I’m wondering if there is a best practices cheat sheet for getting the different CAD formats through Datasmith and into Unreal?
I’m currently trying to get geometry from Alias into Unreal. Some of that geometry was imported client data, probably originally modeled in SolidWorks, and the remaining is Alias geometry; mostly 5-degree surfaces; nothing crazy and typically something I could get into Creo or SW for production.
The original Alias surface geometry is “stitched” and then exported along with the imported client geometry.
I most often use STEP to move data, but have found that exporting IGES preserves assigned Alias shaders (although I’m unsure how to leverage that at this point).
a) The first problem I’ve run into is that Datasmith brings in duplicates. I double-checked my original CAD file and it’s fine. And from experience I know this can happen between CAD applications as well, so no surprise. However, it would be nice to know if there are settings to correct this on translation or some tool in Unreal that allows me to automatically remove duplicates.
b) The second problem I and some co-workers are running into is that the imported geometry looks pretty good up until we attempt to play the level. At that point, the mesh goes to heck; facets everywhere. It’s possible - likely - we’re doing something wrong at this stage, so any assistance on this issue would be very much appreciated.
p.s. I’d post screens, but I’m testing with client confidential materials.
We are working on direct Alias support as we speak. So that would be the best path, when it is available in a few months. You may have found a bug with our IGES importer, you should use our secure system for submitting a bug.
Doing some testing and using Datasmith to import both STEP and IGES geometries of various surface degrees and numbers of spans. No duplication. Leaning to the possibility that for IGES, trimmed surfaces might be the culprit, as I didn’t get duplicates on the STEP export of the project geometry. Need to test this, however.