I needed to import some 3ds models I had downloaded into a SolidWorks assembly. This was not as easy as I had hoped. First off, SolidWorks doesn't have an option to open a 3ds file. I located a free converter on the web (see the link under the Quick Links section). This allowed me to save the 3ds file as an stl file or as a dxf file.
I tried the stl file fomat first as I thought that would give me the best result. I was wrong. It basically took the stl data and translated as graphics...not helpful when I was looking for a 3D solid.
So, I tried the dxf option. When I tried to open the dxf file directly in SolidWorks, sections of the model were missing. Not pretty. Stubbornly, I persisted. I tried opening the dxf file using DWGEditor (which comes with SW and is based on IntelliCAD.) This time the file opened with no problems. So, I saved as a dwg file to see if SW could take the dwg file from the DWG Editor and make it into a SW's part. Nope, same sections didn't come through.
The DWGEditor doesn't allow iges export (not supported) and the acisout wouldn't work on the imported model.
Continuing to persevere, I ran another Internet Search and found Sycode...they have a nice SW add-in, but it is not compatible with SW 2008.
Back at home, I went to my Autodesk products...first up, Inventor. Well, Inventor crashed repeatedly trying to open the dwg file. Next up, 3DViz where I could open the file, but there really wasn't any decent alternative format to save or export. It looked great in Viz, but that was about all I accomplished. Next up, AutoCAD Architecture. Well, ACA opened the dwg file with no problem (just that pesky dialog reminding me that the file originated from a non-Autodesk software). I then tried installing Sycode's MeshToSolid for AutoCAD add-in. It installed fine, but when I re-launched ACA (I had ACA closed for the install)...no Sycode menu was available.
No problem, I'm savvy. I used the CUI to locate Sycode's mnu file (located in the Program Files under Sycode). Then, I transferred the Sycode menu over to the ADT base menu. Great, now I have the menu. But when I selected the menu item, I got a 'no command found' error.
Still undeterred, I went back to the Sycode folder and located the arx file I was going to need to load. Then, I used APPLOAD to load the arx file.
Finally, I ran the command, typed 'ALL' to convert the mesh object to solid. It looked like it was going to take some time, so I started dinner and checked on my 11 year old son.
Once dinner was in the oven, I went back to my home office where the Sycode had completed the operation successfully. Hurrah! Now what? ACA doesn't support IGES, but I can run an ACISOUT to create an ACIS file. The ACIS conversion took about 15 minutes.
I zipped and emailed the sat file back to my work office. The next morning I downloaded the file, extracted it, and attempted to bring it into SolidWorks.
Back to Square One...the model came in, but sections were still missing. I had spent two days and hit every software package I owned and still had not been successful moving a 3ds model into SolidWorks or Inventor.
It used to be that DWG/DXF were the de facto standards to ensure file compatibility. We have moved into the 3D arena without establishing a standard where any 3D model can be moved from one software platform to another. How did that happen? If any of the major players could establish such a standard, they would own the 3D world.
