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Feature request: Convert imported STL to solid (#4733)
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robcha  
#1 Posted : Tuesday, May 21, 2013 4:58:53 AM(UTC)
robcha

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Hi!
It would be nice to a be able to import an STL file and convert it to a solid, so that you can continue working on it even if the original was created in some other program.

Maybe there is some way to import other solid fileformats?
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jlm  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:51:19 AM(UTC)
jlm

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Originally Posted by: robcha Go to Quoted Post
Hi!
It would be nice to a be able to import an STL file and convert it to a solid,...
Maybe there is some way to import other solid fileformats?


STL is the worst 3D format to import (facets, no geometry, no history).

Use in priority :
1 - SAT
2 - STEP
3 - IGES
4 - Others depending on partners' soft...

Regards,
JL
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zumer  
#3 Posted : Tuesday, May 21, 2013 4:20:58 PM(UTC)
zumer

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You can convert an .stl to a solid by selecting, right-clicking 'change object type' and nominating 'surfaces', then 'stitch to solid' and fence-select the faces. It doesn't alter the faceting of the object, but 'fills' the surfaces' watertight volume, so that feature editing like protrusions and cutouts function, and solid booleans can be performed on it.
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robcha  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, May 22, 2013 12:06:34 AM(UTC)
robcha

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Joined: 11/16/2012(UTC)
Posts: 20
Yes, I'm aware the STL is the worst (and most simple) 3D file format :)
However I'm working with 3D printing and a few different softwares (many are polygonal or subdiv modellers) and sometimes STL might be the only fileformat that can be exported that can be read in ViaCAD.

Thank you for the suggestion on which formats to use (if possible)!
This is very much appreciated!

Best regards,
Roberto

Originally Posted by: jlm Go to Quoted Post
STL is the worst 3D format to import (facets, no geometry, no history).

Use in priority :
1 - SAT
2 - STEP
3 - IGES
4 - Others depending on partners' soft...

Regards,
JL
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robcha  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, May 22, 2013 12:08:09 AM(UTC)
robcha

Rank: Junior Member

Joined: 11/16/2012(UTC)
Posts: 20
Thank you zumer!

This is great, I will try this tonight when I get back!
(I hope this tip goes into the Tips'n'tricks book I saw mentioned in another thread)

Best regards,
Roberto

Originally Posted by: zumer Go to Quoted Post
You can convert an .stl to a solid by selecting, right-clicking 'change object type' and nominating 'surfaces', then 'stitch to solid' and fence-select the faces. It doesn't alter the faceting of the object, but 'fills' the surfaces' watertight volume, so that feature editing like protrusions and cutouts function, and solid booleans can be performed on it.
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zumer  
#6 Posted : Sunday, May 26, 2013 7:09:42 PM(UTC)
zumer

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I've found that converting to faces is redundant, clicking on a watertight mesh object, (which could be .obj, .dxf, or .3ds too, not necessarily .stl) with stitch-to-solid will do it.
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Tim Olson  
#7 Posted : Monday, May 27, 2013 12:22:22 PM(UTC)
Tim Olson

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I've taken an interest in this lately as a addon to ViaCAD. See video below.

Near the end of the video, I convert a STL file into an ACIS model. Note that I attempt to convert facets into simple analytics where possible.

SketchUp and STL to ACIS

http://www.csi-concepts.com/Dem...eos/MakeAnalyticDemo.mp4


Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
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Tem  
#8 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:27:33 AM(UTC)
Tem

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OK. Please, make this new technology a solid performer before release. This looks exceedingly helpful to my design process! Its worth integrating into SFX too, if possible.
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la mouche  
#9 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 3:57:23 AM(UTC)
la mouche

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Joined: 3/14/2007(UTC)
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:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Tim, what you show us there is not ....possible!

and then you became a magician during his long absence on the forum!

These new features are absolutely amazing!

Antoine
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Tim Olson  
#10 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 2:31:10 PM(UTC)
Tim Olson

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>>These new features are absolutely amazing!

It's pretty interesting but has it limits. I taking on "repurposing"facets as two tasks.

1. Convert to analytics
2. Convert to NURBs

The first is more suitable for sketchup and STL files.

The second is more suitable for well behaved meshes such as you see from sub division modelers.

Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
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zumer  
#11 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 5:27:25 PM(UTC)
zumer

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I reverse-engineered (sounds so much more exotically techy than redrawing..) some .stls while building a Reprap 3D printer, and found that cylindrical centres and diameters are very ambiguous to derive from faceted models.
Tim, when you were developing V7 (I think), you mentioned that you'd modified Sketchup import to rationalise coplanar faces into one contiguous n-gon, and I proposed that having that option is useful for this treatment of .stls. I'm putting the suggestion forward again, striking while the iron's hot, to use an old engineering idiom.

murray
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Tim Olson  
#12 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 5:50:31 PM(UTC)
Tim Olson

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>>and found that cylindrical centres and diameters are very ambiguous to >>derive from faceted models.

Yes I have definitely seen this. What I do is best fit a circle to a collection of points and then check the worst deviation to see if it fits a user defined tolerance.

Tim
Tim Olson
IMSI Design/Encore
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zumer  
#13 Posted : Tuesday, May 28, 2013 8:31:42 PM(UTC)
zumer

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Holes take special care. Because they've usually got to have clearance for shafts or fasteners, the diameter has to be equal or greater than a three-point radius on the .stl's smallest possible dimension, which is probably through the mid-points of the .stl model's hole's longest radial edge.

murray
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la mouche  
#14 Posted : Wednesday, May 29, 2013 1:30:52 AM(UTC)
la mouche

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Joined: 3/14/2007(UTC)
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Tim?

It would still be very desirable to also convert [COLOR="Red"]solid modeling Shark in mesh.[/COLOR]

I think this way, in this sense also a major concern.
Antoine
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