Import secondary file formats

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Import secondary file formats.

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After completing this video, you'll be able to identify imported geometry that needs repair and describe the use case for 2D DXF import.

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To get started, in Inventor, we want to import the file Import.STP.

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We're going to select Open.

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We're going to change our file types and look for the step file type,

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and we're going to navigate to the top level of our project.

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We want to use Import.STP

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and notice what when we're importing an intermediate CAD format, something like an IGES, a step or parasolid file,

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we'll have a handful of options.

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First, we have a reference model option.

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The reference model option will allow us to maintain a link between these intermediate CAD formats,

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and any changes made to those files will be updated in our Inventor assembly.

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In this case, we want to look at converting the model.

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We can also toggle which objects we want to import.

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In some cases, you might have files with meshes or graphic bodies.

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In this case, we're going to import points, wires, surfaces, and solids.

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The length units can come from the source, or we can pick a specific unit and we can decide what to do with surfaces.

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We can either leave them as composites, stitch them together, or leave individual.

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We can add a prefix or a suffix for our file name, and we can also change the source path.

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There is also a select option which allows us to load the model and see what information we're bringing in.

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We can see here that it's showing both as surface bodies based on the icon,

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and we can determine whether or not we want to import all of them.

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We also have a property mapping option if we want to map or fill in any specific information that's required,

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things like last saved by comments or keywords.

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In this case, let's go ahead and say OK and see what we get for our model.

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Note that in our browser this is listed as a composite and it has a green check mark.

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The green check mark tells us that it found no errors with this design.

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However, we were expecting a solid body to be imported.

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If we take a look at our folder, it shows us that we have a single surface body as a composite.

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This tells me that there is a potential problem that we need to address,

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but because there were no problems found with the file, we would need to investigate this manually.

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In some cases, if there are errors,

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you can take a look at the import.HTM file and that'll give you some more information about that import process.

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But for us, since we have a good clean file that just needs a little bit more work,

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we're going to go through the process of taking a look at Repair Bodies.

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When we select the body and use repair bodies, we say OK, it moves us into a different set of tools and here we can find errors.

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We'll select the body and select OK, and it's going to look for errors.

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In this case, again, there are no errors found.

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Next, what we would want to do is potentially try to stitch the body.

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Because we know we saw on the import dialog that it was listed as two surfaces.

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What we have here is a composite that's put together.

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However, there must be a gap somewhere.

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What we can do is we can select the body option, select the entire body and we can find remaining gaps and free edges.

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When we do this, we can see that there are some edges highlighted in red.

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This is telling us that there is a small gap and it does not fit within the tolerance.

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What we can do here is we can change the tolerance value to match the max gap size.

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In this case that's going to be a value of .001.

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Once we get to that max gap size, we select OK, it'll stitch the rest of those surfaces together, filling in that gap,

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and now we have a solid body.

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We can finish the repair and now we have an intermediate CAD format imported as an.IPT or an Inventor part file

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that is now ready for additional modifications.

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Any changes to the model at this point will likely come from direct modeling tools

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or the addition of new features using traditional sketch and feature based modeling.

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It's also important to note that not all intermediate CAD formats or formats that we may import into Inventor

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are going to be step files, IGES files, or parasolids.

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There are many cases where we may be bringing in a 2D DXF file either into a detailed drawing

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or potentially to use as the basis for a sketch for a new design.

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Often times we'll find DXF files or 2D drawing files as references for things like bolt patterns or mounting for specific equipment.

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Importing all different types of files into Inventor can be an easy process as long as you understand the tools available.