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David
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« on: April 23, 2008, 02:13:23 PM »
We've had some discussion about integration of AnyRail with other software.

An example would be an export of the plan to import into Google Sketchup, or Autocad.

Another example would be an export to DCC related software.

A problem is that the file formats are mostly proprietary.

Still, are there any wishes in this area? I'd love to hear about your ideas.

David.
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santerdam
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« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2008, 12:47:23 AM »
David,

I've been playing around with Google Sketchp - with good results !

From reading the manuals and some experimenting, I found two ways in Sketchup. First to do is : Make your trackplan in AnyRail and export to a .jpg image. Now goto Sketchup :

- Method One : Use the image as a material.
In Sketchup you can import the image as "image". Stretch the imported 'sheet' to the required dimensions (centimeters or inches). Your image will now become a kind of very thin sheet, wich you can place on top of your frame or table. Make sure you use the 'X-Ray' setting in Sketchup, this will make the image-sheet transparant, like a piece of glass.

- Method Two : Use the image as a texture.
Again you can import the image, but now use it as a texture which will be 'printed' on the top surface of your table. So you first need a table in Sketchup. And next step is to import the track-layout image from AnyRail and 'print' it on your table. You now can bend, cut and shape your table anyway you want. It is a kind of 'making a photocopy on a sheet of plywood' !

- The advantage of the first method is that you can switch on/off the track-visibility. Disadvantage is that this way of working is not useable for track-layouts at various heights.
- The advantage of the second method is working with muli-levels (heights) but you can't switch on/off the track-layout.

Kind regards,

Sander

PS : Excuse my poor English, I could not find the Dutch forum to reply.
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santerdam
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« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2008, 03:37:59 PM »
Here is an example. I took the Fleischmann Profi H0 geometrie-example from the Anryrail site and build a table for that track.



Click on the image for a larger picture.
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kimbo
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« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2008, 09:30:07 PM »
Very impressive stuff! Is Sketchup easy to learn?
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Kim
Living in: Brussels, Belgium
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Dream layout: An HO-Scale freelance layout set in an imaginary European country located close to Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands
santerdam
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« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2008, 10:03:40 PM »
Yes, Sketchup is pretty easy. The big advatange is that they have a set of instruction-videos as tutorial. You need to know the basic concepts and than you can do some step-by-step examples. It took me two evenings of training and get the 'feel'.

I didn't show in this picture, but I can seperate each part from the model and get the dimensions. Or hide certain parts like the top sheet - than you have a clear view on the skeleton.

Greetings,

Sander
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