Hi Don,

> I am mostly curious if you made any changes to MoI
> to specifically work well with Alibre, or if they were
> compatible right from the start.

Nope, there were no changes needed in MoI to make the STEP transfer work, Alibre was already fully compatible with the existing MoI 2.0 version.


> All surfaces come in as separate components in TC

Does this happen when your object was originally a joined solid in MoI as well?

If your object is made up of individual surfaces in MoI, try using the Edit > Join command to glue them together into a joined solid in MoI first before exporting to STEP format.


> I know other formats will come into TC as stitched, but
> they are mesh-like in appearance and so are not so good
> for hidden line renders.

There are basically 2 different categories of formats - the CAD formats that maintain the NURBS surface information in them, and polygon formats that have faceted information in them.

The CAD formats are: 3DM, STEP, IGES, and SAT. The transfer of any of these formats should give you a similar result as STEP format.

The mesh formats are: OBJ, LWO, STL, and 3DS - if you use these formats you will get faceted data instead of the original surface data.


> Also, are you bound solely to Alibre with your working
> arrangement, or are you able to partner with other CAD
> companies as well, in the same manner?

The deal with Alibre is non-exclusive, so it is possible for me to partner with other CAD companies as well if they are interested.

- Michael