Modular Mock-up app/program advice

[Joshua Arden]

Hello, I am looking for a solution to use my PC to mockup a gothic cathedral as well as general Clorehaven modular buildings and roof pieces. I’m looking for a way to play with configurations and basically create my own assemblies of modular stl files and also create labelled assembly diagrams with the given components that I already have the stl’s for once I settle on a design.

My current solution is to use the built in microsoft 3d builder but I have to simplify the geometry of each component to reduce computing requirements and I’m still getting hard crashes as the modular assembly gets bigger, this app is also just generally clunky to say the least. There is no good way to label pieces that I have found either in 3dBuilder. I’m not very good with blender, but I’m open to learning more if there is not a more simple solution or opensource software available.

Tinkercad has file size limits and browser based app doesn’t seem ideal. Meshmixer is buggy and slow for me, not suited for the task.. I don’t really need to scale or merge or do any editing to the individual files…

I guess I could find the templates of plain smooth openlock tiles, but that doesn’t sound very fun and I’d be better off with a sheet of graph paper. 🙂

What are folks using for blueprint tinkering?
Thanks!

[Nicholas Jebson]

I use Meshmixer here when I’m mocking up buildings as you can set it to snap-to-fit with previous STL files, though when i am making assembly diagrams for the site I use a program called Keyshot. I then download them as a PNG file so that i can import it into Photoshop to do the overlay.

[Joshua Arden]

Thanks for the info, do you find Meshmixer is also prone to crashing with higher numbers of assets on screen?

[Nicholas Jebson]

I have had it slow right down but i have yet to have it crash. some times it takes itself maybe 30 seconds to work out and then it comes right.
To be fair the largest thing i have done via it is probably the Ruined Cathedral in the Sci-Fi Gothic range which i will be putting the assembly guide up for soon, which is no where near on the level as say the Inn of the Welcome Wench

[Joshua Arden]

I think I’ve managed a workable solution with the 3d builder app, for how barebones it is I can still reasonably eyeball a mock up. I’m sure Meshmixer is probably more intuitive and certainly more powerful, but once I’ve loaded my pieces, simplified them, and “embossed” them with a marking for reference I’ve been able to make it serve my purposes. Totally off topic, but I think staring at the 3d builder app and “jig-saw puzzling” is giving me motion sickness. Something that Cura, blender, meshmixer, etc have never done :/ maybe the grid and infinite horizon…. anyway thanks for your help I’m excited to see the diagram you mentioned, here’s my addition of demon buttress’ to the regular Cathedral Walls pack first floor.

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