See Orca3D at upcoming trade shows in Europe

Want to see Orca3D demonstrated in person? Our European master reseller, Design Systems & Technologies, will be exhibiting Orca3D and other marine design and construction software at three upcoming trade shows:

Date	Trade Show	Location	Booth
May 18-20	Navalia	Vigo, Spain	F21
June 15-17	SeaWork 2010	Southampton, UK	242
June 21-25	Sea Tech Week	Brest, France	13

Please stop by and ask for Nick Danese!

Creating an Orca3D Template

Many users like to start a new design with a known set of default values. Creating a new Rhino template will save the Orca3D data found in the Orca3D Properties dialog. This data includes: 

• Project Name
• Company Name
• Logo File
• Current Orca3D Units
• Model Orientation
• View Settings
• Fluid Type
• Equilibrium Thresholds
• Mesh Settings

Since this is a Rhino Template, the Rhino length units can also be set to a default value.

 

To save an Orca3D Template, set the Orca3D data and Rhino length units to the desired values. The Notes field can also be populated with a description of the Template or other miscellaneous notes. Next, choose File > Save As Template… from the Rhino menu or type the command SaveAsTemplate. The Save Template File dialog will open, allowing the new template file to be named and its save location selected. If the Orca3D Template is saved with the Rhino templates, this template will now be available in the list of templates when Rhino starts up or a new file is created.

Foreshortening the view to help with fairing

When fairing a control net, it's sometimes helpful to "compress" the hull in the longitudinal axis, to exaggerate the curvature. This is especially important on hulls with high length-to-beam and length-to-depth ratios. One way to do this is to actually scale the model in the longitudinal dimension by some factor less than 1 (for example, 0.25 or 0.5). If you do this, you'll need to re-define the station locations.

Rhino has a different way to do it that only scales the view, and not the actual model. However, the scales that are specified are the horizontal and vertical scales (the Perspective view is not affected). If you adjust the horizontal scale, the length in the Planview and Profile (or Top and Front) will be foreshortened. In the Bodyplan (or Right) view, the beam will foreshortened. While not ideal, this can still be very helpful in the other views.

To do this, open the Rhino Properties dialog (File/Properties). Go to Rhino Options/Appearance/Advanced Settings/Wireframe/Other Settings. In the right side of the dialog, you can enter a Horizontal Scale. (If you want to apply it to something other than Wireframe, such as Shaded, select that instead.)

TerraFlat 3D, new patterning plug-in for Rhino

Tri-D Technologies has introduced a new plug-in for Rhino, TerraFlat 3D. TerraFlat3D will analyze and flatten 3D shapes for 2D patterning and manufacturing. Terraflat is used for: 

• composite boats
• automobile parts
• shoe prototyping
• awnings
• glass applications
• furniture patterning

Specific functions include: 

• Ability to read all popular 3D CAD formats (including high-end NURBS files from CATIA, Unigraphics, IDEAS, Pro-E, SolidWorks, Inventor)
• Color-coded strain analysis where relief cuts are required
• Automatic cut lines generated by “understanding” the seams
• Free-flow manual cuts anywhere along a complex NURBS surface (unique to the industry)
• Based on Tri-Ds AccuCut technology

Terraflat has been tested against other programs for developing metal plate, and the results are good. The developers are looking for input from the marine industry as they continue to develop this plug-in. An evaluation version is available on their website, at http://www.terraflat.com/.