Hi:
Can i import my Solid Edge files into Blender?.
I need to render some assemblyes that i was do in Solid Edge.
The Solid Edge formats are: *.asm - *.par - *. igs - *.xgl - *.sat
thnks.
Matt.
mathew,
I think your best bet would be a utility to convert igs to vrml. I just did a quick search in google, and there are more than a few options.
Tho, its likely that SE can export to VRML directly (I know SolidWorks can…) STL would/should be another option for you (tho there may be one-part-at-a-time issues with that - dunno.)
I was not able to go from solid edge to blender… :no:
Can you be more precise???
Thanks a lot in advance,
Mat
mgibert, not being familiar with SE, I can only explain how other CAD systems do it. Its typically found in the “Save As…” dialog box, where you can select the format of the output. Look for a dropdown list that’s showing the current SE format. Select from one of the following options in the list (if available): STL, VRML 1.0, or 3D DXF. If all you have available are the options shown in the first post, then you’ll need an intermediate application to translate the files into one of the above. (Or you could dump SE and buy a real CAD package, like SolidWorks <joking> )
One possibility you may already have access to: AutoCAD. If you’re able to export from SE to SAT (ACIS) format, you can import these (ACISIN command) into AutoCAD and export either 3DS (in older versions using the 3DSOUT command with FACETRES set to 10) or to DXF (which may give shady results, as I’ve not tried it.) There are 3DS blender import scripts available as well as for DXF that work well.
Same problem here, sorry to bump the htread, I’ve only god Solid Edge and blender… and am still looking for a way to files out of Solid Edge into blender without shelling out the 195$ to Sycom…
hoxolotl, does Solid Edge have STL output? Is Solid Edge able to make a single multi-body part out of an assembly? If yes to both of these, then…
Open your assembly, save it as a single part file, export the part file to STL, import the STL into blender. Do a “remove doubles” and separate (p-key) parts (ctrl-l selects linked verts in edit mode) as required.
There’s a good chance that blender will choke on this if the assembly is too large or complex. If this happens you’ll likely have to create several smaller sub-assems (break it up) before import. If blender still is crashing, and you have enough RAM on your system, then the issue may be your graphics memory.
I’ve recently been thru this and found that I was able to open the same blender file on my work PC but not on my (lesser-capability) home system. Tinkering around, I narrowed it down to the amount of video memory (256MB @ work & 64MB @ home). Upgraded and it works fine.
Reply with specifics if this doesn’t work out. Cheers.
If every format fails, intercept the 3D-data on driver level. For OPENGL there is GlIntercept with OGLE and for DX9 there is the DX ripper. They export obj.
Mzungu, Solid Edge is very limited in it’s export formats, as stated in the first post in this thread: those are all, and only, the formats we’ve got… All other formats require buying an “add-on” for 195$… and as usual, when you can’t show your boss the value of the purchase, it’s not going to happen.
And intercepting the openGL, is a little too much of a hacker’s way, in a pro environment (remember I have to do this at work). Although I do apreciate the option 3D-penguin 
hoxolotl, does your company (or you) own a copy of plain-jane AutoCAD? If so, then you can export to .SAT (ACIS Solid), import into AutoCAD (using ACISIN command) and export from there to the 3DS format (this is true of versions prior to 2007, where I heard they removed the 3DSOUT command. Searching around may prove this wrong - hopefully.) There are several good 3DS import scripts for blender, I believe. Note that the FACETRES variable in AutoCAD controls mesh density of the 3DS output. I used this method for years to get CAD geometry into blender.
Another alternative is to search for a cheap or free 3D geometry converter. I’ve not gone this route, so I’m not sure of what success there may be here.
I have SE v20 and when I “save as” stl is in the drop down box.
Looking at the help file I find there is an STL export options dialog box which allows users to control how a document will be translated to a STL file format…
Options are -
Conversion Tolerance
Specifies the conversion tolerance, which is the distance between the surface and its facets, in model units.
Tolerance Unit
Defines the units for the conversion tolerance.
Surface Plane Angle
Specifies the surface angle tolerance, which is the tolerance between the surface and its facets. It is the upper bound on the angular deviation between the surface normals at any two positions under the facet.
Output File As
Specifies the format for the output .STL files. The format can be either ASCII or Binary.
Binary
Stores the .STL files in binary format.
ASCII
Stores the .STL files in ASCII format.
Generate Log File
Produces a log file that contains warnings and information about the files involved in translation.
I hope this helps you as it is my first post on this forum, I am new to Blender having migrated from 3ds max.
Cool! I knew that this software had to have STL! (You don’t pay $6k+ for CAD software that won’t support rapid prototyping. :rolleyes: )
Welcome to BlenderArtists, Brian! Nice to have another CADdie around to add perpsective! :yes: So, (if you don’t mind my asking) why’dja ditch MAX?
Thanks, I dont use max any more because it belonged to the place where I used to work and I dont work there any more.
I had only ever played with it and never used it seriously, I’m an automotive mechanical design engineer and I use SE for modelling, draughting and rendering mechanical objects.
I have a different job now and I’m hoping to expand my skill set and do some architectural renderings in my own time so Blender looks like my way forward.
I have set aside some time over xmas to work through the tutorials, i will probably still use SE for the modelling, which is how i happened upon this thread.
Thanks for the welcome, this is a nice place!
Cheers,
Bri.
Just an update on exporting from AutoCad and Autodesk Architect to the 3ds format for importing into blender. If the command: ‘3dsout’ does not work for your version (newer versions don’t have 3dsout) then you might need the 3dsout utility. You can down load this from Autodesk at 3dsOUT. Remember to read the README as you might need to use the command ‘appload’ to load it and to make sure it loads each time it starts you’ll need to add it to the ‘Startup Suite’.