CAD and NL

how do you convert a file from .dwg to .3ds so it can be used as a 3d thingie in NL? i have autocad 2004 and i'm trying to use it as a 3d program.

Search google for a converter. I often find conveters pretty easily on google searches.

okay i got one

and my 3d stuff looks like crap!

you don't need a converter. Just select the whole object and click on the file button. It has an export button with 3ds as an option.

well, that works better.. and my ghosts look like crap, but that's just because i didn't put a lot of time into them. but now i have another problem right over here:

http://www.coastercrazy.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6948


basically, everything i put into nl (except the ghosts) are dark red. nomatter what the color is in nl. did i put some sort of red skin under the black one in CAD that's confusing the program? i'm so lost!

Originally posted by nannerdw

you don't need a converter. Just select the whole object and click on the file button. It has an export button with 3ds as an option.

Or that.

Oh, and make sure you've placed any textures you've used into the same folder as the 3ds's are in.

so CAD stuff doesn't look good as 3ds?

The problem is that AutoCAD is fundamentally a 2D program, not designed for modeling in 3D.

yeah.. my cad teacher called it a 3 dimensional 2d program lol. and 2d stuff is fine for what i'm doing for the most part, but it just looks like crap. and now every time i put something from cad to nl, it turns dark red (?)

yeah right now im in CAD I and weve only done 2d prodjects now, but the 3D stuff looks like crap

CAD is just meant for representations. Not photo realism or to recreate something that looks real, mearly to represent a final product.

Well, it depends.

The following are a few shots of a little project I did in Solidworks, a 3d cad program, rendered with it's internal renderer.