Updated 03/10/07
Fixed the scripts to work with Lightwave v9.x
Updated 03/15/2006
Either there was a long-standing bug, or some CAD software is using a different coordinate space that was causing objects to come in strangely flipped. There is now a "Fix Inverted" checkbox that should remedy the situation. Also included is a coordinate-space test object, so you can make sure it is correctly rendering in your CAD/CAM software.
Also cleaned up the code to revert changes made to the object for export.
Now supported on Mac!. Thanks to Colin Partridge for Mac testing.
SHM STL Tools imports and exports objects in the STL format for 3D Stereo Lithography (3D Printing).
The Exporter cleans up the object and exports either ASCII or Binary STLs. The Importer reads both ASCII and Binary STLs.
This exporter directly translates your object into the STL file format. It merges all points, triples all n-gons, and moves the object so that it fits in +X/+Y/+Z.
It does not diagnose or fix all mesh problems, you must make seamless "watertight" meshes. For more information on modeling for 3D printing, read this.
Download
3D Printing Resources on the Web
STL Files on the Web
STL Tools FAQ
Q. The Importer doesn’t work on a Mac with my version (2.6.1) of LScript. What’s the deal?
A. Sorry about that. There’s a bug in that version of LScript on the Mac that I have no work-around for. If you really need the Import function, I suggest upgrading to the most recent version of LScript.
Mac problems are tricky, as I have no Mac with which to test the scripts.
Q. What are STL files, and why do I need them?
A. If you don’t know what STL files are, odds are you don’t need them. They are the de-facto standard file format for 3D stereo Lithography, also know as 3D printing.
Q. What is the Byte Order selector for on the file requestor?
A. If you use Lightwave on a PC, odds are you will never have to switch it off the Intel setting. Mac users may have to play with byte-order to read some STL file. In short, mac and Intel machines store binary numbers differently, which can cause trouble.
When exporting, you should set it to Intel. If your printer can’t read the file, then try Mac.
If you can’t read a file on the mac, try setting it to Mac byte order. It all depends what program wrote the file.
These settings only apply when loading and saving binary files.
Q. I’m trying to read an ASCII file on the Mac, and it doesn’t work. What’s up?
A. That’s because the Mac thinks different about how to store ASCII files. If you want to use ASCII import on the Mac, the file must be saved with Line Feed (LF) only. If it is saved with Carriage Return / Line Feed (CR/LF) it will fail.
Q. What is a Carriage, and why would one Return it?
A. Back in the ancient days, people accessed computers on terminals that were essentially glorified electric typewriters. Typewriters were mechanical systems for putting words to paper. In this quaint system, there were tiny "hammers" with letters on them, that would strike a cloth ribbon soaked in pigs blood (or sometimes ink). This impact would imprint the letter on the page.
But there had to be hammers for every letter and number, all punctuation. A lot of hammers! So, the hammers couldn’t really move around. The solution was was to wrap the paper around a cylinder, attached to a mobile platform, or carriage. This carriage would move right-to-left each time a hammer finished typing a letter, to make space for the next letter. Once it reached the edge of the page, the user would have to trigger a mechanical release to return the carriage to the other edge of the page.
Thus, carriage return! And then, as a tribute to their pagan gods, the designers of Windows decided to somehow graft this ancient ritual to the writing of ones and zeros to digital media.
Q. Do people really ask these questions, or do you just make them?
A. That’s an excellent and insightful question. Most of them are in response to feedback from users, but I kind of recompose them on the fly, so I guess you could say that I make them up. Thank you for asking!
July 28th, 2006 at 7:13 am |
Actually, that problem happens because the coordinate system changes handedness. LW’s set up so that Y is vertical and Z is depth, but in STL files the opposite is true. So when I load my model into VisCAM View to check for watertightness, it’s nose is pointing heavenward and the left & right details are on the wrong sides.
Love these plugins, by the way. They’ve opened up a whole new client base for me!
June 27th, 2006 at 8:01 pm |
Thanks for this pluggin it seem great. will you be working on this pluggin still. its a great plugging to export from Cad and bring them in to lightwave. now i just need a point ploy redution tool woth it.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:00 pm |
Thanks Gerry.
Not sure if it was a bug, or if there is some CAD/CAM software that’s using a different coordinate space. I know there are lots of people using the script, so it’s odd it’s taken this long to surface. Maybe the behavior is different on the Mac.
Anyway, download the new script, and keep the “Fix Inverted” checkbox checked, and everything should work.
I tested it in a couple of viewers, including MeshCAM, so you should be good to go.
March 15th, 2006 at 8:11 pm |
Here’s a screenshot showing what I’m talking about. Changing the view didn’t have any effect.
http://home.comcast.net/~cncwoodworker/LW-MeshCAM.jpg
It’s a homebuilt router that I haven’t had time to finish up. You might want to check out cnczone.com for a lot of cool inexpensive, homebuilt cnc routers.
March 14th, 2006 at 9:16 pm |
Hi Gerry.
I think the problem lies in the standard layout for LW. Try this: change the standard X/Y view in Modeler from “back” to “front”, you should now get the same results in Modeler that you do in MeshCAM.
Let me know if this solves your problem.
What kind of router are you using?
March 14th, 2006 at 9:03 pm |
I tried your .stl exporter, and found that it seems to be mirroring the object. For instance, beveled text ends up with the bevel on the back side of the text. Stretch one side of an object, and the .stl is stretched on the other side. I’m importing the .stl’s into MeshCAM to create g-code for a CNC router. www.meshcam.com
Cool tool if you could sort this out. Thanks.
Gerry