Surfacing Wireframes or sketches?

[kevwoogs]

Hi,

In my spare time I am trying to constructing full surface models of concept drawings of cars using V5. I am aware that a professional surfacer would use Alias or Icem to create free form `A’ class surfaces in industry but I want to stick with Catia!

As a mechanical designer I am proficient in Catia but only can parametrically surface using GSD for simple pressings and plastic covers etc…

I have completed a car using blends, sweeps etc but this is from a series of constrained sketches on a large number of planes. My feature history is huge…I have use geo sets etc to try and simplify it but feel I am approaching this the wrong way.

After looking into this further I am wondering if I should construct 3D lines and splines from a 3D grid sytem to form a wireframe – rather than sketches on offset planes!

If anybody has any experience and could offer any advice or general comments it would be appreciated!

Cheers

 

[DBezaire]

Kevwoogs - 3d wireframe is the way to go. Take a look at work on support. Do you have access to the Freestyle surfacing module? Get comfortable with 3d wireframe,swept surface and law curves.

Regards,
Derek

 

[kevwoogs]

Thanks for confirming wireframe as the correct approach. I have started looking at `work on 3D support' but can’t get it to work as I thought it would. I envisage this to be a 3D grid system in which you could snap to each point in any plan/direction. This is hard to explain but I can only create splines etc in a single plane. Should I not be able to give each controlling point of the spline a different coordinate (on the fly)? I may need to figure it out a bit more!

Maybe I should be creating a planer x,y,z grid system and many different `2d work on supports’

I have access to Freestyle surfacing but I would like to grip some of the basics first.

Thanks - Kevin

 

[Azrael]

Note that work on support works on curved surfaces also not only planes. Hope that will give you some new ideas.

I my self am a big fan of the IMA module but that is not really good for large parts but for detail styling.