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Selective coloring of .step file imports


CADulator

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I have version 8.0.2, so a little out of date.

 

I use formZ primarily for creating 3D models of electronic components.  Then I link them to my electronic CAD to produce 3D models of complete circuit boards.

 

I often get .step files from vendors for their parts, and when I import them to formZ they are a single monochrome object.  I would like to change the color of some portions of the model for a little more realism, but the only way I've found to do this is by Boolean splitting the object into separate parts and assigning different colored materials to each part.  Sometimes that isn't bad, but in general that's really difficult and time-consuming.

 

I would love to assign colors to faces of the model.  This would be much faster.  When I select Faces as the pick topological level, though, the imported model faces don't highlight and can't be picked.

 

I do Object Doctor to clean up the imported .step, and that doesn't help.

 

Is there another way to do this in 8.0.2, or has it been added in a later version?

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the reply @snow.  Some .step files import as multiple objects with different colors, but most do not.  So I know .step is capable of multiple colors.

 

But that's not the question.  I'm asking how to apply different colors (materials) only to certain faces of the model.  This is possible with native formZ models and others but not with most .steps I import.  For some reason formZ doesn't recognize faces on these imported .steps, only the entire 3D model.

 

So I'm looking for a workaround or trick to make formZ recognize faces in the models I import.  Any ideas?

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@setz -- Sometimes it does for me, but often it doesn't.  I'm attaching a model provided by a potentiometer manufacturer which is typical of the "monolithic" ones I get.  Object Doctor finds four zero-length segments, but after fixing I still can't pick faces.  Doing Boolean Splits on this thing to isolate portions of it for coloring would be excruciating...

TC-33X-2.zip

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When I import this file I can color individual faces.  I did nothing to the object after opening it.  I was able to color individual faces both by pre-selecting a face and then using the paint tool and also by selecting the paint tool and then CMD clicking individual faces.  Perhaps try renaming your ADS Prefs folder to get FZ to recreate it's prefs and try again?

 

Or you can try importing it and then saving as FZ and then re-opening it or starting with a new document and re-open it using the "add to project" option.

 

Also attached is the imported file saved as FZ to see if you can color it's faces as a test as well.

 

Another option would be to select all faces (in Wireframe view) and then use the Derive Faces tool which will separate the object into many different objects (1 face each object) an then re-stitch together all those face objects using the Stitch Tool recreating the solid object.  Sometimes this fixes weirdness not solved by the object doctor.

 

Cheers, good luck!

post-176-0-20096900-1513400694_thumb.png

Untitled.fmz.zip

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