Software Question

[BlueSpruce]

For those who are in the know!
I would like to take a design, (that I have or would purchase plans for) and put that design into a design software program (FreeShip?) so that I could experiment with minor changes, such as, window placement, Deck height.... This is for fun. I would not waste my time and money building something that has not been checked out by a qualified NA.

Is it possible?
If so, how difficult? I don't desire to learn the entire program, just have some fun with it.
If so, and If not too hard, How do I do it?

I hope this is the right place to post this request? Sorry if its not, I would gladly place it elsewhere.

[Bruce Hooke]

A key question is how much do you want to mess with the shape of the hull and the math related to hull shape changes. As I understand it, most yacht designers use two software programs to design a boat. The first is a dedicated software package desgined to deal with the complex forms and calculations related to hull shapes. The second is a straight drafting program like AutoCAD or some other 2d drafting program to add in all the details like ports, interior fittings, etc. As long as you are not concerned with turning out a plans for a fair hull you can do an awful lot in a 2d drafting program. Of course to do any of this you have to redraw the plans yourself within whatever program you are using. A really simple approach is to simply import a profile picture of the boat into a photo editing program and make changes there, but this will not get you very far.

[Thorne]

I do computer support for a living, and routinely tell people that using software graphics tools can easily be the hardest thing they've ever done on a computer. You not only have to know the OS quite well, but all sorts of graphics concepts and terms -- not the sort of thing one does quickly for a bit of fun.

That said, try some simple graphics programs with scans of hull designs, and see if they meet your needs. Otherwise plan on spending lots of money and time on the graphics/CAD software and training.

[mmd]

Don't bother with hull design programs like Free!Ship if all you want to do is cosmetically modify an existing design and take the result to a designer. Use a graphics program like PhotoShop or even MS Paint to sketch the "look" that you want, then take the resulting picture to a designer/naval architect and let him use his training and experience to modify the technical bits to suit your dream boat.

[BlueSpruce]

Thank you for your help. I do believe that for what I want to do mmd's suggestion seems very good.

[ 03-20-2006, 06:52 PM: Message edited by: BlueSpruce ]

[BillyG]

Originally posted by BlueSpruce:
Thank you for your help. I do believe that for what I want to do mmd's suggestion seems very good.

[BillyG]

Originally posted by BillyG:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BlueSpruce:
Thank you for your help. I do believe that for what I want to do mmd's suggestion seems very good.</font>[/QUOTE].......and MMD oughta know - you're getting the scoop from a NA........

[Wes Kisting]

BlueSpruce, if you're really intent on doing 3D modeling on a computer, Freeship is a surprisingly capable program. It took me about 5-10 hours of tinkering (just for fun, like you) to figure out how to use the finnicky controls. The user manual leaves a lot to be desired, and isn't really intended to teach someone the software from the ground up. Having said that, it can do what you want it to (create just about as sophisticated of a 3D model as anyone could desire) if you're willing to play around with the settings long enough. Since you're only trying to develop the model for cosmetic/layout purposes, it wouldn't be crucial to bother with a lot of the really time-consuming things like closing up leak points, etc. If you wanted to use Freeship to produce a full-size boat, on the other hand, I wouldn't recommend it. It's a capable software package, but it still requires a very solid understanding of hydrodynamics and the factors which bear upon the "balance" of a boat in order to produce satisfactory results... even if you use it to design a smaller craft like a canoe or kayak.

Anyway, that's my two cents about Freeship. I've enjoyed playing around with it for fun.

[emichaels]

Related question I have is this: If you have a table of offsets and you input these into free ship and then manipulate these lines will the program output a newly generated table of offsets ??

Eric

[Wes Kisting]

Eric, I inputed the offsets for an Egret (sharpie) into Freeship and found that the 3D rendered lines came out looking identical to the hull sketch up in Reuel Parker's _The Sharpie Book_, but I haven't tried modifying and outputting the offsets for full-size lofting, so I can't speak to the accuracy of the program. I know some folks have input measurements from existing kayak hulls and outputted them (after modification) to good effect.

[Yakhook]

Eric , Yes.

Paul

[Yakhook]

Eric , Yes.

Paul

[Woxbox]

Whatever happened to pencil and paper? How can they not be the best tools for sketching minor changes to a design? (Or maybe you can't even buy tracing paper anymore.)