Trouble converting .OBJ files to .STL

[Anonymous]

Hi Autodesk community. I have to send files over to a client but they can only accept .STL format files. I tried using a program called Spin 3D to convert my files from .OBJ format. It seems that they all converted to STL but before I sent them i pulled 2 up in Maya to double check that everything was okay and it was far from. I've attached 2 screenshots of the problem. The left side is the imported OBJs and the right side is the STL files. As you can see with the STL it looks like my geometry has holes all over it now. All I did was convert with that program Spin 3D because Maya 2016 has no option to export as STL. 

If anybody could let me know what the problem is and how I can fix it I would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advanced. I modeled it in Maya by the way.

Best,

Shane

[_sebastian_f]

maya (up to 2016.5) is able to export stl files. make sure you have directConnect installed and loaded in your plugin manager. never used spin 3d but something like in your screenshot should not happen.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry I miss spoke, I'm actually using Maya 2017 and I don't see the option to download that plugin anywhere. I see some people talking about ATF replacing it or something but I checked and saw ATF was loaded in my plugins but there is still no option to export ATF_STL. I'm so lost and I just need to get these files out by tomorrow latest. Is there any specific plugins for Maya 2017 that would allow me to export in STL?

Thanks again for the quick response by the way, much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Shane

[_sebastian_f]

to be honest i´m not aware of additional plugins for stl export since it was never necessary before maya 2017. it´s correct that atf replaces directconnect but unfortunately the functionality is not there yet. 

if you have maya 2017 you most likely should have access to 2016 as well or you need to find a converter which is doing a better job. there used to be a program called netfabb, which in it´s basic version was free until autodesk bought it. maybe you find an older version somewhere. it works well and is usually used to repair meshes instead of destroying them;)