SAT file export?

[bolldo]

Howdy...

I need to export my 3d solid as a SAT file (going into a cadcam machine). What's the best way to do this from Vectorworks 10?

Thanks

B--

[Bart Rammeloo]

Doesn't work that way. VW doesn't support SAT files. Exporting to DWG converts your organic 3Dmodel to tesselated geometry, so that's not a good solution. The only way left is IGES export.

Of course, if your model is "flat", you might as wel use DXF.

Good luck,

BaRa

[ 03-23-2004, 03:40 AM: Message edited by: BaRa ]

[bolldo]

hi bara

thanks for the info...

so do you mean i should export as IGES and then somehow convert the IGES into a SAT file? how would i make that next stage, what app could i use to do that?

(my model ain't flat!)

[Chris Dordoni]

Bolldo,

Rhino will read in IGES and save as SAT. You can download the evaluation version of Rhino at the following link:

http://download.mcneel.com/rhino/3.0/eval/default.asp

The eval version of Rhino will let you save 25 times. After that it works as a viewer only.

FormZ will also do this conversion, if you know anyone that has it.

Regards,

Chris

[tom kyler_dup1]

Bolldo, Charlene is right, VW11 has *.SAT export and it does work nice, I've exported a few parts for CNC already; however, check your CAM software, many packages will import IGES and can construct nurbs (smooth) machinable surfaces from IGES files that aren't "faceted" or made from flat triangles. I haven't had good luck with IGES export from Vectorworks though. If you can afford the upgrade to VW11, the SAT export works great and will solve a lot of headaches and time (worth the upgrade price alone). But if you're just doing a few parts, the evalation of Rhino 3D mentioned above is a great choice. File translation through multiple programs is risky in my CNC experience, but SAT has always been reliable for me.

[ 05-05-2004, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: tom kyler ]