Subject:
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Re: Converting AutoCAD/3D Studio/etc. to .dat with 3DWin
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad
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Date:
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Fri, 21 Feb 2003 10:27:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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749 times
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Hi,
With all due respect, a big problem that I see here is that 3dWin is a
shareware application. Personally, if I do not pay for the likes of Ldraw,
MLcad, Lpub, POV or Blender, there is no way I am going to even consider
paying for a format translator. I find it preferable to find a way around
it. After all, much of the fun I get from Lego (including Lego CAD) is
related to problem-solving. But don't get me wrong - I have and will
continue to donate money to keep the programs that I like free of charge.
Actually, I am more intrigued at the moment at the moment by the myriad of
small applications that pack of lots of focused power - the blender
importers, the stud subtitutors, etc. The beauty of the .DAT file format is
that it combines strength with ease of use, so IMHO the efforts from the
Ldraw community should be centered around the file format, and not some
application that "also" converts to and from .DAT.
What I think would be nice is a freeware two-way translator from .DAT to say
.3DS that generated proper files proper files at both ends. Since 3DS is one
of the standard 3D formats, this would allow conversion to and from .DAT
into virtually any other 3D format. There is a very good freeware translator
called Crossroads that will convert between 3DS and several other formats.
And the large majority of 3D software can import 3DS files and save them as
other formats.
On a side note, while L3P is a superb translator of .DAT to .POV, it turns
out that .POV files are not trivial to convert back to most standard 3D file
formats. Or at least I do not know of any free application that does this -
and many claim in their documentaton that they are working on it but haven't
nailed it yet. Ironically, most former freeware file format translators have
turned commercial at about the same time that they began importing .POV
files :-(
In the meantime, MAX2DAT converts 3DSMAX ASCII (.ASE) files to .DAT files
http://www.ldraw.org/download/win/max2dat
And Milkshake 3D converts regular .3DS files to .ASE
http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/ms3d/index.html
Ldraw.org lists some DAT-to-other-format translators, but I have only a very
limited experience with them.
Anyway, my 2 cents.
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Converting AutoCAD/3D Studio/etc. to .dat with 3DWin
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| (...) Hi Miguel - You bring up a good point. I wonder, Darrell, if you could work with Thomas Baier to possibly have the to-from LDraw format part be free of charge, period? It wouldn't affect his market for cross-advanced 3D format conversions, (...) (21 years ago, 21-Feb-03, to lugnet.cad)
| | | Re: Converting AutoCAD/3D Studio/etc. to .dat with 3DWin
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| (...) snip (...) Hi Miguel, I've been discussing this with your co-author Kevin Clauge about this as well (BTW, I'm enjoying your book very much!). Let me try to clarify my position if I can.. I'm not trying to say EVERYONE should be using 3DWin. (...) (21 years ago, 24-Feb-03, to lugnet.cad)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Converting AutoCAD/3D Studio/etc. to .dat with 3DWin
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| Hello all, While this certainly hasn't been a secret, I'm not sure anyone else has noticed: the latest version of TB Software's 3DWin can EXPORT .dat/.ldr files! Theoretically, this means you can now model a part in a commercial 3D CAD application (...) (21 years ago, 21-Feb-03, to lugnet.cad)
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