cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Community Tip - Stay updated on what is happening on the PTC Community by subscribing to PTC Community Announcements. X

VRML parts not rendered when exported to Keyshot

xwalker
1-Newbie

VRML parts not rendered when exported to Keyshot

I've just come across an interesting issue when trying to render some models with Keyshot.

Some of the source material comes in as VRML .WML files. They are imported into Creo without any issue. I've then ensured they are scaled correctly and saved them as Creo parts.

However, when I then push my finished assembly to Keyshot, all the parts that were originally WML files are "lost", despite being converted first into Creo .PRT files.

I've checked and Keyshot doesn't natively support importing VRML files so I was hoping Creo would manage the conversion.

All other parts which might have originated from outside Creo (STEP, IGS, etc) appear and render fine when exported to Keyshot.

Any ideas?


This thread is inactive and closed by the PTC Community Management Team. If you would like to provide a reply and re-open this thread, please notify the moderator and reference the thread. You may also use "Start a topic" button to ask a new question. Please be sure to include what version of the PTC product you are using so another community member knowledgeable about your version may be able to assist.
6 REPLIES 6

I think this is because VRML imports the data as a facet and not a solid.

I did see another post a long time ago about this: Convert Facet Feature to Solid

Althought he link doesn't work now...

Complete off-the-wall guess here...   Not sure if it will work...

Could you try to Export your VRML (Faceted) Creo part as an IGS,  Then import it into a new model?

Good Luck

Bernie

Thanks for the suggestion, Bernie, but haven't had much luck.

Having added all the components individually as part of the Creo assembly, it all looks good in Creo, but I just can't get it working outside Creo.

creo-view.PNG

Once I send to Keyshot, the PCB and other VRML components are actually not in the model tree, they're just left out.

keyshot-view.PNG

To be honest, I don't know exactly what geometry to select: Wireframe edges, surfacesm solids, shells or datum curves and points... I've tried a few, but end up with a blank part.

The source software is Kicad EDA circuit design which can export as VRML or as IDFv3. I've tried the latter and get a clean PCB board, but without the silkscreen and drill holes, just the outline, so it's not that representative which is a shame.

The whole PCB EDA <=> MCAD seems a big issue (it's not just a Creo problem).

Xavier,

Not to divert the message away from your original issue, but why are you taking your assembly over to KeyShot? Does it give you something more or do you know that software better than the canned tools in Creo? Are you animating or just rendering?

Dean

Hi Dean,

Sorry, I hadn't noticed your reply.

I use Keyshot for rendering as it does make it look better than what I get out of the built-in rendering tools in Creo. I also find the user interface a lot easier to play around with. Also, new animation features are great to generate marketing material.

I'm now looking at this from a different perspective: I use Kicad as my PCB software (great, free, open source PCB design software). Originally, that was limited to using VRML models with its built-in 3D viewer. That's why I was looking at then having a 3D model export in VRML usable in Creo so I could then do the assembly of the various boards in the case (and then eventually export to Keyshot for rendering).

Now, some people have written clever scripts that allow the generation of STEP models - as long as I can have a STEP model for each component, I can then import an assembly into Creo direct. It's a much better, tidier alternative to the VRML used till now.

However, for some components, I'm having to model them myself in Creo as they're not available in the right format for my PCB design. That's no biggie, except for a particular component: resistors!

I've created a part in Creo that exports fine as a STEP model, including the colour band information. However, I'd like to automate the creation with scripting / macros so I now need to figure out if there's a way I can quickly generate a whole bunch of resistors where the model is the same, except that colour appearances change...

Hi,

STEP AP214 file contains color information. Therefore you can modify color information inside STEP file. Unfortunatelly you have to know STEP format specification.

See:

ENTITY draughting_pre_defined_colour

ENTITY colour_rgb

ENTITY fill_area_style_colour

I uploaded two identical STEP models with different colors assigned.

MH


Martin Hanák
Top Tags