sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) (05/20/89)
Well I just got the Acad Translator from Access Technologies. List $179.
Purpose: The Acad Translator (A-T to save me typing) converts Cad DXF files
into sculpt 3D scenes. DXF is a file standard that is supported by several
CAD packages, notibly AutoCAD.
I first went into Autocad and drew a 3D drawing of an office chair. Then saved
it as a DXF file. Then transferred the DXF file to the Amiga with Dos2Dos.
I Then loaded in A-T and told it to translate CHAIR.DXF to CHAIR.SCENE
Then I loaded up Sculpt 3D. Loaded in the Chair Scene, added some lamps and
presto! A ray-traced chair! Very nice.
A-T lets you control different layers and objects in the DXF file. I can't tell
you too much more than that becasue I haven't had too much time to play with it
yet. It seems very straight forward and easy to use.
The only thing that I don't like about the A-T is that when it got an error,
it crashed the program. But it loads back in quickly. But having it crash on an
error is not good programming. It should trap the error and continue. Also
after it converts one file it quits. What if I want to convert more than one
file? I have to re-load the program in.
[the error I spoke of above was caused by a faulty DXF file. I forgot to tell
dos2dos to translate MSDOS end of line (^M) to Amigados's LF]
It does what it claims it does, and it does it well. I don't think that it is
worth the $179 it lists for, it should be around $50. However, it is not
likely to be a widespread program (not everybody has access to Autocad) so I
suppose they have to charge more for it because of the smaller market.
[I paid $103 for it thru Abel. I know. I know. But they swore they had it in
stock. and they did. 2 day delivery. They must be getting better :-) ]
--
John Sparks | {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps
[not for RHF] | sparks@corpane.UUCP | 502/968-5401 thru -5406
Never call a man a fool; borrow from him.