3D Technology Brings Cab Designs to Life

Elevator Doors Inc./Elevator Cabs, Inc. provides clients with 3D cab designs.

“What will the finished cab look like?” “Do you have a picture of something similar?” “Should we do a mock-up?” These are typical questions that come up when discussing cab designs, and for the longest time, clients could only see rudimentary representations of the finished product. At Elevator Doors Inc./Elevator Cabs, Inc. (EDI/ECI), clients can receive an electronic 3D version of their cab design before any parts are made.

It is natural for clients to want to see a product before they buy it. Most would not buy a car based on a sketch or technical drawing, so it is understandable clients would want to see their elevator before they take delivery. In the past, a photograph of a past project was usually necessary to show a client a realistic image of an elevator. Professional photography is expensive and time consuming, and with custom manufacturing, many companies may not have anything in their factory that represents what the client is looking for. More recently, cab manufacturers attempted to create electronic representations of cabs. Unfortunately, most electronically derived cab designs were two-dimensional cartoon-like images or colored line drawings.

By investing in lifelike 3D technology, EDI/ECI can realistically mock up an elevator cab for the client before anything is built. There are no restrictions on the design parameters, and EDI/ECI does all the design work in house, eliminating delays and costs that can occur with outside design firms. Additionally, the lifelike cab images can be used to convey the new cab design to tenants of building co-op boards or stakeholders.

With the launch of its new website in May, EDI/ECI included a cab design section to give clients a starting point for design ideas. Any element from the featured cabs can be combined to create an ensemble. If none of the designs seen online fit into a particular project, the design team takes over by transforming design ideas into photo reality, making a custom elevator design as distinct as the building it serves.