Mold tool question

**steve.ledger** · 03 May 2009, 07:13 AM

Yes I know but it's better than nothing, given what we have to work with.

**Albacore** · 03 May 2009, 11:30 AM

I hate to be the one that states that Xara is the wrong programme to use for this type of drawing but it is. Why not SketchUp it would be far easier to start from nothing and quickly assemble this drawing?

The drawing itself is done in Isometric (equal measure) at 30 by 30 degrees. If you want to use the drawing here then group one of the end frames. Clone it then move the clone into position holding down Shift transform one of the corner nodes to a scale that you require. After that al that you have to do is to draw in the sides or use the shape editor on the top and side that you have.

For a vector programme like Xara that has perspective grids and an extrude tool that will align with the grid then there is nothing to beat Freehand for doing this type of job. One, two or three point perspective you can make up a grid so easily all which is editable and nearly accurate.

**ZEBtoonz** · 03 May 2009, 01:38 PM

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments and suggestions! Woah, I made this post, checked it once and replied to Keith, went to bed and, this morning was surprised to see two pages of replies. What a great group you all are when a guy needs some help!

Well, it seems it can't be done in one easy automatic step--darn! Sledger, you got it right on the one side but, yeah JET, the other side is not right.

Albacore, I actually made a model in SketchUp, exported as a PDF into Xtreme and then added shading and blends. But it was a bit of a trip. All of the little clips and the base plates, although you can't see it clearly with the pic I posted, are beveled with rounded corners and all which I found hard to model in SU. So I opted to simplify those parts since the final drawing was going to be fairly small and I didn't think anyone would really scrutinize it.

From the SU example below, you will also see that somehow SU distorts the perspective as well! Everything converges towards two VPs but the back horizontal part looks longer than the front one! So something is wrong there.

I think I'm gonna go back to cartooning! This technical stuff is tricky!

**Ross Macintosh** · 03 May 2009, 02:05 PM

Zeb - note that in SketchUp you can adjust the FOV (field of view) using a sub-function of the zoom tool. Adjusting it has the effect of either opening up or tightening the perspective just as what happens with camera lenses & zooming. I think playing with that could result in a perspective view more in keeping with your minds-eye expectation of how the spit guard (is that what it is?) should look.

I also note that SketchUp's default is actually a 3-point perspective. That means in addition to having two vanishing points associated with the horizon, it also has a vertical one. There is the option in SketchUp's Camera menu to switch to a two-point perspective -- it will keep all your verticals parallel which is actually quite common in technical style drawings.

Regards, Ross

**Ross Macintosh** · 03 May 2009, 02:06 PM

JET - your descriptions of all the different kinds of projections is excellent.

**ZEBtoonz** · 03 May 2009, 02:24 PM

Thanks, Ross! I've always wondered how to adjust the perspective depth in SU and now I know!

BTW, it's called a sneeze guard.

**ss-kalm** · 03 May 2009, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by JET

...Axonometric: Think "measured along axes." (Thus, isometric, dimetric, trimetric are all axonometric.)

The awkward-looking "45°" projection you mention is oblique projection.....

Apologies. I stand corrected.