Best way to create a 3D model of a board. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 12:54:43 am
content: I wanted a 3D model of a board so I exported an IDF file from eagle and imported it into solidworks via circuit works and made the board. Then I created the components and placed them on. Is there any faster / better way to do this? I added my end result. It turned out kind of nice.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 01:32:02 am
content: Use altiumdrop STEP files directly in the library. no need for 3d party tools.

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 02:34:44 am
content: Ill just whip out a couple of thousand of pounds for altium. I'm 15 cant afford that shit.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 02:45:58 am
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 02:34:44 amExcellent answer!

author: Farley
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 02:50:41 am
content: DipTrace exports STEP files. It works well.Create the component models in SolidWorks, save them as STEP files and add them to the component patterns you create in DipTrace.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 02:54:41 am
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 02:34:44 amHow much did you pay for SolidWorks?

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 03:36:21 am
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on August 28, 2015, 02:54:41 amGot it from school only 2012 version though.

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 03:38:02 am
content: Quote from: Farley on August 28, 2015, 02:50:41 amDipTrace has always sounded interesting. I've never used it before. I must give it a go.

author: ludzinc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 03:50:24 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on August 28, 2015, 01:32:02 amUse Circuit Makerdrop STEP files directly in the library. no need for 3d party tools.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 03:57:51 am
content: Quote from: ludzinc on August 28, 2015, 03:50:24 amexactly ! there ya go. Use Circuitmaker , the free version of Altium.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 03:58:40 am
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 03:36:21 amtry asking the school again if they got altium older version.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 04:42:21 am
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 03:36:21 amIf you are able to steal SolidWorks, you should be able to steal Altium Designer too right?

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 05:52:56 am
content: You probably already know of eagleup and eagle3D using POV ray.https://eagleup.wordpress.com/http://www.instructables.com/id/Render-3D-images-of-your-PCBs-using-Eagle3D-and-PO/http://www.societyofrobots.com/electronics_Eagle3D_tutorial.shtmlI played with the POV ray and eagle3D and it works ok but is a little laborious, lacking part models...although I did write script modifications for 3D parts I needed. Really all this did was make a nice looking 3D model...not really 3D engineering.

author: kingofkya
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 06:03:55 am
content: Use kicad:Pwell the prereleses anyways:Pall i did to create this was click the view 3d button.

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 06:06:02 am
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on August 28, 2015, 04:42:21 amThe only things left on the list are a stolen win7/win10 and a hacked version of photoshop.Why pay for one license if all the rest is illegal anyway.

author: Karel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 07:42:34 am
content: Eagle can do 3d export to IDF, a format that can be read by all professional mechanical CAD software.For details, have a look here:http://www.element14.com/community/thread/43949/l/idf-export-brokenThe resulting IDF file can be converted to a step file with FreeCAD, a free mechanical CAD program.We send those files to our mechanical engineer who is responsible for the enclosures.Works fine for us.

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 10:22:49 am
content: If I was in some way to come across altium is there any really good tutorials. Ive used it once and it was so complicated all I worked out to do what to place one part on the schematic then I couldn't do anything.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 05:31:48 pm
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 10:21:04 amyou dont have to reply to all these offtopic including mine earlier...Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 10:22:49 amthe one draw back in altium is they dont provide step by step video like diptrace but... reading online documentation is the closest thing to get acquainted... i suggest starting with...http://wiki.altium.com/download/temp/pdfexport-20150828-280815-1729-70077/ADOH-CreatingLibraryComponents-280815-1729-70078.pdf?contentType=application/pdfand then...http://www.altium.com/files/altiumdesigner/s08/learningguides/ap0140%20understanding%20design%20annotation.pdfand then...http://www.altium.com/files/altiumdesigner/s08/learningguides/tu0117%20getting%20started%20with%20pcb%20design.pdf

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 08:46:38 pm
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on August 28, 2015, 02:54:41 am

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 08:48:42 pm
content: Quote from: Galenbo on August 28, 2015, 06:06:02 amWhy not just steal the whole fucking computer?Why not just run an extension cord out to the neighbor's house and steal his electricity? And maybe he left his WiFi router open and insecured, so you can steal his bandwidth too? Why not steal his cat?

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2015, 11:28:40 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on August 28, 2015, 08:48:42 pmI don't really like cats but the rest sounds good.

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 07, 2015, 11:02:26 pm
content: Quote from: Aodhan145 on August 28, 2015, 11:28:40 pmOftopic about "stealing" animals:You don't steal animals, we the humans objectivice everything. We convert everything into a property, an object to own and even abuse.This happens to humans too, in very diverse ways (slavery, abusive jobs, housewives...). If the cat is happy in the place, it will come back.I love cats. They are my preferred animals since very early childhood. I love that feline behavior, their somewhat rebel attitude, their nice looks, their radical behaviour and how defensive they can be even to a stronger pungent if they have no choice (mothers, specially).If you try to dominate a cat, you just create an enemy that way and you only will be able to slave them with extreme torture such as in circus. The behavior of cats is very complex and need to be understood properly to be a friend or parent of them, I even meet occasionally cats that are very friendly to me and not because I feed them.With the exception of "wolfie" dogs, I find most canids to be boring and too dependent. I don't dislike them, but dogs like chihuahua seem an aberration to me.I "stole" cats. Some people that must really be jailed and go to some good mental health professionals abused of them in many ways. From naive cats that are often attacked from other cats or dogs and not cured properly, malnutrition or getting horribly beaten because they did something "wrong".They don't deserve that, fuck off and stole that . I saved them from a miserable life, they are part of my family now and I try to understand these little tigers the best I can.Now I'm officially a mad man with lots of cats at home, it's really difficult to manage it and I'm really concerned about it. But I love these animals just how they are, a bit crazy and impulsive like me---- Oftopic off ----I agree copyright infringement sucks, it's okay. But I think copyright sucks equally.I understand why warez happens, people want to do stuff and don't have money for it. There's not property, you can't style something that's not physical. But that's a horrible long term solution to them, they are attached to something they have no control over it instead promoting or improving an affordable alternative.Internet should be public for everyone in the same way as other services, it's becoming something fundamental for lots of reasons. I know many people with severe economical problems that "steal" internet but not for watching pr0n and such (maybe they do it occasionally, anyway), but mainly for their jobs and studies needs, even people using it to comminicate because having problems communication with others in real life is something important.I think Intellectual Property to be a total bullshit of our era, it's totally nonsense to me. You can't own ideas or concepts, everything is developed after ideas from other people.Anyway, very successful technology shoguns started business by stealing "Intellectual Properties": Bill Gates/Paul Allen and Steve Jobs/Wozniak. Even Edison did it a lot, one example were their movie projections.This is why I prefer copyleft:- There's no social discrimination.- There's no vendor lock-in.- Interested parties can improve the software in an organically way. It promotes collaboration instead competition.- Less need of resources to do the same.- Code quality can be a zillion times better than most propietary software if the project gets successful.- If something bad happens, you can fork it or continue the development.- It can provide more jobs worldwide and avoid monopolies.- Companies with bad practices are eventually punished by the community, that's why forks such as Linux Mint are getting more popular than Ubuntu (for example).It's hard to adapt to KiCad and FreeCAD? Okay, they aren't perfect. But they are usable and improving exponentially, despite having a thousand times less resources than the big competitors.

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 05:00:20 pm
content: Quote from: Circuiteromalaguito on September 07, 2015, 11:02:26 pmYeah I did decided to go with kicad I forgot to say. I haven't used it yet as I know eagle well and I can't be arsed to learn new software but I will get round to it.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 06:50:11 pm
content: Striking amount of anguish about "stolen" software, although the OP only mentioned having a Student edition without saying whether he is a student or not. Reminds me of the old adage about nobody being so righteous as a reformed "professional lady".There is something seriously wrong with how our intellectual property works. People have no qualms about buying used hardware. This forum is rife with people gloating over high quality professional equipment that they paid a tiny fraction of the new cost. In many cases, hardware that is still being sold new by the manufacturer. This forum also has threads about how to get around software limitations in various hardware products.But software is stolen if resold or given away. No matter how old or obsolete. I know there is a license agreement inside the package that says you didn't really buy the software, you only purchased an opportunity to use it for a little while on some finite number of machines, and perhaps by more than one person as long as they are using the same physical hardware. But that sales mechanism is an exploit of the crazy way IP works. I am sure that there is a business model that works based on actual sale of the software product. Just compare it to any hardware item. The manufacturing cost for software is criminally low. Yes it is easy to duplicate, but in reality, so are a great many hardware items.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 07:41:36 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on August 28, 2015, 08:48:42 pm

author: Aodhan145
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 10:28:01 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on September 08, 2015, 06:50:11 pmThis is true everyone is hacking all the rigols and unlocking every feature but as soon as some one pirates pc software they are the worst person ever.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 10:49:37 pm
content: Quote from: pickle9000 on August 28, 2015, 02:45:58 amMinus the profanity.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 10:54:41 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on August 28, 2015, 08:48:42 pmThere is one big difference. If you steal computer, electricity, cat, those physical things disappear where they originally were and no more available for original owner. Not the case with software. Other than company not receiving "potential" profits nobody lost anything. The person who stole the software, not likely to buy it for money anyway. More like just opt out to not using it at all.So while pirating the software is not something to be endorsed, IMO comparing it with stealing goods is not right either.At the same time most are completely fine with buying clone/counterfeit stuff (original manufacturer don't receive the profits) and even using it with original software(clone Salae Logic, J-link, Pickit, name it). Or hacking oscilloscopes to obtain more functionality for less money (again manufacturer don't receive profit). Smells like double standards for me.

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2015, 10:55:41 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on September 08, 2015, 10:49:37 pmWTF are you talking about? Those are nice words even dear Dave used.No shit, Sherlock!