CAD -> SL converter

Is there a program to convert CAD (computer aided design) documents to SL prims?

It seems to me that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of real world buildings that exist as CAD files, including some of the most famous buildings on Earth. There are probably an even larger number of buildings that exist as CAD files that were never built. It would be wonderful to walk around those buildings in SL.

It would also be a fantastic way for an architecture firm to have a presence on SL, and a wonderful way to preview their work for their customers, who could walk around the space before they spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars building it.

In fact, that's my own reason for asking. I'm about to spend a significant amount of money building a real world building in Manhattan, and I'd like to walk around in it first! Any help would be much apprecieated.

Sorry, Creamy, but SL just doesn't work that way. It takes a human being to figure out how non-primitive geometry is best replicated by combinations of primitives. There's no computer program on Earth that is smart enough to do that.

It's certainly conceivable that a CAD application could be programmed to use the same kinds of parametric primitives that SL uses, just as people have already done with Maya, Max, and Blender, so that the program can be used to model SL-compatible objects, but that's a far cry from taking a pre-existing non-prim model, and converting it to prims. Until computers learn to think creatively, it's unlikely that those thousands of CAD models you're talking about could be converted automatically to SL prims.



By the way, so you know, your idea of using SL as an architectural test medium is not an unusual one. It's been done many times before, and its proven to be a wonderful way for architects to work with clients from all over the world, to test ideas, experiment, prove concepts, collaborate, etc.

If you'd like to discuss having your NYC building professionally created for you in SL, give us a shout at Electric Sheep Company. We've got no shortage of experience with this sort of thing. I don't want to turn this thread into an advertisement though, so I'll refrain from saying much more here.