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Making smooth/bended surfaces when fillet won't do the job

Question asked by Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 13, 2014
Latest reply on Mar 31, 2014 by John Burrill

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Hello everyone!

I have recieved a project from a company that wanted me to show my skills before the actually hire me.

The company designs and manufacture furniture, and they basically wanted me to mesure a couch and re-design it in solidworks.

Now, I have managed to get the general design in place, but some of the design looks really ugly because the faces and surcaces are too flat.

I have tried to use the Dome feature but it isn't behaving as expected for this particular project.

After trying, and trying, and trying, I finally come to you guys in hope to get some help.

Below are two pictures that demonstrate what is wrong with the couch, and what I would like to do is to smooth out the flat surfaces.

Fillet, does NOT fix the problem.

No one else has this question

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J. Mather Mar 13, 2014 12:09 PM

Search on Ed Eaton Curvy Stuff DiMonte Group Tutorials

and Mike Wilson SolidWorks.

You have a steep learning curve ahead of you.

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Tom dunn Mar 15, 2014 8:30 AM

Can you upload your part for us to mess with? click on advanced editor in top right corner to load parts. Thanks!

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Aid Vllasaliu @ Tom dunn on Mar 16, 2014 8:02 PM

@J. Mather Thanks I looked at it a bit, looks interesting! Will have to dive right in I guess!

@Tom Dunn Sure I attached a zip with the parts in it.

Thanks guys!

Attachments

Soffa.zip4.5 MB

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Aid Vllasaliu Mar 17, 2014 9:45 AM

Does anybody have an idea on how to fix my problem?

I have tried just about anything I've seen in SolidWorks.

Freeform, loft etc etc... I cant get rid of the jagged edges.

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Tony Vitale @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 24, 2014 12:27 PM

do you have photos of what it is supposed to look like?

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Aid Vllasaliu @ Tony Vitale on Mar 24, 2014 2:14 PM

Yes, here it is!

There's only one picture on their website, I don't know if I can upload my personal pictures of the couch.

http://www.ihreborn.se/produkter/soffor/talk/#talk-2-sits-i-tyg-steelcut-trio

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Tony Vitale @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 24, 2014 3:57 PM

you can upload your pics

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Tom dunn Mar 18, 2014 8:47 AM

Here is a couch I found on 3d content central. This might help you with your model. Tom

Attachments

User Library-Monza Couch - 2 Seater.SLDPRT.zip1.9 MB

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Aid Vllasaliu @ Tom dunn on Mar 24, 2014 2:14 PM

Thanks, but that's not quite what I'm looking for.

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John Burrill Mar 24, 2014 4:50 PM

Take into account, that the part looks a certain way because it's constructed a certain way. Figure out the underlying structure, and that will give you an idea of how to approach a design job like this. I know when you're 90% through a job and you're trying to hack the last 10%, you don't want to hear someone say back-up and start over, but the company you're interviewing with is a furniture manufacterer, not a Game developer, so they're not looking for a prop they want an actual design.

One thing you should take into account, SolidWorks doesn't do fabric simulation, so a lot of the form elements like the deformed shape of cushions pushing against eachtother and the fabric stretching over the batting-you're not going to be able to model those realistically. You'll have to generalize their representations somewhat.

Off the cuff, I'm going to recommend you model this couch as a multi-body part. Use the weldment tools to create an armature that you can add stuffing and padding to. For the padding you're going to make simple chopped cylinders that define how much bow the padding has and then use boundary and fill surfaces to skin over the padding. Thicken the surfaces to make solid bodies.

At that point, you can use the indent tool to remove interferences between overlapping bodies so that you get good intersection curves.

Now, if this company is infact, just looking for a general representation, there's a saying that I take to heart: you can have a crappy model and if you have good textures and lighting, your scene will look good, so before you dis on yourself, throw a fabric texture on your couch model, change the environment to SoftTent and render it and see how it looks then.

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Aid Vllasaliu @ John Burrill on Mar 31, 2014 5:34 AM

Thanks a lot!

What you say makes sense.

These are my final results, it looks pretty similar. Maybe not exactly as the original, but it is just a rough representation anyways!

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John Burrill @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 31, 2014 6:33 PM

Oh wow, man. That looks really good. Hope you land the gig.

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11 Replies

J. Mather Mar 13, 2014 12:09 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Search on Ed Eaton Curvy Stuff DiMonte Group Tutorials
and Mike Wilson SolidWorks.
You have a steep learning curve ahead of you.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Tom dunn Mar 15, 2014 8:30 AM
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Can you upload your part for us to mess with? click on advanced editor in top right corner to load parts. Thanks!
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- Aid Vllasaliu @ Tom dunn on Mar 16, 2014 8:02 PM
  Mark Correct
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  @J. Mather Thanks I looked at it a bit, looks interesting! Will have to dive right in I guess!
  
  @Tom Dunn Sure I attached a zip with the parts in it.
  
  Thanks guys!
  Attachments
  - Soffa.zip4.5 MB
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Aid Vllasaliu Mar 17, 2014 9:45 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Does anybody have an idea on how to fix my problem?

I have tried just about anything I've seen in SolidWorks.

Freeform, loft etc etc... I cant get rid of the jagged edges.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
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- Tony Vitale @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 24, 2014 12:27 PM
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  do you have photos of what it is supposed to look like?
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  - Aid Vllasaliu @ Tony Vitale on Mar 24, 2014 2:14 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    Yes, here it is!
    
    There's only one picture on their website, I don't know if I can upload my personal pictures of the couch.
    
    http://www.ihreborn.se/produkter/soffor/talk/#talk-2-sits-i-tyg-steelcut-trio
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    - Tony Vitale @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 24, 2014 3:57 PM
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      Correct Answer
      you can upload your pics
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Tom dunn Mar 18, 2014 8:47 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Here is a couch I found on 3d content central. This might help you with your model. Tom
Attachments
- User Library-Monza Couch - 2 Seater.SLDPRT.zip1.9 MB
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- Aid Vllasaliu @ Tom dunn on Mar 24, 2014 2:14 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Thanks, but that's not quite what I'm looking for.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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John Burrill Mar 24, 2014 4:50 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Take into account, that the part looks a certain way because it's constructed a certain way. Figure out the underlying structure, and that will give you an idea of how to approach a design job like this. I know when you're 90% through a job and you're trying to hack the last 10%, you don't want to hear someone say back-up and start over, but the company you're interviewing with is a furniture manufacterer, not a Game developer, so they're not looking for a prop they want an actual design.
One thing you should take into account, SolidWorks doesn't do fabric simulation, so a lot of the form elements like the deformed shape of cushions pushing against eachtother and the fabric stretching over the batting-you're not going to be able to model those realistically. You'll have to generalize their representations somewhat.
Off the cuff, I'm going to recommend you model this couch as a multi-body part. Use the weldment tools to create an armature that you can add stuffing and padding to. For the padding you're going to make simple chopped cylinders that define how much bow the padding has and then use boundary and fill surfaces to skin over the padding. Thicken the surfaces to make solid bodies.
At that point, you can use the indent tool to remove interferences between overlapping bodies so that you get good intersection curves.
Now, if this company is infact, just looking for a general representation, there's a saying that I take to heart: you can have a crappy model and if you have good textures and lighting, your scene will look good, so before you dis on yourself, throw a fabric texture on your couch model, change the environment to SoftTent and render it and see how it looks then.
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- Aid Vllasaliu @ John Burrill on Mar 31, 2014 5:34 AM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Thanks a lot!
  
  What you say makes sense.
  
  These are my final results, it looks pretty similar. Maybe not exactly as the original, but it is just a rough representation anyways!
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - John Burrill @ Aid Vllasaliu on Mar 31, 2014 6:33 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    Oh wow, man. That looks really good. Hope you land the gig.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions

Making smooth/bended surfaces when fillet won't do the job

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