I'm working on a part that was modeled in Blender. I have several files of varied resolutions exported as 3DF dxf files (>300K to 13K imported curves). I'm curious how best to turn this geometry into surfaces or a solid. The Blender export totally screws up the scale of the part- I think but would appreciate ideas on how best to re-scale the geometry. Thanks
Hi Chris - I'm not sure I totally understand your comments. The "low" resolution dxf file produces ~13K imported curves; the part has some complex contours thru the handle area and then ten tine-like fingers extended out one end; the plan is to have it injection-molded.
I believe this will have to be rebuilt in SolidWorks to make it suitable for producing injection molding.
Essentially you have something that could be used a reference in SolidWorks for producing a model that will work for your intended purpose.
If you Solidworks professional or premium, you should have the Scan to 3D add-in which can work with mesh files and point clouds.
You can then export the file as an obj from Blender and then import to solidworks with the scan to 3D add-in. From there you can run the mesh wizard to convert to a surface.
Thank you Bradley and Chris
I'm in the prcess of rebuilding the part and given the scaling issue between Blender and other applications, it's tedious at best. I don't run SW pro or prof so haven't any experience with the 3D add-in. I wonder if one can scale up a model such as this, with this add-in(?). For now, I'm importing the geometry as 2D dxf- grabbing the geometry I need- then scaling the sketches. A colleague has sent me a conversion to an iges file of the geometry from Rhino- HUGE (still churning). We'll see. Thanks again!
Apologies for lack of clarity- too busy
Henry,
This should have occurred to me sooner ... part of your problem is that SolidWorks does not handle 3D dxf files directly.
You are better off using VRML (WRL) or STL to get a 3d file into SolidWorks. There is an "Option" box when you import the file that will let you set the units (ie mm, inches etc., although it will not let you set a specific scale factor). Perhaps Blender has a units setting for inches or mm?
If your file has 15,000 - 20,000 triangle, you could import it as a surface body or solid body. Otherwise use graphics body. You won't be able to snap to it as a graphics body, but you can still use it as visual reference for creating new surfaces.
You would set the units in the import options to match Blender. If it still comes in at the wrong scale, figure out what the difference is, and then scale it up/down in Blender by the corresponding amount before you export.
I believe IGS will complicate this further if the triangles in your Blender model were converted to an IGS surface. You will have thousands of them, if they can not be stitched together when imported into a surface or solid.
SolidWorks is limited in reading facetted (triangulated) files to less than 20,000 or so, if you want to use it as a solid body. (ie put in holes or section cuts. Otherwise, import it as a graphics body and you can use larger files, but they are only good for visual reference.
If the file does not enclose volume, you can import it a surface body, but its not that useful.
What are you doing with this model?