Appliance library?

[Gene Davis]

Out of the can, so to speak, eCabs has a pretty limited selection of ranges, fridges, dishwashers, and so forth.

Speak, please, to the community of eCabs users, and presume their software quiver contains only eCabs, how they can get models and enrich their library of available stuff, so that good facsimiles of appliances from all the major product makers is in there . . . GE Profile, GE Monogram, SubZero, Viking, Kitchen Aid, Fisher and Paykel, LG, and more.

Show us where these files are available for download, what we have to do to download them and process them in some way (if required), and then how best to get them into our libraries so that bringing them into a room design is as seamless as doing it with the items available now.

Thanks.

Oh, I forgot. Plumbingware. A client wanting and appreciating a photorealistic rendering will want his sinks and faucets to look somewhat like the Blanco and Grohe items he selected.

[Joseph Fusco]

Gene for openers you can try browsing the 3D Forum or you can go through the process of downloading the 3d files from the manufacture of choice (if they have them) then converting them to be used in eCabinets.

The process will require a cad system (program) of some type to process the DWG or DXF 3D files. Then a program to convert them to Stereolithography [stl] fomat so you can load them into eCabinets.

[DanEpps]

Another thing you can do if you have a specific need is post a request in the 3D forum. Many times a member will have exactly what you need and will post it for you.

A lot of manufacturers publish dxf files of their appliances that you can convert as Joe described. Any CAD program that can output an stl file will work. There is a free version of AccuTrans3D that works quite well for converting many different file types into stl files.

Once you have the file converted to an stl, take it into the Display Part Editor (note: Display Part Editor, not Part Editor) where you can color it and save it as a hsf that can be usede in your presentations. Many times an appliance will have several stl files that have to be combined into the completed appliance. In this case, you can color each part individually in the Display Part Editor before saving the whole lot as an hsf.

[Gene Davis]

I guess I'll have to rely on others in the forum, over at the Customer 3D images section, for the files. My CAD package will not open any of the either DXF or DWG files that most all the plumbingware and appliance makers offer from their websites.

But here is a question. The existing (Thermwood) library for APPLIANCES has refrigerators and ranges. They can be brought into a room and positioned.

Why cannot I put the file that I have downloaded (a Viking 48" gas range) from this website, and put it into the RANGES folder of APPLIANCES, and then access it when detailing a room?

Why instead must these items all be lumped into DISPLAY ITEMS, and why are they not able to be stored and retrieved from an APPLIANCE folder?

[DanEpps]

The appliances folder only has a single STL file for each type of appliance--stove, dishwasher, etc and several JPG files. eCabinets applies the chosen JPG to it when you add it to a room. Other items imported into eCabinets must first be converted to an HSF in the Display Part Editor. When choosing an item type of "appliance" from the Place Item dialog, eCabinets is hardcoded to look only in the appliances folder. The same is true for display objects...eCabinets looks only in the Import folder and any sub-folders.

Cumbersome? Yep. Flexible? Yep, as far as allowing the creation of new objects. Will future versions see a change in how this is done? I hope so.

If you download AccuTrans3D (from the link above) it will convert the files to STL and you can open them in the Display Part Editor and save as an HSF after you color them.