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need held with complex curves

T

thrawn7977

New member
Hi, I need to model a fluke 77 IV multimeter for a tech
manual i am doing for work. I am stuck using wildfire 2.0
I figured i need to just do this as a surface model but i
haven't done that in years now and i don't even remember
how to start. I tried doing it as a isdx using the trace
sketch but I don't really know how to start that either.
(i have done things like it in 3ds but never pro/e. in
isdx i traced the out line of the fluke but i don't know
what to do after that. i am not even sure how to start a
surface...
I tried to do this also as a VSS but I could not get it
to follow all the curves i need... here is a front view
of the one I am trying to make. http://www.coast-
coast.co.za/Fluke/Digital%20multimeters/F-77-
IV_01a_h_72dpi_778x1024px_E.jpg

any help would be greatly appreciated. also I have a side
and bottom view from flukes cad drawing they sent me in
pdf format. that is what i was using for isdx
12_190431_FlukeIV.jpg">
Edited by: thrawn7977
 
thx for the reply. basically the whole thing is what i am
having issues with. i can either get the rounded edges on
the sides from looking at the bottom view or the side taper
looking at the front like in the image url listed above.
but i can't seem to get both. I will post a picture of what
I have and show my biggest issue i have with the model i
made. I have to figure out how to post a picture then i
will post one of the model.
 
thrawn7977 said:
Hi, I need to model a fluke 77 IV multimeter for a tech
manual i am doing for work. .....
Click to expand...


Sub it out to someone who's fluent in ProE. Me for instance
smiley1.gif
 
thanks but no thanks. i asked so i could learn a quick way
and don't have to try to figure it out on my own time(which
i wont be doing now.) that one is sadly close enough for
what we are doing. I am pretty good in pro/e... that was a
10 min extrusion... I could do it in 3d max exactly like I
want but i know it can be done in pro/e using surfacing
which i haven't done in probably 7 or 8 years. most of our
stuff is either solid models or just 2d cad. I almost
didn't ask for help but though who knows maybe there is a
quick step for doing it. since i have posted i played with
the isdx some more and if i had some more time i am sure i
could figure it out.
 
Well, surfacing takes a lot of practice to get really good at it.

If you have top, side, and front screenshots then you can create fill areas on the top, right, and front datum planes respectively, and place the screenshots as decals in those fill areas. You can then use those screenshots to help guide you in creating the curves you're going to use for the surfacing.

I would suggest that you keep your initial curves nice and simple, and work up to the complex shapes later. First build the sweeping outline of the multimeter using the surfacing curves, then boundary-blend those outline curves into surfaces defining the shape, then merge all of those surfaces and solidify. Then start modeling your more detailed areas, saving the rounds for last.

It's really too bad you're stuck on Wildfire 2.0. The surfacing interface has gotten significantly more polished over the releases.
 
If you have a side and bottom view you're almost there.
Sketch the edge of the profile of the bottom view curve on
the top-plane. Sketch the edge of the profile of the side
view on the right-plane. Intersect the curves and you will
have a 3-D curve giving you the profile you want. Do the
same with all four edges of each side. Use a boundry blend
to surface the four edges and you will have one side of the
volume complete.
 
Hi, thanks. thats kindof what i did only i made it as a solid extrusion. i started by making a spline that followed the front view png i
posted. I extruded that to the thickness of the multi meter. then I made a thin extrusion like a 4" square on the top datum and used decal to
place the top view png on that layer. i then made a sketch following those lines and did a negative extrusion the length of the probe. then
again for the side view.

I have since went back and made some of those sketches into datum curves and tried to do a VSS. this got me closer to what i wanted but i
wasn't able to follow the curve as far as i needed. this left me with the top and bottom cut off flat right before the rounded edge. as far as
work right now, i am done with it they wont let me spend anymore time on it. but for my own personal learning experience I am interested in
practicing a little more on it.

I was tempted to just do it in 3ds and import it into pro/e but that would not help me learn the correct way to do it in pro/e. if anyone is
interested in taking a shot at doing this (for the fun of it
smiley4.gif
) i can upload the png files i have for the front top and side views would be
interesting to see how other people would go about this. I could even send my model out though it is simple enough just to start it over...
 
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