TurboCAD Pro 2015 – Molded Stacking Chair SAMPLE Pro 2015 - Molded Stacking Chair... · molded stacking chair that is illustrated on the cover of the tutorial. The reader will also

Donald B. Cheke www.textualcreations.ca

1

TurboCAD Pro 2015 – Molded Stacking Chair

Donald B. Cheke

www.textualcreations.ca


2

All rights reserved No part of this document may be reproduced, copied, stored on a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without written permission from the author. The purchaser may, however, print one copy of the document to paper and may make one backup copy of the downloaded material for personal safe keeping. Limitation of Liability While every effort has been taken in the preparation and the writing of this document the author assumes no responsibility for errors and/or omissions nor for the uses of the material and the decisions based on such use. No warranties are made, express or implied with regard to either the contents of the document, its merchant ability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author should not be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the contents of this document. Special Note All of the work presented within this tutorial is based on TurboCAD Pro 2015 with its default RedSDK drawing/render engine (64-Bit). It is not recommended trying this tutorial in previous versions of TurboCAD.

Copyright © 2015 Donald B. Cheke TurboCAD is a registered trademark of IMSI/Design.

Published by: Donald B. Cheke Saskatoon, SK Canada Visit: www.textualcreations.ca




3

Table of Contents Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 An Important Message about TurboCAD 2015 ....................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Drawing Engine Selection ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Workspace .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Program Setup ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 Drawing Setup ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 Molded Seat ................................................................................................................................................................ 33 Tubular Frame ............................................................................................................................................................ 80 Frame/Leg Supports .............................................................................................................................................. 104 Tubular Legs ............................................................................................................................................................ 117 Chair Feet ................................................................................................................................................................. 131 Rivets and Additional Molded Structure ............................................................................................................. 151 Named View ............................................................................................................................................................. 169 Ground Plane ........................................................................................................................................................... 172 Materials Application ............................................................................................................................................. 174 Named View 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 189 Render Scene Environment .................................................................................................................................. 192 Render Scene Global Illumination ....................................................................................................................... 196 Saving the First Rendered Image ......................................................................................................................... 198 Saving the Second Rendered Image ................................................................................................................... 201



4

An Important Message about TurboCAD 2015 With the arrival of TurboCAD 2015 comes a significant change for TurboCAD. TurboCAD users will now find that the program no longer comes loaded with the LightWorks render engine that was part of the program since its early days. LightWorks has been fully replaced by RedSDK which began to be implemented back in version 18 and became the default drawing/render engine in version 20. Those that want to continue using LightWorks will need to purchase it as separate add-in from IMSI/Design. According to TurboCAD programmers, the change to RedSDK (or something else) was required to keep up with modern CAD editing capabilities. What this means for Textual Creations TurboCAD tutorials is that no tutorial written before TurboCAD 2015 (i.e. V21.2 and previous) will be applicable in the new version of TurboCAD. The author intends to work strictly with the RedSDK drawing/render engine while writing new tutorials. Why? The author is fairly confident that most new users will not purchase the LightWorks add-in for it would appear to be another cost for which the value would be unknown. To lessen the issues of having two render engines installed the author has decided to forgo the installation of the LightWorks add-in and begin utilizing RedSDK solely from this point forward.



5

Introduction Not so long ago I saw a MoI tutorial by Michael A. Maynard that illustrates the steps required to create a molded plastic stacking chair. The chair looks very cool and I thought that it would be terrific if we could create it in TurboCAD. MoI makes the process somewhat easy since it has a 'Flow' tool that allows a user to basically project one shape onto another. Unfortunately, TurboCAD does not possess such a tool and an alternate means is needed to create the molded shape that is crucial to the design. Luckily TurboCAD Pro Platinum has some sheet metal tools which will make the creation of the chair possible. Although we will not get as elaborate as Mike does in his tutorial, we will work towards a very decent representation of it. If you would like to see the original MoI tutorial visit: http://moi3d.com/forum/messages.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5893.1 Or visit Mike's website at http://www.k4icy.com/tutorials.html I hope that you enjoy the tutorial. Best regards, Don Within the tutorial the reader will be lead through each keystroke to produce every component of the molded stacking chair that is illustrated on the cover of the tutorial. The reader will also learn how to insert standard RedSDK lighting and will learn how to establish a RedSDK render scene environment. Additionally, the reader will learn how to render their drawing and save it in a high resolution image format. This tutorial is in no way intended to teach molded plastic design or construction, but rather it is intended to teach the use of some of the tools that TurboCAD has to offer and to introduce the new user to a drawing methodology. The author feels confident that the techniques outlined within the tutorial can help lay the foundation for future successful TurboCAD drawing and illustration for even the newest user. As with any technically advanced software, the user is generally faced with a steep learning curve. It is the hope of the author that the money and time spent working through a Textual Creation tutorial will help ease the learning and allow the reader to come away feeling confident that they made a wise decision. This tutorial will assume that the reader has the Platinum edition of TurboCAD Pro 2015 (64-Bit) and is using the default RedSDK engine. There are many ways to approach a project and it is likely that each person using the program would proceed in very different ways, so be open to alternative methods as experience builds. This tutorial assumes that the beginner has studied the desktop to some degree and can locate most of the tools. Since there are endless desktop configurations that can be set up in TurboCAD the author has opted to illustrate the required tools with the TurboCAD Classic user interface with its Office 2003 theme and the default toolbars in their undocked format.


http://moi3d.com/forum/messages.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5893.1

http://www.k4icy.com/tutorials.html


6

Please remember that any supplied images and files are for use within the tutorial only and may not be shared or sold to others. Place all tutorial images in a permanent location on the hard drive.



33

Molded Seat The molded seat will first be created as a somewhat flat object. This will be done by establishing some 2D profiles, extruding the result and then further manipulating the results with various TurboCAD tools. The profiles below are what is being worked towards in the next steps.

Switch to World Plan view.

Select the Rectangle tool from the Line toolbar.



34

Select Dark Orchid from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.

Left mouse click in the drawing to place the first point of the rectangle. Move the cursor in a right upwardly direction for a short distance and then Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 20 in the Size A field and 37 in the Size B field. Press Enter.

Press the Space Bar to exit the tool. Select the rectangle. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the X and Y Position fields. Press Enter to move it to the center of the drawing.

Select Zoom Extents at the top of the TurboCAD desktop.

Zoom in and out as necessary from this point forward. Select the Double Point Circle tool from the Circle/Ellipse toolbar.

Select Dark Orchid from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.

Place the cursor by the top line of the rectangle, as indicated in the picture below, and M SEKE snap to place the first point of the first circle.



48

Select the center line.

Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -.5 in the Delta Z field. Press Enter to move it down.

Press Esc to deselect the selection. Press and Hold the Shift key down. Select the 2nd and 4th lines. Release the Shift key.

Select Green from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.

Select the Copy in Place tool one time.



49

Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -1 in the Delta Z field. Press Enter.

Press Esc to deselect the selection. Turn off the grid to clear the view.

A curved spline will be placed between the upper and lower green lines. The image below shows the final spline selected with the Edit Tool to show what is being worked towards.

Turn the grid back on. Switch to Left view. Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar.

Select the Spline By Control Points tool from the Curve toolbar.



58

Select the flat chair seat as the object to fillet. Select the upper outside line and a line of each of the three upper rectangular holes, as indicated in the picture below, as the edges to fillet.

Select Finish.

To help organize the model some layers will now be created and objects assigned. Open the Design Director palette. Select New Layer at the top off the Design Director palette to create a new layer.

Type 2D in the Layer name field and click OK or press Enter.



59

In the same manner, create four new layers called Molded Seat, Frame, Legs and Feet.

Turn off the new layers by left mouse clicking the eye icon that corresponds to the layers. Note that layer 0 should always remain on as the program uses this layer for internal processes.

Press Ctrl + K to open the Select by Colors dialogue. Select all colors, except Black and then click OK.



83

Select the Line Length tool from the Modify toolbar.

Select the top of the offset line as the line to change the length of.



84

Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -3 in the Delta L field. Press Enter.

Press the Space Bar to exit the tool. Switch to Isometric SE view. The new polyline needs to be relocated, so select the offset polyline.

Select the Copy in Place tool one time. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 6 in the X Position field. Press Enter.

Select the Copy in Place tool one time. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -6 in the X Position field. Press Enter.

One short line is required. Select the Line tool from the Line toolbar.



116

Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -5 in the X Rotation field. Press Enter.

Switch to Left view. Press Esc to deselect the selection.

Create a new layer called Support.

Select the support and assign it to the Support layer. Note that the support for the opposite side will be mirror copied there, along with the legs and feet, after the left half of the legs and feet are created.



117

Tubular Legs The tubular legs will now be created by sweeping a profile along a path and then manipulating the results. Switch to Front view. Select Plane by Active View from the Workplane toolbar. Switch to Isometric SW view. Some of the steps ahead would be a bit easier using a 2D polyline, but a 3D polyline will be used instead to help illustrate some functions specific to 3D editing. Select the 3D Polyline tool from the 3D Object toolbar. Select Red from the color dropdown menu on the Property toolbar.

C SEKE snap the edge of the rear blue circle to place the first point of the polyline. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter -11 in the Delta X field, 0 in the Delta Y field and 0 Delta Z field. Press Enter.

Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 0 in the Delta X field, -18 in the Delta Y field and 0 Delta Z field. Press Enter.

Select Finish.



148

Press Esc to deselect the selection. Turn on the Molded Seat and Frame layer. The lower legs will now be 3D added to the rest of the leg and then a fillet will be made at the joints to blend them better. Switch to Isometric SE view. Select the 3D Add tool from the Boolean & Facet toolbar.

Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the four components of the front legs, as indicated in the picture below, as the objects to add. Release the Shift key. Select Finish. In progress below.

Press and hold the Shift key down. Select the four components of the rear legs, as indicated in the picture below, as the objects to add. Release the Shift key. Select Finish. In progress below.



149

Select the Fillet Edges tool from the 3D Modify toolbar. Tab into the Inspector Bar and enter 24 in the Start Radius field. Press Enter.

Select the front legs as the object to fillet. Select the two nodes where the tapper begins, as indicated in the picture below, as the edges to fillet. Select Finish. In progress below.



196

Render Scene Global Illumination From the View menu at the top of the TurboCAD desktop select Lights. Press and hold the Ctrl key down. Select the three light names. Release the Ctrl key. Select one light bulb icons to turn them off en masse. In progress below.

Allow the screen to rerender (mostly black) or press Esc when it starts to render to halt the render process. Close the Light palette. Right mouse click on the Quality Render tool icon on the Render toolbar to open the Camera Properties dialogue. Check Advanced. Ensure RedSDK is the Rendering Type, Quality is the Category and select Global Illumination Fine from the Render Style drop down menu.

Before clicking OK note that there is a RedSDK bug that will likely prevent the screen from rendering properly without switching to paper space and then back to model space to signal a reconnect to global illumination. Click OK.



197

The screen will begin to render and it will likely been seen that the objects are still black. Select the Paper Space tab.

Wait a couple or so seconds and then select the Model space tab.

Allow the screen time to process and then render.

The render looks nice, shadows-wise, but it is a bit dark. Had a user used the Global Illumination Fine Tone_HDR it would be possible to change this, but this does not work in TC 2015 in its current state. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.


Documents

TurboCAD Pro 2015 – Molded Stacking Chair SAMPLE Pro 2015 - Molded Stacking Chair... · molded stacking chair that is illustrated on the cover of the tutorial. The reader will also