This article is for anyone who's new to DesignCAD's 3D solid modeling.

The first thing folks often want to see when working in 3D is a "rendering" that looks like the real thing so they get an idea of what their work will look like. Some will start looking for the "Render" command at this time. Maybe even searching for this feature name in Help.

Tip: It's all about SHADING. Find the SHADING command in the Tools menu. If you want a texture applied then use the Texture Mapping command.

Also, background color can play a big role in the shaded appearance. Sometimes a darker background than the default white can improve the looks of a shaded image, depending of course on what color your shaded objects are.

Use the f8 key. it is the quick key to render. Then select the shading you want.

Serious about shading/rendering a design? Try using a third party rendering program. These programs usually take a dwg/dxf file which you can get from DesignCAD. Never done that before? Here's how ...

To save a design in the DWG or DXF format from within DesignCAD, have your design opened. Open the File menu and select the Export command. This is vital because the Save As command in DesignCAD isn't designed to give you the dwg or dxf format options. Save As offers all DesignCAD file format options and lets you save to a different location. From the Export box you can select the dwg or dxf file formats. You can even specify what version of AutoCAD.

There are rendering programs from $40 to $4000 that you can buy. Most have a trial version available.

Click here to see a tricycle designed in DesignCAD and rendered in Nugraf.

Want to make your design look like a photo? Sometimes this is what customers need when they can't visualize the design as you can. If this is the case, a third party rendering program may be your ticket. Keep in mind that you will need to export your design in DXF or DWG file format (probably). Instructions for this are in the article above.

Find this information from the online forum at: http://forums.upperspace.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=947

Best results will be found in a rendering program when the program is able to handle polygon averaging on import, not the original data in the DXF file.

Separate each part you want to be rendered with a different material onto a different layer, and rotate the entire drawing 90d on the X axis before the export. It may also help to put the origin somewhere near the middle of the drawing, and close to the "bottom" (back) before you sent it out.

Useful Lower End Rendering Program:
Art-Lantis is about the best low end program to try. Their package is about the most inexpensive rendering program out there, and does a good job of importing our DXF files (I have NOT tried large ones, but all our samples go in fine). This is for folks who want quick results, who don't need to know anything about advanced rendering, and don't want to pay for too much for photorealistic results. Seems like the download only previews at 640x480. Get with their support folks to see if the version you buy does larger sized images. If so, it could be a good buy. Simple interface, fair results for the cash.

Useful Mid Range Rendering Program:
POV Ray is free on the internet. It's a ray tracing package, but requires some work to make your own shaders, and refraction maps. It stands for Persistance of Vision, and folks can get lots of sample shaders on the internet to not have to make your own. This is for folks who know what they are doing, and are fairly technical.

Useful High End Rendering Program:
NuGraf by Okino Software is the best quality rendering package out there that I've used. It's got a LOT of built in features, and is BY FAR, the best tool to get Dcad's files to other sources and programs that I've seen. It's tools for smoothing and averaging the polygons are very good. You don't have to know much to run this software, it's pretty easy to pick up and run with. Click here to see a tricycle designed in DesignCAD and rendered in Nugraf.

This is the mid range product by these folks. The lower range product is PolyTrans, which is just a translator. The Translator is built into NuGraf though, so you get both products in one.

Cinema 4D's got animation and modeling built in, and it does handles large DXF files and quad meshes with no problems. (It's a LOT to learn though, just for shaded output, and not the easiest package to use.)

Upcoming: The next version of DesignCAD will support shaded fog of all colors. It also supports transparencies, and you can specify the amount of emission and opacity in each material. Our current materials can be made transparent to combine what you've already done with the new features.

If you experience any jagged edges when rendering - try this ...

Use the Save Image File command from the File menu. It lets you drag a box around any part of your design to save it as an image. Uncheck the Same as Screen resolution check box, and put high values in for pixels size to export a LARGE image. Then open the image in Photoshop and use the Image Size command to scale it down by about 50%. Applying a blur and sharpen filter a couple of times will get you good results. Once you find the best technique that works for you, it's easy to record an action, (macro), which keeps you from having to do it again, and you can even apply actions to an entire folder for batch image processing.

If you're a pro with Photoshop, you can also use it to enhance designs. Murat Mayor designed this building and enhanced it with Photoshop.

- written from the experience of Steve Ledbetter, DesignCAD Development Team

We'd just like to take a moment and show you some fine designs that were all designed using DesignCAD. These are rendered and ready to go in convenient libraries you can purchase. They aren't offered by Upperspace but you can find them all online here ... http://www.nwginc.com

Doors & Windows
Fireplaces & Columns
Kitchen Appliances
Kitchen Counters, Sinks & Faucets
Kitchen Wall, Base & Tall Cabinets
Bath Vanities, Counters, Sinks, Faucets
Bath Wall & Pedestal Sinks, Counters, Toilets
Office - Many Categories
Furniture - Many Categories
Light Fixtures
Blinds, Drapes, Shutters, Curtain Rods
Urns, Mirrors, Clocks, Vases
Door & Cabinet Hardware
Textures - Many Categories        

DesignCAD Productivity Tips

Questions and Their Most-Popular Answers

Question: I have been using design cad since about 1993/4 in the old DesignCAD 2D. I am reasonably proficient with the aspects of drawing standards. Currently am using DesignCAD 3000 and am just beginning to experiment with 3D modeling. Starting to get a handle on it. Question - when dimensioning in 3D, the dimensions are transferred to each plane so when an X-dimension is put in, it is seen in the Z plane. When I bring up a paper space template and show the ISO, X, Y and Z views, I end up with a mess of dimension lines every where. How do I set up a drawing to show a front, top and side view with an ISO layout on the same page whilst maintaining dimensions correctly?

Answer: One way to control this is to draw your xy-plane dimensions on one layer, your xz-plane dimensions on another, and your zy-plane dimensions on a third layer (all three layers separate from the main drawing layer(s) of course).

Then, in Paperspace mode, set up the view frames you want, with the view settings you want. In each view frame, you can control which layers are shown or hidden. (For example, in ISO view you may want to hide some or all dimension layers.)

This may mean you have to do some double-duty on some dimensions; if you want your x dimensions to show in both front and top view, you'll have to dimension them once in the xy plane and once in the xz plane.

If you choose the "freeform" option, you'll be able to control which plane the text is oriented with; the "Automatic" dimension option always makes the text's "up" direction be along the Y axis.

http://forums.upperspace.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=933

Answer: If you just want heavier output on your zero-width lines, and you've got DesignCAD 3000 or higher, you can open the Print command, and under the Type tab, enter a pen width of 2 or higher to print heavier lines. Try a sample print with pen width 2, if that's not heavy enough try 3, etc.

http://forums.upperspace.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=953

Answer: After you click 'add' and locate the source folder, you can hold down the shift key and use the arrow keys to select multiple files, then click open and they will all load into the batch file dialog.
http://forums.upperspace.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=936

http://forums.upperspace.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=941