So things like smoothing groups have to be done on the imported model. And if you do want to make a change to the model, you will have to do it on the imported model.Īnother issue with using CAD for game design is that you cannot edit the vertex normals on the source model. So you have to make sure the model is correct before you start to unwrap the UV coordinates. But if you make a change in the source model and convert it to an FBX again, all UV information is lost. This means you have to do the UV mapping in a game/movie modelling program.
It doesn’t support UV coordinates, so you can’t do proper texturing. There is one major drawback to using a CAD program for game design though.
These sketches look exactly the same as the notes I make while measuring, so turning that into a 3d model is a breeze. On top of that, the workflow of Inventor (or any CAD program for that matter) is to create a sketch and use that to model the geometry. You just can’t do that with a program which doesn’t support CAD specific features, or at least not efficiently without the use of high quality 3d scanned data as a reference. And if I change one feature of a button, all related features must be updated. The position of a button on a panel needs to be exact, not eyeballed. Because 3ds Max or any other non-CAD modelling program, doesn’t support constraint based parametric design. So why use Inventor instead of 3ds Max to do the modelling. Photogrammetry tools such as Photoscan cannot be used because most surfaces in the cockpit don’t have much surface detail and are glossy, producing a noisy result.īut I digress. Unfortunately a good 3d scanner costs north of $30k, which is beyond my budget. The scanned data can be used as a background reference for direct modeling also.
The data a 3d scanner produces isn’t suitable for realtime rendering because of quality and quantity issues but it can be used to scan once and measure later. The actual modelling is done back home.Īnother way of doing this is with the use of a 3d scanner. Getting those through security each day is the subject of another blog post.īecause air time is limited (our longest sector is only two hours), I make a quick sketch of the item to be measured and note down the dimensions. I measure everything down to the millimetre using a variety of tools. In order for the dimensions of the 3d model to be correct, the data source must be correct. This is assuming accurate hand and finger tracking is available for VR but it is only a matter of time before that becomes available at a consumer level. If a button is not exactly in the right position, you will miss it. You don’t consciously think where to place your finger to push a button, it is done automatically, like typing on a keyboard. On top of that, people have muscle memory. If you have spent thousands of hours in the cockpit of an airplane, you will notice straight away if a panel or switch position or orientation is slightly off. In order to support VR, all dimensions must be correct. The program will support Virtual Reality once the resolution is high enough to read the instruments.
Autodesk inventor 2015 for designers Pc#
The A320 cockpit I am modelling will be used in a professional PC based flight simulator. I sometimes get asked the question why I use Autodesk Inventor for 3d modelling rather than something which is more suitable for game design such as 3ds Max.