Thank you ALL so much for the terrific, comprehensive and timely assistance.
This also gives me great confidence (being a new user) that this is also a great forum for future stumbling blocks.

First, I will practice implementing and experimenting with all of your suggestions. I love the idea of that special script to help highlight the naked edges. Although, that brings me to a question about those kinds of things. Is there an extensive (hidden?) library of such useful commands that I need to memorize, or add to other quick keys? My limited use of Rhino proved that I needed to know many of those commands in order to really use the program to its strengths.

Second, it will be my goal, and hopefully should not be an issue to get STEP files from my clients. This test IGES file was just something I had sitting around from a year ago, for a product that never made it to market, so I never commenced work on it. I just wanted to test out that file structure, and learn some more about MoI. In regards to the asset file format. My understanding is that STEP is the best format, but are there any specific settings of which the client needs to be aware, when they export from their CAD systems (Pro/E, Solidworks, etc.)? I would assume, depending on what they are using, the BEST possible format, would actually be .3dm. But I think that only applies to Rhino and MoI, or am I wrong there? Can Pro/E or Solidworks also write to that common format?

Thank you all, again!

Hi sneather,

> Is there an extensive (hidden?) library of such useful commands that I need to memorize, or add to other quick keys?

There is a library of them collected here: http://kyticka.webzdarma.cz/3d/moi/ - the main place to find links to such things is on the resources section of the main web site.

But probably that show naked edges one would be the most useful one that you will want to have set up.


> My understanding is that STEP is the best format, but are there any specific settings of which
> the client needs to be aware, when they export from their CAD systems (Pro/E, Solidworks, etc.)?

Most of the time STEP is preferred, but unfortunately it's still a complex format and still needs to have trim curves processed in different ways and with any kind of fairly complex geometry processing there is some potential for problems. IGES can also have it's own set of issues as well but they tend to be somewhat different in nature so I'd really recommend asking for both STEP and IGES formats both instead of only one single format.

There shouldn't be any special settings needed when your clients export, just default settings should be fine.


> I would assume, depending on what they are using, the BEST possible format, would actually be .3dm.
> But I think that only applies to Rhino and MoI, or am I wrong there? Can Pro/E or Solidworks also write
> to that common format?

I think that Solidworks can read .3dm but not write one, and I'm not sure about Pro/E. So it may not be an option. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ask about though, because yes most generally 3DM format involves the least amount of extra complex processing that needs to be done to things on import into MoI so that helps make things more robust.

- Michael

Thank you, Michael.

I'll talk to the designers/engineers and see what they say. I'll also delicately ask if they can make sure (as much as possible) that I get parts with "water-tight" seams, whenever possible.

Hello,

Getting watertight models from clients might be tough sometimes. I know Spaceclaim in my experience does a good job of finding those problems and fixing them. They seem to have focused on model repair as one of their strengths. It's a little more involved workflow IMO, and not as inexpensive as MoI. I find myself starting in MoI and then moving to Rhino or SCE to finish some operations that can't currently be done in MoI. It doesn't hurt that the MoI community is so quick to help.