Easy browse, search, preview for the DipTrace 3d Models

[sleemanj]

Hi all, DipTrace has about 3500 3d models in it's current (2014) download file to cover almost any situation, but actually FINDING the model you want to assign to your part is a pretty frustrating task with such cryptic names and no quick preview.

So, I fixed that for you.

I generated a preview image of every 3d model (using view3dscene and a LOT of playing aroun dto get good lighting and view positioning to work for the majority of models), went through and classified each model (which took many many hours), put those in EXIF tags, and then I wrote a simple interface to search and browse the models.

So you can for example search for "Capacitor / Electrolytic" with "Through Hole" mounting and "100mil", just like I'm doing in this screenshot.



Simply get the zip file using the below torrent, unzip it, and open the index.html file in it, no web-server needed, works totally locally.

Get Torrent Here: http://sparks.gogo.co.nz/diptrace_model ... 16.torrent

Only tested in Chrome, but other browsers should probably work too. You could also use your favourite photo organising software if you wanted, because all the categories are stored in the EXIF tags.

The contrib folder has some of the scripts I wrote to process the files and the lighting/viewpoints which had to be added to get good previews.

I used digiKam and exiftool to do the EXIF tagging.

There will be incorrect classifications, a lot was done by eye, and a few packages I didn't recognise entirely.


Previous Release
https://s3.amazonaws.com/miscjunkandstu ... rowser.zip

[davenz]

This is f'in brilliant and should be included in the official downloadable distros of DipTrace in my opinion. Great work and extremely useful.

[Fenichel]

It is indeed brilliant, and it should be integrated with the rest of Diptrace, not just distributed with it. Here as with the larger problem of the libraries, DipTrace's slapdash data management makes contributions like this difficult to maintain. For example, the next distribution of the model collection will inevitably include a few new ones. At that point, we will need to wait for Sleemanj to put in a new, noble effort to find the new models and annotate them.
If the models were in a standard relational DB, then each would have a permanent unique ID, probably unrelated to its common name. Annotations could come from DipTrace or from new, linked tables of private interest. Searching for non-annotated models would make use of common DB operations, without need for EXIF internals.

[Peter]

Hmmmn, sory to be thick but...

I have downloaded and run this tool - I've identified the part I'm interested in (Looking for a battery holder) Selected <Battery holders>, <through hole> and <r> and I can see a group of parts that look promising. (bs-3.wrl) but... I can't see how this relates to the actual part I'm looking for? I've searched for "bs-3" and I find 2 entries. The first is a jpg and is just the image I can already see. The second the JScript file.

Can someone advise how I find the actual .wrl file ti link to my part?

Seems like a really useful tool - if only I can fugure out how to use it LOL

Thanks in advance

[davenz]

Hmmmn, sory to be thick but...

I have downloaded and run this tool - I've identified the part I'm interested in (Looking for a battery holder) Selected <Battery holders>, <through hole> and <r> and I can see a group of parts that look promising. (bs-3.wrl) but... I can't see how this relates to the actual part I'm looking for? I've searched for "bs-3" and I find 2 entries. The first is a jpg and is just the image I can already see. The second the JScript file.

Can someone advise how I find the actual .wrl file ti link to my part?

Seems like a really useful tool - if only I can fugure out how to use it LOL

Thanks in advance

Hi Peter.

It can be confusing as to how this works. Just remember the 'search tool' is not tied to your own Diptrace library(s) in any way. Think of it as a standalone 'website' that shows only the components in the default 3D library that you have to download and install separately from Novarm/Diptrace.com - your own library or any parts you may have created are not included. It's usefulness comes when trying to find a specific 3D model in the default Diptrace 3D library, a version of which is bundled with the search tool and as long as you have downloaded and installed it, is also on your machine. The built-in search functionality in Diptrace is basic to say the least and finding the part often involves loading all models, guessing where to start in the list and simply scrolling down the list until you get the one you want (or something like it). This tool shows graphically what parts are in that default library and allow you to search using the basic criteria and to actually see and pick out the models rather than having to go through each one as above.

What I do is find and open the index.html file, which should open your browser and display the search fields and some images on the right hand side. Then do your search for your required part using the criteria provided and when you find a page of them, you can then see exactly what is in the library and it is very easy to spot the one you might be after. When you find the one you want, copy and paste the title name in the part's description window and then go back and paste that into the "3D Model File" field at the top of the 3D component dialogue and then hit the "Load Model" button (see attached image). If you have previously entered the path to your own 3d Models library (usually C:\Program Files\DipTrace\models3d\)*, your chosen model should then appear in the 3D preview window and you can nudge it about using the XYZ co-ordinates to fit it perfectly. If you make sure the "save all new models to project" check-box is ticked on the previous dialogue then once entered in, the 3D model will stick with your project and you won't have to search for and find it all over again.

*The path is the trickiest thing to get right here. If you chose the default locations for the installation then it .should. pick it all up and run with it. If not, you may have to browse your hard drive using Windows Explorer and make a note of the Diptrace 3D models path (usually set as above but might also be stored in C:\Program Files(x86)\Diptrace\models3d if you have a 64 bit version of Windows) and manually enter it into the 3D models dialogue.

The tool itself is brilliant for finding the part quickly and easily - the rest is up to you to copy and paste that file name into the 3D component dialogue in order to tie it to your project.

Hope this makes sense!

[sleemanj]

I have updated my tool with all the 9480 models in the March 2016 DipTrace 3d Models Library release, rendered, categorised by category and mounting type, searchable by keywords.

Also a couple of minor feature enhancements,

* Click image to zoom
* You can search for multiple keywords, it will find images that have a filename containing all of those keywords. This can be used for example to find headers by searching, for example

Code: Select all

2x5 2.54

to find (at least, probably others too) headers with 2 rows of 5 pins each and 2.54 pitch.

Due to the massive number of models rendered this download is 654M, so I've made it a torrent rather than a traditional download, if you are able to seed, please do.

http://sparks.gogo.co.nz/diptrace_model ... 16.torrent

[hubble]

This is really good stuff fire emoji. Much thanks from Sweden. Will seed this for 1 month as thanks!

[jet31]

This is a great job.

I have the same problem when I first use Diptrace. finding the right 3D model for my component.
What I did is that I draw my own 3D parts.