bigcahunak Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Hi All. Does anyone know of any techniques, factories, hardware or any other idea of getting a a terrain computer data to a physical built model. I'm talking about a big model (the size of your bedroom...) of a large area (the size of your country...) I might be getting myself involved in an unfamiliar territory... but thats part of the business, right (is it?) anyway, I have a few ideas that are taken from school days, but I figured I'll post the question and might be surprised. Tnx in advance guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Does anyone know of any techniques, factories, hardware or any other idea of getting a a terrain computer data to a physical built model. I'm talking about a big model (the size of your bedroom...) of a large area (the size of your country...)Well, there is existing equipement to cut shapes into hard foam, for example, using CAD data--usually in .stl format (which I think stands for stereo lithography (an oxymorin--lithography is printing from a FLAT plate treated to accept or reject ink)) Rhino has a good interface to stl files. I would think the size might be limited, but you could have the terrain divided into a gridded area and use a wooden base (you would want to anyway, most likely) and glue the sections together. I usually see this with 'step' terrains, but it can probably work from a skinned surface as well for smoother results. Come to think of it, a model the size of a room could qualify as a ship-in-a-bottle if you're not careful. As I recall, stl files need to be 'airtight' surfaces. There are other cutting machines that can work from polylines for a layered step terrain, I think. Not my area of expertise... Can you elaborate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 http://www.atirapid.com/how/ho_stl_file.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 TNX kid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andymcnair Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Have you spoken to your local joinery firm? They should be able to import the various polyline levels to their cutting computer to produce a traditional style layered model, and its very fast. Then its a matter of positioning them one on top of the other. Something that big would have to be buit in sections so its worth considering at design stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 Originally posted by andymcnair: Have you spoken to your local joinery firm? They should be able to import the various polyline levels to their cutting computer to produce a traditional style layered model, and its very fast. Then its a matter of positioning them one on top of the other. Something that big would have to be buit in sections so its worth considering at design stage. Yes I thought about it, and still am, but looking for alternatives as well. Also keep in mind things like weight, transportation, surface finish, size of the portions of whole model... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingo Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Hi bigC, as always there are two options, have a block and cut the things dont needed away with a CNC machine, or what i was talking about to spray thin layers of plastic like material so you build that modell layer by layer, or mm by mm. And with your big modell size you have to divide it into smaller parts for transport. Another option a friend of mine used is to plot things out 1 to one and build your modell by hand with 5 mm thick plates. Glue the plots on the plates and cut things out as needed and put all plates above each other. So you have the usual layered modell, if needed you can smooth the edges, or if you have to much spare time. Another nice idea is to go to your local kindergarden and give them the plans so they build the modell, not really accurate but i think you get the most creative modell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kessler Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Get in contact with LGM (Laser Graphic Manufacturing) www.lgmmodel.com Here is a sample at 4'x4' of a model we had output directly from a 3D file to a Z-Core machine (ceramic) for the buildings and the base was CNC'd into resin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Can you at least let us know WHY they need such a big model? One thing to rememeber: clients usually are willing to pay large sums of money for physical models. Much more than for renderings. It doesn't make much sense, but it's been my experience over the years. Even when there is a competition, so time is limited to whatever can get done in 2 weeks, I may be able to bill $10,000 for rendering services while the model maker bills $25,000. Why the difference? We each busted ass for the same two weeks. I've asked clients. They will say "oh, they have to have lots of machinery, and staff". Really. I use machines. You can outfit an entire traditional shop with machinery for $3000...an amount that buys you one computer without vis software. Those machines will last a decade or more. The digital modeling machines are sent to your nephew in three years or less. So if I buy some 'machines' and hire a few work-release students can I charge the $25,000 for the two weeks, too? Apparently not. Plastic and wood just aren't THAT expensive. When I was a little kid my mother worked in museums in the San Francisco area building things like models of dinosaurs at the Academy of Sciences, then for a while at a small museum in Oakland building physical models of various regions of California. I still remember helping glue on hundreds of tiny trees (lychin glued to twigs) onto the models. No buildings, just natural stuff. Your model would pretty much HAVE to be made of some sort of dense foam because of weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 Jim, thanks fr the link. I'm gonna contact them and see if it works for me, even though from first look I see that their needed time frame for large landscapes is about 3 weeks (almost the time I would have for the whole project). Ernest, I'm not really sure I know what they need it for myself... I can only say its a non-architectural project. However, the second option instead of this model is an animation... They still need to decide between the two, and apparently they think they have time... Hopefully I'll be back with more info, and more questions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingo Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Huh, i've only seen it working with files from FormZ for small industrial design thingy's, and its always stl files as E mentioned. How about building that thing by yourself, get an old deskplotter and instead of the pen attach something to spray a fine material onto the plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted May 20, 2003 Author Share Posted May 20, 2003 tnx for the replies. At this point I cant elaborate more on it, as I don't know much about it myself. What I do know, that the finla model is going to be about 3x8 meters (about 9'x72') How about building that thing by yourself, get an old deskplotter and instead of the pen attach something to spray a fine material onto the plate I didn't understand much from the second part of your sentence (with the spray), but so far what I was thinking is building it by myself. Can anyone elaborate about the .STL file format and the type of hardware that works with it? Links would be great . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kessler Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 I have another firm that does this and is probably better suited to your needs: http://www.stm-usa.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted May 27, 2003 Author Share Posted May 27, 2003 Originally posted by Jim Kessler: I have another firm that does this and is probably better suited to your needs: http://www.stm-usa.com/ Hey, thanks a lot. This firm realy does look like more than I thought there is to find out there. Now all there is left is to get the job... I'll update if there is any progress. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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