Solidworks-Blender MSN group still up

Hey folks!
I got my Norton issues sorted and I have added some more images and better
comments.
have a diversion from your daily grind.
http://groups.msn.com/Solidworks-Blender/renderalbum.msnw?albumlist=2
I hope I am doing Blender justice.

neil

 

hmmm...so Edward made up stuff...ok Dale I guess Santa messed up there...I
will talk to the elves and see what I can do.

 

....I see i found another member ( breeding faster than rabbits in
spring )... who i will refer to affectionately and in short as
Mr.Wibble )
OK sir..it hasn't been the greatest start a group ever had...but I am
getting there.

 

Hi Johnny,
I use VRML 1.0. Make sure you run up the SW display accuracy in the options
before you 'save as' because this directly relates to the density/accuracy
of the mesh created. This is especially important if you have a swoopy shape
with subtle geometry.
In Blender if you select your imported mesh and hit F9 on your keyboard it
will bring up the Editing panel in the buttons window and you will see in
the Mesh one 'Auto Smooth', select that and then 'Set Solid' in the Link and
Materials panel next to it. This will make your triangulated mesh appear
continuous when you render. It will still look facetted in the 3d view as
you work though.
There is quite a bit to know about using Blender and some people find the
interface a bit difficult. Because Blender advances so quickly the
documentation is slightly behind but it still covers most of it very well. I
hope to get useful info on the MSN group soon rather than just the promo
images. Don't be too discouraged if your early experiments don't produce the
results you want....rendering is a bit of an art form...practice helps. The
difference is using Blender rather than Photoworks is that it is not an
integrated product - you are leaving CAD and moving into the CG world.
HTH
neil

 

You usually only need to increase the accuracy until it is acceptably round
to the eye in SW. Blender will usually make good sense of it for the render.
Tubes should appear quite smooth without a high setting. Perhaps it is the
STL format that is the problem. I have never used it myself. For some of the
swoopy stuff visible render irregularities between adjacent faces will show
up in some places unless you set the mesh very fine. I am not sure if this
is due to the way SW makes VRML or the way Blender smoothes but a more
accurate mesh will help. Once you have saved out your VRML file you can
reset your SW display setting to your regular one.
neil

 

That's right, if you see the SW 'save as' VRML options you will see a
message to that effect.
See this too in the first photo of the new 'getting around the mesh' album -
not complete yet - I want to talk a bit about SW multi bodies and assemblies
too.
cheers
neil.