Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

New to Affinity, where to start to make 3D architect drawings


Recommended Posts

Dear all, 

 

I am a complete novice and would like to learn how to draw interior architecture plans with this Mac app. My aim is to make a 3D (interactive?) designs of a new interior I would like to create for a building.

 

I would very much appreciate if someone could give me some tips.

 

Many thanks!

 

Best,

H

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Hello hildevert,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Affinity Designer is a 2D illustration software, not a 3D modelling software. You can use it for generic 2D technical drawings, including architecture plans but there's better alternatives strictly for technical drawing. If what you're aiming for is 3D and Architecture, there's several choices depending on your requirements, but for an accessible, powerful and easy to learn software i would suggest SketchUp from Google (there's also a PRO version available). It lets you create walkthroughs through the model, calculate real-time shadows, create flyovers etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

If you click on the link on my sign you will find links for several resources, from our Vimeo channel with video tutorials, to our e-zine - Affinity Review -, plus some great tutorials posted on the forums as well some resource files shares by users (brushes, palettes etc).

If you have any question, just go ahead and post here on forums. There's always members and devs willing to help  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

hildevert, I'm currently working on grid and snapping features that will allow you to do perspective style drawings.  There will be examples of how this can be used when the features are more complete.

 

Here's something I put together quickly using the new tools.

 

post-17-0-01091300-1429181970_thumb.png

 

Just to be clear though - this isn't 3D modelling.  It's tools that let you draw in isometric or other parallel perspective styles.

SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer
  • Software engineer  -  Photographer  -  Guitarist  -  Philosopher
  • iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395
  • MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300
  • iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Sorry to jump in on an old thread, but I'm looking for more information on isometric or perspective styles. I use AD mainly to create vector logos. Sometimes I'd like to create 3D-like effects. See an example below. Ai allows this kind of work, but it's a learning curve for me and so far I enjoy that AD does what Ai does with much greater simplicity and intuitive finesse.

 

The example attached was originally thrown together in AD, but I took it to Ai to get the perspective effect. As you can tell, it's far from perfect because I was low on time to research and figure out the exact tools to use in Ai. So it's mainly done by eye. I'd love to be able to know how to get a similar (and hopefully perfect) effect in AD.

 

Example: https://cloudup.com/iLBphXyzthx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

We currently don't have any perspective tool like this.  Such tools will appear in the future.  We won't be doing proper 3D, however.  Anything we do add will work in 2D vector space, but be used to add the appearance of perspective.

SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer
  • Software engineer  -  Photographer  -  Guitarist  -  Philosopher
  • iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395
  • MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300
  • iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I figure since this is so old the tools below are available on version 1.5.x.  Did these tools ever make it to DESIGNER? If so where can I find them?

 

hildevert, I'm currently working on grid and snapping features that will allow you to do perspective style drawings.  There will be examples of how this can be used when the features are more complete.

 

Here's something I put together quickly using the new tools.

 

attachicon.gifIsometricTest.png

 

Just to be clear though - this isn't 3D modelling.  It's tools that let you draw in isometric or other parallel perspective styles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hildevert, I'm currently working on grid and snapping features that will allow you to do perspective style drawings.  There will be examples of how this can be used when the features are more complete.

 

Here's something I put together quickly using the new tools.

 

Just to be clear though - this isn't 3D modelling.  It's tools that let you draw in isometric or other parallel perspective styles.

 

I figure since this is so old the tools below are available on version 1.5.x.  Did these tools ever make it to DESIGNER? If so where can I find them?

 

Affinity Designer - Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 1 (Single Planes)

Affinity Designer - Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 2 (Multiple Planes)

Affinity Designer - Isometric Grid Drawings: Part 3 (Layers and Compounds)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

I figure since this is so old the tools below are available on version 1.5.x.  Did these tools ever make it to DESIGNER? If so where can I find them?

 

The grid system is all there, and you can define multiple planes for parallel perspective drawing.

 

There are some more tools I still intend to add though - such as for creating objects/shapes into a plane.

SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer
  • Software engineer  -  Photographer  -  Guitarist  -  Philosopher
  • iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395
  • MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300
  • iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello MEB,

 

Thank you for your reply. Since I've already bought the app I think I'll give 2D technical drawing a shot. 

 

You you be able to point me in the direction of the best resources?

 

Many thanks

Since you have already bought AD I shan't be doing them out of business by recommending another app. Although as you have seen from other replies there are ways of creating isometric (but not true perspective) in AD they are not completely straightforward especially if, as you say, you are new to the app. AD is also capable of scaled drawings but it is not a CAD app. AD is a terrific graphic design tool - I love it! But it's maybe not the one you need in this instance.

 

I really would suggest that you follow up on MEB's recommendation and take a look at Sketchup. The free version is more than adequate for your needs. It will give you plans, elevations, isometric and true 3D. It is specifically designed for architects and designers and produces dimensioned drawings as opposed the photo real output of most 3D modellers. Because of this there are no render times - it works completely in real time. It comes complete with pre-loaded textures for architects and interior designers. The wonderful thing is that it is the easiest 3D software to learn. You will find yourself doing things you would never have thought possible in just a few days. Like anything, it needs an investment of time to really get expert, but a basic command is really not difficult.  There are good tutorials and excellent instructions on their site and, I think, a number of training books you can get as well. The forums, like here, are very positive and helpful too. 

 

Whatever you choose, good luck with your project.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are some more tools I still intend to add though - such as for creating objects/shapes into a plane.

 

 

This is good news. At least functional parity of this feature set with DrawPlus is needed. Being able to "send" a live ellipse to any of the three axonometric drawing plane grids (complete with its start and end arc points adjustable) to use as an elliptical axonometric protractor is key for correct construction of off-axis edges.

 

By way of suggestion: One thing that limits practicality of a grids-based interface for axonometric drawing is that the grid increments end up being used as measuring rules, but (unless I'm overlooking it) the user has no means by which to snap the current plane grid to a particular vertex of a shape already drawn on another plane. Instead, the interface just lets the user set an origin for all three grids. It seems to me that a keyboard shortcut which effectively causes the nearest increment of the current grid to shift to where the mouse is clicked would be advantageous.

 

As a long time technical illustrator, I do applaud Serif's willingness to include explicit support for axonometric drawing. I know it must be kind of a "labor of love," since there are so many misconceptions about it. When this feature set is fully fleshed out, it will rival similar functionality (in this regard) in Corel Technical Designer, which is too "vertically priced" beyond the budget of most general commercial illustrators. So this is a great differentiator from other mainstream 2D drawing programs.

 

(That is not a slam against Designer; it's a great program. I suspect much of its cost is no doubt due to other license-based related features, such as importing and flattening 3D CAE system formats. But I remain convinced that most mainstream commercial illustrators could benefit from adding axonometric drawing to their repertoire.)

 

JET

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Yes - I plan to add the ability to move the grid/plane origin.  I had hoped to do this soon, but I need to do a fairly large overhaul of certain tools and on-page grid editing would be part of that.

SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer
  • Software engineer  -  Photographer  -  Guitarist  -  Philosopher
  • iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395
  • MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300
  • iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Greetings everyone,

Although this thread is dated, I'm throwing my hat in here, even if only to keep up with any new insights on this workflow.  I myself have several .afdesign files that are layered, 2D floor plans and are referenced almost daily!  Similar to the original poster, I realize that "true" architectural drawings are out of Affinity's wheelhouse, however, I share the thought that (perhaps with just a few minor tweaks & features) designer really can be useful for this application.

Obviously, these 2D models are not going to cut it for any real architectural work, but for my day-to-day needs, they're a godsend...   

Corporate IT is showing malware on "computer Y" at "wallplate X"?...   Found it.

Bill from accounting forgot his office key...  Found it.

Contractors need a visual for where the new cubicles are being installed?...  Here you go.

To ensure proper scale, I simply used shape tools to "trace over" images of actual floor plans (or created scaled models using sketchup/sweethome and exported to SVG).  While they may not be down-to-the-inch accurate, they're more than capable of providing a scalable reference to suit my needs.

As @hildevert alluded to, there are some minor tweaks that could really add to this functionality.  For example, modals/popovers for supplemental info, the ability to search text strings in layers, and connector elements would all be immensely useful for similar applications of designer.  For the record, I understand and fully appreciate that this is way outside of the software's intended purpose.  For that reason, these are certainly not features I'd bug the developers for.  That being said, as the Affinity suite continues to mature & expand, I'd like to think they'd serve other purposes as well, so I'm simply offering my "+1" for this usage scenario and hopefully adding a bit of clarification.  These docs may have started as a bit of a pet project, but have since become an incredible asset, saving me countless hours over time.  It's hard to put a price on answering "what wall plate is printer X using?" instantly - without having to crawl around under desks with a flashlight!

Just my $.02.  Cheers!

 

3624MKTfloorplan.afdesign

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.