Continuing the discussion from STEP import:
Cant import step:
-Win10
- Python 3.9.7
-Blender 3.0 - After clean folder addon the same problem appear
- Check the DLL load failed part in the FAQ: STEP import
- Make sure the Blender is from blender.org and not any custom version
- Download the latest rc2 from Gumroad
- Close Blender, go to the Blender 3.0 addon folder, delete Stepper folder
- Start Blender, install the downloaded rc2
I tried these steps and it’s working
Let me know if these steps fail, at which point, and what exactly is the error message from the Blender console (Menu > Window > Toggle System Console)
Also to check your Python version, open the Python Console area by pressing Shift+F4 (scripting console) and it should show all the relevant information. It should read: PYTHON INTERACTIVE CONSOLE 3.9.7 (default, Oct 11 2021, 19:31:28) [MSC v.1916 64 bit (AMD64)]
1-5. Done
When i chose step file and click import then appear this error.
Python version: 3.9.7
On this computer i have no internet connection (maybe its impotant info)
DLL import failure means binary incompatibility which means either missing libraries or wrong Python version. As we have already confirmed that you are using the same Blender version and Python, the only possible option is a missing Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170
Either that or it is some yet unknown problem.
I did a fresh Windows 10 and replicated the issue.
Solution: Also install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784
@ambi thank you very much for your work :slightly_smiling_face! I use your add-on regularly. It really works very well. I have one question. I get .step files from my client, which are already materialised. But I lose this materialisation through the add-on. With larger geometry it costs me a lot of work. Do you have a tip on how I could solve this??
Thanks a lot!
Hi,
I also got this problem. While your plugin is awesome, the one thing that keeps me from using it professionally is the missing material support. Actually this is one thing that is keeping me moving away from autodesk products at the moment.
I think it would not be necessary to import complete detailed material information. If we at least have material assignment, material names and optionally base color, this would help tremendously, as this would allow quick replacements with fine tuned materials through script or even manually.
Right now it is a pain to completely reassign materials on a CAD model with thousands of parts.
@ambi do you have any plans for this or are you already started working on it? I remember that this topic came up once or twice already.
Besides that as I said awesome work!
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Gave it another try. Blender 3.0 with rc2 of stepper. It was slow on a 24MB step (some instances) took about 5 min. But, the import was perfect fine. All triangles so. Yeah I know thats where the magic happens.
If you need instances and objects with correct transform coordinates is awesome. Costs a fraction of other tools.
The wishlist however for me:
- Support for polygons.
- Apply scale to Blender metric scale on import.
- Support for 3dm (Rhino) files
- Support for layers (yeah not easy I know).
- Faster import (same example took 2 sec. in Moi3d.
But, honestly for that price, my wishes are all over the top, I know. Hope more people buy the product to finance these.
I can confirm. They changed the Python version, so the module isn’t compatible anymore. I’ll start the process of rebuilding the project once it’s clear which version of Python the devs converge to next.
@nicatraffdigital
@Christian_Alles
@RobertLe
I’m limited to what is available in the library I use. How materials are defined in the client files can be very much out of spec for the STEP standard or something the library doesn’t support, in which case there’s little I can do about it.
How those client file materials are defined, how they are supposed to look, and what the end result should look like are all unknown to me.
Base color is something I’ve been working on and works on most projects.
To build the STEP file as clean quads is not something the library has through the default mesher. The scale is read from the STEP file, and the scaling is adjusted to what the Blender unit is defined as. You can also define custom scale while importing if you want. Rhino support is out of the scope for this project. Faster import is again constrained by the library.
So, we have to stick to Blender 3.0 for now to import STEP, right?
Seems it’s a fairly recent change https://developer.blender.org/D13943
Any Blender that is compiled with that patch will not work with the current version of the addon.
You can check Python version by opening Blender Python console (by changing the editor type).
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STEPper_1.1_for_Blender_version_3.1_or_later is up on Gumroad that should work with the latest Blender versions that have Python 3.10. Still testing. Tell me if you find any issues.
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First off, thank you ambi for this amazing add on, love it. 
Even though I paid for it, what I love about the Blender community is that it is open and free, so perhaps you could consider requesting an integration into the main Blender release. I think it would be consistent with Blender’s vision of making amazing software accessible and allowing the community to develop their own product and also improve on it.
I say this because I love Blender’s approach and I really wish that it stays free, and I’m afraid of it slowly being commercialized, especially now that it’s gaining a lot of new attention.
Here is a nice statement from Blenders Ton himself: https://code.blender.org/2019/06/blender-is-free-software/
The addon is 100% GPL so it can’t be legally closed down, nor do I want to. It’s thanks to the many generous people that this addon exists in the first place and is continually maintained and developed.
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Thats a lame comment. You can make money with Blender, both by using it and be selling content. And thats awesome. Point is, Blender is only where it is now, because of many PAID help. In development and add-ons. You can’t live without money in the world, except you stealing it from others (socialism).
Sorry… but I dislike such comments.
Hi there! I went through the troubleshooting steps and was looking for some guidance when I noticed I’m using a new version that might have some bugs. Here are my logs incase it’s useful to you, or I am missing some simple fix.
When trying to import from menu like usual"
"…e and Upgrades\Arducam\B0205.STEP
Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\OCC\Core\BRep.py”, line 20, in swig_import_helper
return importlib.import_module(mname)
File “C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\python\lib\importlib_init_.py”, line 127, in import_module
return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
File “”, line 1030, in _gcd_import
File “”, line 1007, in _find_and_load
File “”, line 986, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File “”, line 666, in _load_unlocked
File “”, line 565, in module_from_spec
File “”, line 1173, in create_module
File “”, line 228, in _call_with_frames_removed
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _BRep: The specified module could not be found.
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\main.py”, line 742, in execute
load_step(
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\main.py”, line 375, in load_step
from . import importer
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\importer.py”, line 35, in
from OCC.Core.BRep import BRep_Tool
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\OCC\Core\BRep.py”, line 23, in
_BRep = swig_import_helper()
File “C:\Users.…\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.0\scripts\addons\STEPper\OCC\Core\BRep.py”, line 22, in swig_import_helper
return importlib.import_module('BRep’)
File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.0\3.0\python\lib\importlib_init.py", line 127, in import_module
return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘_BRep’
location: :-1"
When opening from interface:
"
"
Thank you!
The first one is likely because of missing DLL, missing libraries or incorrect addon version. Don’t use the 3.1 version for 3.0. Check the DLL load failed-part in the FAQ (top of thread).
The second is an actual bug. Thank you. I will look into it.
1 Like
This plugin is amazing, I love Fusion360 workflow, but its more geared for manufacturing vs VR development. I have been waiting / searching for something like this forever, well worth the $17, it works great, I can finally texture my fusion360 models in Blender for Unreal! Being able to export step works great for me. (fusion360’s built in cloud conversion takes forever)
While the latest release of STEPper is now working with Blender 3.1 (thanks a lot!!!), the import interface doesn’t feature the options for linear and angular deflection. Instead there is the mesh detail slider, but even when set to 100, the mesh quality is far lower compared to the old version for Blender 3.0 and earlier. Did I miss there something?
Currently STEPper doesn’t support multi body parts (well, it supports it, but merges all part to a single object) - it would be a HUGE benefit, if STEPper could create single objects for every body. Our workaround at the moment is, to create an assembly from the parts bodies, convert that to step and import it into Blender. But this is not feasable with large nested assemblies which in turn contain multi body parts.
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