@ambi I downloaded your plugin and have been happy with the results so far- only issue I’m having is some parts when rendering out of redshift have artifacts from mesh faces, I’ve increased the step file resolution but was wondering if you have a user guide in how to properly use the import settings?
What kind of artifacts?
thanks for the quick reply, I’ll upload screen shots for you
the top right is in the blender display window which looks great, however when rendering you see artifacts with the mesh faces being visible.
Does Redshift use custom normals from Blender? The imported objects have them. I have to do some testing later once I reach the next milestone. You can also try removing all seams and sharp data from edges if that helps.
I feel like this is a native shader issue and how either blender or redshift deals with mesh files that are made of tri’s. I noticed when I took my file and saved out both an obj and stl file, when it first imports and I setup my scene for redshift and start a preview render it looked fine. Then I tilted my light around to see what happens when there is a light angle change and thats when facets start showing up. I did shift around the smooth shading a few times and I thought i fixed it but then started the preview render a few times and it came back. My back ground is vray for 3ds max/rhino and keyshot with SW and never had these facet issues with much smaller resolution objs/stls
I could create a subdivision model that would remove the issue, but the cost in time and tolerance accuracy for something like a complex part assembly wouldn’t really be feasible. I’m testing redshift right now so If I can find some sort of solution I’ll let you know. your plugin is definitely something I would love to see develop more- will save a lot of production time.
Is it normal for blender to be not responding for ~6 hours when dealing with a 100+ MB .stp file? It does eventually unfreeze and the import is done, but I’m wondering if there’s something I’m missing
There’s an option in the current alpha version to “skip faulty solids” (in the preferences → add-ons tab) which might work. It tries to work around some issues the underlying library seems to have for opening some STEP files. If that doesn’t work, you can always send me link to the faulty STEP file if possible.
I removed the main add on and installed the alpha w/ skip faulty solids on; it’s been running for 1 hour, still not responding. I’m going to leave it running until it’s done, maybe the skip will speed it up, maybe it won’t (I’ll let you know either way), but here is the 125 MB file if you want to try yourself https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EzVUDFVo9WsXjp5yJli9VkopHwiMJuxU/view?usp=sharing
Yeah, looks like it’s a new type of bug not yet seen. I’ll try updating the OCC lib and see if that helps it.
Alright, big improvement, only took about 2 hours. Here’s the blender file if it helps. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0QiN40uxSU6BY1bLKV0WjrPTDWqK7xN/view?usp=sharing
By the way, the STEP file is exported from a very complex PCB made in Cadence Allegro, which could be a factor.
Where i find these version ?
There should be a direct link to the download in the Gumroad email receipt. It should also be in your Gumroad library.
Hey ambi,
could you maybe move the import options to the Preference? We’re using a specific value for each import, and it can become somewhat tedious to always set this by hand.
Cheers
Latest alpha has presets that should always apply once you use them once. Either that or you can choose multiple files to import at one go.
1 Like
Exactly what I was looking for, much appreciated.
STEP_unstable_alpha_1.0.12.zip is up at Gumroad
- Artist friendly detail setting
- Material names according to the STEP spec
- Empty based hierarchy
- Hierarchy is preserved in FBX export when using the empty based hierarchy setting
- Imports into 3D cursor position
4 Likes
I tested basic importing functionalities with the new alpha (STEP_unstable_alpha_1.0.12.zip) with simple production CAD model, so here is what I tried and my personal feedback how it worked for me.
Artist friendly parameters
- This doesn’t work in import panel. I tried values from 1 to 10 000 and result was exactly same triangle count. Found out that it actually does nothing, but remembers the last used Rebuild Selected value from N-Panel if in same session some rebuilding has been done.
- But it works in the N-panel when selecting meshes and using Rebuild Selected
- Simpler to use than standard controls and gave me similar result without need to play with 2 values to get the type of meshing I prefer.
- This value could be 10 or 100 times less than currently. I think 100 gives already very low poly result and for production I would need minimum of 10 000, which is high number to type in. For my test model I would use value of 50 000 for production mesh, which is not overly dense.
3 different hierarchy modes
- All worked
- I would personally use Parented Empties or Tree Collection, but good to have all options.
Import 3D cursor position
- Worked
Loaded same CAD model twice to same scene
- Just wanted to test if this causes any conflicts and it didn’t. I was able to rebuild meshes individually of both 2 models that I had been imported.
This was not much, but all tried functionality worked apart from artist friendly parameter in import options. No crashes or any other bugs.
1 Like
STEPper_1.1_rc1 is up on Gumroad, that should have the detail setting fixed. The number of faces and the number in the detail setting should now be relatively the same for values over 100 (double the detail, double the triangles). Also as most of the features are now in, I can focus a bit more on bug fixing to get the next stable done (which will be Blender 2.93+ only).
1 Like