Output rendered 3D in vector format

[kevindurette]

I'm trying to put diagrams and pictures into a Microsoft Access report so I make a nice PDF for eventual mass publication (after some doctoring up in InDesign). The final resulting PDF will be widely used by customers and coworkers, and it will see many downloads from our website.

Right now, I'm able to put a 2D drawing into the report and have a nice vector output in the final result. First, I plot the 2D drawing as a PDF using CutePDF. (I've had better luck with this than with AutoCAD 2008 Mechanical's native PDF output.) Then, I turn the PDF into an EMF file using Inkscape. I then import the EMF file into Microsoft Access. Lastly, I print the Access report to a PDF by using CutePDF. The final result maintains the vector nature of the drawings, producing effectively infinite resolution for publication.

This method is great for 2D drawings, but it breaks down with 3D drawings. I like how AutoCAD can output 3D plots as rendered raster imagery. These are nice for internal work, but they're too pixelated for publication work. I tried playing with the quality settings in AutoCAD, but I believe I also need to fix the quality settings somewhere in CutePDF. Regardless, even if I were to successfully be able to do this, the file size would skyrocket, causing slow loading times for local users and a larger download for customers and satellite users.

What are your ideas for making vector-based 2D imagery for 3D drawings?

Durette

 

[CarlB]

Do I understand you are plotting a 3d drawing directly to Cute pdf?
I believe you can adjust settings in Cute pdf, maybe as much as 600 dpi.
Have you tried plotting from AutoCAD to a raster plotter, producing a jpg file, then bring that into Access? Not a vector type image but may be plenty crisp and not too large.

 

[kevindurette]

What I may end up doing is making "fake" 3D plots by drawing the 3D views in 2D, either orthographically or by using trig. I can probably simulate polygon shading by making solid hatches. I was hoping to avoid this because we have a lot of drawings that would have to be converted in this fashion, and I'm sure they won't look as good as the raster versions anyway as most of them have curves.

Nobody told me they HAD to be vector-based, but the quality, file size, and loading time of vector imagery are all enticing. I was hoping to avoid using raster imagery because it's bulky and inefficient, and I'm still open to suggestions if anyone has any.

 

[kevindurette]

Loading time might not seem significant on a modern computer, but the PDFs are 1000+ pages.

 

[francesca]

You could try going from AutoCAD to dwf to pdf. You use the Publish command to create dwfs. You can then convert to pdf using Design Review.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=4086277

 

[CarlB]

There may be ways to convert the 3d to 2d.
As I recall, FLATSHOT was a command a few versions ago..OK here's a description, maybe it's not that old.

http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/AutoCAD_tips_3D-2D_model_space.html

 

[cfee]

Are you trying for a "rendered" image from your ACAD to end up in your final PDF document or are you trying for more of a technical drawing look with Isometric style line work? From your original post sounds like the rendered style bitmap image. Sounds like you're trying to capture render style images of your 3D part or asssembly for use as illustrations in your document.

You're right, if you can capture the vector parts of the drawing at the same time as the raster parts, you can get great zoom-ability for the line work, with only a mid-level compromise on the quality of the raster portion.

Are you assembling the documents in a page maker of some sort, for use by company personnel who will then download and view the results ?

Here's why I ask- If I can get a sense of your direction, I may be able to offer some hints as to some reasonable paths to excellent results that will end up VERY downloadable and readable and get you some solid attaboys as a result ! Hey- we're all in this together ! Give me a little input, and I'll see if any of my techniques would be appropriate for your application.

But as a look-ahead, none of my input will involve redraw and fill (as you mentioned) at all. Existing work is all we'll need to go forward.

Good luck and post back here-

C.F.

 

[kevindurette]

I'm going to propose an automated method of generating our annual product catalogs. A polished system ready for production would help my proposal tremendously.

In our primary catalog, we offer products of a few dozen types with tables of the available sizes. For each product type, we have 3D rendered images of the products (to aid in identification) alongside 2D engineering drawings that show how our products fit into the customer's assembly (to either help them be sure they're buying the right product or to help them modify other components of their assembly to fit a product they might have already purchased from us). Both of these drawings have always been done in AutoCAD.

Earlier, I thought using Access and CutePDF would impose a quality limitation on raster imagery. However, my coworker told me today that CutePDF can support higher resolutions than we've been using. For now, I'll continue the 2D drawings in vector imagery and render the 3D drawings as raster images, finding a way to achieve the proper resolution and level of JPEG compression for each use of the file.

 

[cfee]

Sounds like an excellent plan. Setting a tab to plot "as displayed" with the display mode set to shade with edges turned off, materials and colors (including transparency) properly applied is the only way I know of to fully automate the process of auto-plotting an entire directory of drawings that have rendered viewports as part of the vector drawing TAB.

My requirements are more specific than yours, so the way I achieve my vector/raster mix is different from the method I described above. I don't have an anti-aliasing filter (available with many CAD-Level video cards, just not the ones we have here) for ACAD so my results are limited by the DPI settings for the raster portions of my plot which actually provides us with fairly decent results. My BEST results however, require me to screen-capture the rendered image and overlay it into the PDF using ADOBE. All of that's pretty involved (cumbersome) so wouldn't be more appropriate for you than than what you're already doing.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. BTW- I use PDF995 as my output pdf printer. I prefer the compression it uses over the "new and improved" Adobe product, but I've heard GREAT things about CUTEpdf, as well !

C.F.