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Re: gEDA-user: Gerbv with OpenGL
Hi Peter,
On Mon, 2007-12-03 at 13:50 +0000, Peter Clifton wrote:
> I've got very limited knowledge of 3D CAD formats, so don't really know
> what would be easy to use. I'm tentatively guessing that a board export
> as VRML with commands to place the component models appropriately would
> be a more efficient use of time than trying to code a VRML parser and 3D
> model viewer from scratch.
>
Loading and placing models would be my guess too.
Some years ago I did a little bit of testing with mixed results.
There was a windoze tool named Crossroads that was able to to translate
3D Studio files into VRML (3D Studio is a file format AutoCAD supports).
What Crossroad didn't translate was the color information (just plain
black, white and grey pixels).
Painting the hundreds of element faces in VRML is tedious, not the way
to do things.
Turns out that VRML is a surface modeler/rendering application, as
opposed to solid modelling.
This isn't a big problem if a virtual "visual check" is the ultimate
goal, if one wants to determine the Center of Gravity, or inertia
related stuff, one definitely needs a solids modeler.
> > I don't know if gerbv is the way to go 3D.
> >
> > IMHO, it's just a 2D derivative of a pcb file.
>
> Its probably not the place for a full 3D preview, certainly. I was
> looking at GL as a hardware accelerated path for scaling images, and the
> perspective view was a nice eye-candy bonus.
>
> > I think the *knowledge* should be implemented as early in the design
> > process as economically possible, and where applicable.
>
> This probably ties in to the idea of having a parts database, rather
> than just using symbol + footprint matched combinations.
>
> Can you import VRML into mechanical CAD?
>
Some mechanical CAD applications can, some not.
I think in the OS *nix universe the choice is very limited, in the
windoze galaxy (light years away) you can buy almost anything.
I think I have to look into Blender and brl-cad again.
This time a bit more closer to see if and how they support scripting.
Kind regards,
Bert Timmerman.
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