[Solved] import .stl

[dangre]

Sorry if this has been covered before but I can't seem to find my answer in the forums.

I am importing non-organic CAD files (.stl) that has sharp edges and specific cylinders/curves. When I import these, I can't seem to find the correct procedure (scale/subdivide/etc) to give adquate resolution. Unless I increase the scale (sorry for using wrong terms) to +4million polygons I lose most of my detail (round objects look like octogons with extra noise). Even then I don't get anywhere near the geometry of the orginal mesh. I plan to use 3DC to add textures to CAD objects from SolidWorks/Rhino/MeshLab/etc. The .stl only has 8700 polys. Should I be importing into voxels or just surface mode? The object is a 1" diameter badge for a beer bottle. The images I have attached are of the solid model and .stl import as seen from SolidWorks and the 3DC import scaled up to 100,000 from 8700. I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong. Thanks in advance.

Edited May 16, 2013 by dangre

[Daniel]

Hello namesake,

Post the file here, I'll check it, and tell me what is your goal ( what are you planning to do with it in 3D-Coat? )

Cheers!

[dangre]

I have attached the .obj file below. As stated in above, I want add textures and use some of the organic smoothing tools of 3DC to my dimensionaly correct CAD model. The ultimate goal is to create the actual part with 3D printing (SLA) or cnc. I can open this file in many other CAD systems and the mesh opens with 'smooth' curves and sharp edges but you can see in my attached picture above it doesnt open very 'cleanly' in 3DC. Maybe I am just using the wrong settings. I know I am using 3DC for a different purpose (engineering/product development) but I see a wealth of awesome tools that are not readily available with the 'engineering' CAD software I use.

EDIT: I was trying to open a .stl import and just tried opening the file as a .obj (only file I could attache to this forum) and it seems to work much better. It still wasn't 'clean' but possibly workable. I tried to subdivide and it just made the sharp edges more 'jagged'. I had to 'scale' up the model from 8000 polys to 200,000 polys. See attached picture. The strange thing is it looks fine when I first import it but when I 'merge' the quality goes out the door.

LOGO BADGE BLANK.obj

[Daniel]

I saved a scene for you. tell me is that what you want?

Steps:

1. Scale the mesh on Merge stage to around 800k-1000k polycount

2. Click Apply

3. Press Smooth all several times (it's in the bottom of left panel)

stl2voxels.zip

[Tehctecwam]

I think, that you commit an error. Write to me in PM, we will discuss.

[dangre]

Daniel,

Yes, that did work, but wow 800k polys and 8MB. The original was only 8k polys and 0.5MB. I can now do the edit work I need to in 3DC but will have to do some retopo work to get it back to a usable size to import back into Solidworks (20k max triangles [about 10k polys]). I have had good results just exporting as a .stl and 'simplifying'. Better results with small details and simplifying large areas than the auttopo. Just curious why 3DC needs to scale 100x when other software does not? Sorry for being a novice here, I'm just learning...

Just to let you know, I did try upscaling to 2M polys with the .stl file but it still looked 'jaggy'. I'll stick to .obj and maybe try other import formats.

[Daniel]

There are 2 main merging options - Voxels and Surface. I'll touch the surface mode first. In surface mode you get EXACTLY the same mesh as you import (the same topology, the same amount of polygons, everything the same (even artifacts)), so when you scale the mesh that is going to be merged in Surface mode, you just scale it as in usual 3D app. That's it!

Voxel mode, though, looks like this: when you have you model in Merge mode you see it with original poly-structure. Think of it as a container that will be filled with something (voxels) later! So, the lover the polycount the "less" of voxels will be in that container, so the small details will look like crap. The bigger the polycount, better the details because more voxels will "get into" this container. I hope I was clear

So when you merge, you must be sure to prepare "the container" before you click Apply.

If you need clarification, feel free to ask..

[dangre]

Ah yes, that makes sense. I think this concept will work. I just need to work on my workflow. Thanks a ton for explaining it to me.