STEP import options

[ior=0]

Hi Guys/girls,
I'm after your experience with importing STEP files into Max2012.

In the past I've used npower translaters for a few years but got fed up of the poor support and inconsistent upgrades plus an expensive renewal price every year for a recompile and bug fix to work with the yearly release of Max on sub.

At the moment I'm using InventorLT 2011 to import the STEP and export as Inventor IPT which Max2012 can now import natively as a bodyobject (although I understand Autodesk are using a limited version of the npower plugin to do this), this has proved stable and reliable but I have been getting some models in from a Solidworks client who exporting to STEP, which imports into Inventor perfectly but when I import the .ipt into MAX I'm getting bad (twisted) fillets and splits between surface patches.
The Max bodyobject doesn't have much/any ability to resolve these issues and I'm finding it hard to figure out at what stage something has gone wrong: client SW model, export to STEP, import into Inventor or import into Max.

I'm considering trying Ngraf's Polytrans but their wed-site (seems very verbose) and plugin with CAD extension model seem antiquated and expensive. Has anyone used them and could compare the model translation quality to npower's?

Any ideas how to check the client model is built ok in the first place, as I've had some of their models work fine?
Any suggests on an alternative workflow?

your help is, as always, much appreciated. Thanks.

[Paul Oblomov]

Use rhino5. Forget about shitty body objects. Almost every single model I was converting to max has tolerance problems. So use rhino to rebuild bad objects and import 'em back to max as .obj.

[mcvltd]

Second vote for Rhino here - I use Rhino4. Some objects you have to rebuild, mostly stuff that involves spheres.

[kimgar]

good to know i'm not the only one disappointed in the body objects - shitty feels like a good description.

of all the importers/translators i've tried, npower is by far the best i've seen. their translators does an amazing job and their support is excellent.
step files goes straight into max and comes in super clean with npower's power edge mesh, i can't really remember the last time i had to rebuild/cleanup a model.
only grief i have is that when importing straight to mesh, model hierarchy is skipped.

[Neilg]

.sat (which max can import natively) have been working perfectly for us for a while now.
edit: this usually involves importing into rhino and saving out an .sat file for each layer.

[olika]

you could also take a look at the deep exploration stuff from right right hemisphere. isn`t the cheapest too, but i did see some stunning results at a clients office where they used it. in my opinion so far the cleanest compared to npower, okino, solidw etc

[raymarcher]

If I understand well you do this?
Solidworks -> STEP -> Inventor -> 3Ds Max

You can import directly with Simlab Solidworks importer for 3ds max:
http://www.simlab-soft.com/3d-plugin...SMAX-main.aspx

It is the best bang for the buck plus Simlab is very responsive in contact. Deep Exploration is King but very expensive. Rhinoceros like said is also a good choice but takes an extra 'step'.

[ior=0]

Raymarcher, you are correct that is my current pipeline. It used to be npower and may be again as they have offered a pretty good subscription deal, but the latest plugin still seems flaky and buggy. I've never heard of the simlab plugin so I will checkit out. Thanks for the tip.
Rhino looks nice and reminds me of modelling in Alias Power Animator back in the SG days - I do like splines and NURBs to model in, when will Max ever update their NURBs? Still it is more s/w real estate to purchase/update and use enough to keep in in my ever decrease brain capacity

[ior=0]

Raymarcher how does the simlab plugin bring in the SW parts? Are they brough in as a BREP, bodyobject, NURBS or polymesh? Doesn't seem to mention anything much on their website.
thks