Newbie, STEP files import to 2D Drawing

[snederg]

Hi,

I have worked a bit with FreeCAD so understand the basics - and boy a lot has happened during the last 20 years. I am not a CAD pro and my last exposure to CAD was 20 years ago with Autocad. But this really caught me - im having fun.

Now im struggling with a particular issue, which i cannot figure out how to approach. I have received a large STEP file with 50-80 parts, which all loads fine to illustrate the 3D construction. I would like to understand the various options i have to project this into a TechDraw or a Drawing to - create some 2D illustrations with measurements. I tried with TechDraw and had succes with one body element in a part. Adding multiple parts I either just get a label saying Multiview or i get an error for the view saying "Links go out of the allowed scope *but must be executed"

I tried to combine body features with the compund options, but i only to get the "links go out of...." error. My end goal is to add a few more parts to the 3D model and produce PDF assembly instructions.

My question: What would normally be the best option to approach this task ?

Sorry if this questions has already been asked, but i searched the forum and tried to read the manual, and spend quite a lot of hours to resolve this issue.

I'm on windows and the latest 0.17 build.

brg

Soeren

[easyw-fc]

...
Now im struggling with a particular issue, which i cannot figure out how to approach. I have received a large STEP file with 50-80 parts, which all loads fine to illustrate the 3D construction. I would like to understand the various options i have to project this into a TechDraw or a Drawing to - create some 2D illustrations with measurements. I tried with TechDraw and had succes with one body element in a part. Adding multiple parts I either just get a label saying Multiview or i get an error for the view saying "Links go out of the allowed scope *but must be executed"

I tried to combine body features with the compound options, but i only to get the "links go out of...." error. My end goal is to add a few more parts to the 3D model and produce PDF assembly instructions.

Hi,
unfortunately atm the new Part of PDN and Body don't have an option to obtain a single copy of your STEP objects which I imagine are in a hierarchical structure.
https://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/view.php?id=2905
An option is to install my StepUp WB and use the make Compound button...
that will create a single copy of the Top level multi-object you have selected. From there you can create a TechDraw design and add quotes or whatever you need.
If you change something in your STEP hierarchical model you will need to recreate the compound.

Maurice

[snederg]

Hi Maurice,

Im not shure i fully understand your answer. What is the root cause of the problem ?

I investigated the StepUp WB addon, but did not find it in the add-on installation. What would i benefit from in the StepUP WB tool, another STEP in
import or cleanup or ?

I tried with another STEP file i have, and it is the same problem. I have shared my import here (attachment does not allow 1.6MB), so if anybody would be able to load my file, and recommend in which direction i could go to solve the task, it is highly appreciated. https://www.dropbox.com/s/hnqyqc025gsql ... FCStd?dl=0

TIA
Soeren

[easyw-fc]

I investigated the StepUp WB addon, but did not find it in the add-on installation.

the WB is in the addon installer

What would i benefit from in the StepUP WB tool, another STEP in
import or cleanup or ?

you can make a compound of an App::Part object, recursively following its children
Then from that compound you can get all the views you need

ACU-Shell-compound.png (228.53 KiB) Viewed 2753 times

[snederg]

thankS!

I'm quite shure the KiCad plugin was not listed when i checked sunday. But now i see it and will try to install it. Looking forward to see how it work then. Thanks again

Brg

Soeren

[snederg]

Perfect, now it works.

The error is it due to the treestructior where the components links together, and this structure is not valid ? I'm trying to learn here. I'll try to search and understand what it means with out of scope.

Brg

[easyw-fc]

Perfect, now it works.

Good Oh!

The error is it due to the treestructior where the components links together, and this structure is not valid ? I'm trying to learn here. I'll try to search and understand what it means with out of scope.

Brg

this is due in part of a recent PR which introduced new features, but made some noise
The PR is adding new useful features, but it has to be tuned a bit again...
some tips here
https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 60#p192241

But in general the problem with STEP hierarchical files is that at least a single copy, like the one in Part Design WB, would be very useful to be added to FC commands.
Here again the bug report
https://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/view.php?id=2905