General | Technical | Sweet Onion Creations

Technical questions about building in 3D...

What scale can you work with?
Can you do topography?
What CAD programs do you work with?
What types of CAD files do you accept?
What does a “STL” file do?
What if my firm is designing in 2D space?
How hard is it to “export” files?

What scale can you work with?

Our capabilities include 1/16”=1’ scale to represent intricate details such as windows, chimneys, exterior stone work, even cobblestone pathways.

But even a 1:1000 scale model representing massive development sites is an effective communication tool for our clients.

Land Contours taken from GIS survey data

Can you do topography?

Yes. We use the contour lines that are generated out of civil engineering programs to create a perfect replica of the land.
In the past, we’ve built potential site models with areas carved out to represent future streets and housing sites. This is very helpful for review boards and letting them see how the land will look with a development or structure sitting on it.

Be sure to check out the Topography and Site Models in the Gallery section for ideas.

What CAD programs do you work with?

Our service complements Building Information Modeling software (BIM) such as Revit and Bentley Architecture. Other, 3D enabled software products include:

*Archicad
*AutoCAD Architectural Desktop
*Revit
*Bentley Triforma
*Civil 3D
*FormZ
*Sketchup
*Rhino
*Solidworks
*3D Studio Max/Viz
*and many others

What types of CAD files do you accept?

The nice thing about the majority of CAD packages today is their ability to output a design in a stereolithography file (“.STL”) format that allows an object to come alive in 3D space. This is a similar idea to taking a Word document and making it a PDF. The words and pictures are the same but the format is different.
Another option is using the standard DXF or DWG file format to export the designed space in 3D. These files can be uploaded to our website via the client login page. Read about our online process for managing projects.

What does a “STL” file do?

.STL file format was introduced as a simple file format for storing information about 3D objects and their main purpose is for producing physical models. The STL file basically produces a “mesh” outline of the object and helps make it watertight. Read our white paper on how 3D Printing technology works.

What if my firm is designing in 2D space?

Architecture standards such as 2D geometry (DXF, DWG, AI, 3DS etc.), have great workflow and organizational tools and all have some way of exporting either to .STL directly or to another format that we can translate into an .STL using another software package. From here, we can take your design work with it to produce the appropriate 3D file to build a model.

Read a case study about the architecture firm of JLF & Associates and the process of going from 2D drawings to a final architecture presentation model for the Yellowstone Club design review committee in Big Sky, Montana.

How hard is it to “export” files?

You don’t have to be an expert at this. We’re available to walk you through the process of obtaining the file and can help teach you the tricks of file preparation. Once we have a copy of your file, the models shows up a few days later.