Hi, I have a model of a large soft molded handle with lots of curves from a suppliers CAD files which is in STEP format.
What is the best way to import this into SketchUp with the least errors.
Thanks
Probably SimLab’s STEP importer. Import with units set to meters to avoid the tiny face issue. Plan to spend a fair amount of time cleaning up the model, exploding components, and so on. I think the last three or four times I had to work with step files it would probably have been easier and faster for me to model the things from scratch in SketchUp. The last one was a part for a hydraulic braking system on a truck and that was a real pain.
Thanks, Yep that’s pretty much where I am at after spending about 3 hours on it so far. I opened the STEP file in Free CAD then Exported as COLLADA (.dae) then imported to SU. Lots of little faces missing.
I will give STEP importer a go
Mike
I would perhaps open/import the STEP to Rhino, convert to mesh, polyreduce and save as SKP.
Thanks everyone for your help with this
I tried importing it and doing some polyreducing. Still a large file for a simple handle.
kahva.skp (561.0 KB)
+1 for the Simlab product. I have to import STEP files pretty regularly in my workflow, and this extension has been worked great for me for many years now. If you just need the one you could prolly find a workaround pathway but if it’s a regular thing the extension really helps. It has a handy slider to adjust the level of detail/ tessellation on import.
Yes the files can be higher poly than you might wish. I usually open the outer component wrapper explode everything else inside and then run a face merging extension to resolve co-planer faces, helps lower poly count.
It’s not free, but if you need it, it’s worth it.
I’ve had good results with MoI3D. You can import a STEP into MoI and then export an SKP, with control over the tessellation. MoI is a great tool to have in your kit if you do a lot of work like this.
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