Import Formats and Their Capabilities

As with exporting, import formats offer varied capabilities. All formats allow importing of a single-facet part. A single-facet part is a one-piece object with a sizebox that can be resized by dragging its handles. Colors and textures can also be applied to the entire part or individual surfaces.

 

Some formats allow importing more than basic 3D geometry. Depending on the format,there might be the option of importing items on the following list:

  • Textures. If the part uses graphic images to represent surface textures, it can imported with the part.  This results in part surfaces identical to those in the original application. In general, store texture image files in the same directory as the part.  A list of directories is maintained that is examined for image files.A new location can be added to this list using the Directories tab of the Options properties sheet.  Choose Options from the Tools menu to view this sheet.

  • Colors. If the original part had colored surfaces, they can be imported with the part, and displayed identically in the scene.

  • The Environment.  As with exporting, this term refers to lighting, the viewpoint of a camera, and a background image or color. If any or all of these elements were present in the original application,there is an option to import them with the part.

  • Multiple Parts. Some formats allow importing 3D geometry as a single part or as multiple parts.  If the original object was composed of multiple parts, they can be brought into the scene as multiple parts and work with them independently.

The following table summarizes import capabilities by file type:

Format

Texture

Color

Environment

Multiple Parts

3D Studio

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

ACIS

No

Yes

No

Yes

AutoCAD DXF

No

Yes

No

Yes

IGES

No

Yes

No

Yes

Raw Triangles

No

No

No

Yes

STEP

No

Yes

No

Yes

Stereolithography

No

No

No

Yes

TrueSpace

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

VRML

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Wavefront OBJ

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

ACIS

No

Yes

No

Yes

Parasolid

No

Yes

No

Yes

IGES

No

Yes

No

Yes

STEP

No

Yes

No

Yes

UGS

No

Yes

No

Yes

Pro/E

No

Yes

No

Yes

Catia V4

No

Yes

No

No

Catia V5

No

Yes

No

Yes

SolidWorks

No

Yes

No

Yes

Inventor

No

Yes

No

Yes

 

A part’s environment, along with the other items in the above table, exists in the part file before importing.  Some of these features come in automatically during the import process; others are available as options.  In addition, some formats offer the opportunity to edit the part during the import process.

 

Associative Reference to Pro/E and UG/NX – Import Pro/E and UG files using the native translator and update models when the source file changes. All references are maintained such as 2D drawings and 3D constraints.

Native Translator Support for BOM Import – The Native Translator which supports native formats such as Inventor, Solidworks, Pro/E(CREO), UG/NX, SolidEdge, has been enhanced to support BOM information stored with these files. For example, Part Number, Description, Material Name, Material Density, and other custom properties can be transferred during the import process into IronCAD Applications. This enhances the reuse of data from other applications without the need to re-input the data for reusable parts or standard parts for example.