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MohanMB1-Visitor
1-Visitor
April 17, 2012
Question

solidworks interface for Creo/Proe wildfire 5.0

  • April 17, 2012
  • 3 replies
  • 14732 views

Hi,

I have been using Wildfire 5.0 and recently wanted to explore Creo/elements Pro5 just for the reason that i was confronted with some solidworks models which needed to be opened and edited in proe. I have Creo elements pro 5 and solidworks 2011 explorer and solidworks 2011 software all installed in the same computer. I also added the license option in config.pro for having this functionality. I found these solutions in PTC knowledge base no CS17730.

But now when i open the solidworks file in Creo it again opens like a dumb block. I want the features to be edited as well. How to do this?

Best regards,

Mohan


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3 replies

B
BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
April 17, 2012

Hi Mohan...

You opened a SolidWorks native file directly in Creo Elements Pro/5. That's basically all it was supposed to do. You won't be able to edit those features as you would in SolidWorks.

HOWEVER, if you Creo 1.0 with the FMX (Flexible Modeling Extension), you CAN edit and modify the Solidworks model. Also, if you use Creo Direct Modeling you'll be able to make changes (very similar functions to the FMX).

Most of the time when Pro/E or Creo reads in files from another native CAD system, you get a dumb block... or an assembly of smaller dumb blocks. FMX and Creo Direct Modeling finally give designers the ability to edit non-Creo models and make changes to imported geometry while building upon them with the tools from Creo.

It sounds like you're on Creo Elements Pro/5 though... so I don't believe you have any other options available right now. Maybe someone else can jump in and correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Thanks!

-Brian

    J
    JoshH1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    April 17, 2012

    Hi guys,

    I can add that there is a possibility of using the Flex move functionality in Creo Elements Pro 5.0. It is unsupported (possibly buggy), so don't say I didn't warn anybody

    The hidden config for this functionality is enable_flexmove_tool yes.

    I've tested it out and it does work. The biggest problem with the Flex Move functionality is that you can push and pull surfaces, but you don't have access to the sketch that initiated the feature. This is problematic when you want to change more advanced features like sweeps or blends.

    Another challenge is the drawing of the model that you've imported. You will still have to import the drawing in a neutral format which has no links to the 3D model. You can use the LMX (Legacy Migration Extension) to hook the two back up. I'm just scratching the surface with this tool so far, so you will stump me quickly if you want to know much more about it.

    Have fun!

    Josh

      B
      BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
      13-Aquamarine
      April 17, 2012

      Cool! Thanks for this... I didn't know we could turn this option on in WF5.

      This is similar to the allow_all_rounds feature that gave us a preview of convex/concave rounding capability back at WF2.

      J
      James621-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      April 17, 2012

      hi Mohan,

      The above said is definetely true.

      You always get dead geometry (impoted data feature) when you import model from other CAD system or when the import comes from universal CAD format data (like STEP, IGES, etc.).

      With your version of Pro/E you can use IDD (import data doctor) to convert particular faces that are almost planar to planar faces, surfaces that are almost cylindrical to cylindrical and such simple things like these.

      You can also use feature recognition tool which only works for simple pieces of geometry like extrudes, cuts, revolves and other simple pick and place type features like rounds and chamfers. You can also recognize holes which openings arent going through a two sided surface edge.

      Another good feature for editing imported data is the Remove feature, you can remove rounds with those then do some solid type offsets using the regular Offset feature and then recreate the rounds again.

      At the worst case scenario when the rounds cant be removed with Remove feature you can remove them using IDD with what i call "trim&extend method". Actually you can do like any type of edit to imrpoted models that way but it's kinda time consuming that takes some modeling experience since IDD has very limited set of modeling tools.

      As Brian has mentioned, if you had Creo Parametric 1.0 or 2.0 with Flexible Modeling Extension you could do much more with your imported data. FMX is like some sort of extension to what I described above. You still get to edit the dead import data feature. You don't really any of your features recognized once you load your SolidWorks model into Creo Parametric with FMX. It is not possible to edit advanced features like Sweeps and Blends with FMX so the only option there as far as I know is in IDD.

      I don't have much experience with Creo Direct, I think that one is similar to FMX in Creo Parametric but it's more oriented to do simple task as it gives you less options to pick particular type of references while creating features.

      If you do know SolidWorks then I highly reccomend you to edit your model in there and be happy if the model imports to Creo Elements Pro as a solid in first go.

      Creo or at least Creo Parametric is able to handle any data as people from PTC used to say but it only works to some extent and it's actually not worth the time if you have a parametric model even in other CAD that you can use.

      The rule saying that it's not worth to export parametric data into dead geometry still applies. There sure are types of imported models that can be fully parametrized in Creo but that's for too long talk.

      Good luck.

      B
      BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
      13-Aquamarine
      April 17, 2012

      Nice response Jakub...

      I would only add that most people don't want to mess with the IDD unless they have some time on their hands. Back in the old days performing surgery on imported parts so they could be solidified was referred to as a "dark art". It took special skills, experience, and patience to fiddle with imported models.

      Over the years, PTC gave us the IDD in an attempt to make the process easier. While the tools are much better, it's still a bit of a pain in the neck. Luckily, most parts just solidify the first time without any surgery. For those that do need tweaking, you can often get by with some of the basic features of IDD. If you have to start editing using surfaces, trims, extends, and replacement surfaces... you're probably in too deep.

      You could spend your time becoming a master at it... but it would be like becoming a MASTER at producing buggy whips. Only a very select few people needs a buggy whip anymore... so producing them has become a bit of a lost art.

      So... the IDD has gone from a dark art to a lost art. Either way... if you can stay away from it either by working directly in your native CAD or by using some of the flexible or direct modeling features in Creo, you'll be better off!

      Take care...

      -Brian

      J
      JoshH1-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      April 17, 2012

      Thanks Brian,

      your response about IDD makes me feel better

      I've sat in all the presentations I could for the tool and even practiced it on more than one occassion, but it has always been a dark art to me! We get some pretty funky camera designs in STEP or IGES format that just do not want to solidfy. IDD may have helped 1 out of 10 times, but it's always a challenge.

      Josh

      J
      Jacek_Mydlikows1-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      July 12, 2013

      first time I see IDD topic was discussed in such details. Usually this an issue no one wants to deal with

      I "played" with IDD from time to time, starting from "What a crap" statement, finally appreciating the value it has.

      Anyway, at the end, all my issues(models) was solved with the mix of IDD, Flex tools, and boundary blends.

      To me basic surfacing experience is a must, especially regarding the rounds and related to them topics of 3 and 5 sided surfaces.

      I created couple of tutorials some time back then, you can check and take advanteage of them

      http://proe-warsztat.pl/en/tuts/tuts.php

      J
      James621-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      July 12, 2013

      hi Jacek,

      Indeed. When I read my own posts in this thread I am like "What's he sayin?", and this is just one year back. Also Brian's posts here are kinda amusing. He was just soo brave back then.

      Nice tutorials there on your site, Jacek. Too bad the input surfaces that I have to deal with, are not always this smooth. I guess I only remember the really really bad models, because the clean ones are too easy to tackle with FMX.

      Over the year I've figured out how to tackle lots of different problems related to bad models using FMX, IDD, and Style. How to modify or defeature them, and most importantly how to deal with bad accuracy models. These days this kind of work isn't that time consuming anymore.

      So far I've never had to recreate any imported model. I still use Rhino, but just to deal with complex curves and contours.

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