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Help => Ask for help => Topic started by: big--phil on May 09, 2009, 10:30:38 AM

Title: Anyway to convert STL to IGES/STEP?
Post by: big--phil on May 09, 2009, 10:30:38 AM

Hi,


I have been trying for some time to convert an STL file of a femur (thigh bone) to an IGES file.


I can't seem t achieve this in Rhino.

Could someone please please help  ???


All suggestions are welcome,

Philip

Title: Re: Anyway to convert STL to IGES/STEP?
Post by: big--phil on May 09, 2009, 10:55:44 AM

If I cover the STL femur with 'drapes', then I can save these created surfaces as IGES,

But how to I join these drapes together?

I have attached a picture of two surfaces that overlap, how can I join these into one?


Philip

Title: Re: Anyway to convert STL to IGES/STEP?
Post by: bnlake on May 11, 2009, 12:54:29 PM

that's gonna be tough since the surfaces don't line up as close as they need to be. You can do a boolean union but you're going to see a crease or even hard lines in the render. I would play around with the match surface tool.

I don't think that's the solution but it may get you where you want to be?

Title: Re: Anyway to convert STL to IGES/STEP?
Post by: Skatar on June 16, 2009, 05:16:22 AM

An STL is a MESH and IGES / STEP is POLYSURFACES.

You have to conert your STL MESH into a polysurface.

The problem is that the normal Rhino function (_MeshToNurb) stops at 20000 mesh faces.
But, you can try and bool your mesh into smaller parts and _MeshToNurb these.

Otherwise there is a plugin to download called "mesh to solid", which I have not have so fun with. But it might work for your shape

Draping is just horribly inaccurate.
It's absolutely not reccomendable.

Another thing:
I know that many rapid prototypers can handle stl-meshes.
Ask them again...

good luck
/Skatar