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Autodesk Multimedia Forum · Autodesk 3D Studio

COGO to 3DS?

10 messages in this thread

#104977From: Timothy J LyversMay 31, 1994 6:26 PM

What is the best way to get coordinate geometry translated into something that 3D Studio can read? I don't know much about COGO but I'm pretty handy with AutoCAD. Any help will be appreciated. tjl

#104999From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]May 31, 1994 9:07 PM

Timothy, << What is the best way to get coordinate geometry translated into something that 3D Studio can read? >> The best?… 3D Studio *.3ds and *.prj files themselves. There are programs starting to show up that will output native 3ds files. Also, 3ds3 supports AutoCad polyface meshes created with Release 11 or later. These 2 are built into R3. If you list the geometry file formats that you currently have, someone may know of a translator. jonas[adesk]

#105177From: Timothy J LyversJun 1, 1994 6:02 PM

Thanks alot. Since I have not yet upgraded to release 3, I was unaware of this capability. Unfortunately, the COGO expert at my office knows very little about anything _but_ COGO. And I know very little about it. So, I'm not sure exactly what capabilities we have in house. tjl

#105079From: SyndesisJun 1, 1994 9:28 AM

I believe Schreiber Instruments has tools for COGO and translation to 3DS format. If you've moving data from other existing 3D file formats, please call my company at (414) 674-5200 for more info about our translators.

#105178From: Timothy J LyversJun 1, 1994 6:02 PM

Thanks, I'll look into it. tjl

#105086From: David J. MarksJun 1, 1994 10:04 AM

>> coordinate geometry translated into something that 3D Studio can read? I assume you're discussing Civil/Survey data in N,E,Z coordinates. Check with Schreiber Instruments (800)252-1024 about 3D Surf. I believe it will do what you need and it lists at $199.

#105179From: Timothy J LyversJun 1, 1994 6:02 PM

Thanks tjl

#105088From: John K. JordanJun 1, 1994 10:13 AM

Hello tjl, What is the format and structure of your coordinate geometry data? What is COGO? There may be several ways do what you need. If your data happens to consist of or can be converted to a rectangular matrix of ASCII Z-values, I wrote a program (MATHDX.ZIP in the libs here) that will convert it to a polyface mesh DXF. If you have a surface defined by a list of x,y,z coordinates, then the 3DSURF IPAS from Schriber can handle it. J K J

#105180From: Timothy J LyversJun 1, 1994 6:02 PM

COGO is an acronym for COordinate GeOmetry or something like that. We use it in the design of roadways and site development. Since I work in the Structural department (buildings and bridges), i don't have alot of need to know COGO. The geometry we need for the bridge is pretty much predetermined by the roadway department by the time the bridge design is started. judging from what I've seen so far, I would say that it would be quite a coincidence if the points ended up as a uniform matrix. I can get x,y,z points and then I could write a routine in autolisp to read the file and construct a face in acad. But before I got all carried away, i wanted to see how other people might approach it. thanks tjl

#105523From: John K. JordanJun 3, 1994 1:18 AM

>>I can get x,y,z points… Then the 3DSURF program (only about $150) will build your mesh. Schreiber also has a $900 program (AUTOSURF?) that is much more powerful for building surface geometry. JKJ