Designer chair modelling

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RudderDuck
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Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:46 am

Designer chair modelling

Post by RudderDuck »

I used to use Blender but was struggling because it is not meant for precision modelling. Like many I used the tutorials of a guy calling himself Blender Guru. One of his tutorials is about modelling a classic chair design, the Søborg Chair, see https://www.fredericia.com/products/s%c ... catid=6219 for the chair and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf2esGA ... MR&index=1 for the tutorial.

Coming from Blender I thought it was an interesting exercise to model this chair using FreeCAD. The result is quite satisfactory when I compare the reference images to the final model. The model still needs some refinement: 1) the screws are not cutting into the model, 2) the legs should conform to the back and seat, 3) the legs should conform to the floor better, 3) the fillet for the legs can be set to a maximum of 2 mm but should be larger (some modelling rookie mistake?).

The procedure for the leg was as follows:
  • Use a sketch to trace the side view of the leg
  • Pad sketch to arrive at over-sized solid
  • Use a sketch to trace the center of the leg using the front view (leg is tapered)
  • Pocket sketch to cut away from the padded solid to create a face that is geometrically correct
  • Use shape binder to make use of geometrically correct face
  • Offset shape binder to over-sized dimension and fill offset, do this for both sides of the leg (negative and positive offset)
  • Use a sketch to trace the front view of the leg (tapering)
  • Pocket sketch to cut away from the offset solid to create a leg
  • Add fillets
For the seat, back and cross-members I used a similar procedure.

I'm quite happy with the result but it does need some refinements. The current model is at GrabCAD:

https://grabcad.com/library/soborg-chair-3

A viewport screenshot:
soborg chair viewport.jpg
soborg chair viewport.jpg (87.51 KiB) Viewed 2580 times
A rendered version using Blender and the tips from Blender Guru:
soborg chair.jpg
soborg chair.jpg (68.32 KiB) Viewed 2580 times
A close up render:
soborg chair close up.jpg
soborg chair close up.jpg (103.25 KiB) Viewed 2580 times
OS: Arch Linux (KDE/plasma)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.19.24415 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: makepkg
Hash: 476ecf091941bead59b14e44afa6064d5a66afa3
Python version: 3.10.2
Qt version: 5.15.2
Coin version: 4.0.1
OCC version: 7.5.3
Locale: English/United States (en_US)
Last edited by RudderDuck on Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Shalmeneser
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Re: Designer chair modelling

Post by Shalmeneser »

File ? :roll:
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RudderDuck
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Re: Designer chair modelling

Post by RudderDuck »

I'm more than happy to share the model but not sure if it is allowed to share the FreeCAD model here because the Søborg Chair is a commercial product.
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dprojects
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Re: Designer chair modelling

Post by dprojects »

RudderDuck wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:06 pm
I am not big fan of bending, fillets and similar operations because they are hard to handle later if you want to get dimensions.
But the model looks awesome to me, very realistic, the texture is also fitted very well. For sure this is some kind of level that FreeCAD users would like to have.

Thanks
Darek
github.com/dprojects

workbench for woodworking is available at: github.com/dprojects/Woodworking
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RudderDuck
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Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:46 am

Re: Designer chair modelling

Post by RudderDuck »

dprojects wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:16 pm
RudderDuck wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:06 pm
I am not big fan of bending, fillets and similar operations because they are hard to handle later if you want to get dimensions.
But the model looks awesome to me, very realistic, the texture is also fitted very well. For sure this is some kind of level that FreeCAD users would like to have.
Thanks for the kind words. The wood texture is procedural which has its negative and positive sides. Major positive is simplicity, no need to UV unwrap the model, just assign the material. Major negative is that it does not look good on all sides of the object, but it is acceptable for a quick render.

I'm not sure if I understand your remark regarding 'bending'. I tried to use pads and cut away pockets to arrive at curved surfaces. These were then extruded to create the different parts of the chair.

I noticed that Blender Guru sells his model so I see no reason why I can't share the model here for those that are interested. I appreciate input on the model and how to improve/streamline the modelling.

For those interested, the model is at GrabCAD:

https://grabcad.com/library/soborg-chair-3
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dprojects
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Re: Designer chair modelling

Post by dprojects »

RudderDuck wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:49 pm Thanks for the kind words.
I like smart people.
RudderDuck wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:49 pm Major negative is that it does not look good on all sides of the object, but it is acceptable for a quick render.
For me this looks like real-life picture. The light and shadows are very good, as well. So the rendering is good here.
RudderDuck wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:49 pm I'm not sure if I understand your remark regarding 'bending'. I tried to use pads and cut away pockets to arrive at curved surfaces. These were then extruded to create the different parts of the chair.
Yes, I mean the seat and backrest parts. It would be hard to describe it with dimensions, I guess. To achieve exactly the same result in real-life.
RudderDuck wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:49 pm I noticed that Blender Guru sells his model so I see no reason why I can't share the model here for those that are interested. I appreciate input on the model and how to improve/streamline the modelling.

For those interested, the model is at GrabCAD:

https://grabcad.com/library/soborg-chair-3
There is nothing bad in earning money. Everybody need to pay bills. That's the cruel world is.

Thanks
Darek
github.com/dprojects

workbench for woodworking is available at: github.com/dprojects/Woodworking
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