Minor Step File Editing

Furniture_Guy · January 09, 2018, 09:32:15 AM

Our workflow is set up that the engineering department (using Pro-E/Creo) creates our products and then will export step files to us in the marketing department for importing into KeyShot. My question is what would be a good software program to learn & use for those rare occasions when we want to edit the step file given to us. Pro-E/Creo would be overkill (and too expensive) yet we still need the file to retain all the necessary quality and information to bring back into KeyShot. Also, being in a Marketing department we mostly have Macs though we have a few PC's strictly for KeyShot rendering. Some functions we can do in the 'Edit Geometry' of KeyShot but not all...

Rhino? Any others?

Many Thanks!

Furniture_Guy

Robb63 · January 09, 2018, 02:17:03 PM

I use Rhino a lot for setting up renderings (and fixing STEP/IGES files). What's nice is if you put a part on a layer in RHino it is grouped in Keyshot. Which means you can put like colored parts on one layer in Rhino and change all of those parts in Keyshot, yet you can still individually selected those parts if some of those parts end up needing different color/materials.

Furniture_Guy · January 09, 2018, 02:41:56 PM

Quote from: Robb63 on January 09, 2018, 02:17:03 PM
I use Rhino a lot for setting up renderings (and fixing STEP/IGES files). What's nice is if you put a part on a layer in RHino it is grouped in Keyshot. Which means you can put like colored parts on one layer in Rhino and change all of those parts in Keyshot, yet you can still individually selected those parts if some of those parts end up needing different color/materials.

Robb63,

Thank you very much for the feedback. I've downloaded a trial version and I'll give it a go...

Perry (AKA Furniture_Guy)

TGS808 · January 10, 2018, 04:51:39 PM

Definitely look at Fusion 360. It's everything you'll need.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Furniture_Guy · January 12, 2018, 06:38:24 AM

Quote from: TGS808 on January 10, 2018, 04:51:39 PM
Definitely look at Fusion 360. It's everything you'll need.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Thanks, I tried it awhile back and it just didn't do it for me...

TGS808 · January 12, 2018, 01:47:40 PM

Quote from: Furniture_Guy on January 12, 2018, 06:38:24 AM
Quote from: TGS808 on January 10, 2018, 04:51:39 PM
Definitely look at Fusion 360. It's everything you'll need.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Thanks, I tried it awhile back and it just didn't do it for me...

Surprising, because it does everything you're asking for (and quite well). Also, if cost is a factor you're not going to do better.

Furniture_Guy · January 13, 2018, 09:24:50 AM

Quote from: TGS808 on January 12, 2018, 01:47:40 PM
Quote from: Furniture_Guy on January 12, 2018, 06:38:24 AM
Quote from: TGS808 on January 10, 2018, 04:51:39 PM
Definitely look at Fusion 360. It's everything you'll need.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview

Thanks, I tried it awhile back and it just didn't do it for me...

Surprising, because it does everything you're asking for (and quite well). Also, if cost is a factor you're not going to do better.

You're right, it's been awhile and to be fair I should give it another try...

Thank you!

TGS808 · January 13, 2018, 10:11:00 PM

I'm not the official spokesperson for F360 or anything but I'm in pretty much the same situation that you are which is why I felt confident making the recommendation. I get STPs from our engineers/manufacturers and always need to make modifications to them before bringing them into KeyShot. Anything from adding the fillets that will make or break a rendering (they tend to leave those out pretty much all the time) to adding/removing/moving/modifying parts. I'm also in a marketing department and work on a Mac. I'm not a world class modeler but my skills in that area are improving at a greater rate than I expected. To the point where I've built entire product models (small things we couldn't get from our factory) from scratch on my own. It's mostly because F360 is really easy to use once you understand where the tools you need are located. The learning curve is not that steep and there are tons of online videos and support. And bonus (though I have not tried it) there is a plugin that bridges F360 and KeyShot. If F360 works out for you, great. If not, I hope you find the solution you need. Good luck!

Will Gibbons · January 15, 2018, 07:01:25 AM

I'd have to second TGS808.

I use F360 about 4 days a week and the cloud aspect of it is great. It's simple UI aids in learning. The price can't be beat. They're developing it very fast, so while it's still relatively young, it improves pretty much monthly. It's getting better at surfacing. While Rhino may be better for surfacing and may have a more complete toolset, I do think F360 would be faster for you to use and learn.

My biggest gripes about F360 is that there isn't a ton of great, formal documentation since they're developing the software so quickly. Also, you can't manually assign UVs.

If you think you'd like to be able to assign UV coordinates to the geometry, I'd say 100% go with Rhino. It's one of the few 'cad' apps that have pretty good control over UVs. While it might seem like an 'advanced' feature and take a bit to learn, it'll probably come in handy more often than not.

Good luck!