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concept car

J

johnwsimpson

New Member
concept car

Hello everyone,

I am very new to Alibre. My background is in software design so this is not very intuitive to me and I struggle with drawings.

Even so, I am looking for someone who has done concept car modeling in Alibre and would be willing to let me look at their code and try to understand what is involved with bringing something like that to life.

I'm sorry if this post is not done well or follows the rules but this is my first post. I appreciate any help that anyone can give me.

Thanks
john
 
swertel

swertel

Alibre Super User


What portion of the car are you talking about? Just the outer body shape, engine, frame, suspension, or everything?
 
J

johnwsimpson

New Member


Well swertel,

I guess I'm talking about everything but mostly the outer body shape of the vehicle. Thank you for getting back to me.

john
 
C

CGN

Senior Member


Alibre won't be the best tool for such task ("Free surfacing"), i have seen some work in solidworks but still not good enough, you need look for a surface modeler like rhino or ashlar, there is mechanical software that can handle surfacing but i think I'll stick to a surface modeler for "concept designing" (Cars, boats, or any freeform shape).
 
swertel

swertel

Alibre Super User


That was going to be my suggestion. There is a reason that big name auto companies use CATIA and UG for their designs. The power for the free-form surface modeler to define the outer master surface. Then take that surface and cut it up into the body sections as manufactured - but always linked back to that master surface in order to make a smooth and sleak looking vehicle.

If you don't want to spend that much for CATIA and UG, try the Rhino plug-in or try VX CAD/CAM.

Most free-form surface modelers can export Iges or step master surface files which can then be used by Alibre to create the body sections.
 
J

johnwsimpson

New Member
concept car video playback

Hi Miles,

I watched the video about making a concept car. It was really good and you were right it took a while to load (I have 56k dialup). At the same time I have looked at Rhino and saw that they do some really nice car mock ups that look quite professional. Although the price is a bit much for me (I'm retired/disabled and don't have much money :))

I'm going to keep checking out Rhino and see if they have a plug-in for Alibre or if I will have to buy the whole Rhino package. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of Rhino that doesn't cost $600 dollars, email me and let me know.

Thanks to you all for all your help. Will let you know more when I get through checking out the above items.

john
 
swertel

swertel

Alibre Super User


Of all the systems I know that can handle free-form surfacing for car models, Rhino is your least expensive option. The Rhino plug-in is free from Alibre. Just download it from the support page of their website.
 
C

CGN

Senior Member


You can download:

Moi3D: basic Free application for now is free and can handle freeform.

Amapi V6: is free and is somewhere between a polygon modeler and Nurb modeler you can download it for free at polyloop

http://forums.polyloop.net/showthread.php?t=8428

I think you can save iges so you can use your model with any MCAD software

And the best free application IMO is FreeShip you can model any freeform and saves as iges:

http://www.freeship.org/

These are the ones i have found for free that can be useful, and there is a bunch of polygon modelers but they don't play with any MCAD.

Try them all, i think moi3D is a great program for the price, but still on beta, Amapi is a very complete modeling application is a little bit tricky to use IMO and then Freeship this one is fast and very easy to learn.
 
I

indesign

Alibre Super User


Cool. Freeship is open source. It's a shame a good programmer wouldn't take this and make a plug for Alibre. It would be nice to see some of this type of functionality in Alibre with the surfacing.

But then again I want to see Alibre remain a low cost. It seems with every improvement we are creeping up in cost.
 
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