Hi!
I need to import a huge stl model (size 250 mb) into solidworks, and perform some boolean operations on it. The number of triangles in the stl is also much higher than the 20k limit. Simplifying the stl in Meshlab is not an option, as it is destroying the shape. To find a workaround, I am trying to convert the stl into iges in FreeCAD, and importing the iges in Solidworks. But, the iges is also huge, and is not opening even after 30 minutes in a really fast pc (16 gb RAM!). Any help will be really appreciated!
Sumanta
Converting the STL to IGS directly won't help you because each triangle in the STL will be converted to a flat, triangular nurbs surface, and there will be far to many surfaces for SolidWorks to handle.
I don't know what you intend to do with the object after you boolean it, but perhaps you could boolean it as a mesh. CloudCompare can boolean meshes, as well as some poly modeling programs like Blender, both are free. This could work if your intent is to 3d print it.
Geomagic or RapidForm software could help by fitting nurbs surfaces in place of the triangles. The software is very expensive, but you may be able to pay a service to do it if you must have it as nurbs for injection molding or other tooling.