#Creating Landforms
3 messages in this thread
I need to convert contour lines which were digitized into AutoCAD into a mesh
which can be rendered in 3D Studio. I would like to know if the meshing should
be done in AutoCAD or in 3D Studio, or if there is another program to do this.
Basically, I would like to know the best way to do this.
Thanks,
Carmen
Personally, I use QuickSurf from Schreiber. It runs inside of AutoCad and is
quite competent. It is, or was around $850 when I purchased it a few years
ago.
Good Luck,
Chris
>>,,,converting AutoCAD contour lines into 3D Studio surface…
>>…should I create it in AutoCAD or 3D Studio…
When moving from AutoCAD to 3D Studio, my experience has been that it is best
to create as much as possible in 3D Studio. I have NEVER transferred an even
moderately complex 3D object from AutoCAD to 3DS without some normal
"wierdness" that had to be fixed. Try working on a complete 3D building using
AutoCAD and Archt for several days then having to spend a couple of days
flipping normals in 3D Studio.
As far as your terrain mesh, Schreiber Instruments/4D Vision sells a program
called 3D Surf. It includes an Autolisp routine that extracts all the X,Y,Z
points from your AutoCAD drawing and dumps them to a file. 3D Surf then reads
this file and creates a mesh. It works pretty good for me. It is also priced
attractively and won't break the bank.
John Hostick