Solidedge to 3d Studio Max?

[tomlivings]

Hi there,
Im new on this forum. I have never used Solidedge. I realize Im asking without giving, but Im afraid Im stuck.
I am an animator. I have a client who has a Solidedge model. I need to get the model from Solidedge to Max. Is this possible? What formats can Solidedge export? Is there literature online about output formats?
Thanks,
Tom.

 

[teebarr]

Tom
SE cannot save to 3DS. There are companies that will provide translators but you need to test them for suitability. I did once test Sycodes .obj translator but the resolution was poor.

The best format from SE is usually STEP. I would use that as your basis for translator testing.
Tony

 

[tomlivings]

Thanks for the help Tony.
Is STEP the generic Solidedge format or is it a geometry export?
Does anyone out there have experience with PolyTrans (Okino)? Looks like the best converter for a .max import.
Tom.

 

[KENAT]

Solid Edge can export solid models in a number of formats including IGES, STEP & Parasolid.

What can your software read?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[rocknrol]

Best way in my opinion:
Solid edge -> STEP,
STEP -> Inventor,
Inventor -> MAX.
This way I get the best result.

 

[tomlivings]

Thanks rocknrol.
Max can import many 3d formats see below:
3DS
PRJ
SHP
DWG
DXF
IPT
IAM
DWF
FBX
IGES
JSR-184
STL
OBJ
VRML
I dont know what half of them do. I have used 3DS, OBJ, DWG, FBX and STL in the past with varying degrees of success (but not with Solidedge).
The client gave me an IGS file which Max fails to import. I do not own Inventor. The only other programs I have access to are Autocad 2005 (tried the Sycode importer, no luck), Maya and Max 2008. I am working on an exclusively 64bit platform.
Im really going to find myself in hot water soon. Deadline looms.
Thanks ,
Tom.

 

[beachcomber]

The only common formats between your list and Solid Edge Assembly are IGES and STL.
Try contacting Theorem Solutions in the UK, they are a specialist translation service and may be able to suggest the best way to get what you need.

http://www.theoremsolutions.com

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?

 

[tomlivings]

Good to know Beachcomber, thanks. This is a lwo-budget project (arnt they all?) so I'd like to be able to do the translation for myslef, but I have emailed Theorem.
The IGES was unable to import into Max. I can only assume this is because of un-viable export settings from Solid Edge. Does anyone know of any rules for the export to make the model 3ds Max compliant?
Thanks again,
Tom.

 

[beachcomber]

Can you post a screen shot of what the iges import options are in 3ds ?

Theorem are not that expensive and they will show you what the results look like before you buy. We had a 100MB Catia model to translate to Solid Edge at it was only £350 ($450?) about 3 years ago. Smaller data sets should be cheaper.

I would also have a look at the SpaceClaim cad package as there are several import/export options in there including DWG. You could download a 30day trial from

http://www.spaceclaim.com

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?