Affinity Designer - easy 3D like in Serif DrawPlus X8?

[mstein]

Hi,

 

Serif tells me, Affinity Designer is the successor of DrawPlus X8.

 

So I wonder how can I do the 3d draw like in Serif DrawPlus X8? There I have the 3 perspective rasters where I can paint rectangles or what ever. And when I click on one of those already drawn elements, the raster automatically switches to the correct perspective raster.

 

How can this be easily done in Affinity Designer? I currently only saw the examples with polygonal point-by-point painting:

 

Rectangles snap to points of the raster but do not rotate according to the raster automatically.

 

Will this feature be added later?

 

Regards,

 

Markus

[Callum]

Hi Mstein,

 

Welcome to the Forums,

 

There isn't anyway to do easy 3D in Affinity like you could in DrawPlus I'm afraid. I'd recommend making a post in our Feature Requests section regarding this feature :)

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/6-feature-requests/

 

Thanks

C

[Alfred]

Serif tells me, Affinity Designer is the successor of DrawPlus X8.

 

They shouldn't have told you that. It leads to the expectation that Designer picks up where DrawPlus left off, but it's completely new software written from scratch.

[JET_Affinity]

You can set up the axonometric grids (more tedious than in DrawPlus), and use them as snapping guides, but as yet there is no object-level association with the "3D Plane" grids like in DrawPlus. Quite a pity, too.

 

JET

[DavidMac]

They shouldn't have told you that. It leads to the expectation that Designer picks up where DrawPlus left off, but it's completely new software written from scratch.

 

 

This is what the Draw plus site has to say. http://www.serif.com/drawplus/

 

AD is described as an alternative. Which is quite correct. But with DrawPlus a no longer supported legacy programme mstein has a fair point when he describes AD as the 'successor'. Serif are certainly not being misleading ............. but I think I would probably have supposed similarities and envisioned AD as a replacement.  :unsure:

[DavidMac]

You can set up the axonometric grids (more tedious than in DrawPlus), and use them as snapping guides, but as yet there is no object-level association with the "3D Plane" grids like in DrawPlus. Quite a pity, too.

 

JET

There is real dearth of decent software for drawing axonometrically. Those that do exist tend to be expensive architectural apps.  When I want to draw axonometrically I use the free Trimble Sketchup 3D and simply ignore the third axis and draw on one plane. It's one the easiest and quickest apps to learn. You can switch between orthogonal and axonometric and draw easily in either mode. It has scaleable dimensions. The nice thing is if ever you want to extrude a plan vertically it's a piece of cake because you are working in true 3D. 

[R C-R]

When I want to draw axonometrically I use the free Trimble Sketchup 3D and simply ignore the third axis and draw on one plane.

Can you tell me if the current free version (SketchUp Make - 2017) supports export to eps? I downloaded it as an "update" to the old non-pro SketchUp 8 app already installed on my Mac, but that automatically includes the Pro version's features as a 30 day time-limited free trial. As of now, eps 2D export is an option, but annoyingly I cannot find any info saying if eps export is a 'pro" feature that will cease to function 29 days from now, or will continue to work as part of the free "Make" app.

 

That is one of the things I did not like about v8 -- it had no 2D vector export options (& very limited 3D import options). To get them, you had to spend $495 on the pro version. The current Pro version is $695, far too much to spend just to get better import/export options!

[DavidMac]

Can you tell me if the current free version (SketchUp Make - 2017) supports export to eps? I downloaded it as an "update" to the old non-pro SketchUp 8 app already installed on my Mac, but that automatically includes the Pro version's features as a 30 day time-limited free trial. As of now, eps 2D export is an option, but annoyingly I cannot find any info saying if eps export is a 'pro" feature that will cease to function 29 days from now, or will continue to work as part of the free "Make" app.

 

That is one of the things I did not like about v8 -- it had no 2D vector export options (& very limited 3D import options). To get them, you had to spend $495 on the pro version. The current Pro version is $695, far too much to spend just to get better import/export options!

One of the major differences in the free Sketchup Make and the professional Sketchup Pro is export. The free SM 2017 which I am using at present exports 3D in Collada .dae or Google Earth .kmz and 2D in jpg, png, and tiff (the latter two with or without transparency). That it! Very, very limited. There are some plugins available which will extend the export range of SM but they are mainly 3D printing formats. There is very little else because obviously that would trample on the paid SP's extra capabilities. I am afraid I  don't know what the SP formats offered are. So I can’t really help you more on this. If you cannot find details on their website, ask in their forums. Sketchup is one the forums that can seriously rival Affinity's for sheer helpfulness and friendliness from some very experienced users - although slightly less of the tongue in cheek asides which can make it such fun here!  ;) 

 

I use SM's axonometric capabilities for two things - dimensioned technical drawings and the basic constructions for photographic 3D illusions which often rely on the appearance of perspective but without vanishing points. 

 

For technical drawing I work completely in Sketchup and then export png's in both isometric and orthogonal views. These are usually exported as simple Tiff images without transparency. I then use AD or AP to annotate them if necessary.

 

For my illusion work I export isometric tiff's with transparency. Sketchup has a system called Layers which is quite different from AP or PS layers but which enables the drawing to be classified into different elements whose visibly can be turn on and off. By turning on and off these layers I am able to export selected parts of my drawing which can be re-assembled as AP or PS layers for texturing and compositing with photographic elements. This needs careful planning and discipline but works fine for my purposes. Working in axonometric projection (or in this case isometric) enables me to join together elements at different distances from the 'camera' which are not in fact coplanar but which can be made to appear so thus tricking the viewers perceptions.

 

This is a bit off topic but how I do this might be of interest in a forum full of photographers and designers. I can’t put this in the gallery (which would be more appropriate)  because it is not Affinity created. It was done in Photoshop before I had started using AP. So I will have to strut my stuff here. It was our new year’s card for the start of 2015.

 

The first image HexStructureElement is a composite of about twelve layers constructed entirely in Sketchup Make and exported as Tiff’s with transparency. Using rotational symmetry and some very devious manipulation of layers these were assembled into the second image NewYearIllusion a convoluted ‘Escherian’ hexagon that could not possibly exist in real 3D space.

 

The isometric lettering and lampposts also originated in Sketchup. All the texturing was done in Photoshop and the light and shadows were also done by entirely by eye and hand painting. The final step was to take the photographs of my wife and I from very precisely judged camera angles and carefully matched lighting so as to drop seamlessly into their pre-planned positions. To suppress too much perspective in the figures I shot from quite far back with a longish focal length.

 

Odd ……….

 

 ................. but fun!!  :)

[Fixx]

Can you tell me if the current free version (SketchUp Make - 2017) supports export to eps? 

 

I think free version does not support any vector export. Possibly you can save vector PDF from print dialog.

[R C-R]

One of the major differences in the free Sketchup Make and the professional Sketchup Pro is export. The free SM 2017 which I am using at present exports 3D in Collada .dae or Google Earth .kmz and 2D in jpg, png, and tiff (the latter two with or without transparency). That it! Very, very limited. 

Thanks! That is what I suspected: the eps 2D vector export must be a 'pro' feature that will go away when the trial period ends. It isn't very good anyway from what I can tell -- everything is exported as a line segment except maybe rectangles, so for example an arch has a dozen or more straight line segments in the arc.

 

So it is good for raster images but all but useless for vector shape exports. Oh well, the free version does have some nice features & it is hard to gripe about its price. 

[DavidMac]

I think free version does not support any vector export. Possibly you can save vector PDF from print dialog.

Free version absolutely does not have vector export. I just tried your print suggestion. You can print as PDF or PostScript. In both case the result is an image in a clipping layer. This applies to opening in AD and Illustrator.