Curved Stair Help

[6 Degrees]

Hi Everyone,

We are trying to create a curved staircase that is similar to the image I have attached. We are able to get the stairs and the spindles modelled no problem but are having a difficult time with the railing. We are modelling in autocad with texturing, lighting etc., in Viz. Does anyone no how to get a shape to extrude along a spline in 3D or another way of attempting this. We are under a deadline with the client and need some help if anyone knows how.

 

Thanks

the guys at I-maginethis.com

[Buffalo Bills]

Try lofting. Create a spline in the shape of the curved staircase. Then create the shape of your railing. Under your geometry tab go to compound objects and you'll find the lofting tool. When you get to that point you'll want to select your spline then click on find shape. Then click on your shape and the shape should follow the spline.

Good luck!

[MikeBenoit]

Doing that in AutoCad (or doing any decent 3d modelling for that matter) would be frustrating and a waste of time.

 

So my best advice: stop modeling in autocad. Unless you're sending your models to engineers or contractors there's no reason you should be using it. 3d studio is quite capable of importing DWG/DXF or whatever your client is giving you.

 

I can't imagine how long it must take you to do a full project. Hope you can get through it.

 

Good Luck!

[William Alexander]

If you really want to do it in AutoCad....

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/resources/tutorials/wda/tutorial5.asp

 

Check out the first tut and the face modeling, it may help. Please let me know if the tut was of any asssistance.

 

WDA

[6 Degrees]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for all of the advice. I really think the tutorial will work. It seems to be very in depth and detailed so we'll try it and see. I will let you know in the next day or 2 how it looks. We will post the final image when completed.

 

Thanks again.

Duane