I now know that image 1 was taken from a 3D SoildWorks model and has had its colour added in SoildWorks.

 

I was wondering if AutoCAD could produce similar results.

 

FYI

The Autodesk product equivalent of SolidWorks is Inventor (not AutoCAD). In Inventor you would achieve this view with an Illustration (color) Render in Inventor Studio.

[Bobzy20]

I have attached the 3D model for you guys to see if you can get it to look similar.

3DP.zip

[SuperCAD]

I did this using hatches. I had to change the color of the dial and the display surround because they were too dark to see any of the tangent lines. I think it's a 2004 format so you shouldn't have any trouble opening it.

3DP.dwg

[Denimoth]

Here's my example. Used 4 viewports showing the same 3D object.

 

Top Left is a Realistic Visual Style

Top Right is a X-Ray Visual Style (accessible via tool palettes, Visual Style tab)

Bottom Left is 3D Hidden

Bottom Right is Shades of Grey (accessible via tool palettes, Visual Style tab)

 

All viewports are locked and set to plot As Displayed. Meaning if you change the visual display in one viewport, that viewport will plot what you are currently seeing.

 

Forgot to mention that the viewports are on their own layer. If you don't want to see each viewport's' outline, set the layer to hide when plotting (use the Plot column in your layer manager).

 

If you modify the 3D object, like adding holes or another knob, the views will update automagically.

3DP.001.zip

[Bobzy20]

Thanks for your help.