RogCAD home  <--- back to RogCAD home page


A simple tool .. becomes a hobby .. becomes a great tool


1.  Why I developed RogCAD

2.  Details about RogCAD's design methods

3.  RogCAD's inception and history

    RogCAD is freeware


==================================
PART ONE    Why I developed RogCAD
==================================

The high-end 3D CAD software packages I trialed long 
ago were complicated, large software packages that had 
a large draw on my computer's CPU and RAM resources.

I found them vexing for 3D modeling; certainly when
compared to the text-file data-entry RogCAD system.  

With the exception of the free and open-source Blender, 
I found their fully functional versions to be expensive 
and that they:

  required installation, registration and licensing, and

  required Internet interfacing at various levels.

I can't trial every CAD package out there.  I eventually 
gave up on them because I wanted something simpler.

Many of the problems I had with complex CAD software stem 
from the fact that they are primarily mouse-driven.

----

RogCAD is keyboard data-entry 3D CAD software.

For years, I continued to upgrade RogCAD as a result 
of purchasing -- for the sake of comparison -- several 
inexpensive 3D CAD software packages.

They turned out to be merely toys; there was no 
possibility of doing real design work with them.

That was many years ago, in the days of purchasing
software in a box at your local Best Buy.

As for high-end CAD software packages, I consider 
them to be a good fit for professional engineers, 
designers, architects and animators who can get a 
return on their schooling and purchase investment 
by virtue of the fees they charge their clients.
Also a good fit for geniuses.

RogCAD cannot compare with most of the high-end 
software if photo-realism is routinely required.

But any design that can be modeled using the most 
sophisticated software can be modeled in RogCAD:

One does not need to attain photo-realism in order 
to obtain a very effective level of realism; and 
any facade material can be imported into RogCAD 
and incorporated in a perspectively correct manner.
Sunlight shadowing can also be added at the final 
stage of modeling.

The tutorial/reference document is lengthy; 
but one to three days of reading, watching the 
demonstration videos and doing your own 
experimentation will turn you into capable 
RogCAD modeler.

Every time I've returned to RogCAD after 
experimenting with complicated 3D CAD software, 
I've been deeply struck by the difference in the 
experience -- that of complete and calming stability, 
simplicity, and cooperativeness.

The unlimited design flexibility of RogCAD
makes it an even better experience.

(The fact that I find magic in seeing numbers 
become images is a further bonus that would be 
hard to overstate.)

Professional 3D CAD modelers who need to do a wide 
variety of design tasks can spend years becoming 
fully proficient with their high-end software.

When a designer/remodeler associate of mine was 
unable to model a design for his client using his 
expensive software, I modeled it in RogCAD for 
the appreciative client.


As mentioned on the RogCAD home page:

  I developed RogCAD because I wanted a simpler 
  3D CAD system with complete flexibility of design.

  Any level of architectural realism beyond what I 
  typically aim for in my RogCAD models can be very 
  time-consuming and expensive, regardless of which 
  software one is using.

  If a special circumstance arises, I can bump up the 
  level of realism in a RogCAD model to an entirely 
  suitable degree.

  Therefore, outside of machining applications or 
  3D printing, I never consider using anything but RogCAD.

  Simple, accurate, lightweight, flexible, stable, 
  no installation.. and fun.

  If you like simplicity and are comfortable working 
  with simply numbers, then RogCAD might be for you.



System requirements      Blender             RogCAD
-------------------      -------             ------

computer type            64-bit quad-        any computer
                         core CPU with       old or new
                         SSE2 support


disk space               multi-GB            600 KB 
                                            (apx 1/2000 of Blender's)


RAM memory               minimum 8 GB        9 MB
                                             (apx 1/1000 of Blender's)
                                               


display card             2 GB GPU            any display card
                         OpenGL 4.3



Features                 Blender             RogCAD
-------------------      -------             ------

modeling resolution      unlimited           unlimited

                  
limitation of design     none                none


import backgrounds?      yes                 yes

                                     
Import and export 
objects to and from
other CAD software?      yes                 no


3D physical
fabrication support?     yes                 no




=================================
PART TWO    RogCAD's design power
=================================

RogCAD is for those who appreciate its 
"by the numbers" methodology.

We typically think of mouse-driven CAD software 
as giving us quick gratification.  But RogCAD's 
"by the numbers" data-entry can yield quick 
gratification as well.  One need only run the 
program after entering just a bit of data to get the 
gratification of seeing something simple modeled on 
the screen.  One is thus provided with motivation 
to move forward with the design.

RogCAD is the essence of straightforwardness when it 
comes to data-entry and data-editing because it is
just numbers, and you are always in control of those
numbers which you can see with your own eyes.

Minimal data-entry goes a long way.  RogCAD's
automation methodology and transformations allow you 
to generate designs quickly.

As with the mouse-driven data-entry method used by 
expensive software, RogCAD requires that the user 
supply just two points of a proposed cubic element, 
such as a wall of a given thickness, height and 
length.  The RogCAD software automatically defines
the remaining six points, as well as the connecting
lines and planes of that cubic element.

Therefore, the RogCAD user is actually entering far
less data than you might expect in order to achieve
a given design.  

RogCAD's data-entry system provides other 
automatically generated elements as well by virtue
of creating a string of modifiable cubic elements 
of whatever spacing and number of elements the CAD 
user specifies.  Thus quickly generated are elements 
such as mitered and beveled framing members, rows 
of windows, etc.

RogCAD's transformation routines are snippets of 
text which the CAD user can paste into the data 
text files to modify specified ranges of data 
points in a variety of ways.

That is how elements get rotated, translated 
(slid), deformed and resized to suit the CAD 
user's needs.  These transformation routines are 
used in conjunction with libraries of objects as 
well as in conjunction with blocks of data that 
one wishes to repeat in a rotated or translated 
manner.

For instance, you can both modify and relocate 
cabinets, windows, walls, doors, appliances and 
furniture quickly with the transformation routines.

Just a couple of the many transformation snippets:

--------------------------------
RESIZE:
first, last, multX, multY, multZ

 401    598    1      1    1.15
--------------------------------

------------------------------------------
XROTATETRANSLATE:
first, last, xangle, tranx,  trany,  tranz

 1      268    90    112.25  50.82   0
------------------------------------------

RogCAD has a powerful curved surface routine which
allows one to create any type of irregularly
curved surface.  Boat hulls are easy for RogCAD.
And again, it's just numbers which you enter into 
a text file.  It puts the CAD user in complete 
control of the output.

RogCAD can also combine its curve routine with 
strings of cubic elements:  Those cubic elements 
are thus repeated along any curve the CAD user 
wishes.  My first use of that combined routine 
was in producing (hexagonal) port-holes on the 
curving hull of a ship.  Spiral staircases are
the most obvious application of this feature.

-------------------------------------------------------------
ZWRAP: 
start first, start last, angle per cube, how many, lift value
  
2001         2008        1.44            26        .223
-------------------------------------------------------------

The features just described in this section are 
what makes RogCAD about as fast for design as is 
any expensive software, until one gets into
machine design.

The RogCAD program code has a good algorithm 
for automatic surface modeling with automatic 
shading for light-source direction.  Thoughtful 
definition of project elements assures 
accurate plane-sorting for surface modeling.

RogCAD's automatic surface modeling generates 
a smooth gradient lighting differential on 
curved surfaces.

RogCAD also provides a macro text file for
doing customized automatic surface modeling,
should the CAD user wish to make further
enhancements.

Building and using a macro text file for 
automatic surface modeling has nil effect 
on total project time.

The macro text file is always 100 percent accurate 
because it is built by the CAD user manually.  
That macro file itself consists of many automatic
methods, so it is a powerful tool.  It gets built
quickly by the CAD user as he proceeds with, and 
tests, his design.  Its one limitation is that it 
must be tweaked if one significantly changes one's
perspective point.


=====================
PART THREE    History
=====================

RogCAD began life as a strictly text-based 
CAD program in 1993.

I was designing a complicated structure which I had 
proposed to build for a client, and I wanted to 
present them with a perspective drawing on paper. 
I soon discovered that there is no non-arbitrary 
method for setting up perspective lines so as to 
achieve a realistic camera's eye view.  

I wished I had 3D CAD software, but the only 
computer I owned at the time was an IBM 8088 
with a monitor that could display only text, 
so no commercial CAD software would have been 
of any use even if I could have afforded such 
software.  

What to do.  It occurred to me to try to write
a simple computer program that would output 
raw data which could then be plotted on paper.  
At first, it struck me as something that was way 
beyond me.  I knew enough math to appreciate how 
messy things can get when you try to project a 
three-dimensional object onto a floating 
two-dimensional plane, that plane itself being 
something that you must define mathematically.
 
But the problem kept tugging at me and I sat down 
the next morning to task myself with it.

(Link to original hand-written derivations is at
the bottom of this page.)

That night I had my first version ready for testing:  

-------------------------------------------------------
1 REM DECK1.BAS
10 INPUT XS
12 INPUT YS
14 INPUT ZS
20 PRINT

30 X=(((150-XS)*(345-(2*YS)-ZS))+(XS*(250-ZS-(2*YS))))/
     (700-(3*XS)-ZS-(2*YS))

40 Y=(((100*X)-(YS*X)-(100*XS)+(YS*XS))/(150-XS))+YS

50 Z=(((50*X)-(ZS*X)-(50*XS)+(ZS*XS))/(150-XS))+ZS

60 M=(((X-73.93)^2)+((Y-49.29)^2)+((Z-24.64)^2))^.5

70 PRINT M: REM magnitude
80 PRINT

90 C=(((X-73.93)*(-.583))+((Y-49.29)*(-.392))+
     ((Z-24.64)*(2.533)))/(2.63*M)

100 PRINT
110 PRINT "ANGLE = ARCOS "C
120 END
-------------------------------------------------------

This first version was capable only of handling one 
pre-selected perspective point and one pre-selected 
focal point, and the program had to be run one time 
for each data point of the proposed structure.  
I selected 41 data points which represented 
41 vertices on the proposed structure.  

I ran the program and it supplied me with an angle 
and a magnitude.  I plotted the point on a piece 
of paper and then ran the program another 40 times.  
It was very exciting to see each plotted point land 
at its expected spot on the paper.  I connected the 
points with a straight-edge.  It was magical as the 
outline of the structure appeared before my eyes. 
(I then filled in the remaining architectural details
by way of visual extrapolation.)

[ QB64 IDE links here ]

I took a very over-complicated approach to the 
problem as a result of following a natural inclination
to mimic the real life situation -- I used vectors to
define an image plane floating in space, onto which an 
object would be projected.  This is messier than just 
having a simple image plane defined on the X and Z
axis, using a simple trigonometric projection, then 
rotating the object, which is how it's normally done.

But it never occured to me to do it the latter way
since the floating image plane directly simulates 
the real-life situation of a person changing their
location (perspective point) in relation to a 
stationary architectural object.

This approach turned out be fortuitous, since it
easily allows the user to specify a particular 
perspective point in three dimensional space, as 
well as a particular focal point (without me --
the software engineer -- having to work out some
set of hideous transformations).  And that is well 
suited to a user who likes or needs to take a 
technical, accurate or analytical approach.  It 
also worked out well for the future of the software,
since it provided an easy way to upgrade it while 
keeping track of shifting perspectives 
and focal points.  These were features I added 
after I got my AT-286 computer with an EGA graphics
monitor in 1995.

The on-screen graphics provided by the 286 gave me 
an environment where I could expand the software's 
features endlessly.  The program-code grew from 
twelve lines to ten thousand lines, which is still
tiny by 3D CAD standards. 

----

My first upgrade was to allow for user-specified
perspective and focal points at run-time, along 
with the capacity to go inside a structure, which
greatly complicated the already complicated 
calculator kernel which performs the image-projection.

Here is that upgraded image-projection program-code. 
It's less than one percent of RogCAD's current 
program code, but it's the most magical part.


For LN = FL(GB) To LL(GB)

1045 inc = 299
1050 If DT = 1 Then DT = 0: G = SP(LN): GoTo 1090
     G = FP(LN): DT = 1
1070:
     If ((X(G) * L) + (Y(G) * M) + (Z(G) * N)) > 
     ((L * L) + (M * M) + (N * N)) Then GoTo 3070

     If DT = 1 Then GoTo 1100
1090:
     If ((X(G) * L) + (Y(G) * M) + (Z(G) * N)) > 
     ((L * L) + (M * M) + (N * N)) Then GoTo 3120

1100:
     W = ((A * A) + (B * B) + (C * C) - 
     (A * X(G)) - (B * Y(G)) - (C * Z(G)))

     [ W is then the denominator in the 
          following three equations. ]

     R(G) = (((A * I) * (A - X(G))) + (B * B * X(G)) + (C * C * X(G)) 
            - (B * X(G) * Y(G)) - (C * X(G) * Z(G)) + ((B * J)  
            * (A - X(G))) + ((C * K) * (A - X(G))) - ((B * Y(G))
            * (A - X(G))) - ((C * Z(G)) * (A - X(G)))) / W

     S(G) = (((B * J) * (B - Y(G))) + (A * A * Y(G)) + (C * C * Y(G)) 
            - (A * Y(G) * X(G)) - (C * Y(G) * Z(G)) + ((A * I) 
            * (B - Y(G))) + ((C * K) * (B - Y(G))) - ((A * X(G)) 
            * (B - Y(G))) - ((C * Z(G)) * (B - Y(G)))) / W

     T(G) = (((C * K) * (C - Z(G))) + (A * A * Z(G)) + (B * B * Z(G)) 
            - (A * Z(G) * X(G)) - (B * Z(G) * Y(G)) + ((A * I)
            * (C - Z(G))) + ((B * J) * (C - Z(G))) - ((A * X(G)) 
            * (C - Z(G))) - ((B * Y(G)) * (C - Z(G)))) / W

     [ R(G), S(G) and T(G) are then inserted into 
         the following two equations. ]

     U(G) = (((R(G) - L) ^ 2) + ((S(G) - M) ^ 2) + 
        ((T(G) - N) ^ 2)) ^ 0.5

     V(G) = (((R(G) - L) * (R(8001) - L)) + 
        ((S(G) - M) * (S(8001) - M)) 
        + ((T(G) - N) * (T(8001) - N))) / 
        (U(G) * ((((R(8001) - L) ^ 2) 
        + ((S(8001) - M) ^ 2) + ((T(8001) - N) ^ 2)) ^ 0.5))

     [ U(G) and V(G) are then inserted into 
          the following equation. ]

     XX(G) = U(G) * V(G)

     If V(G) > 0.9999 Or V(G) < -0.9999 Then YY(G) = 0: GoTo 1200
     YY(G) = U(G) * ((1 - ((V(G)) ^ 2)) ^ 0.5)
     If ((L * S(G)) - (M * R(G))) < 0 Then YY(G) = (-1 * YY(G))

1200:
If CHK = 0 Then CHK = 1: GoTo 950
'If AP = 1 Then CHAIN "ENHANCE.MOD"

IF DT = 1 THEN X(G) = XR(G) - TX: Y(G) = YR(G) - TY
               Z(G) = ZR(G) - TZ: GOTO 1050
END IF

X(G) = XR(G) - TX: Y(G) = YR(G) - TY: Z(G) = ZR(G) - TZ

1250:
GY(FP(LN)) = (MM * 15.2 * YY(FP(LN))) + 680 + HSH
GX(FP(LN)) = (MM * (-15.2) * XX(FP(LN))) + 430 - VSH
GY(SP(LN)) = (MM * 15.2 * YY(SP(LN))) + 680 + HSH
GX(SP(LN)) = (MM * (-15.2) * XX(SP(LN))) + 430 - VSH

If ICHK = 1 Then GoTo 1280
'If SS2$ = "Hide" Then READSWITCH = 1
'If SS2$ = "Show" Then READSWITCH = 2: S3 = 1
If READSWITCH = 1 Then GoTo 1290

1280:
viewport.Line (GY(FP(LN)), GX(FP(LN)))-(GY(SP(LN)), GX(SP(LN))), 
RGB(redd(cdex), green(cdex), blue(cdex))

1290 Next LN

3070 :
INC = INC - 1
IF INC = 0 THEN INC = 299: DT = 0: X(G) = XR(G) - TX: 
  Y(G) = YR(G) - TY: Z(G) = ZR(G) - TZ: GX(FP(LN)) = 999: 
  GOTO 1290
X(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMX(G) - X(SP(LN)))) + X(SP(LN))
Y(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMY(G) - Y(SP(LN)))) + Y(SP(LN))
Z(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMZ(G) - Z(SP(LN)))) + Z(SP(LN))
    
GOTO 1070
  
3120 :
INC = INC - 1
IF INC = 0 THEN INC = 299: DT = 0: X(G) = XR(G) - TX: 
  Y(G) = YR(G) - TY: Z(G) = ZR(G) - TZ: GX(SP(LN)) = 999: 
  GOTO 1290
X(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMX(G) - X(FP(LN)))) + X(FP(LN))
Y(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMY(G) - Y(FP(LN)))) + Y(FP(LN))
Z(G) = ((INC / 299) * (TEMZ(G) - Z(FP(LN)))) + Z(FP(LN))
     
GOTO 1090


=====================================

From the early days of RogCAD.
Five print-outs from the design-phase
of the Hanson project of 1997:














Original hand-written image projection derivations

RogCAD home

RogCAD complete code


Updated 03/27/2024