STL File Manipulation

[meDave2]

I have a large STL file that has too many points in it. My company is balking at purchasing the upgrade to SolidWorks to work with this file. Is there a free piece of software or cheap piece of software that will allow me to reduce the number of data point in this file?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Why do you need to upgrade SW?

 

[meDave2]

Because the STL file is so large that only the Premium edition of SolidWorks will handle it.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Where did you get that information?

To my knowledge, the Premium edition does not have any feature, function or module which will affect the file opening capability of large files. That is purely a function of RAM.

 

[meDave2]

Well this is what my SolidWorks vendor support people are telling me.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Apparently there is a limit to the number of faces which can be processed by SW, regardless of amount of RAM.

The Premium edition has a module called Scan to 3D which is used to import scanned data. Perhaps it is able to reduce the number of faces during the opening phase.

Ask if your VAR would open the file for you.

 

[Eltron]

...or post it here, and we'll see how we can screw it up.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[cculp]

Scanto3D does more than just allow for larger STL files to be opened. Scanto3D allows large datasets of 3D point clouds to be opened, and also has tools to allow for surface creation on top of those points. It can average points to create surfaces, and will aid in creation on prismatic shapes from those points. For a full summary of its features, check out Ricky Jordan's blog entry:

http://www.rickyjordan.com/2006/08/solidworks_2007.html

and a good video showing it in action:

http://www.rickyjordan.com/2008/11/solidworks-video-tip-surface-extraction-with-scanto3d.html

Charles Culp
Design Engineer - Solidworks User

 

[macduff]

Why not ask the folks where you got the file from, to "dumb down" the model so you can work with it? Maybe ask for a STEP or an IGES file instead?

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2009 SP 4.1
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[cculp]

I should also add that there IS a free piece of software to reduce the number of points, but you will probably not end up with results that you like. To do this kind of manipulation, you can use MeshLab, a free open-source software for mesh modification:

http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

Charles Culp
Design Engineer - Solidworks User

 

[rollupswx]

Why not ask the folks where you got the file from, to "dumb down" the model so you can work with it?

Actually, I would consider an stl file to be about as "dumb" as you can get. Well, maybe a wireframe or point cloud.

Certainly a STEP or IGES is usually "smarter" than an stl.