Tracing a .bmp

[sir Camalot]

I was hoping someone might have a suggestion for tracing a .bmp. I realize that using the converter to get a raster to vector drawing is an option but the detail required for some of these drawings will not allow me to use this method. I have digital pictures which show a great deal of detail and I was thinking if there was a way to use the picture, (placed on a separate level,) as a background picture and then draw over the picture this would allow greater control in drawing, not to mention a faster method. Or is there a way to use the picture that is shown in the black and white conversion window so that I could trace over that instead. The raster to vector conversion is just to splotchy to use, with a lot of time needed to fix bad geometry. I would appreciate any opinions anyone might have.

[cadcam]

Raster to Vector give you the option to bring the BMP in them hand trace over it .

 

Did you know that?

[sir Camalot]

Yes, I realize that you can trace over the gray area that is the representation of the outline, but what happens is that the raster to vecter also vectorizes shadows. This makes tracing awkward and time consuming. With an actual picture you can differentiate between the shadows and the edge of the part, something that the converter does not do. I guess what I was hoping for was to be able to place the picture in the work area of MC and create geomety right over the top like you can in paint, AI or Corel. (This is also very time consuming!) Thanks for the input.

[Will Slota]

There's an old tech tip...http://www.emastercam.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000019

 

Not sure if it still works but worth a try.

[Charles Davis]

I agree that having a higher res bmp in the background to trace over would be most useful. I was trying to trace a pic the other day, and you loose a lot without the color cues.

[Roger Peterson]

Studio shading will allow you to do this. It has been a while since I did this so the details are fuzzy. You need to create a flat rectangular surface and then in studio shading you can apply a texture? or something like that and once it shows you can draw geometry wherever you wish. If my explanation is to vague (or wrong) let me know and I do it and report back.

 

 

HTH

[sir Camalot]

Roger Peterson,

That allows you to show it on screen but I am not able to do anything with it. If I try to save it or scroll to see the rest of the image the bmp disappears. This is definitely closer to what I am looking for. Is there a way to save it as a back ground so that I could then create geometry over it?

 

Will Slota,

Any idea how to access this? Maybe between the two ideas there is a solution in there.

Thanks guys, I will work with this somemore.

[Roger Peterson]

Yes sir Sir. when it is on the screen you will need to use either the shortcut keys on top or hot keys to create lines, arcs, or splines that follow your picture. My computer shows the bitmap where the surface was, if it doesn't show the whole bitmap you will need to create a larger surface. If it disappears when you zoom in I don't know, I can pan rotate, whatever I want and as long as I stay in studio shading it is visible.

 

 

HTH

[cadcam]

sir Camalot, I was checking and I see the dalema..

But rogers thought will be one way to go that is for sure.

[Verisurf - Ernie Husted]

I will let you in on little Secret.

 

If you add a string into the Registry called logo and then add the path and Bitmap name into it's value then when you start Mastercam the bitmap will be in the background then you can create geometry on top of it. it will be a fixed at one size so you have to do all the work in one view, don't zoom in or out until you are done.

 

Sample

 

Run Regedit

Goto " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill"

 

Right mouse click, add New - String Value, name it logo then Double click on it and add c:macam9datayourbitmapname.bmp

 

Close

 

Ernie

[cadcam]

Thanks Ernie I remeber hearing about that along time ago..

 

But had totaly forgottoen till reading your input.

[Wally]

I attempted this a while back. I ended up opening the BMP. in Photoshop and turning into gray scale. I then imported it into AutoCAD. Traced over it then IGS. it into MC. In the ftp site you will find the drawing called "Globe and Anchor" in the MC9 folder. This is the Marine Corp emblem. I admit it took a while but you can zoom in and out while you`re working on it and it doesn`t come out too bad. I machined this and the POW sign in stainless steel bumpers for my Jeep. The POW is also on the MC9 ftp site. Good luck.

[sir Camalot]

Tri-Tech 5-axis

Thanks for the tip. This is exactly what I am looking for. Is there a quick way to shrink the .bmp so that all of the part is visible in the background or do I need to work the bmp in AI or Corel first? This is really a cool idea. I think that you should have this in the raster to vector window as an option so that you change the bmp on the fly with resizing capabilities to make this easier. Hey PDG, could this be a possibility for VX? You could also set this to a layer so that you could turn it on and off as the need arises as well as being able to work with multiple bmp, tifs or jpegs. Thanks again for the help!

[Wally]

absolutly, set it on a differant layer. you can also work wiyh multiple bmp`s on multiple layers. with a couple of try`s, i size mine in photoshop to get what i wanted so the pixels were veiwable and not too distorted. did you check out the "globe and anchor" or the "pow" ?

[Verisurf - Ernie Husted]

You can use MSPaint to shrink it, Stretch Horizontal and Vertical

 

Ernie

[Verisurf - Ernie Husted]

J.R. Tubb,

 

The level thing is a great idea

 

Ernie

[Wally]

erie, you can use MS Paint to change the size but you can`t adjust the pixels. that`s really important if you`re gonna trace it.

[Lathe-Mill]

where exactly is located opengl?

[Lathe-Mill]

Run Regedit

Goto " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill"

 

Right mouse click, add New - String Value, name it logo then Double click on it and add c:macam9datayourbitmapname.bmp

 

Close

I tried doing this but did not work. Mcam9.1sp1

where is the opengl located at?

[sir Camalot]

Hey guys!

This works really well with Adobe Photoshop. I am not great with AP and it's relatively simple, even for this rookie to get around. It would be nice to have those same AP features in the raster to vector. Couple of tips to pass on, first it's important to get the size of the bmp to show the detail you want because there is no resizing while your in MC. If you plan ahead, try to do one variety; line, arc, or spline each with their own color and then as you finish creating each set, you can repaint, which will place the geometry behind the bmp giving you a clear pallete to work with. Then move on to the next set of geometry. But whatever you do, don't try to zoom in or resize because you lose you placement and scale if you want to add more geometry. You may also want to oversize the area surrounding your bmp to get the bmp out of the corners and into the middle of the screen.

Thanks again for everyones help!

[Eric S.]

Hi

 

I have had a couple min. so I thought I might give the texturing a try, but the surface just seems to go black? I am not sure what is going wrong any ideas?

 

Thanks Eric

 

[ 08-22-2003, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: Eric Salsman ]

[sir Camalot]

T@T@LO

The opengl is located under (Main Menu, Screen, Configure, Screen). Double check this sequence because I had a problem here also.

 

Start button / Run / Regedit

 

Regedit window opens:

Click " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill(Router, Lathe etc.)"

 

Right mouse click on the white screen, click New / String Value, name it “logo” then Double click on it and add

C:whereeveryourfileislocatedyourbitmapname.bmp

 

If you are not specific about the .bmp location it will tell you that it can't find the bitmap and default back to the black screen.

 

"Eric"

Not sure what is happening there. Sorry!