Losses of appearance on conversion to Iges or Step?

[steinmini]

I am about to work on some SW files older than version 2010. Once I save the modified file in SW2010, and in case I need to send the modified files back, I will have to use either Step or Iges format because the original files are made in an older version. Since I will most likely only work on appearances and create renderings and animations and not changing the "essence" of the files, can I expect that the modified appearances will be preserved in the exported files? So, can I expect the SW older than version 2010 to recognize the appearance differences made in SW2010 and exported to an intermediate format?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

STEP203 does not retain colours.

While STEP214 and IGES retain colours, Parasolid is usually the better format to use.

http://help.solidworks.com/2010/Eng...egacyhelp/sldworks/impexp/parasolid_files.htm

While they will retain colours, it may not retain Appearances because they have changed drastically over the last few versions.

 

[steinmini]

I don't really expect that I will be required to return the original or modified files because if the customer could have been able to resolve the problems with animation/still image renderings, I would probably do something else now. I just asked to be sure what to sort of file (properties) behavior to expect once it gets through two conversions. Thank you.

 

[Updraft]

CBL is right. Since you are only talking about sending files to an older version of SWX Parasolid is the best way to go. It retains the info you want, but more importantly, it is the solid kernel upon which SWX is built. IGES and STEP are just other formats and certainly not the best for what you want to do.

- - -Updraft

 

[steinmini]

In the meantime, I got free hands on format choice, because in case I do this one as expected, I'll get some more work, including creating objects and will forward the final results to the customer for backup/archive purposes only.

 

[mjcole]

Step should retain Colors assigned to Faces but if they are assigned to Features good luck STEP doesn't export feature data or colors so they won't be retained.

Michael

 

[steinmini]

As I said, the conversion will most likely not be needed. So, I'll simply pack the files and send them to the customer as they are.