Inventor .stp to Micro Station

Does anyone have any experience with Micro Station and using imported Inventor files?

Part of of the contract on our current job requires me to export my Inventor model out to a generic .stp format, so our client can use it at their end. Apparently they are using Micro Station, not sure what version yet.

My first attempt I was able to successfuly create the .stp file, but it took about 15 hours and was 1.2 gb in file size.

I attemped to open it on another Inventor machine to check the conversion, but after 4 days it was still working on it....

Part of the problem was I just selected the default options when opening the .stp file, which have "import into repair environment" and such on. But this was in Inventor, does Micro Station have simialr options? I have yet to try it with these options off. But I'm guessing it will still take way too long to open.

I think my only option is to convert several levels of detail into seperate .stp files, not sure on file size of those as of yet. Even though the origins ahould remain the same, I will have a constant reference object of some kind so the end user can assembly everything correctly....hopefully.

You have not provided very much relevant information.

How big is the assembly (then entire folder, not just the iam file)?

How many total parts?

Can you post a screen capture image of the assembly?

Do they need all detail or would a Shrinkwrap substitution work better for them?

I assume this is a large assembly, and therefore it is made up of many logical sub-assemblies.

Why not push out manageable sub-assemblies to STEP?

When I last created a pack and go, the entire folder was 2 GB, that was months ago and it would be larger now. All files are run from a document managment program off the network with Inventor on each local drive. When I do test it again I will try it with all files pack and go'd to the local drive, although the last time it made no noticeable difference.

Total parts is only 85 with 112 occurences. This assembly file is an entire energy plant; conveyors, ducting, piping, platforms, etc etc. All parts are simplified shrink wraps of their original models, all links broken, everything is grounded, no constraints.

I cannot post a screen cap yet due to company regulations. Possibly soon though when the project goes public.

I imagine manageable sub assemblies to STEP is the only option. I was hoping to avoid that to minimize any assembly errors at the other end.

Success! Well at least in an Inventor envrionment. When I attemped to open the original .stp file in Inventor I just accepted the default options. After some experimenting with smaller sub assemblies, I again tried opening the entire .stp file of the plant but this time turning off various import options such as "check parts during load", "enable advanced healing", and "import into repair environment".

End result is the file opened in 1 hour. It remains to be seen if MicroStation has similar options but I hope to be able to find that out from our clent soon.