Unfolding a 3D model to flat drawing

[shoeshine]

Hey there botters,

I find myself needing to cut a bunch of shapes out of thin brass that will be bent on a roll then riveted to a frame.

Creating the shapes in 3D is a breeze.

making them into flat drawings that can then be cut on the bot, not so much with the software I have ATM.

does anyone have a line on an easy (preferably low cost) way/software solution to plot these flat. I am using Rhino 1.0, Illustrator CS4, and partworks for the designs. I can manually plot these using the dimensions, but it is a long and laborious process as I will have dozens of these parts.

Thanks for any input
Chris

[adrianm]

I haven't used any of them myself but there are loads of free scripts/addons for Sketchup that allow you to flatten a 3D object into 2D for cutting.

[mims]

I've got rhino4 that should be able to do this. no problem. It can Unroll single curvature surfaces easily. If you have some surfaces that curve in 2 directions at once, you can still use the Smash command, but the resulting flat surface will be slightly different (say 1% difference, etc).

Rhino5 should be out within a year's time.. not sure if you got 4 right now if they'd include the upgrade. But you might be the only person on earth still using v1!!!

[erik_f]

If what others have said doesn't work...I know Rhino 3 and 4 allows you to turn on control points and then move them at will...Rhino 1 is before my time. Why don't you call them...they have always been willing to answer my questions.

[bob_s]

I have not used this, but it has gotten some good reviews

http://www.unwrap3d.com/u3d/index.aspx

I think the price is $60 so it surely isn't a budget buster in the 3d world of thousand dollar apps.
I saw it on a forum about Moi3d a very intuitive 3d program written by the programmer who did all of the original code for Rhino, Michael Gibson.

Their forum; http://moi3d.com/forum/ is as helpful as this one, so it would be a great place to ask if this program won't do what you need

[geometree]

The sketchup plugins work pretty good but sometimes it has problems with curves. Take a look at http://www.blender.org its a free program that can unwrap that. Blender is very powerful but I find it very difficult to use,way too many buttons...

[myxpykalix]

james mcgrew did a youtube video for unwrapping a model that might be applicable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sG7x210qgY&feature=feedlik

[tgm]

Chris,

I assume this is what you had in mind. In Rhino it's just a few clicks and then export dxf.

Tom in PA

[shoeshine]

Thanks for all the input folks.

It seems as if it is time to pony up and upgrade my copy of Rhino.

I haven't for over a decade... as up until now, it did everything I needed it to. (and is as comfortable as an old pair of work gloves). But all things wear out in time I guess.

Shame, as it was kind of a testement to the robust nature of the program that it simply worked and did for well nigh 15yrs.

ahh well, I'm sure there are all kinds of nifty new tools to play with in there as well.

Thanks again all
Chris

PS post dated: I just downloaded and installed the demo for Rhino 4.0 -- 2 clicks -- geez that was easy "slaps forehead"

[tgm]

Chris,

Rhino v4 has come along way over the years and the leap to v5 brings even more goodies. I also use Rhino as a 'filter' engine in that it can import almost anything, you can repair a file and then export in a myriad of formats. Not easy to do in other programs out there. For the cost of ownership, it's a steal.

Good Luck,

Tom in PA

[Steve Howden]

Hi Chris,

I unroll hundreds of panels a day in Rhino. Here's a few tips that may be of use to you and others.

_UnrollSrf has a couple of command line options that are very useful for people like us. Explode=Yes/No, this is good for polysurfaces. Explode=Yes unrolls all of the individual srfs in the polysurface separately. Explode=No, keeps them joined up as per the original model where possible (good for seeing how it goes together).
Labels=Yes/No, also good for complex things - yes sticks annotation dots on the original surface AND the unrolled pieces which helps to identify orientation.

While on the subject of orientation, note that UnrollSrf, unrolls the piece with the surface normal facing UP in the world Top Cplane. It is wise to check the surface normal of the original piece (type Dir in the command line) to make sure you don't get a mirrored piece by accident (speaking from bitter experience here ;-)

Once you have the unrolled surfaces, you'll need just the outline to send out as a dxf for your CAM software. Here's a little macro to stick on a button or alias, that outlines the pieces selected:
!_DupBorder _pause _enter _selprev _delete

HTH, Steve