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Dimensioning Layouts of our 3D models is cumbersome - Looking for solution

sstokes
Explorer

Dimensioning Layouts of our 3D models is cumbersome - Looking for solution

sstokes
Explorer
Explorer

Hi, My design team creates in Studio Max. Once our design is complete, we have to get this to our estimators, who then price our design. We have a significant time management problem with this because of a lack of creating dimension layouts inside Studio Max. Here's a quick overview of what we do right now:

 

Once the design is complete, we export it to SketchUp, which has a nice dimension tool. It's also easy to print this and put it in a book for our estimators; however, because of what we do, we have to massage the model before we can export. We have to remove high-poly furniture, etc., which takes time. Half of the time, there are import problems, stray lines, etc, all of which slow the process down. This alone can create an hour of extra work to get the model in correctly. Then we have to save jpgs and put these into a book to send to the estimator. I find it silly that we have to leave Studio Max to do this. 

 

Some scripts add dimension tools, but they are mediocre at best. They are often written for simple designs. Many crash or can't find points or simply disappear from the program. And dimensions are only the first part. We need a simple way to get this onto a layout page.

 

From my research, even Autocad light requires exporting our models as dwg, which is going to cause a slow down again. Maybe I'm wrong here?

 

Does anyone have a good solve for this? I'm willing to buy whatever software is needed. My brain sees this as a simple fix.  Simple Dimensions and Layout inside Studio Max or another Autodesk program that reads the max file that we don't have to spend hours messaging. 

 

Please help! 🙂

 

 

 

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Diffus3d
Advisor
Advisor
Accepted solution

The problem is that 3dsmax wasn't built for this.  It's meant as a freeform artists tool, not a high accuracy manufacturing tool.  Most people do the accuracy work in something else and then bring into 3dsmax to render and animate.  Revit or AutoCAD are probably more what you're after.  Sketchup is also not perfect for what you're doing, thus the import problems.  (It's still pretty great though for many things.)  If you tried DiMaster and other scripts and find them lacking, then you might be in a suboptimal software for the job you're trying to do.

 

That being said, you might be able to adjust your modeling process but it would require changing up your workflow.  For example, instead of collapsing primitives, put the stack over them so you have specific dimensions on the base level.  You could put all furniture on a specific layer so that it's one click to 'remove' it.  So on and so forth.  A screenshot might be helpful to fully paint the picture here, each person will have a different idea of what you're trying to do without one.  

 

Best Regards,

Alfred (AJ) DeFlaminis

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MartinBeh
Collaborator
Collaborator

I agree that measuring tools in 3ds Max are almost non-existent but I would suggest to look into 3rd party tools for this:

 

DiMaster is pretty old, but maybe one of these scripts work better for you?

https://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/miauus-live-measure-pro

https://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/smart-measure

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Diffus3d
Advisor
Advisor

Those are cool, good stuff.

 

Best Regards,

Alfred (AJ) DeFlaminis

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CAMedeck
Advisor
Advisor

Just to throw in another option, and this really depends on what you're dimensioning and how, but...

could you use the Section spline object to create 'plans' and 'elevations' of your model, export to DWG, and then dimension in AutoCAD?

 

And +1 to the suggestion by Diffus3d to use layers for things like furniture, etc.  My team has recently revamped our layer standards and it makes organizing and sharing models much easier.  We start with a scene that has our standard layers preset, so anything we add is organized as  entourage, site, building, lights, etc.

 

Chris Medeck
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sstokes
Explorer
Explorer

Hi Martin I'll take a look at these thank you. 

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