Acad drawings + hand drawn look = squiggle?

[J-G]

What is the best program to make Acad drawings appear hand drawn? I remember reading something on this board a while ago. I have heard of "Squiggle" (or something of the like) is this the best program for doing this?

[beegee]

Don't know if it's the best, ... but you could try this FREE lisp routine called Freehand (www.timesaversforcad.com/freestuff.htm).

Cheaper than Squiggle (www.residential.com/squiggle.html) at any rate

[Martin P]

Don't know if it's the best, ... but you could try this FREE lisp routine called Freehand (www.timesaversforcad.com/freestuff.htm).

Cheaper than Squiggle (www.residential.com/squiggle.html) at any rate

Its excellent - and it does exactly the same thing as squiggle.... try placing a rendered image behind an exported 3D view and squiggling it, have had some nice results with that....

[wfdesigns]

I don't know which version of ACAD you are using, but if it is 2004 or greater there is a command boult in with the stock program. It is called napkin sketch which does a wonderful job.

[Vincent Valentijn]

Is Napkin Sketch in standard Acad2004 ?? where is it..
:?:
:roll: Are you sure that it's not exclusive to ADT2004 (the Napkin Sketch tool...)

[aaronrumple]

...Napkin sketch as exclusive to ADT to my understanding.

[sbrown]

We just got squiggle and it actually says its compatible with revit on their website, which is partially true since you can export to dwg, then squiggle or it works with .plt files. I'm hoping I will beable to print a sheet of perspectives to .plt then squiggle. We had good results with plans and elevations but I haven't gotten perspectives yet.

[christo4robin]

Heres a perspective I did - export to .dwg, then squiggle, then client goes "WOW"!

[PeterJ]

Impressive results

[hdjohnson]

Does Squiggle allow you to do any shadows?

[Tom Dorner]

I've been experimenting with a program called Caddwizz.

It has a part of it called wizzle which does the hand drawn look. I've had some good looking results. They have a free 30 day evaluation at: http://www.cadwizz.com

One nice part is that it works as a dwg/dxf/dwf/plt/jpg viewer and does the wizzle on any format no native application required.

Another program you might want to look at is Piranesi.

http://www.informatix.co.uk/piranesi/index.shtml

It can do wonders. View the demo on the website above for a better look.

Tom

[sbrown]

On your export to dwg for the perspective of the kitchen how did you deal with hidden line removal? did you do any clean up in acad? If you could just jot down your process I'd appreciate it.

[Tom Dorner]

Here are a couple of my "wizzle" samples.

What I do is take a 3D Revit view and place it on a sheet. I then plot the sheet to HPGL .plt file out of Revit. I then start CADwizz and open the .plt file (this sometimes bombs so I use my $9.00 version of TurboCAD to convert .plt to .dwg). I then apply my wizzle styles in CADwizz which saves them as .dwg files or exports to .jpg

The entire process only takes me a couple of minutes to do and we like the results.

Tom

[beegee]

Nice work Tom !

If you plot the final output from a dwg file, do you need to spend a deal of time adjusting lineweights ?

[Tom Dorner]

beegee,

If I plot from ACAD I just use a mono pen setting as everything is on a single layer from being written to a .plt file. If there were layers present, CADwizz can apply a different whizzle style per layer or per ACAD object type (lines, circles, text etc.).

Tom

[Vincent Valentijn]

hmmm.. I'm not very impressed with the results I see here to be honest. I really miss some shadows to make things come to live and for such a simple sketch I'd do some real handsketching faster and better.
I tried Piranesi but only Sketchup impressed me with it's great shadows, better than most I've seen wiggly lines and transparent 3D-sections...
just my 2 cent :wink:

[aggockel50321]

What I do is take a 3D Revit view and place it on a sheet. I then plot the sheet to HPGL .plt file out of Revit. I then start CADwizz and open the .plt file (this sometimes bombs so I use my $9.00 version of TurboCAD to convert .plt to .dwg).

If you take the 3d view that's been placed on a sheet, & export the sheet view to .dwg, you'll get a 2d .dwg of your 3d view as it appears on the sheet, all the hidden line removal, etc.

Might save you a step.

[christo4robin]

On your export to dwg for the perspective of the kitchen how did you deal with hidden line removal? did you do any clean up in acad? If you could just jot down your process I'd appreciate it.

Scott, because I was doing this quickly, and it was my first go with Squiggle, my process may not be worth all that much...

That said, I opened the .dwg in Autocad, purged, overkilled (hidden line removal utility in the Express Tools), changed everything to layer 0 and color bylayer (because I was only working with one lineweight in squiggle), then saved.

Opened in squiggle, used one of the default settings (i forget which one) and then exported as a .jpg so I could import into word to create a document to hand to the client.

Cheers!

[sbrown]

Thanks it was the hidden line removal tool I was unaware of after 4 years of little to no autocad use I'm a novice on acad 2000 and higher.

[Martin P]

hmmm.. I'm not very impressed with the results I see here to be honest. I really miss some shadows to make things come to live
just my 2 cent :wink:

render the same view in Revit in grayscale or whatever, in autocad place the image beneath the wiggled lines and scale it up - not as good as sketch up, but much cheaper with the free lisp routine!!

[Vincent Valentijn]

render the same view in Revit in grayscale or whatever, in autocad place the image beneath the wiggled lines and scale it up - not as good as sketch up, but much cheaper with the free lisp routine!!

You got a point there.. if your budget doesn't allow for buying a copy of Sketchup you'll just have to find some alternative methods. Still.. personally I do think that presentation is so important nowerdays that it's worth spending the extra money... it pays back in the long run.

[mlgatzke]

I'm sorry. I don't see how price can be an issue with SketchUp. It's only $400USD and it can do SOOOO much more than give you a sketch-type of display. Nowadays, $400 is a drop in the bucket. Look at it this way. . . if your client loves the image and it sells the design or wins you a contract, it's just MORE than paid for itself.

[gregcashen]

Let's all remember that Mike is the director of the local college CAD program and has unlimited budget, authority, licenses of Revit...am I missing anything here, Mike ;)

[beegee]

Nevertheless, Mike's comment is valid.

The time cost alone of working up a nice hand-drawn look on a single project using other programes/ work arounds probably outweights the purchase price of SketchUp.

[robmorfin]

With Sketchup you can get a different free hand effect, lines are straight and jittered and edges are extended, and what's best is that you can either have your model shaded, with shadows, or both at the same time, and all this is in 3D, so it's not only a flat image, you can even create an animation in sketch mode.

[gregcashen]

Nevertheless, Mike's comment is valid.

The time cost alone of working up a nice hand-drawn look on a single project using other programes/ work arounds probably outweights the purchase price of SketchUp.

In case you think my comment was out of spite, I should clarify... I AM JEALOUS. Mike gets to play with all of the cool stuff and sets his own agenda...within his budget, of course. I just broke the office bank on new workstations, software upgrades, etc. So it is unlikely that Sketchup for the office is in the works...I will probably just purchase my own copy, show my boss what it can do and "rent" it to the office for certain visualizations. I agree, it is a great tool. I just like to razz Mike because, well, I feel inferior sometimes. ;)

[Steve_Stafford]

Just to "razz" Mike too...you know what they say about those who teach right? (but then he has his own practice too, so he must be an anomaly?)

[Martin P]

Can I ask you lot to speak to my boss please :wink: I would love to have sketchup too, but he wont pay £200 for something to just wiggle drawings with I am afraid :cry: maybe I will have another poke at him to get it!

[Steve_Stafford]

Martin, you can download it and the first 8 hours of design time is free...bet you could whip up some interesting stuff in much less time than that? Then you could "suggest" that for some design study tasks...the "cheap" software is better use of time and resources than the "machine"...which should be kept busy cranking out CD's... :wink:

[PeterJ]

Don't forget though, Martin is the machine.

[Martin P]

Don't forget though, Martin is the machine.

:lol: Yes!! have you met my boss then? :wink:

[Steve_Stafford]

Then amend my comment to read that "xxx" is the best "part" for the machine to use...for the task at hand... :D

[Martin P]

xxx is not something the boss likes to see :shock: (in the office at least, I have no idea what he does in his spare time :lol: ) maybe you could make some recomendations as the best places to get that though Steve? :lol: - for the avoidance of doubt, I am not seriously looking for any suggestions!

[Steve_Stafford]

Stop...back up...check that...make "xxx" (which means alcohol in some parts of this country still)..."software to be named later"...is that better?

As for finding the other kind of xxx, I recommend a brief search with Google supplying any part of your anatomy you choose...I'm sure you'll get a lot of results since even "innocent" offerings can get pretty surprising results :shock:

[Martin P]

Ah haahaaha!! :twisted: Sorry Steve, I knew thats what you meant, but Evil Martin took over and I couldnt resist it :wink:

[mlgatzke]

Hmmm. Unlimited budget? I don't think so. However, I can only replace my lab workstations every three years. To achieve this, we dig into grant funding allocated for just such purchases. It's a nice chunk to spend, but it's not unlimited. I will say, though, that my current technology budget is a heck of a lot bigger than it was when I was in a firm. Don't worry Greg, I understand.

As far as my comment on SketchUp, I bought Revit AND SU with my own money for my own use. If I, a sole practitioner, can justify the expense of SU then I don't see why a larger firm cannot. I'll tell you what, the images created by SU actually encourage dialog with my clients without allowing them to begin questioning my on, "Why is that wall gray?" or "Are you really just going to use blue colored glass?" Clients that I've worked with tend not to contribute as constructively when I show them the more "starched" views normally available from CAD software. That, in itself, was worth the price of SketchUp.

[gregcashen]

Mike, I was being very tongue-in-cheek, and I sincerely hope that came through. I think you are obviously in a very fortunate position to be able to both use the cutting edge technology and influence the next generation of early adopters. I cannot help myself sometimes...

As for my woes, I have it pretty good. I get to pick the technology for the office...and take the heat if it don't work! But I remember tha days of being a cad lab manager in college and getting to play with all the best new stuff...oh those days were nice. Very fortunate, you are.

[mlgatzke]

Greg,

I can feel the love. ;-)

I got the subtlety of the kidding. Yes, I am quite fortunate. As you may have seen in another thread that I started, I'm getting ready to begin evaluating for new lab machines. I'm going to get a Dell, an HP, and the other one's still up in the air - though I've gotten a couple of very intriguing leads in that thread. It should be interesting. I'll probably post more when the test machines arrive and when the lab is finished.

By the way, if you're ever in the Des Moines (Central Iowa) area please give me a call at Des Moines Area Community College and I'd be glad to show you around.

[Bryan Sutton]

Here is the method I use for a sketch look using Illustrator:
Print a hidden line view to PDF or as mentioned earlier, export a dwg of the 3d (sheet view) model. I then open the PDF or DWG file in Illustrator, select the lines (yes the PDF print comes in as vector lines) and then assign an art brush from the brushes palette and adjust to an appropriate line weight (stroke). I have attached an example + a close up. For a shaded view I do as mentioned earlier - place a rendered view under it in photoshop.
Cheers
Bryan Sutton

[gregcashen]

Those are the best I've sen yet!