Solidworks Models Imported Into 3ds

[stusic]

I'm about to start a project where the model will be done in SolidWorks and then exported for me to animate in 3ds. What is the best procedure for importing Solidworks models into max?

Thanks All,

[alexander.knabe.ext]

yeah, after a lot of searching i found this thread, but...

what the...

this question brings my problem to the point but now answer till now? hey, its nearly a year ago. or is there no easy way of answering?

my task is to get solidwork *stp-files in 3dsmax to animate and/ or render it in a photorealistic way... my knowledge about 3dsmax is a study in gamedesign and animation, but hardly 6 years ago... but i´m willing to get back my skills.

I use 3dsmax 9, inventor 2009, solidworks 2008...

after converting the *stp-file to a *iam-file in inventor i can import (sometimes... some files will not load, no matter how long i wait) them in 3dsmax. but there it is impossible for me to safe the scene in *max-file.

i guess there are some important things missing... but cant figure out what it is?

its badly frustrating when you cant do your job right.

thx for your help in any way!

[stusic]

Yeah, it has been a while...

I ended up exporting .stl files of each individual component from Solidworks into Max. It was a big PITA (there was over 500 parts), but it got the job done with no loss of geometry and no missing parts. The problem I had, and could not overcome, was that the constraints that were created in SW didn't transfer over to max, so I had to rework all of them. If your model is not constrained in solidworks, than this shouldn't be a problem for you.

I hope this helps.