Maya Architectural Visualization using AutoCAD Files

In this tutorial we will be showing how you can use existing AutoCAD files to create true 3D edifice construction.

Importing .DXF/.DWG files made from AutoCAD are one of the ways to create an architectural piece. When doing so, you need to remember the following requirements.

- Make sure the architect gets rid of crosshatching, text, floor tiles, etc.
- When importing the file into Maya, make sure you choose Group.
- Place the floor on the 0 of the Y axis.
- Move any Cross Sections to the side.

We are going to import an existing AutoCAD file and use it as a reference to build a house.

To import a DXF/DWG file click File > Import

Click Check Group

Choose for File Type DWG_DXF

(make sure you have the DXF/DWG plugin installed: Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plugin Manager. Then click next to the dwgTranslator.mll) If the plugin is not listed you will need to download it from the http://www.alias.com/ site.

After importing, the geometry may not be immediately visible. Select some of the geometry and frame it (F hotkey) to reveal the geometry.
To reposition the geometry more appropriately select its top level group node and click Modify > Centre Pivot.
Then grid snap the group hierarchy to the origin.

To place the floor of the geometry to 0 on the Y-axis we will need to change its pivot
Click Insert (PC)/Home (Mac) to change the pivot.
Click on the Y axis of the manipulator so that it turns yellow (so we can snap-contrained to the Y axis).
Hold down C to snap to curves and drag your mouse over the floor level curve.
This will change the pivot of the house to its floor.

Now just grid snap along the Y-axis until the floor coincides with Y = 0.

If the AutoCAD file is properly prepared you should have everything already organised into layers. We will be concentrating first on the walls so turn off all other layers except for the walls.

Start with a floor at a time, the bottom floor first

 


Creating the Walls

Select all the walls and display their CVs

Turn on Snap to Point (don't just hold down V)
Use the Create Polygon Tool to create an outline of the whole building first
DON'T PRESS ENTER to Complete the polygon!!
Click on "Control" then trace out the inside walls of the whole building
When you have traced them all then click enter

Translate the Wall polygon up in Y by 0.3

Make sure your normals are pointing up then extrude the polygon up to the height of your house (in this example the specification was 9.8)

Make a layer for the Walls Geometry and hide it.

Hide or reference out the AutoCAD walls layer.



Creating the Doors.

Unhide the AutoCAD layer for the doors.
Select all the doors and display their CVs.
Turn on Snap to Point (don't just hold down V)
Use the Create Polygon Tool to create an outline of all the doors.
Translate them all down to the origin
In component mode, select all the doors, then select all their faces.
Extrude them all up by the height of the door plus the walls offset from the ground (in this case 8.9 + 0.3 = 9.2 )
Create a layer for the doors and then hide the layer.


Creating the Windows.

1) The Window Glass
Un-template the AutoCAD walls
Select all the walls and display their CVs
Turn on Snap to Point (don' t just hold down V)
Using the CV Curve Tool (Degree 1 setting:Linear) Trace the outline of the house.
Select this curve and create an inward offset of about 0.3 (the middle between the inner and outer walls) this will be used eventually to create the glass to go into the windows.

We now want to detach the curve so that it only fills the parts of the walls that have windows in it.

Right Click on the NURBS curve and Shift select curve points as indicated below on either side of the doorways.
Edit Curves > Detach curves. Then delete the offcuts.

Duplicate this NURBS curves and translate them in Y by 9.8 units
Loft between the two curves
Delete history and give the NURBS surfaces meaningful name like WindowGlass 1 & 2. Create a layer for it and its NURBS construction Curves and hide its layer for now.

2) The Window Recesses

Unhide the AutoCAD layer for windows.
Repeat as for the Doors by tracing the AutoCAD window outlines and translate the polygons you create to a Y = 3.
Extrude the window boxes up by 4.8 units

We will be using these window boxes to Boolean out window recesses

Unhide the Main walls.
Select the walls and one window
Polygons > Booleans > Difference

Shift select the next window box and click G to repeat the Boolean operation.

Continue doing this until all the windows have been cut out.

Repeat this for all the doors as well.

 

 

The Roof.

Unhide the reference geometry for the roof.

Trace out the roof shape using the create polygon tool. Centre its pivot, move it to the origin, freeze its transformation then translate it up by 9.5 units

Extrude its face upwards and point snap its vertices to the roof's inner reference line. This will create double vertices along the ridge so merge the double vertices to form a clean edge.

Inside floor and outside concrete.

Unhide the AutoCAD reference for the inside floor and the outside concrete. Use the polygon tool to create surfaces for each and then extrude them by 0.3 units.

 





Inside Cornesses

Use the information from the walls to draw a linear NURBS curve around the inside roof area

Offset this curve by about 0.5
Delete history on this curve
Translate the first curve down about  0.35 units down in Y
Display the CVs of both curves
Point snap draw a profile curve between the corners of each curve to create a rail for a Bi-rail sweep.
Create a bi-rail sweep using the three curves
Rebuild the profile to have 6 spans (Edit Curves > Rebuild Curves)

In the front and Side Panels move the CVs together to shape the profile of the corness.

You can now repeat this for all rooms of the house. Note: you can duplicate the profile curve and re-use it for the other rooms. Be wary that you may have to manually tidy up the ends of the birail sweep as it does not finish off the cornesses very elegantly.

Floor skirting boards

You can repeat the technique above for cornesses to create skirting boards around the floor.

Doors

Using the exising geometry, polygon tool trace out the door frame and extrude it back by about 0.3 units. Inset some other geometry and group it or Boolean it with the door to make it look more interesting.