Prj
What is prj
prj is a Blender add-on for generating semantic technical drawings from 3d model.
Its main purpose is to help architects and designer to make building and interior drawings automatically.
Disclaimer
prj is currently under development and may be subject to changes: using it on production is on your own responsibility. At the moment prj has been tested on Linux and Windows machines only and is not supposed to work on other OS
About prj
prj generates linked data-rich SVG drawings. In particular:
- drawings are in SVG format
Scalable Vector Graphics is a non-binary and non-proprietary format that can be viewed by a simple browser on any device. Interactivity can be implemented on it and its style can be handled by CSS. Editing is easy and graphically powerful using both open source source and proprietary softwares.
- drawings are linked
Every 3D object is represented in a single dedicated SVG file and all those files are linked (as <use> element) to the main drawing. That allows to keep files size small and to limit redrawing to changed objects only.
- drawings are data-rich
Every object stores informations about it directly inside the SVG. Hence text searches are possible over single and multiple drawings.
prj is able to produce drawings in DXF or DWG file format as well. prj uses Blender Line Art feature and SVG grease pencil exporter.
Why using prj?
prj doesn't mean to be a simple drawing tool: its main aim is to be a tool to manage projects informations by generating data-rich drawings (a kind of BIM drawing tool). This is why it generates drawings in SVG format with a linked structure: this way every object in the drawing can return informations about it (product id, size, weight, physical properties, cost, typology, family belonging, etc…)* and allow user to get, for example, bill of quantities or interactive drawing you can query.
- It's important to point out that, at the moment, the add-on is not capable to store some data yet (like quantities) but in future it should be able to do it.
For these reasons it's recommended to complete the drawing process (composing, styling with css, adding annotations and dimensions) using an SVG editor (like the open source Inkscape). Anyway, if you don't care to keep these informations inside your drawings, you can produce DXF or DWG files.
