gEDA-bug: [Bug 698827] Re: When PCB layout is ready, to show the PCB as 3D model

[KaiMartin <698827@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Modelers like Blender or Wings 3D are a dead end from an engineering
point of view. They are meant to produce pretty images. And this is
indeed, what they are very good at. But the picture itself does not help
you much to fit the electronics into an enclosure, or have the workshop
drill holes at the correct position. There is no straight forward way
from the modelers to 3D CAD. This is for a reason.

There is a fundamental mismatch between 3D modelers and 3D CAD
applications. At the very bottom the modelers treat everything as a
shape. By contrast, 3D CAD applications build shapes from primitive
objects. Because of this, it is easy to go from 3D CAD to 3D modeler.
Every decent 3D CAD application  exports to one or several popular shape
formats. But it is hard to go from 3D modeler to 3D CAD. How do you
extract the position of a hole from a bunch of triangles that as a group
approach the shape of a hole in a cube?

3D CAD offers the potential for much more than pretty pictures for the
sales pitch. You'd be able to shape your enclosure to fit the
electronics and vice versa. This why I strongly advocate to direct 3D
coding efforts toward a 3D CAD direction rather than toward a 3D
modeler.

---<)kaimartin(>---

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/698827

Title:
  When PCB layout is ready, to show the PCB as 3D model

Status in GPL Electronic Design Automation tools:
  New
Status in PCB: Printed Circuit Board CAD package:
  New

Bug description:
  In xgsch2pcb I wish to have an option to show the PCB in 3D model when
  it is accomplished in pcb tool.

  I think that there is a possibility to write a script that should to
  make an output file for the BRL-CAD free modelling system.

  From xgsch2pcb one would to have a possibility to run that script and
  that script make an output file and on that file should to run mged
  (BRL-CAD).

  The BRL-CAD should then show the PCB as 3D modell.

  This is only my idea, but what do you think about it?

  --
  Regards, Paul Csanyi




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