With a large model (file size ~45MB) with many parts to be 3D printed as one, I select all the parts and export to stl. In the Mesh Parameters dialog box I select STL Facets, and adjust Normal Deviation to achieve a large .stl file close to Shapeways' limits.

Sometimes this works just fine, but often (all this week!!) I consistently get a 2.4 MB stl file almost regardless of the Normal Deviation setting (4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 for example). For that model, ND=3.0 results in a 107.1 stl file, too large. I would expect ND= 4.0 or 5.0 to be just about right.

This is on a Mac OSX 10.8.5, using both ViaCadPro (1109) and Shark Beta build 1135.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Paul