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DigiCad 3D 8
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Now an All-Round Program! |
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 Interstudio has released version 8 of their popular DigiCad 3D software application for architects, engineers, surveyors and photogrammetry professionals. DigiCAD 3D is used to transform a perspective, distorted photo image in a front measurable image of the building and to digitize architectural drawings or photos.
Until now, photogrammetry programs using just one photo have been limited to straightening up flat surfaces only.
DigiCad 3D version 8.0 has broken that barrier! It allows you to straighten up curved or irregular images.
Buildings like the Coliseum in Rome, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Capitol Hill in Washington or the Casa Mila of Gaudì in Barcelona? No problem now for DigiCad 3D!
Straightening up is achieved using a mesh or grid, regular or irregular, which is then superimposed on the irregular image, with fixed reference lines or points.
With the same method an aerial photo can be exactly superimposed to a map.
A true innovation! But there is more in store, the new version of DigiCad 3D has broken another limit, that of optical deformation.
Good quality lenses, up to 28mm at least, show minimal optical deformation. Perspective distortion means that straight lines in the original subject remain straight in the photo, even though deeply convergent. But optical deformation makes straight lines curved (the famous "cushion" or "barrel" effect). The wide-angle accessories of digital cameras, for example, introduce considerable optical deformation.
Now DigiCad 3D can solve the problem! Using a photo of a reference grid obtained from the original camera, the program identifies "point by point" the optical deformation caused by that particular lens and eliminates it!
Two exciting innovations for you to try with our remodeled user interface, photogrammetry couldn't be simpler or more intuitive!
And there are many more new functions to discover, like two different types of transformation (linear and perspective), the possibility of modifying dimensions and resolution of images, the capacity to support many different graphic formats (JPG, GIF, TIFF, PhotoShop®, TGA, PDF, MOV, among others) and much more!
DigiCad 3D can also be used for mapping, to snap together pieces of a site map at the correct scale or to digitize aerial photos. This makes it useful to architects, engineers, or anyone involved in building surveys or site analysis.
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Domus.Cad 13
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The new features |
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Domus.Cad 13 is on the shelf, full of improvements and modifications – here are a few:
- Doors and Windows: significant changes in the way openings are handled, starting with a choice of 7 types of tracing mode when you begin. Now, for example, you can input the width of window you want, at a specified distance from the wall corner, the program does the rest! And in addition to the classic rectangular opening, you can now choose from Arcs, Lowered center Arcs, Lowered Arcs, Circular or Oval openings. We have even introduced niches and custom openings so the designer has a totally free hand
- Interactive dimensions: it's now possible to graphically and interactively edit the dimensions. The Dimension button lets you move, insert or delete dimension points and the program automatically updates the dimensions accordingly. You can still edit segments or text separately, as before.
- 3D design makes life easier! Elements which are superimposed in 2D are easier handled in 3D and now you can work directly in the 3D Window. For example, just click on a window, change its position, change its shape with interactive results! You can now link a texture to each type of material, such as brick, stone, wood, specifying the texture's dimension, rotation, repeat in X/Y directions, shade color or other parameters.
- Automatic back-up: DomusCad 13 automatically backs up every job, to a total number of copies specified by the user. No more worries about recuperating that last-but-one version!
- Alignment of segments to other elements
- Multiple selection extrusion
- Walls Join, Cut and Fillet. All the Join, Cut and Fillet commands, that in the previous version were applicable to segments only, are now applicable to walls
- Tile fills rotation
- Graphic formats import: TIFF, JPG, TGA, GIF, PICT, PDF, PhotoShop, BTM and many others.
- Many others. See the Release notes
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Domus.Cad 13
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New openings for Architects! |
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The latest version 13 of Domus.Cad offers state-of-the-art technology in designing and drawing every kind of opening imaginable.
 From doors and windows, to niches and alcoves of all types, we have taken the concept of ‘opening’ through to its logical conclusion, now including ‘anti-openings’ such as shelves, reveals, columns, frames, lintels, etc. Special attention has been paid to restoration work on older buildings (an important question in Italy). The program considers in detail the various parts of an opening, such as reveals, sill, threshold, geometric shape. For example, the reveals can each face in different directions and the sill can be thicker than the wall, thus creating a bow-window.
You now have a wider choice of operating modes, whether working from measurements or making a fresh drawing, when creating and when modifying the openings, e.g. :
- Just using the mouse
- Predefined width, positioning with mouse
- Predefined distance from corner, width defined by mouse
- Predefined width and distance from corner
- Centered along wall, width defined by mouse
- Centered along wall, predefined distance from corners
Don’t forget that in Domus.Cad the numeric fields are also algebraic, so you can insert calculations too.
Combined with the variety of operating modes above, the result is – maximum flexibility.
Despite the attention dedicated to creating this wide choice of parameters, sometimes – especially when working on older buildings – the unexpected can occur! Here too, in true Domus.Cad style, it is the draughtsman who is in charge of the situation and we don’t allow our parameters to hinder, instead of helping. A special ‘empty’ window, with absolutely no lines of definition, enables you to intervene at will, e.g. creating reveals which are rounded or have an unusual form, a mullioned window, or any other shape required.
In short, Domus.Cad has done it again! Applying creativity and thoroughness to one of the key aspects in the architectural design of a building – the well-known problems of dealing with openings.
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Toward total integration
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Providing multiplatform solutions |
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2005 is a very important year for Interstudio! We are working hard to provide multi-platform support for all the programs we produce and distribute.
By multi-platform, we mean support for a variety of operating systems and hardware platforms, especially for Macintosh computers with Mac Os 9 and Mac Os X operating systems and PC’s compatible with Windows 98/NT/2000/XP. In future, there will be less support for older operating systems like Mac Os 7 and 8 and Windows 95, as for old Macintosh computers with 680x0 processors. This will be a gradual, but inevitable process.
Some of our Macintosh customers are concerned that more support for Windows will mean less attention to the Macintosh platform. Not so! The vast majority of our customers are Macintosh users and this platform is essential for graphics and CAD.
By distributing our products to Windows users as well, we widen our client base and thus have access to a wealth of experience and customer feedback, which will be reinvested in continuing improvements to our programs – to the advantage of everyone!
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All for One or one for all?
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What’s better, integrated or monolithic programs?
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Any busy design studio nowadays needs many different kinds of software – a plain old design program just isn’t enough anymore!
The solution of many manufacturers has been to keep adding on different functions to the original software – design-through-production-through-application in a single, often unwieldy program. Autocad, Microstation and ArchiCad are examples.
The alternative is to develop state-of-the-art specialist programs, compatible and inter-communicating. This is the road chosen by Interstudio, for the following good reasons:
- Technical capacity: a rendering function within a general design program is nowhere near as good as a specialist rendering program; nor can a modelling function ever compete with a customized modelling program.. And so on. The total capacity of a group of specialist programs is much more than the sum of the same functions, inserted into a monolithic design program.
- Simplicity: you might think that learning a whole bunch of different programs is more difficult than using one program with the various functions incorporated. Not so! The monolithic version is complex and unwieldy and you have to learn the whole program before you can begin to use the separate functions. It’s easier to tackle customized, user-friendly programs, one at a time.
- Cost: but surely it’s cheaper to buy one big program? Surprisingly not! The big monolithic programs have a limited market. The integrated programs have a wider range of clients, irrespective of whichever CAD program they are using, or indeed they can be purchased separately from a CAD program. Their cost is thus lower.
- Flexibility: you can buy the integrated programs as and when you need them, thus spreading the cost. You can also purchase new programs, as they become available, so your software package is always updated.
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Stop-press
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Carbonising – the heat is on!
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Hottest news from Macintosh since they brought out PowerPC way back in 1994 will be the Mac Os X operating system. And Interstudio is ready for it!
Carbon is the modality of the new system which permits use of the many exciting new functions and we at Interstudio are busy ‘carbonising’ our programs.
First on the list is Nonio C, our land modelling program. This has the Aqua look and feel of the new operating system, plus improvements in the print, notes and plotting functions. Next steps will be Domus.Cad and DigiCad 3D.
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Stop-press
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Rent or buy?
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Growing success for Interstudio’s Rent-To-Own formula, which allows you to start by renting a program and then, if you like it, pay the difference to purchase it outright.
Renting has many advantages. Here are some:
- Happier customers.
How often have you bought a program and hardly used it, because a better one came out shortly after, it wasn’t what you thought, your professional activities changed, etc.?
- One-off jobs.
Like the client who rented Domus.Cad to design their own home and had no need of it, when the house was finished.
- Cash flow.
Get the software now, when you need it, but spread the cost over 6 years, at the end of which the program is yours.
Interested? Click here for more details!
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Domus.Cad 11
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The Eleventh Hour for Domus.Cad
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Domus.Cad is on the shelf, full of improvements and modifications – here are a few:
- Internal quantity estimate function, which can measure all kinds of quantities (sloped surfaces, two-dimensional plans, volume, perimeter, length, number, contents, etc.), with breakdown per category, totally modifiable.
- Materials for each single element can be considered separately : floors have three parts, walls have five, windows have two and stairs have four.
- Floors have been redefined using a series of parameters and options. The floor can now be changed into a 3D polygon visible in the 3D view, open or closed and each component of the floor can be shown or hidden.
- Several new functions, for example, freehand curves and the fill function, for faster infills
- Extension of the move Shared End Points and Only Axial Deformation to all elements and 3D.
- Extra module for piping – creation of solids and surfaces by tracing a route with the piping icon.
- Ability to automatically join groups of lines, curves and polygons which have been selected and linked.
- Ability to align objects in a wide variety of combinations
- Countless improvements to already-existing functions, such as extrusion, variable autoscroll, sloping rotations, wall infills, parametric selection, tracing constraints, reveals, doors and windows, modification of roofs and floors, object deformation and much, much more!
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DigiCad 3D 6
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Vectorial and raster
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 With the 6.0 version of DigiCad, you can work directly on raster images, such as photographs or scanned images, as well as on digitalized vectorial parts. This effectively allows straightening up or deformation of any image.
For example, you can obtain an aligned in-scale photo of a building, a painting, a bas-relief or landscape. You can also correct and geo-reference scanned maps and plans.
As well as for more obvious architectural uses, this programme is great for getting images to be used as texture in rendering programs – for this you need good frontal images without perspective distorsion.
Another key characteristic of the new version DigiCad is its ability to import and export in DWG format, as well as DXF in the previous version. This allows improved dialogue with all versions of Autocad and with all other compatible programmes.
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Geo-Tec B
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Reinforced Earth – a step forward for geo-technology
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Biggest novelty is its support of Reinforced Earth, i.e. slopes stabilized and reinforced with synthetic geo-grids. This is an increasingly popular technology, easy to apply, good technical results even in tricky cases – and a low environmental impact.
Another key addition is the accurate, incorporated function for dealing with immersed slopes, whether in static conditions or with simulated fast draining.
These and other innovations, together with operational modes strongly based on interactive graphics and detailed, accurate analysis, confirm Geo-Tec B’s leading position in the software market today.
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Web Wide
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Archintosh likes DigiCad 6.0!
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www.archintosh.com is an excellent site dedicated to designing with Macintosh. Here’s one of the favourable reviews of Interstudio programs they published recently – this is Robledo, site editor, on the subject of DigiCad 3D :
“Incredibly Useful Tool for Architects, Surveyors and Engineers
One of the most powerful abilities of DigiCad 6.0 is that you can make architectural elevations from photographs, regardless of what angle you took the photograph…and if there was multiple-point perspective in the photograph.
The program is also useful for 3D modelling and rendering work. You can photograph real building textures and utilize the photogrammetry functions to produce texture files for your 3D rendering application.
By superimposing maps, surveys and drawings DigiCad 6.0 becomes a valuable surveying and mapping tool as well, enabling to stitch together disparate pieces of information to form a comprehensive and accurate map or survey."
…and here’s an Australian architect, Gary Dorn, talking about Domus.Cad :
Domus.cad is an excellent software for designing buildings in 3D. You draw in plan, using wall, roof, door, windows tools which have attached material thickness, height, colour, fill.
Great for all types of buildings, which can be modelled and drawn very quickly – some have taken me only a few hours, good enough to show a client.
Attached to the screen is a quickdraw 3D windows, which generates the 3D model as drawn in the plan window in real time – you can walk through and create different view points. Screen shots can be taken and the model can be exported in Art*lantis.
The Archintosh site is well worth a visit – just click here to visit it!
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Architectural modeling for any budget
Interstudio is now offering Domus.Cad at 3 different price
options to fit any need or budget:
- Professional Pack
the most complete option with materials both on CD and in
hard copy
- Everything-On-CD Pack
the convenience of having all materials on one CD
- Rent-To-Own Internet Pack
program good for 1 year - download only those materials you want at your convenience
See the Domus.Cad product page
for more details.
Is compatibility really what we should be after?
The term "compatibility" continues to perpetuate
misunderstanding among software users. It is not always clear
what the word means and is often wrongly intended as a way to
make everyone equal or place everyone on the same level. The
very uncertainty of its meaning limits the power of the information
industry. In the CAD sector, for example, compatibility (for
many) means the old standby AutoCad and AutoCad's drawing format
DWG. But DWG is a weak format from an information perspective.
It does not contain the drawing scale or any kind of precise
information on paging, line thicknesses, movies, images, and
many other things. To be compatible with AutoCad, other programs
must export in DWG format, often losing important information
in the process simply because AutoCad cannot read it. The compatibility
myth has a profoundly negative impact on the design process by
rendering it more difficult and time consuming.
The term compatibility is outdated and should be substituted
with other terms such as productivity, creativity,
and communication.
Productivity means that a program should be intuitive
and easy to learn and that it should allow us to work quickly.
Any program that requires long periods of time to learn or prevents
the flow of the design process cannot be considered productive.
Creativity must be an essential element of any design-related program, whether it be an architectural, engineering, structural, or other kind of application. The entire design process is, after all, inherently creative. Nonetheless, many CAD programs don't allow for creativity. They allow you only to draw what has already been created.
Communication is the ability to share information with others - clients, coworkers, entities, specialists, etc. Communication may also include compatibility, but at a much higher level than what we're used to seeing. A DWG file, for example, provides little help in communicating a project to a client while a QuickTime movie or jpeg image may be very helpful.
Perhaps it is time to stop limiting ourselves to what others
do and broaden our horizons so that we may truely improve the
computerized building and design industry.
Write us
and let us know what you think about the compatibility issue
and how it has affected your work directly.
Interstudio launches new low-cost architectural land modeler
Interstudio is launching a new low-cost program for
land modeling called DomusTerra. DomusTerra springs from Interstudio's
vast experience in land modeling and representation, begun in
1988 with the first release of Nonio C.
DomusTerra has all the characteristics of its big brother Nonio C - it supports textures and QuickDraw 3D technology for virtual reality capabilities - with some limitations regarding direct plotting, modeling and allowable number of points. While Nonio C is best suited for more elaborate surveys and modeling large tracts of land, DomusTerra can be used for smaller projects and architectural landscaping.
A land model created with DomusTerra can be exported to an
architectural program, such as Interstudio's own Domus.Cad or
Graphisofts ArchiCad, where it can be viewed and elaborated along
with the architectural model. The reverse operation may also
be performed: an architectural model may be imported to DomusTerra
(in QD3D MetaFile format) where it can be placed directly on
the modeled landscape.
DomusTerra imports and exports in Domus.Cad, GDL, DXF 3D,
QuickDraw 3D MetaFile, and DigiCad 3D formats.
Price: 199 Euro = US$175 (price in US Dollars may vary
slightly depending on the exchange rate).
To try the land modeling features, download the new Nonio
C demo from the Land Modeling product page. The Land modeling product page also has a complete
list of DomusTerra and Nonio C program characteristics highlighting
the differences between the two.
Large-scale land modeling with the NEW Nonio C
Interstudio announces the release of Nonio C 8.0. Nonio C
is a land-modeling program for large-scale surveys supporting
QuickDraw 3D technology for rendering and walkthroughs in real
time.
Version 8.0 marks improvements in:
- GRAPHIC INTERFACE. Floating tools palette and pop-up
menus.
- DIALOG BOXES. If your computer's operating system
has an Appearance Manager, all the Nonio C dialog boxes will
appear according to the theme chosen. Dialog boxes are also draggable
and many now have an Apply button so that changes may be applied
while the dialog box is open.
- SUPERIMPOSING LAND MODELS. Process has been improved
to maintain breaklines and insure perfect alignment.
Plotting improvements:
- Supports HP-GL/2 plotters
- Transmits at speeds up to 58400 baud
A FREE DEMO of the new version can be downloaded from the
Land Modeling product page. Examples
containing textures and QD3D Metafile models are also available
for download.
Abvent and MacCentral are talking about us
Abvent is talking about us - and we're talking about
Abvent! Abvent has a web site dedicated entirely to its rendering
program Artlantis an we invite all of you to have a look!
The Artlantis site is well done and easy to navigate. It is
full of information about how to use Artlantis with Domus.Cad,
as well as with a number of other CAD programs. There is also
a gallery of rendered images to view, links to related sites,
downloads, technical support, and press release information.
We are proud of our collaboration and presence on the Abvent site because it reinforces Interstudio's philosophy of provided complete solutions for architectural design and representation
Interstudio has been selling Domus.Cad and Artlantis in a
special bundle for quite some time here in Italy. We are happy
that this has developed into a closer, more direct collaboration
between ourselves and Abvent, allowing us to get the word out
to more people on what we think is a fantastic combination of
programs.
A 3D architectural model created by Domus.Cad may be imported
by Artlantis where it can be photorealistically rendered using
a wide variety of shader and light options.
With the support of QuickDraw 3D and the new QuickDraw 3D
plug-ins, Domus.Cad offers some fairly advanced rendering options
on its own. QuickDraw 3D renders in real time colors, shadows,
and lighting, and reflections. This may be taken a step further
with Artlantis where a vast variety of materials and more advanced
lighting options may be applied, giving the final product a true
photorealistic effect.
MacCentral is also talking about us! MacCentral is
an online news magazine for Macintosh, updated daily. The September
24th edition included an article on Domus.Cad. The article comments:
"Interstudio is very big on QT3D. For the architectural
or interior designer using Domus.Cad, QD3D allows walkthroughs
in real time and the ability to design interactively -- having
the QD3D window open while drawing lets the designer see in real
time, from the first wall drawn to the insertion of the furniture,
every addition or change."
We invite you to read the complete article at the MacCentral site.
QuickDraw 3D and what it can offer the
designer
QuickDraw 3D continues to be one of the most innovative Apple technologies. We've talked about it before but it's time to take a look at the latest developments and see how the technology is used in Interstudio applications. QuickDraw 3D isn't supported by Mac Os X, but the new Quesa, an open source binary QuickDraw 3D compatible system based on Open Gl, expands Quickdraw 3D power on Mac Os X, Windows XP, Linus and other systems:
"QuickDraw 3D is a cross-platform application program interface (API) for creating and rendering real-time, workstation-class 3D graphics. It consists of human interface guidelines and toolkit, a high-level modeling tool kit, a shading and rendering architecture, a cross-platform file format and a device and acceleration manager for plug and play hardware acceleration."
QuickDraw 3D also incorporates a very powerful format for
the cross-platform exchange of 3D information. This format is
called the QuickDraw 3D Metafile Format.
"QuickDraw 3D's 3DMF is a complete and rich file format that can contain any 3D information the user can create, including all types of geometries and objects, plus textures, lights, shaders, cameras, active renderers, material properties, hierarchical information and more. Both text and binary formats are supported. 3DMF offers a consistent cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Unix) file format. Files saved in the 3DMF metafile format will be equally functional on a PC running Windows, a Power Macintosh running the Mac OS or a workstation running UNIX. Using the 3DMF file format you can communicate 3D information or its appearance sub-components simply and easily between applications and across any platform."
Two Interstudio programs, Domus.Cad
and Nonio C, support QD3D and the
technology plays a big part in the extent to which the programs
may be used. For the architectural or interior designer using
Domus.Cad, QD3D allows walkthroughs in real time and the ability
to design interactively - having the QD3d window open while drawing
lets the designer see in real time, from the first wall drawn
to the insertion of the furniture, every addition or change.
Colors and lighting (as well as other characteristics) can be
manipulated to demonstrate how the project will look at certain
times of the day or under different artificial lighting conditions.
For the engineer, surveyor, architect, or landscape architect
using Nonio C, QuickDraw 3D offers the same possibilities in
the modeling of terrain. What's more, Domus.Cad and Nonio C were
designed to work together and exchange information between them,
allowing the terrain model to be exported to Domus.Cad where
the building project may be inserted directly on it, creating
a complete, workable 3D model of the entire building site.
The use of QuickDraw 3D in both Domus.Cad and Nonio C can
be rendered even more powerful with the help of plug-in renderers.
Plug-in renderers can enhance the rendering in the QD3D window
with materials, reflections, and other characteristics for a
truly photorealistic effect.
Calculating natural & artificial light
Let There Be Light
is a new program, developed by LTB-soft and distributed by Interstudio,
for calculating natural and artificial lighting from both natural
and artificial sources. It is a multi-language program allowing
the user to choose the preferred localized version directly.
LTB Light is the ONLY lighting software for Apple Power Macintosh
and offers all the versatility and simplicity of the Macintosh
system.
Data management takes place directly in a perspective view
through an internal CAD system. It is possible to introduce flat
or curved surfaces, complex objects like furniture, cross vaults,
domes, and generically-shaped colored glass.
LTB Light creates perspective views of the entire model on
a finite element grid in 8 color scale or in real color. It can
also produce a projected view of each individual element, superimposing
the local numeric values or iso-value curves. Information may
also be obtained on a section of a surface by simply selecting
the area with the mouse. LTB Light allows the technician to control
light levels on horizontal, vertical, and semicylindrical surfaces
and to designate the number and placement of lights and windows.
It also calculates color shifts due to multiple reflections.
LTB Light supports QuickDraw 3D and both the model and light
sources are are exported to the QD3D window. The program also
supports plug-in renderers.
LTB Light imports, displays, and uses file data in IESNA LM-63
and ELUMDAT formats. It also imports and exports in vectorial,
DXF (Autocad, Microstation), QuickDraw 3D Metafile, and PICT
(MacDraw, Photoshop...) formats, as well as Copy and Paste.
Art*lantis Render
In our aim to offer those in the architectural and building
professions COMPLETE solutions to their design challenges, we
provide here some information on Art*lantis Render, a program
to compliment Domus.Cad.
Art*lantis Render is a rendering program for the creation
of photorealistic images, complete with options for refraction,
reflections, light, cast shadows, and textures - all presented
in a simple and intuitive graphic language.
Art*lantis Render is dedicated to the study and control of
the architectural image. If you are familiar with traditional
ray-tracing programs you know that most of the time needed to
produce an image lies in the selection of the correct colors,
materials, and light details. To aid the designer in this time-consuming
task, Art*lantis is equipped with a preview window that is updated
in real time. This allows all the modifications and characteristics
to be viewed without having to actually produce the image to
see the final result.
A 3D model created with Domus.Cad can be easily imported to
Art*lantis Render, where the designer can choose from literally
hundreds of materials (wood, marbles, fabrics, etc.), applied
to the 3D objects by simple drag and drop.
It is possible to change the point of view, as well as the
position of light sources.
The new version, 3.0, also allows animation. By dragging the
splines of the observation point and target it is possible to
view the scene in animation in real time.
More information about Art*lantis Render can be found at Abvent's Web site.
Macintosh news and directories
Below are links to two Macintosh Web sites where all the latest
related news and products can be found. These sites are especially
helpful to anyone interested the latest technologies and new
products.
The MacChannel is
the first information and news delivery system dedicated to the
Macintosh. It delivers directly to your desktop the latest Macintosh
news over the Internet. The latest version can be downloaded
for free.
The MacDirectory
boasts over 44,000 Mac products and services worldwide. There
are directories for jobs, hardware, software (including that
of Interstudio), new products, shareware, and seminars. It also
includes the latest Mac news and special features.
Architecture resources on the web
There are several helpful architectural resources on the net.
Interstudio has submitted information on its site and products
to the following:
ArchiWeb - Architectural
Information Services. Contains more than 750 addresses to architecture
sites. A great starting point for any architecturally-related
research.
Architecture Web Board. An open message board for any kind of architectually-related
discussion or topic.
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