magnilux - Astronomy Technology Today

A 3D CAD
Primer
From Papyrus to 3D
Animation – A Boon for
ATM Enthusiasts!
By Art Bianconi
Some archeologists attribute the
invention of drafting to the Egyptians.
While cave dwellers did rough sketches of
structures on cave walls, the idea of representing
complex geometry with three or
more views was done, some say, in an
attempt to build secret passageways in the
pyramids. Their motive is said to have
been a need to hide access to the burial
chambers of the pharaohs. Others credit
the Egyptians for originating the idea, but
insist that the Greeks really developed it.
Judging from the results, drafting has
been much more successful as a discipline
than efforts by Egyptian architects to hide
the pharaohs’ treasures. To me, what is fascinating
about drafting is that the principles
that drive it continued for so long
without any fundamental change since its
inception around 3200 BC. That’s about
5000 years!
At the heart of this developmental
stagnation is the simple fact that virtually
every example of drafting has been limited
by the two-dimensional surface
defined by paper, another equally-old
medium, also attributed to the Egyptians
(papyrus).
While the advent of the personal
computer in the early 1980s did wonders
for drafting, the design environment was
still limited to a flat surface. Programs like
AutoCAD, VersaCAD, et al, added speed
and accuracy to the techniques of drafting,
but designers were still left with the
same creative dilemma: you would think
of something in three-dimensional space,
but were still forced to translate it, one
line at a time, using multiple views, onto
paper. Then you crossed your fingers and
hoped that a craftsman would translate
the two-dimensional data accurately, and
build it. You also hoped that all the parts
would fit, as designed, with no interference.
Such was the problem of living in a
three dimensional universe, but confined
to expressing ideas in the limited, twodimensional
medium.
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 57