Drawing software...

Hi,

I think I am the only one designing in 2D, from the first line. Many designers are still using pen and paper and later has it done as 3D renderings in the computer.

We have seen some guys here, like Ricardo, using high end 3D-programs like Catia also for the conceptual drawings.

My program is called Freehand (not expensive) and there are many similar programs using vectorized postscript. Here you can see how this yacht was drawn up as simple lines to frame the colored fields.

This took me less than two hours to achieve.

talkingstone, I've been bit by that bug too. (See what you started Lars ) Freehand was over budget for me so I ended up buying CorelDraw 12 for this purpose -

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satell.../Display&pfid=1047024307335&pid=1047022690654

Search the online discount outfits and you can find this in CD only form, full license (not bootleg) for as little as $40. I don't have any designs to show at this point. However I have used CorelDraw in the past so I am confident it is up to the task.

Kelly

My background happens to be in both the traditional fine arts and engineering. Sorry to say, all of these "drawing" programs are in the engineering (CAD) mode. In that all of them expect you to build "up" your drawing from toothpicks (line objects). None that I have bumped into provide for "molding" a design from a bulk shape in the way sculpture is accomplished. Beware of drawing programs that are to simple. Your result with be limited by the program, and end up looking childish. CorelDraw is a full featured vector illustration package. Not that simple, but there are plenty of books to help with the learning curve. I really wouldn't bother with anything less.

Kelly

It is basically very simple. You have certain tools, like making a circle, or freehand drawings where you plot the shape. You can then mark a point and choose it to be curved as you can see how my second shape became the third.

You can then select thickness and colour of the lines, or remove them after you have filled the shapes with gradient, solid or patterns in the colour you like or a blend of colours.

By putting different shapes on top of each other you build your yacht or whatever...

The download may be all you need. I got the full 3 CD set for CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12. Which includes their bit map editor, Photo-Paint, as well as the vector graphics CorelDraw. But all of those programs are on disk 1. Disk 2 is entirely vector clipart stock, which I would rate as "fair". Disk 3 turned out to be bit mapped image stock, which is nearly useless. For image stock I much prefer to download from www.iStockPhoto.com

Kelly

Well, at University, we started off using 2D AutoCAD, which is a very precise tool. Then when we had got to grips with that we moved to a program called ALias Studiotools. This is a very powerful program and can generate some amazing quality images.

Basically, 3D designing is very much like working on 3 2D drawings at the same time. The image below is a screen shot of Alias, you have your 3 2D views top left and bottom left and right and the perspective 3D view in the top right.

You can work in each window individually, so you can do your 2D side view, and your top and front views and then move the lines out and up so it then creates a 3 dimensional model. Then you add surface generation curves and then your surfaces and then it starts to get complicated! But it is a very good skill to have. If you can picture your design in 3D in your head, then you should be able to grasp it in a 3D program fairly easily.

In the image below i have drawn an oval in the top view (top left) and then a semis circle arch, attached to the middle of the oval, in the right hand view (bottom right) then a mono-rail surface was applied and in the the 3D view (top right) you can see the shape in 3D made from two simple curves. Easy.

The images I produced or my final project at university were soley produced in Alias, where most of the boat was designed. I used AutoCAD for the hull design as this was more accurate for me. Attached is an image that was rendered in Alias, no photoshop editing what so ever!

Thanks for the pictures Jon!

Very good job and I must admit that a true 3D is a good sales tool, but it must take a lot of time to make renderings as yours?

The explorer I made two days ago started when I was on a phone conversation about another boat, just by drawing on the screen without thinking, as you often scribble on paper while talking. After this I put some colours and finally some more details. From the first line to finished rendering it was about two hours.

I like to develop concepts this way, just start with the waterline and see where it leads...

I can't argue with that! i couldn't produce a finished render in Alias in two hours! Not at the moment anyway!

The picture you see i posted took weeks of development work, changing, adding and taking things away, and then the actual renders usually only take about 5 to 10 minutes to do, but the one you see there, used on my Degree show display, took 8 hours for the computer to render it!

Everyone has there own styles and techniques, and yours certainly works for you Lars. I definitly couldn't do Alias work whilst on the phone without getting a crick in my neck holding the phone - you need one hand on the mouse and the other holding down sometimes two or three keys on the keyboard, and that is just to mannouver around the 3D model!!

But i love it! It's certainly the way i work best!

Design

About software there are many software marks that are good.

You have a good book to learn 3d with exercises that is called

3ds max 6 fundamentals

from Mr. Ted Boardman (WWW.NEWRIDERS.COM)

www.peachpit.com/title/0735713855

I bought this book (bible)and I did the tutorials.

Whith catia I'm learning myself and with the software help

www.boatdesign.net in this site you can find good information about software.

Catia is good but if you want make hydrostatic calculations is not possible.

Catia is a virtual yard where you can do almost everything,may be in the near future some software engineer incorporated by God develop a hidrostatic module.

Catia have some advantages because it's possible to transform the dwg files in machine code and you can use robots.

Its possible for example to make a design of a boat, then you can send for example the 1 st deck to another designer and he will finish for example interior then in 2nd step you can make the integration on the main hull.

The piping is the same thing

You can reserve volume to electric cables and the other engineer will implement the circuits and in the second step you make the final integration.

Best Regards

Ricardo Barroso

Did we just leave the dock?

Yes Kelly, we are now in uncharted waters...

WARNING: DOCK HOP

This post is in response to a post on the Lars Modin Designs II thread on the Yacht Renderings & Plans forum:

I too can make radial gradients, but not curved, which would be super...

Are you sure you can not get more colors in? I have like a bar with one color each end, but then I can drop any color in between the two, just next to the bar. Try!​

Nope. Trying to drop in an additional color just changed the prior color. Turns out that Corel Draw can do multi-color fills. But you get to pick only the "end" colors. The intermediate colors are then taken from the color wheel. Here are some fill examples from Corel Draw:

Upper left corner: Radius fill using multi "intermediate" colors with center offset below.

Upper right corner: Conical fill (wedge) using multi colors and offset.

Lower left: Texture fill with multiple color picks. This is actually very rare, most texture fills that are provided allow only 2 colors.

Lower right: Freeform shape with linear fill. Note that fill is still "straight", does not try to conform to curved shape of the edges.

Good finding then!

I can not make the wedge shape, but have a blend tool where I can take a few gradient pieces, also in colors if the pieces contains the same colors. I once made a headlamp of a car this way, just in black&white.

/Lars

Right. Corel does provide for bitmap style blends, to be painted in by hand. But I'm usually too lazy for that

Kelly

Again, this I don´t think I can do, but I can fill in jpg-pictures or have them as a background. Here it is a low resolution picture, but it can be as high as you want.

With yachts however, I think it is almost impossible to get it to look right. Then it has to be a Photoshop job afterwards...

Right again. Corel also lets you plant photos inside a drawing. You can even use a photo as a fill for a shape (instead of color gradient). Though I found that to be pretty tricky in application. Basically for bitmaps it's time to switch to Photo-Paint (Corel's bitmap editor).

Kelly