CarbonWerkes
New member
- Mar 15, 2006
- 62
Hi all-
I use Solidworks primarily to design 3d solid models for later use with fluid dynamics tools (aerodynamics). I am working on an auto project (80's Porsche 911), and wanted to import an established model from 3D Studio or Lightwave, since there are many models available of this car in those formats (and none in Solidworks, so far as I can tell). Problem is- Im not able to import any of the intermediate formats (DXF, IGES, STL) from these other programs as a solid- or even as a surface. DXF always fails with no error (shows model in the import dialog box, where you select 2d Sketch or 3D model)- but 3D yields no object on 'final' import... IGES generally fails (may import a few panels but not an entire shell, presumably because of open surfaces, etc, and just yields the infamous XLO '1 error found' file. STL will only seem to produce an 'STL Graphic,' which appears to be a fairly clean 3d object, but behaves like a 3d bitmap- I cant seem to use it for anything other than reference geometry to manually define splines for lofts, etc- not a lot of benefit there.
So, long story short- is there an effective way to import as a solid or surface a model created in Max or Lightwave? If there is a way to leverage an STL Graphic in some way (i.e. for use as a cut on a solid, or for shelling, etc), problem solved.
Best regards-
Roland
I use Solidworks primarily to design 3d solid models for later use with fluid dynamics tools (aerodynamics). I am working on an auto project (80's Porsche 911), and wanted to import an established model from 3D Studio or Lightwave, since there are many models available of this car in those formats (and none in Solidworks, so far as I can tell). Problem is- Im not able to import any of the intermediate formats (DXF, IGES, STL) from these other programs as a solid- or even as a surface. DXF always fails with no error (shows model in the import dialog box, where you select 2d Sketch or 3D model)- but 3D yields no object on 'final' import... IGES generally fails (may import a few panels but not an entire shell, presumably because of open surfaces, etc, and just yields the infamous XLO '1 error found' file. STL will only seem to produce an 'STL Graphic,' which appears to be a fairly clean 3d object, but behaves like a 3d bitmap- I cant seem to use it for anything other than reference geometry to manually define splines for lofts, etc- not a lot of benefit there.
So, long story short- is there an effective way to import as a solid or surface a model created in Max or Lightwave? If there is a way to leverage an STL Graphic in some way (i.e. for use as a cut on a solid, or for shelling, etc), problem solved.
Best regards-
Roland
