DWG to U3D

[bamaisgreat]

I am trying to find away to convert my inventor files to .u3d format. Acrobat 3d requires models to be in this format. Thanks

[mcgyvr]

I ran into this a while ago.. it was something like..

The "proper" version of the 3d pdf adobe software can open native Inventor files of the "proper" version.. (like Adobe 2013 can open Inventor 2012 native files and back).. The biggest problem I had is that if you have Inventor 2013 and Adobe 3d from that same year there is no plugin/addin yet in Adobe to open those native files and I had to save inventor files to step and use the step file to create the 3d pdf..

Adobe 3d pdf used to be able to do an opengl screen capture that worked well too but as Inventor is not opengl anymore I doubt that works either anymore..

We just ended up forgetting we even saw 3d pdfs.. It was far more work that it should be.. Its a piece of cake in solidworks though as adobe will quickly get an update out to open the latest solidworks files but does not do the same for inventor.. For some reason Inventor/Autodesk are still trying to hide from 3d pdfs in favor of their own virtually useless dwf format. 

We have been asking for the ability to create 3d pdfs directly from Inventor for years.. Its never been done but for some reason you can create them with Inventor publisher..but not Inventor. 

The ability to generate a 3d pdf (including PMI information) is the wave of the future.. Everyone has a pdf reader program.. Very few if any want to use dwf's.. 

[karthur1]

For what its worth, there is a entry on the IdeaStation for 3D PDF's.  Its status is "accecpted"(whatever that means).

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Inventor-IdeaStation/3D-PDF/idi-p/3738852

I dont think its in the 2015 release..... but, hopefully it will be in 3 or 2 years. lol

[mcgyvr]

---

@karthur1 wrote:

For what its worth, there is a entry on the IdeaStation for 3D PDF's.  Its status is "accecpted"(whatever that means).

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Inventor-IdeaStation/3D-PDF/idi-p/3738852

I dont think its in the 2015 release..... but, hopefully it will be in 3 or 2 years. lol

---

Its already 2 to 3 years late now.. 

[dgorsman]

If you have a few hundred dollars to throw away, the 3D PDF standard is available from ISO.  Shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks to create an exporter.  Right? 

[bamaisgreat]

Someone just sent me this. Im going to give it a try.




FREE 3D PDF from Inventor STL using U3D-2-PDF



The two step process is:

1. Export STL file from Inventor

2. Use U3D-2-PDF to turn the STL into a 3D PDF (a one click process).


You will need to setup your environment first. Here is what you need:



Get U3D-2-PDF at:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/u3d2pdf/?source=recommended

It requires MeshLab and MiKTeX (see
here).

You can get them from:

3) Meshlab software:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/meshlab/?source=recommended
and
4) MiKTeX download at:
http://miktex.org/download

(yes to automatic package installs)

Once you have installed all items, then:
Extract and Run U3D-2-PDF.exe. You will need to specify some paths like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\pdflatex.exe"
"C:\Program Files\VCG\MeshLab\meshlabserver.exe"


1600/u3dtopdf.png>
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vUKdkr8fDJ0/UM6b4cocY1I/AAAAAAAAB4A/M72hoW_Rj-g/s3
20/u3dtopdf.png



Select the STL file, then an output PDF filename and click Start. Once
finished, click Open PDF.

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[vandargo]

I just spent a couple days investigating how to get this into a one-click process (by developing an Add-in).   Essentially, the u3d-2-pdf program you have is doing the same thing, but I wanted to get it down to one button press from Inventor.  My solution algorithm looked something like this, and seems to be working well;

1. Generate the .stl file from Inventor

2. Use Meshlabserver to generate a .u3d file from the command prompt.  Without using the filter switch, you will end up with a very triangulated final pdf, so it is helpful to create a filter script to apply when generating the .u3d.  It will still be a triangulated mesh in wireframe mode, but in illustration mode, it looks great.  I can provide more detail on that if you like.

3. Once the .u3d file (and corresponding .tex file) are generated, I rewrite the .tex file to the parameters I want for my 3d pdf ouput (page size, orientation, view area for the 3d stuff, lighting, render mode etc).

4. Use pdflatex.exe (from MikTeX) to generate the 3d pdf, again essentially running from the command prompt with the proper switches.

All of the command prompt stuff I am running from the add-in in hidden console windows.

What I end up with is a 3d pdf in a specific folder from my active Inventor model.  For nice, I open up the pdf for viewing after it has been generated.  For my purposes, I have everything predifined, but you can add as many options as you want I suppose.  Takes just a few seconds from button click to 3d pdf.

Now... the pdf looks great, but what would really make them useful is if they could be used by our technical illustrators to generate parts manuals. I haven't looked too deeply into this yet.

I've looked at trial versions of the Tetra 4d stuff,and others, and they are impressive, definitely more capability then what this little process provides.  For instance, it handles assemblies way better (you can turn on and off the visibility of components, or use different render styles for different components).  The above process will treat the assembly like one solid part essentially. (I haven't found a way around this yet, anyway).

But they can be cost-inhibitive.

Having said all that, I don't see why Autodesk can't come up with something built in, that does the same thing.  At the very least, a .u3d export option.

Take care,

-vandargo