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problem making moulds from 3d step files


h.mo

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hi,

i am trying to make a mould of a section of a 3D step file i have, i followed this video on YouTube but when i try to remove the 3D object from the "plate" using the solid, subtract function, i get a message saying: "no solids, surfaces or regions selected". has anyone had a similar issue?

 

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2 hours ago, Cad64 said:

When you imported the step file, it may have come in as a block. Try exploding it and see if Autocad recognizes the solid model.

hi i tried to do this, i exploded the model and it seemed to have separated into multiple components instead of becoming one solid piece. so when i try "solid, subtract" i have to select every individual piece of the object. and it still shows the same message 

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53 minutes ago, h.mo said:

hi i tried to do this, i exploded the model and it seemed to have separated into multiple components instead of becoming one solid piece. so when i try "solid, subtract" i have to select every individual piece of the object. and it still shows the same message 

 

Then my next guess would be that the imported step file is a mesh instead of a solid. You could try the CONVTOSOLID command.

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At the commandline, when you start the EXTRUDE command, select the MOde option, where you should set it to 3D Solid.

You seem to have it set to create SURFACES.

I believe that is all you need to do to get it sorted.

Those midcommand settings options are important, and can make all the difference.

I hope that helps you.

 

Late to the party, just realized that video was the one you were watching, not created.

I never work with Meshes nor Surfaces, but I think Cad64 is probably on the right track!  :)

 

If you select the Object, how is it described in Properties?

Can you post your .dwg?

So we can take a look and help you figure it out, real time?

Edited by Dadgad
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8 hours ago, Dadgad said:

At the commandline, when you start the EXTRUDE command, select the MOde option, where you should set it to 3D Solid.

You seem to have it set to create SURFACES.

I believe that is all you need to do to get it sorted.

Those midcommand settings options are important, and can make all the difference.

I hope that helps you.

 

Late to the party, just realized that video was the one you were watching, not created.

I never work with Meshes nor Surfaces, but I think Cad64 is probably on the right track!  :)

 

If you select the Object, how is it described in Properties?

Can you post your .dwg?

So we can take a look and help you figure it out, real time?

 

 

8 hours ago, Cad64 said:

 

Then my next guess would be that the imported step file is a mesh instead of a solid. You could try the CONVTOSOLID command.

 

hi, this is whats shown in the properties tab.

autocad printscreen.png

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9 minutes ago, h.mo said:

hi, this is whats shown in the properties tab.

 

Ok, so my first guess was correct. When you imported the step file, it came in as a block, which means it needs to be exploded. So what does it show in the Properties tab after you explode it? Does it say Polyface Mesh?

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12 minutes ago, Cad64 said:

 

Ok, so my first guess was correct. When you imported the step file, it came in as a block, which means it needs to be exploded. So what does it show in the Properties tab after you explode it? Does it say Polyface Mesh?

 

once i explode it, the object becomes 370 + separate parts. if i highlight all the parts and go to properties, there are regions and surfaces.

autocad print sc2.png

autocad print sc 1.png

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Well, at this point my only recommendation would be to recreate the object in Autocad using the Solid Modeling tools. I don't think there's any way to stitch all those surfaces together to create a solid model, unless they've added some new functionality in 2020? Maybe someone else has some ideas.

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12 minutes ago, Cad64 said:

Well, at this point my only recommendation would be to recreate the object in Autocad using the Solid Modeling tools. I don't think there's any way to stitch all those surfaces together to create a solid model, unless they've added some new functionality in 2020? Maybe someone else has some ideas.

thanks ill see if anyone on the autodesk forum can help, if not ill do what you said and recreate the object 

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I don't think STEP files are meant to work directly with Autocad 2020 because of the nature of the data?

More of a solidworks / fusion360 3d format.

 

It looks like the STEP file can be directly opened in its original format using "FreeCAD" ,whatever that is.

 

Maybe in that state it would be possible to have other options for extracting the data/shapes you need.

And possibly other options for exporting as well.

 

As far as the stitch command, I don't think that's a thing in Autocad 2020.

 

ChriS

Edited by ammobake
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1 hour ago, ammobake said:

It looks like the STEP file can be directly opened in its original format using "FreeCAD" ,whatever that is.

 

Maybe in that state it would be possible to have other options for extracting the data/shapes you need.

And possibly other options for exporting as well.

 

 

I'm pretty sure the STEP file came from FreeCAD. In the OP's other thread he asked how to get a .stl model into Autocad and I told him that he could use FreeCAD to open the .stl and then export it to .stp so he could import it into Autocad. I assume that conversion from .stl to .stp is what created all the surfaces.

 

I also suggested using Fusion360 to open the .stl file. I'm thinking there would be more export options for something better to import into Autocad, but I don't use FreeCAD or Fusion360, so that's as far as I could go with helping out on this, and the OP ended up using FreeCAD instead of Fusion, so the STEP file is what he ended up importing. Obviously that didn't work out very well though.

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Interesting.  It seems like the only way for a proper conversion would be to use FreeCAD or Fusion360 in this case.

with the only other alternative being to recreate the source "object" in 3d.

 

I've seen this kind of explosion feature with other entities as well like 3d models from Microstation.

Our current client (US Gov't) has an old drawing library of microstation 3d models but their current CAD standard is Autocad format.

 

When we request CAD files for a building, they have to convert the DGN file to DWG - each object entity (like wall or window) become their own block.  If you explode the blocks, they are polyface meshes similar to this.  If you explode that they become 3d faces.

 

There are other wierd formatting issues too like the floor plans are always exactly 1/12 scale - but that may be caused by user error too (using incorrect decimal scaling).

 

From what I've been able to tell, Autocad is trying to make sense of what exactly the objects are in the drawing to substitute/replace those objects with some kind of equivalent.  But it's not perfect.

 

Other programs also use some objects and entities that simply don't exist in DWG format for a variety of reasons.  So the conversion involves Autocad doing the best it can (which usually isn't great) but good enough to show you what was in the source file.

 

ChriS

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I would be interested to find out what happens if the OP were to bring his .stl file into Fusion360 and then export it to a few different formats that Autocad can read. Since Fusion360 is an Autodesk program, would it create a usable solid model for Autocad to open?

 

And don't even get me started on Microstation. I remember, many years ago, having to jump through hoops trying to get DGN files to open up correctly in Autocad. :roll:

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