[JaYoe Matt]

I spent the last few days rendering my van in Shapr3D. I am pretty excited about it. I was thinking it would be a cool thing to give a tour of the van as a livestream then I could walk thru the designs. If you are up for it you might find it interesting and get some ideas!

Here is the stream link:

Ill be on at 7:30 PST

See you there!

 

[robwickham]

Does that software have the concept of shared components like SketchUp? I used them in my build for cut sheets that would update in real-time for each change I made to the assembled design. I learned about doing this years ago when I build a fully-enclosed flight simulator. For my van build, it was also critical that I measure each 3rd party product I purchased as it was delivered to make sure any corrections to a given measurement didn't have an unfavorable impact on the rest of the build. Lastly, using layers and scenes, my 3D model walk-through included the pre-set animations that showed how the Murphy bed worked, cabinet doors, basically anything that could be moved was reflected in the model to identify "collisions". Each scene was a single click demo experience.

I think it's great you did a 3D model, I wish more folks would do that instead of wasting a bunch of cardboard (but I'm a techy, so I'm biased.) I uploaded my build to the SketchUp 3D Warehouse in the hopes that it would help others with ideas and best practices like automated cut sheets.

 

[dhagberg]

@robwickham do you have a link or keywords that might help find your models in the SketchUp 3D warehouse? Looks like you have a Long wheelbase non-extended single rear wheel - matching what I’d like to start modeling.

 

[JaYoe Matt]

Does that software have the concept of shared components like SketchUp? I used them in my build for cut sheets that would update in real-time for each change I made to the assembled design. I learned about doing this years ago when I build a fully-enclosed flight simulator. For my van build, it was also critical that I measure each 3rd party product I purchased as it was delivered to make sure any corrections to a given measurement didn't have an unfavorable impact on the rest of the build. Lastly, using layers and scenes, my 3D model walk-through included the pre-set animations that showed how the Murphy bed worked, cabinet doors, basically anything that could be moved was reflected in the model to identify "collisions". Each scene was a single click demo experience.

I think it's great you did a 3D model, I wish more folks would do that instead of wasting a bunch of cardboard (but I'm a techy, so I'm biased.) I uploaded my build to the SketchUp 3D Warehouse in the hopes that it would help others with ideas and best practices like automated cut sheets.

HAHAH

Well i did do cardboard first... but it has been progressive. I use Shapr3D because it had a 30 day free trial, seemed powerful and did what i needed it to do. Unfortunately it did not model surfaces, so i had to import image files and sort of tile things if i wanted to get a realistic'ish render... Ill tell you what!!!! doing the 3D design was such a life saver! I dotted I's and crossed t's i never even thought about!

 

[robwickham]

@robwickham do you have a link or keywords that might help find your models in the SketchUp 3D warehouse? Looks like you have a Long wheelbase non-extended single rear wheel - matching what I’d like to start modeling.

this is 140mb, but the "workspace" layer includes the cut sheets for the flooring which isn't in the model in the 3d warehouse (seems down for maintenance anyway.) I used SketchUp 2017 free download.

Ford Transit L3H3 v28.skp

SKP File

1drv.ms

You'll want to download this skp file locally, it's in my OneDrive, read-only. Ping me for any questions, happy to help. For the record, I designed this during the first 6 months of the pandemic so there's a lot of detail. To fit in the warehouse I had to remove a lot of these details.

 

[robwickham]

HAHAH

Well i did do cardboard first... but it has been progressive. I use Shapr3D because it had a 30 day free trial, seemed powerful and did what i needed it to do. Unfortunately it did not model surfaces, so i had to import image files and sort of tile things if i wanted to get a realistic'ish render... Ill tell you what!!!! doing the 3D design was such a life saver! I dotted I's and crossed t's i never even thought about!

impressive you did all that modelling in just 30 days -- props! I took 6 months and already knew SketchUp pretty well.

 

[ArgonautVans]

Looks good!

Solidworks is now cheap to use as an individual. OnShape is also great and free (I think). 3D cad is super useful, more so than simply rendering, in a van build.

 

[gmoneda]

Looks awesome thanks for sharing the effort!
Would be a great resource for van builders documentation / manuals or even some of the automation stuff other folks are doing- a live 3d view kinda portal of power, lights, consumption, tank levels etc

 

[DustyShadow]

HAHAH

Well i did do cardboard first... but it has been progressive. I use Shapr3D because it had a 30 day free trial, seemed powerful and did what i needed it to do. Unfortunately it did not model surfaces, so i had to import image files and sort of tile things if i wanted to get a realistic'ish render... Ill tell you what!!!! doing the 3D design was such a life saver! I dotted I's and crossed t's i never even thought about!

Really impressive that you put all that together within a 30 day trial window. You have some fast 3d modeling skills!