Hi,
My name is Pete and I'm kind of new to this forum... I do shop drawings and CNC programming for a millwork shop. To do this I use AutoCAD LT + VCarve 6.5 and an FMT Patriot 4x8 CNC.
I have been tasked with recreating a clay roof tile (compound curve that's tapered along the length and tapered in thickness from end to end), in high-density foam.
I must produce something by this Wednesday. The 3D nature of this would be tough to pull off in VCarve, not sure how to do it, so I'm thinking of purchasing Cut3D.
I have two questions:
1) Does SketchUp Pro and Cut3D work well together? I have Sketchup Pro and it can export as .dxf, and I did a test import into the trial version of Cut 3D, but the trial version cannot save a toolpath, and I'm not sure if the "surfaces" type of 3D model will machine well on the CNC.
2) I could not find my particular Post Processor (that is in my version of VCarve Pro) in the pull-down list in the trial Cut3D. it is a .pim. So I found this file in a folder in my VCarve Pro, copied-n-pasted into the correct folder in the trial of Cut3D, and then restarted Cut3d expecting it to appear but it was not there. What am I doing wrong?
I may be looking for a new job if I cannot pull this off!
Thanks for any help!
Pete
SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
- Leo
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Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
V-Carve will not do the 3D directly
If you can output STL from Sketchup - Cut3D can import STL.
After toolpath is created in Cut 3D the toolpath can be imported into V-Carve Pro.
If you can output STL from Sketchup - Cut3D can import STL.
After toolpath is created in Cut 3D the toolpath can be imported into V-Carve Pro.
Imagine the Possibilities of a Creative mind, combined with the functionality of CNC
- Beamer
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Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
It does work. Whether it works well or not depends on the complexity of the model.
Keep in mind that sketchup hides a LOT from you in regards to what's actually drawn. For example, something lat looks smooth in sketchup may actually be quite faceted when exported - this is because sketchup doesn't use many polygons to define a curved surface - it smooths them and makes it APPEAR to be a nice soft curve when in reality, it's just a couple of segments. Keep this in mind, because it doesn't do well with LOTS of polygons. Here's an example...
I'm working on a guitar and I got this topographical map of the body contours. I brought that into sketchup and shifted them around to get a view of the actual body shape - here's that:
Then I ran into some trouble ... i wanted to generate a nice smooth 3d model of that map - to make a bending form. After some fighting with several plugins, and crashing sketchup a few dozen times, I literally spent a full day trying to get acceptable results - and I did, eventually, here is a screen grab of that:
The above rendering took about 45 minutes on my 8 core, 8gb 64bit laptop with an SSD. It was pretty heavy for sketchup to do. It did it, but it was probably the limit of it's capability. Serpentine curves on a domed surface - pretty elaborate and LOTS of polygons.
That was the worst of it, though. I don't have Pro, but there are plugins out there that export the STL files and Cut3D had no problem bringing those in and cutting a really nice bending form. Once I got past the limitations of sketchup's ACTUAL 3d modelling limitations. It's pretty, it's fast, it's cheap, but it is NOT a 3D CAD application. You can get by, but something like Rhino or Aspire would've handled this task a lot faster and a lot smoother.
Keep in mind that sketchup hides a LOT from you in regards to what's actually drawn. For example, something lat looks smooth in sketchup may actually be quite faceted when exported - this is because sketchup doesn't use many polygons to define a curved surface - it smooths them and makes it APPEAR to be a nice soft curve when in reality, it's just a couple of segments. Keep this in mind, because it doesn't do well with LOTS of polygons. Here's an example...
I'm working on a guitar and I got this topographical map of the body contours. I brought that into sketchup and shifted them around to get a view of the actual body shape - here's that:
Then I ran into some trouble ... i wanted to generate a nice smooth 3d model of that map - to make a bending form. After some fighting with several plugins, and crashing sketchup a few dozen times, I literally spent a full day trying to get acceptable results - and I did, eventually, here is a screen grab of that:
The above rendering took about 45 minutes on my 8 core, 8gb 64bit laptop with an SSD. It was pretty heavy for sketchup to do. It did it, but it was probably the limit of it's capability. Serpentine curves on a domed surface - pretty elaborate and LOTS of polygons.
That was the worst of it, though. I don't have Pro, but there are plugins out there that export the STL files and Cut3D had no problem bringing those in and cutting a really nice bending form. Once I got past the limitations of sketchup's ACTUAL 3d modelling limitations. It's pretty, it's fast, it's cheap, but it is NOT a 3D CAD application. You can get by, but something like Rhino or Aspire would've handled this task a lot faster and a lot smoother.
Jason Beam
Sacramento, CA
http://beamerweb.com
Sacramento, CA
http://beamerweb.com
Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
Thanks for the responses - very helpful.
I'm still not sure why I should import the Cut3D toolpath into VCarve Pro, I just did that in my VCP 6.5 and it gives me errors.
-Pete
I'm still not sure why I should import the Cut3D toolpath into VCarve Pro, I just did that in my VCP 6.5 and it gives me errors.
-Pete
Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
Beamer,
You experience on SketchUp confirms my concerns.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your process - very helpful!
Pete
You experience on SketchUp confirms my concerns.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your process - very helpful!
Pete
- Leo
- Vectric Wizard
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Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
Cut 3D will do ONLY the 3D toolpath - nothing elsepjped wrote:Thanks for the responses - very helpful.
I'm still not sure why I should import the Cut3D toolpath into VCarve Pro, I just did that in my VCP 6.5 and it gives me errors.
-Pete
V-Carve Pro will do pockets, text, profiles and all sorts of other stuff that Cut 3D cannot do.
Combining the two is a great package.
I have imported cut3D toolpath into V-Carve pro many many times with ease.
You may have done something wrong with your import. Remember you are importing toolpath only - not the cut 3D file.
Imagine the Possibilities of a Creative mind, combined with the functionality of CNC
Re: SKetchUp 3d + Cut3D = Will it work?
Leo,
Yes I was doing something wrong... I tried it again and it worked, thanks!
Pete
Yes I was doing something wrong... I tried it again and it worked, thanks!
Pete