Hello and good morning from a "rookie",

My name is "Hooman42" and I have been searching for a resource that will help me complete a project dealing with the design and layout of a Winnebago motor coach. As you will soon see, I am a complete novice in this field but during the course of my research came across GIMP and the opinions that it was better than most of the tools out there.

Has anyone done any design on Winnebago Adventurer models? (specifically the 2004 commercial model 31Y) I am trying to help a non profit organization that works with kids who have eyesight problems. The project would involve the conversion of a commercial Winnebago unit to a mobile eye test unit. I think that it is a fairly basic layout with an exam room, waiting room, bathroom and interior storage capacity (overhead cabinets, countertops and storage space under the countertop. I actually have a basic drawing that someone else did but that will require modification. Obviously it would be best if done to scale and in at least 2D. If it can be taken to the 3D viewing capabilty, that would be GREAT.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Hooman 42

Here is a link to look over. I didn't type in the make yet that you are looking for.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Win ... &form=QBIR

Thanks Molly--what I am looking for is something along the lines of a CAD program that will allow me to draw the interior to scale and if possible generate a 3D viewing platform for the results. It would be great if that can be done so that the Foundation can get a positive image (exterior and interior) of what the converted unit might look like--Hooman

ooh, that is quite a project. I will leave this one for the experts to answer. There are a lot of them here in this forum.

Thanks for your help Molly---I am on the east coast (NC) and the foundation is on the west coast (CA) so we only have limited hours to communicate each day. My thinking is that a good visual image work work best. I have about 24 hours from now to generate something to present to them so it should be okay.

You're in luck Hooman! I happen to be an engineer, and use cad software all the time. If you're looking to make something to scale GIMP is probably not your best option.

Are you looking to make detail drawings, or just renderings? If you're looking to do renderings, try finding some information on the open-source 3D modeling software Blender. If you're looking for a 2D program, you could try Inkscape.

If you can get your hands on AutoCAD, that's a great 2D program. If you can get your hands on Solidworks, that's an even better 3D program. I have been using both of those programs since 2005 and can help you with most anything on those.

Good luck my friend.

tstandiford's advice is good but considering the learning curve you face, 24 hours seems like a short amount of time to the get the job done (for learning and modeling). You may have to resort to a sketch of your ideas, at least for now.

Your project sounds very noble. Good luck!!

Try Google-sketchup
http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/download/index.html

Thanks to everyone for your advice and support.

The attached document will give you and idea of what I have so far. It is of a smaller unit (28' long) and the one that I am working with will be 31'7" exterior length. With that said, some of the dimensions will be different. Also the final placement of the interior items will be reversed in some cases. The ideal image would be a similar layout for the interior and an external view that could be paired with it. Of course 3D would be FANTASTIC. I will check out what is available on Google Sketchup.

As others have suggested, there are more optimal solutions available. Given your time constraints and limited goals, I'd advise against any general purpose solutions such as GIMP, Autocad, or Blender; the learning curve is just too steep (unless you have available a designer familiar with the code).

Google Sketchup may be worth a try, or perhaps Sweet Home 3d.

You might also consider visiting your local community college, trade school, or even high school (any group involved in either architecture or computer education) and asking their faculty about seeking volunteers to help out. You might even ask around at local architectural firms to see if they'd be interested in undertaking your small project on a pro bono basis.

Turbosquid sells some Winnebago model for $142 USD. Considering how many hours decent modeling would take, it's probably worth considering.

On the other hand, there are modeling hobbyists, who might be interested, I've seen quite many car models for free.

www.blenderartists.org has forums, where you could ask. Modeling forum might be right place.

If you decide to do everything by yourself, Google Sketchup might be easier than Blender. It is good choice for hard surface modeling. Blender is all purpose package, needs much more learning.