Eagle3D

Am 17.10.2012 01:20, schrieb fred:

I've been playing around with eadgle3D (povray based) and it is very

impressive.

 

My first issue is I dont know how to add components from eagle libraries

to eagle3D

 

I see from the writers web page that this should be possible but

I seem to be a bit slow on the uptake for some reason

 

Does anyone know if there is a step by step guide or howto for this?

There is NO possibility to add EAGLE libraries to 'eagle3D' other than

learning the POVRay syntax and manually creating all the necessary

POVRay files yourself. This is a LOT of work and consumes a LOT of time.

'eagle3D' already converts all copper to POVRay properly, but the 3D

information for the REAL components CANNOT be automatically created,

because it doesn't EXIST anywhere. For the typical package, 2-8 hours

should be necessary to create a DECENT model (going down a bit when

getting the hang of POVRay), meaning that the library creation work is

going up by a factor of ten, roughly. This is the reason why I never

REALLY bothered to use 'eagle3D' - MUCH too much work for a nice, but

NOT a really important result.

Andreas Weidner

Am 17.10.2012 01:20, schrieb fred:

I've been playing around with eadgle3D (povray based) and it is very

impressive.

 

My first issue is I dont know how to add components from eagle libraries

to eagle3D

 

I see from the writers web page that this should be possible but

I seem to be a bit slow on the uptake for some reason

 

Does anyone know if there is a step by step guide or howto for this?

There is NO possibility to add EAGLE libraries to 'eagle3D' other than

learning the POVRay syntax and manually creating all the necessary

POVRay files yourself. This is a LOT of work and consumes a LOT of time.

'eagle3D' already converts all copper to POVRay properly, but the 3D

information for the REAL components CANNOT be automatically created,

because it doesn't EXIST anywhere. For the typical package, 2-8 hours

should be necessary to create a DECENT model (going down a bit when

getting the hang of POVRay), meaning that the library creation work is

going up by a factor of ten, roughly. This is the reason why I never

REALLY bothered to use 'eagle3D' - MUCH too much work for a nice, but

NOT a really important result.

Andreas Weidner

In article <k5ml2u$mjt$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de>, andreas.weidner@aei.mpg.de

says...

Thanks for the comments Andreas. However the use of this is very

important to me - there is nothing trivial about it.

Fortunately I'm familiar with a very early release of POVray so learning

this easier version isn't a worry, nor is the creation of 3D stuff

elsewhere (I dont know - perhaps I can use 3DS Max - I use that from

time to time - I'll have a look and see if POVray now does STL or

something) 

I seem to have 2 things I want to chase if anyone can help:

1. Other people already have models for components I can't seem to use -

is there a repository or info link about what already exists somewhere

and how to get it working?

2. My original request for handholding info on how to go about doing it

- what sequence what file formats where to put what etc.

It seems to me this would make a great community project.

In article <k5ml2u$mjt$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de>, andreas.weidner@aei.mpg.de

says...

p.s.   ... perhaps a degree of automation could even be done for

components with bsdl models... it's just a thought

Am 18.10.2012 14:11, schrieb fred:

2. My original request for handholding info on how to go about doing it

- what sequence what file formats where to put what etc.

I use 'eagle3d' in the following sequence:

  1. Take a caliper and LOTS of time, measure the stuff to model and,

     in POVRay syntax, create a macro out of it like

       #macro XC174()

         union {

           difference{

             cylinder{<0,0,0>,<0,1.4,0>,6.5/2}

             cylinder{<0,-0.1,0>,<0,0.5,0>,4.5/2}

             box{<-5,-0.1,-5>,<5,1.5,-1.8>}

             box{<-5,-0.1,1.8>,<5,1.5,5>}

             }

           cylinder{<0,1.4,0>,<0,8.4,0>,3.8/2}

           cylinder{<0,8.4,0>,<0,20,0>,2.7/2 pigment{Gray20}}

           cylinder{<0,20,0>,<0,24,0>,2.2/2 texture{col_gold}}

           cylinder{<0,24,0>,<0,28,0>,1.5/2 pigment{White}}

           cylinder{<0,28,0>,<0,32,0>,0.5/2 texture{col_gold}}

           box{<-5.7/2,-4,-0.3>,<-4.5/2,0,0.3>}

           box{<4.5/2,-4,-0.3>,<5.7/2,0,0.3>}

           cylinder{<0,0,0>,<0,-4,0>,0.5/2 texture{col_silver}}

           texture

           }

       #end

     The thingy should be modeled as it appears on screen in EAGLE.

     Rotated models etc. ARE possible, but that makes everything

     much more difficult.

  2. Put this model syntax into the file 'e3d_user.inc' from

     'eagle3d'. Now POVRay knows about the model.

  3. Now 'eagle3d' must know which package to connect to your

     newly created 3D model. The 'eagle3d' file '3dusrpac.dat'

     is used for that. Put a line in there like, e.g.,

       XC174N;XS01-2S-RG174;XS01-2S-RG174-HV:0:0:0:0:0:0:

       0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:

       XC174(:Crimp terminal RG174:Crimp terminal RG174

     (All the above three lines need to be put into ONE line,

     and without spaces).

     This syntax is VERY cryptic, but at least documented on

     the 'eagle3d' homepage. Unfortunately, in German (well,

     since I am German, it's not a problem for me).

  4. The first data of the above string is the name of the EAGLE

     package, the third-last data is the name of the POVRAY

     macro. All other parameters are used for rotation, shift,

     etc. Be aware that the coordinate systems of EAGLE,

     'eagle3d' and POVRay are NOT identical, which REALLY

     confuses me every time I try new things there...

  5. That's it: One POVRay macro in 'e3d_user.inc', one

     additional line in '3dusrpac.dat'. Quite easy, in fact,

     but the model creation and getting the '3dusrpac.dat'

     parameters right is rather time-consuming.

All the rest is handled by the 'eagle3d' ULPs.

Andreas Weidner

In article <k5oucm$bg9$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de>, andreas.weidner@aei.mpg.de

says...

Thanks for the info Andreas - I'll try and have a go over the weekend.

(I started to learn some German when I brought some cad/cam stuff over

for a show about 30 years ago - I've always regretted not doing more 

and now eagle3D gives me another reason to regret it)....

It occurs to me that using a photo as a map on standard cubes/cylinders

may be a shortcut in some ways - but I dont know how succesfull it would

be ... It might be enough to fill in some gaps quicker maybe as

temporary fillers...  

'eagle3D' already converts all copper to POVRay properly, but the 3D

information for the REAL components CANNOT be automatically created,

because it doesn't EXIST anywhere. For the typical package, 2-8 hours

should be necessary to create a DECENT model (going down a bit when

getting the hang of POVRay), meaning that the library creation work is

going up by a factor of ten, roughly. This is the reason why I never

REALLY bothered to use 'eagle3D' - MUCH too much work for a nice, but

NOT a really important result.

 

Andreas Weidner

 

That's a slow process. I suggest you have a look at eagleUp :

http://eagleup.wordpress.com/

(check the first two videos)

Creating a model takes less than 5 minutes, and many are already available

(in native format, or from the manufacturer with a couple of conversions).

The default rendering is basic, but you can use the models for mechanical

tests, not only for static images. With advanced renderers you can get nicer

images if wanted.

Jerome

In article <2eeda27c41998cf7c0a8cd8e9fc@news.cadsoft.de>,

jerome.lamy@gmail.com says...

http://eagleup.wordpress.com/

 

sorry. nothing related to google is acceptable.

OK - I've been able to spend some time with this now and have discovered

it is quite easy to use the generic components supplied with 2 simple

cut and paste actions into the 3duser.dat file. 2 minutes per component

tops.

That makes a HUGE difference and the whole thing much more of a complete

solution. I'm really impressed. I've got almost all my board visualised

now. I may even be able to get away without having to create new

components.

Its just a shame I had to work so hard to find out how easy it is!

Essentially a more efficient way to do it would be to be able to assign

a simple package alias and have the ULP scan just an alias name list

(look in the V50 ULP release about line 1923 - a function poked in there

should do it. Then perhaps a simple app to display the provided images

with a box to allocate the actual package name as an alias .... if I

ever get time!)

but perhaps the extra stuff in this .dat file is needed for something I

dont understand yet. (I know what it is - no need to explain)

So anyway thanks for the pointers guys.