CAD data optimization methods and tools for HMI at BMW

Paradox CAT is a supplier for BMW that specializes in HMI software. They're tasked with preparing the 3D data of the car so it can be displayed in realtime on the onboard infotainment system.
In this talk Tom will showcase how they use Blender and their custom add-ons to turn unoptimized raw CAD data into finished, premium products for one of the world’s leading car manufacturers.
paradoxcat.com
"CAD data optimization methods and tools for HMI at BMW" by Thomas Wellmann --
Learn more about Blender Conference 2023 at conference.blender.org/2023/
#BCON23 #b3d

[@tomgon3D]

Hi there. I gave the talk. If you have any questions or if something was not clear, just ask.

[@violinyanev]

Amazing talk Thomas! It has also been a pleasure working with your team to create the (open source) ecosystem we have today. I wish more of the industry would adopt the enthusiasm and commitment towards open source software and tools as Paradox Cat does.

[@MaxSonicUA]

The presentation was exceptionally well-composed and structured, making it extremely interesting to watch. Thank you, Thomas!

[@MarcoCapelli74]

The t-shirt is amazing... i want one!!!

[@AndyTanguay]

Having occlusion guide what can be deleted in a mesh like that is a stroke of genius.

[@eobet]

9:00 what he doesn’t say here is that all models from CAD (Catia most likely in this instance) have custom normals, and those currently get destroyed in Blender when you merge vertices. Max 2024 finally added support for merging and even booleans with custom normals. Hopefully Blender will do the same in the future.

[@pulkitc329]

How do you import Catia models in Blender??

[@tomgon3D]

@@pulkitc329 You don’t. Maybe there’s an add-on for it but the data we get is already converted to fbx

[@Ecceptor]

I also work on CAD data. I'm not sure if my workflow might affect normal data, but so far, I haven't encountered any issues. The data I usually receive comes with a split mesh. Generally, I select the outer edges, mark them as sharp and seam, then merge them, and disable the auto-normal option.

[@eloscomic4408]

Nice Talk there. Have you ever tought about using Deltagen? Its a tool by 3D Excite and you can import STEP or other CAD Data to shade it and tesselate it into different polycount level while maintaining UVs, Normal, etc. It also has a tool to auto jacket (delete) inner parts. It's quite pricey but worth a look.

[@tomgon3D]

One of my colleagues has deltagen experience. It came up here and there in conversation but was never really considered for our workflow.

[@trauma2980]

So interesting GG guys, i feel like a part of the workfkow can help poeple to do CAD project and cleanup faslty to be abbe to work with, in UE or other engines .

[@Tri-Core]

My Man got best t-shirt for himself in blender conference (Maya sucks)

[@pulkitc329]

Man he is so lucky at least they get minimum 2-3 weeks , I am expected to do this in less than a week 😢, obviously the output will suffer.

[@tomgon3D]

Turnover rates used to be way longer. In our case we're lucky that fidelity has top priority. But that also means we have to be way more diligent and nitpicky.

[@NonchalantStateOfMind]

Nice shirt, lol.

[@robotsix6268]

The face group paint tool's kinda cool. Is that built in or a custom tool?

[@tomgon3D]

If you’re referring to the tool that let’s you paint faces in and out of existence it’s based on geo nodes with a custom add-on to automate the setup. Same for the normals fixing tool. It’s an automated setup for the existing data transfer modifier inside Blender

[@robotsix6268]

@@tomgon3D cool. thx