Hi guys.
I'm still salivating over MoI. Its elegant architecture, customizable interface and incrdible power is honestly better than my current program sketchup.

Now, Rhino is obviosly a very good program, and can be used as a replacement for autocad and create good 2d plan drawings etc.

Sharing some of the features with Rhino, is it a fair enough question to ask if people have had any success using MoI for 2D plan drawrings? I mean, if people argue that sketchup can be used for this purpose, certainly MoI can do it, and I'm guessing do a better job at it.

Hi 2kemon, yup there are quite a few people who use MoI just for producing 2D plan drawings because they like the feel of the UI and the fluid workflow (the way snaps and construction lines work, etc...).

Someone posted about that just yesterday here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=4053.8

However, MoI does not yet have dimension annotations or line styles, so you need to export to a different CAD program to add those things. So MoI is not by itself a complete solution for this.

But it can still be useful if you're going to spend something like 4 or 5 hours just drawing and then want to add dimensions and line styles at the end in a different program. That may be better than spending 8 hours instead doing the drawing elsewhere for example.

In the future I do expect to be adding some 2D drafting annotation type functions into MoI like simple dimensions and line styles and stuff like that.

- Michael

Hi 2kemon,

> I mean, if people argue that sketchup can be used for this
> purpose, certainly MoI can do it, and I'm guessing do a better
> job at it.

Well, the difference there is that SketchUp does have some basic dimension annotation tools in it, for putting a labeled distance along an edge, while MoI does not have that yet.

MoI has a lot more kinds of curve drawing tools than SketchUp though, so as far as producing the drawing itself and not the dimensions and labels and such, that part does work great in MoI right now, but you need to go somewhere else to add the labeling.

- Michael

Michael, man. You're amazing! Asking a question on your forum is like text messaging you and getting a reply within a couple of minutes ;)

You have a point, that sketchup has annotation and such, but in reality, if you want to produce "finished" 2D drawings, you still need help from another app. Layout is suggested to provide this finish, and I have seen good results from this combo. But the already existing MoI > Illustrator combo probably blends in to more workflows and is at least as powerful.

Looking further into the demo, just the little detail that you don't automatically orbit when in "top view" is a potential god-sent timesaver, if you plan to buy and use MoI in a future 2D workflow. And yes, that is obviously one of my plans ;) Native fillet, extend and trim commands are obvious advantages.

There could be a potentially very easy way of editing linestyles, when combining MoI and Illustrator. Does an .ai export preserve the choice of line color? If so, its just to create a stylesheet where color x = y linestyle in illustrator, color z = w linestyle and so on.

Hi Michael ..

Is there some simple way to go from MoI files to .dwg files?
I have a program that accepts .3dm files directly so I simply open my files there for final dimensions,
but, there are some pretty good and free programs for drafting in native .dwg formats.
I am aware that MoI won't export to .dwg directly but do you know if there is a free or inexpensive program out there
that would do the conversion?
cheers,
eric

...an old version of sketchup might do that for you? Or maybe sketchup + some plugins.

Hi 2kemon,

> Looking further into the demo, just the little detail that
> you don't automatically orbit when in "top view" is a
> potential god-sent timesaver, if you plan to buy and use
> MoI in a future 2D workflow.

Yeah this is one of the benefits of having a multi-viewport type structure. Because MoI has a dedicated "Top" viewport that you can switch to, it makes it possible for MoI to treat that view somewhat differently than the 3D view and make it behave more like a 2D environment. The object frame that goes around the selected objects helps with this as well.


> Does an .ai export preserve the choice of line color?

No, not currently - the AI export right now is pretty basic. Colors were a new thing added in for MoI v2 and they haven't quite percolated down to all areas of the program yet.

Improving the AI export is on my target list for version 3 though.

Colors do get exported to the CAD formats like 3DM and IGES though, so if you use a CAD program to do the import they can come through that way.

- Michael

Hi eric,

> I am aware that MoI won't export to .dwg directly but do you
> know if there is a free or inexpensive program out there
> that would do the conversion?

One inexpensive option is ViaCAD, I think the ViaCAD 2D version (price = $40) is able to read both 3DM and IGES CAD data and can export to DWG.

http://www.punchcad.com/c-12-consumer-cad.aspx

There are also a variety of free 2D CAD programs out there like Draftsight and DoubleCAD XT but many of these are focused on kind of being AutoCAD clones and don't import a lot of formats other than ones that AutoCAD does as well.

- Michael

Hi Michael ...

Yes, ViaCad does look like a workable option.

It seems that MoI, ViaCad and possibly Draftsight would make a very inexpensive modeling and drafting combination.
Add one of the lesser expensive rendering programs and 3d PDF and one would have a pretty complete tool box.

I personally have a bunch of more expensive programs but am always on the lookout for workable solutions
for people getting started with low budgets.

And, if a few hundred dollars will produce professional results why spend thousands?

thanks for the information.
cheers,
eric

Hi eric,

> Add one of the lesser expensive rendering programs and 3d
> PDF and one would have a pretty complete tool box.

Yup, and maybe Simlab Composer would fit in well for those tasks, I think their "Rendering Edition" version handles both rendering and generation of 3D PDF files as well, and it's $149: http://www.simlab-soft.com/

- Michael

""""""""I think their "Rendering Edition" version handles both rendering and generation of 3D PDF files as well""""""""""

It's also the Luxon render engine... Which is basically hypershot/keyshot renders!

Yes, the Sim Lab renderer is good and the 3d PDF is awesome ... a great way to present a project to a client.
The last house I designed I did a construction and framing detail plan with lots of 'layers' or 'styles' and the client could turn them on or off at will to better understand the construction process. Good stuff.
cheers,
eric

I use Moi to make 2d stuff all the time, it's easier and faster at on many levels.

Object management with styles is faster than any other I know.
Some examples:

Click on text description to select all in this style, ctrl+click to subtract one style
Right-Click the Eye to isolate the style, Ctrl+click to lock.
Swipe to rapidly on the eyes to turn on or off a bunch of styles.

I use other programs to dimension.

There is a script to transfer curves to dxf:
http://kyticka.webzdarma.cz/3d/moi/converter/3dmCurves2DXF/3dmCurves2DXF.zip


Marc

Hi, I agree with the ones that say MoI is great for 2d drawings! I have tried 2 methods for exporting MoI files to Autocad: 1. Export as SAT. This option doesnt let you export the styles. 2. Use the rhino dwg exporter, it does allow you to export styles!

Yes, I use MoI for a lot of 2d work. It's my favourite drawing program, for 2d and 3d.

(I make art for my games in it)