Faq

What is DigiCad 3D Used For?

DigiCad 3D's Dynamic Attachment Feature

How to eliminate perspective distortion from a building photo

• Import a photo
• Set scale and unit of measure
• Set the four origin attach points on the photo. The bottom-left point first, the top-left point second, after the top-right and the bottom-right. The Attach points are represented with red markers on the screen.
• Open the Destination Attach points dialog from the Trasnfrom menu
• Insert the real coordinates correspondent to the Destination Attach points. The reference system isn't important, it's sufficient that all the coordinates are in the same reference system (ex. the left corner of the building and the ground line). The Destination Attach points are represented with blue markers on the screen.
• Select the picture
• Choose Transform Picture from the Transform menu
• Choose resolution, number of colors and Opaque or Transparent option
• Click the Ok button

Is it possible to eliminate perspective distortion from a photo without any measured point?

How DigiCad 3D's Attach Functions from files Work

In the case of a dam, what is the best way to consider the hydraulic pressure on the upstream face?

Do you use a water bed which is above the ground surface (will this then compute the hydraulic load on the upstream face?) or do you use a trapezoidal load to represent the water?

It is possible to use two different methods depending on the result wanted.

First case:

We have a dam with water on one side (let's suppose on the right side). We want to verify the dam from right to left.

The best method is to consider a water stratum. A water stratum has 0 porosity, O cohesion coefficient, 0 Fi and 0 weight.

The water bed is on the top of this stratum.

The slide surfaces must continue inside the "water stratum" until the surface.

In this case Geo-Tec B considers the weight and the pressure of the water bed correctly.

In this case it isn't possible to apply the first method and it's necessary to consider the water as a triangular or trapezzoidal load on the terrain (to consider the effect of the water on the terrain surface) plus the water bed (to consider the effect of the pressure of the water inside the terrain).

There is a special case to simulate a quick emptying of a lake. It's possible to simulate this case deleting the loads on the surfaces and maintaining the water bed on the top level. This because some time is needed for the water inside of the terrain to come out and in the meantime the internal pressure of the water corresponds to the top level of the water bed.

How does grahic import work in Nonio C? Nonio C imports graphic images in several formats. The PICT import command uses QuickTime and can import all the graphic formats handled by the installed QuickTime Other methods to import an image in Nonio C are Copy and Past and Drag & Drop.

How does DXF import work in Nonio C? Nonio C imports single points,  polygons (in DXF Polyline), faces, which it inserts as points to eventually be united by breaklines. It does not import other elements, such as lines, text, circles, etc. The primary use of DXF importation in Nonio C is to import contour lines from maps and complete 3D models. If you want to import a drawing for other purposes (such as to serve as the base document for a survey project), it's better to import the document first to another program, for example DigiCad 3D, then to Nonio C using Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop.

How can imported images be used? Imported immages can be used for a number of objectives, among which some are listed below: - Digitalization of a map with contour lines - Superimposing a design on the survey - Superimposing a survey drawing on an aerial photo - Use of a design as a guide for infill or excavation - Comparison of the terrain model with the map - Comparison of the terrain model with map of property lines

How does Nonio C calculates the terrain model? Nonio C constructs a mathematical surface connecting points with line segments to construct triangles. The generation of triangles is also regulated by the maximum distance for triangulation entered in the Preferences dialog box, which requires the program to search for and construct triangles only among points falling between the set distance. For any number of points, there are several possibile ways in which they may be joined by triangulation. If the general guidelines given above are followed and a reasonable maximum distance for triangulation set, the generated model should represent closely the actual terrain conditions. When there are certain discontinuities in the surface, a more detailed modeling process is required. In these situations, connections can be somewhat ambiguous, even for a simple case involving only four points. If automatic triangulation is used in situations like the one above, it can cause erratic results. Nonio C offers the user the ability to impose breaklines (representing lines of discontinuity, such as ditches, ridges, or streets) from which the triangulation can then be completed automatically. The user can locally correct the automatic triangulation and Nonio C recalculate the modified model immediately and automatically.

How to make doors transparent. To make the doors and windows completely transparent chose View -> General view Parameters and click on Transparent door/window opening. If you want windows and doors to be partially transparent, you must define a partially transparent material and apply this material to the elements.

How do you do vaulted roofs? To make a vault: 1) draw an arc with the desired measurements (in your case, 10 m) and number of vertixes (double click the arc icon to recall the "Polygon Characteristics" dialog box - more vertixes will make it smoother). Activating the Snap to Grid might help when drawing. 2) select the arc and choose the "Extrude Slab From Polygon" command from the Automatic Generations submenu (Process menu). Enter the depth (8.5 m) and leave the ends open (otherwise it will create a solid block). The command generates a 3D object to paste on the drawing. Note: the slab will be drawn according to the set slab parameters. I usually set the ref. ht. and slab thickness at 0. The extrusion function can be used to make the structural or frame elements too. For a slightly different element, you can select the arc and choose the "Generate Arch on Polygon" command. In this case the arc is generated according to the set wall parameters. A cross vault (like the one you saw on my web site) is nothing more than 2 intersecting vaults: 1) draw an arc 2) select the arc and choose the "Extrude Slab From Polygon" command. Enter the depth equal to the diameter of your arc so the vault will be perfectly square in plan.   3) separate the object using the "Separate Object" command in the Edit menu. This separates the generated vault into its base slab parts. 4) with the Slab icon activated use the scissors icon (right) to cut the slabs crossways from one corner to the other. 5) select and delete the unwanted slab parts. 6) select all the slabs and duplicate (Edit menu). 7) while all the duplicated slabs are still selected, rotate them 90 degrees (commands in Edit menu, rotate on mouse click), being sure to click the exact center. 8) regroup all as an object. You can set the ref. ht. of the object where you want.

I reckon I've got most of these completed except for the 1:10 details. How do I go about extracting details of the model so they can be printed at 1:10, this includes; stone strip footing detail; top plate detail; connection of rafters, to beam, to post detail etc  Just draw them in new layers. If necessary, copy some parts from plants and sections and add details as you want. To have a preview of your drawing, set the video scale to 1:10. Probably a lot of details are very similar on different designs; in this case is convenient to save them as library objects for using them later. You must use always real world measures. On the pagination phase, set the scale to 1:10. On the drawing table you can mix layers with different scale. You can change the natural scale to 1:10, to have a correct reference scale for texts and dimensions. In this case click the OK button on the following two alert windows: Change the dimension of the text according on the new natural scale? And Modify texts (modification is irreversible)?

The rooms of my building, which have no external lighting, are completely dark. Is there any way of defining natural lighting for the whole interior, valid all through the evolution of the 3D version? Or must I define the light source as I go? Natural lighting is really all about shadows - more light means fewer shadows. It all depends on the type of renderer you are using. For example, the interactive renderer doesn't support cast shadow, so if you use an external light, it lights the interiors too. The RayShade renderer supports cast shadows, so the light doesn't penetrate across the surfaces and doesn't light the interior - you have to put other lights in the building.

I have imported a dwg of a building plan which I have drawn up on vectorworks. The drawing is fine except I can not get it ungrouped or separated so that I can work with the lines and shapes which I have already created. I simply want to use the 2D plan which I have already drawn in vectorworks and make it into a 3D building in Domus so I can create walk throughs of the building and some nice 3D images, similar to those on your website. In Domus.Cad there are 2 ways to import a dwg file: from the File menu, with the Import DWG/Dxf file command, and from the Layers menu, from the Import DW/DXF on the Active layer command. The first command imports a DWG file maintaining the original structures of layers, names, colors etc. To modify the elements you have to go on the layer containing them. The second command imports a dwg file in a single layer and it is the right command if you want to import a file inside another project, maintaining the structure and organization of the project. If the DWG file contains DWG blocks, they are imported as Domus.Cad objects, so the elements inside are grouped in an object, To edit the element inside an object, select it and execute the Edit->Separate Object command or the correspondent button on the palette #2.

Are there different types of wall construction, e.g. cavity walls, stud walls etc? You can change the materials of the wall faces, but not the internal structure. To draw very complex walls, it is faster to use Domus.Cad tools. An example of cavity walls follows below. Here is a room with the external part of the cavity wall. With the bucket tool, automatically fill the room with a polygon Select the polygon and execute the command Expand/Reduce polygon from the Process menu or from the palette #2. Insert the distance between the internal and external parts of the cavity wall. Choose the command Wall on Polygon generation from the palette #3 This is the result Delete the polygon Add windows and doors Add some other parts to complete the room The result is below.

To do a rafter, spanning from one wall to another do you suggest a. set up roof/slab parameters and manually draw to desired width (say 50mm), or b. setup up roof/slab parametres, draw a polygon line - process slab off polygon line. the same for columns, walls, roof slabs etc Either method is fine but drawing a polygon first adds another step. Beams and other things can also be created with wall elements but I usually find it easier to use slab elements. I draw them at ref. ht. 0 (maybe even saving them as an object for future use) then place them at the ref. height needed.

The Line Thickness Button seems to not work. Are you pressing the Line Thickness Button long enough? Like several other buttons, it has to be pressed for a short while before the menu of icons appears.  Or perhaps your monitor is not set for millions of colors - in this case, the sub-menu is not visible. To modify the thickness of an element, such as a line or polygon, simply select the element, then choose the desired thickness, using the Line Thickness button. A shortcut is to use the number keys to indicate the desired thickness. Exceptions to the above are Slabs and Walls, whose lines are always Thickness 1, or Thickness 0 if invisible. Wall edge thickness depends on the height of the wall e.g. , a low wall has thin edge lines.

How can I create shadow for objects in 2D or 3D? In DomusCad, cast shadows can only be created using RayShade in 3D. For 2D drawings, use the traditional method of indicating shadows by a hatched or colored polygon. Or try this interesting method : create a 3D view with RayShade, complete with cast shadows. This can then be transferred to a layer which has been rescaled and placed under the technical view. The result is a technical view with colors and shadows. The same can be achieved in plan.

How do you control the depth of the Section view, say at 1:50 so it shows detail to a depth of 1-2m. There is no way to automatically control the depth. Domus.Cad always shows the entire model. If you need to see different details when you change the scale, I suggest you should use different materials to decide which parts of the drawing you want to show or hide depending on that scale. With the parametric selection you can then select elements of a certain material to delete them, change their visibility, or move them to a different layer.