Anyone here do HIGH END Solid Works/mechanical CAD 3D assembly animation

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anyone here do HIGH END Solid Works/mechanical CAD 3D assembly animation

Posted: 12/18/2016 1:48:17 PM EDT

Howdy gang.

Is there anyone here who does the really high end Solid Works / CAD type 3D mechanical programming> Specifically concerning Solid Works and creating a 3D model with component interaction and animation?

This is not my forte and I don't know the technical lingo on 3D modeling so forgive me if my question is not worded correctly.

I have a friend who needs a series of prints/cad files turned into a working high resolution 3D model that can show the interaction of components during operation. I would post a link to a coupe of youtube vids as an example but this new format and linking to youtube ( which SHOULD be easier that it was before ) has me flustered.

I'll try again but don't get your hope up.

Thank you, Gang!!!!

Posted: 12/18/2016 1:55:59 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:

Howdy gang.

Is there anyone here who does the really high end Solid Works / CAD type 3D mechanical programming> Specifically concerning Solid Works and creating a 3D model with component interaction and animation?

This is not my forte and I don't know the technical lingo on 3D modeling so forgive me if my question is not worded correctly.

I have a friend who needs a series of prints/cad files turned into a working high resolution 3D model that can show the interaction of components during operation. I would post a link to a coupe of youtube vids as an example but this new format and linking to youtube ( which SHOULD be easier that it was before ) has me flustered.

I'll try again but don't get your hope up.

Thank you, Gang!!!!

View Quote

What level of complexity are we talking here? Some assemblies can be mated in such a way that dragging one item will induce motion in other items and you can simply use image capture to record it.

Posted: 12/18/2016 2:11:29 PM EDT

[#2]

[img width=640,height=480]/media/mediaFiles/no-thumb.jpg[/img]https://www

.youtube.com/watch?v=BqZsSk5FFX4

Still can't embed to save my ass on this new forum design. Something like what I linked to...if not better.

Posted: 12/18/2016 3:53:19 PM EDT

[#3]

Yeah that would take a while.

Lots of components with odd geometry. The person performing the modeling and explosions would need to spend a bit of time. If you had a pro do something to that level I'd say at least a few days to a week of solid effort.

Really depends how accurate you want the parts modeled with regards to dimensions. If you want drawings as well with dims and tolerances double the time.

Posted: 12/18/2016 7:19:29 PM EDT

[#4]

Might be better to make the models up in a CAD program and animate them in another program.

If I still had a copy of Solidworks I could do it, but I don't.

Unfortunately that I have seen that do this sort of thing want a whole lot of money by the hour.

Posted: 12/18/2016 10:37:50 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
Might be better to make the models up in a CAD program and animate them in another program.

If I still had a copy of Solidworks I could do it, but I don't.

Unfortunately that I have seen that do this sort of thing want a whole lot of money by the hour.

View Quote

THAT is the kind of guy I am looking for. NOT saying he/she would be hired ( this would be for this particular project ) ....but a good freelancer with a good portfolio might be able to earn a few dollars with the project. NOT my project. I am just helping the owner of the project scout someone out for a short term contract. He is a busy guy and has a couple of us scouting for some talent in this area.

Hell, advice on WHERE to look exactly for this type of talent would even be welcome.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:28:34 AM EDT

[#6]

bounced for the freelancing Monday morning crowd....

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:34:51 AM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:

THAT is the kind of guy I am looking for. NOT saying he/she would be hired ( this would be for this particular project ) ....but a good freelancer with a good portfolio might be able to earn a few dollars with the project. NOT my project. I am just helping the owner of the project scout someone out for a short term contract. He is a busy guy and has a couple of us scouting for some talent in this area.

Hell, advice on WHERE to look exactly for this type of talent would even be welcome.

View Quote

I'd search profiles on LinkedIn or put an ad on Craigslist. You can also just pay the local SolidWorks distributor to do it for you. Almost all the ones I've bought/maintained CAD licenses from do contracting/outsourcing along with training.

As mentioned earlier this could be relatively easy or it could take A LOT of work depending how how complex it really is.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:41:20 AM EDT

[#8]

I have a couple people. One leans more toward high end medical animation. The other more toward production engineering models.

I'll get their info and ask if they're interested in the work. If they are, I'll PM you their email.

I will tell you that this sort of thing isn't cheap. It's very time intensive.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:48:11 AM EDT

[#9]

Also worth noting that the CAD work and the animations are actually separate functions. The cutaway gun you linked to could be done entirely in an animation suite, and trying to animate something with that many dependencies in even the most advanced CAD programs on really good computers tends to fail/bug out. You either have the part files and an assembly file for engineering and manufacturing, or you're animating it to demo/sell. They don't follow one another easily.

ETA: I do CAD/CAM work professionally, but I am not a dedicated CAD drafter, nor am I an animator, so I don't know if I meet your requirements of "high end" CAD drafting. Experience in AutoCAD, Inventor, Mastercam. I'd be happy to sign an NDA and take a look at what your friend needs done to see if I can bid it. PM me if you're interested.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:49:37 AM EDT

[#10]

I could do the modeling and assembly constraints but I've never sat down and learned how to animate. It's always seemed too time intensive to be worth the effort.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:50:51 AM EDT

[#11]

Thank you, Sir!!!!

Again, I can't guarantee a contract, this is for a private company, but good leads and good contacts can often lead to profitability down the road someplace.

I appreciate the input guys!!!

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:52:45 AM EDT

[#12]

I've done fairly simple animations in solid works (explode assembly, reassemble, cut aways, and motion of multiple connected components). It's time consuming. We had a guy at my last company who used a separate animation software and made nice presentations fairly quickly.

Posted: 12/19/2016 10:57:57 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
I could do the modeling and assembly constraints but I've never sat down and learned how to animate. It's always seemed too time intensive to be worth the effort.

View Quote

Yeah. As mentioned, animating complex stuff just isn't done in SW by the pros.

I don't know that much about it but have discussed it with people who do it for a living. Just as the previous poster said, there are other, better softwares for animations.

Then there is part interaction, testing soft ware. ANSI FEA is what we used when messing with ultrasonic motors. Talk about giving you a headache.

Posted: 12/19/2016 11:04:45 AM EDT

[#14]

You're talking about thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of dollars worth of work, man, at least that's what I would bid on it not knowing the scope and just seeing the video you posted. The CAD data will need to be brought into a 3D program for rigging, lighting and animation, like 3DS Max or Maya and will also need to be photo-realistically textured. I do this stuff for a living, though more on the interactive gaming side. The good, fast, cheap matrix always comes into play. And literally everyone gets sticker shock at how expensive it really is.

Posted: 12/19/2016 12:07:13 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
You're talking about thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of dollars worth of work, man, at least that's what I would bid on it not knowing the scope and just seeing the video you posted. The CAD data will need to be brought into a 3D program for rigging, lighting and animation, like 3DS Max or Maya and will also need to be photo-realistically textured. I do this stuff for a living, though more on the interactive gaming side. The good, fast, cheap matrix always comes into play. And literally everyone gets sticker shock at how expensive it really is.

View Quote

Yup. That is understood. I advised that it would be REALLLLLLY expensive. I do CMM programming in Calypso and a really good program can take me hours upon hours, if not days to complete depending on the component if I don't have the Catia file.

....and that's kiddie programming.....

Posted: 12/19/2016 12:10:11 PM EDT

[#16]

I concur with the statement others have made. That is a labor intensive request, not cheap.

I used to do that kind of stuff. We had complete parametric assemblies of heavy equipment we would provide to our advertising guys who would produce demos for conventions and so forth.

It involved 4 of us from engineering in addition to the marketing team and probably was two weeks start to finish.

5 people x 40hours/week x 2 weeks = 400 man hours

400 hrs x $60/hr = $24,000 assuming the average wage is $30, you have to about double it cover the loaded cost of labor.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anyone here do HIGH END Solid Works/mechanical CAD 3D assembly animation

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