STL export V6 vs V7

[DanBayn]

We export STL files to send to our CNC verification software. In V6 this worked very well. In V7 it’s causing us a lot of grief. I have matched the settings the same between the two versions but the V7 file is about 11Mb bigger on my test case, and much lower quality. Fillets are facetted so much that the verification software is flagging it as a tool collision.

Obviously something changed between V6 and V7 in this area. Has anyone else noticed this? More importantly, is there a way to get the V6 results back in V7?

Thanks,

Dan

[pascal (Pascal Golay)]

Hi Dan - in meshing, do you use the Angle parameter in the detailed controls?

-Pascal

[DanBayn]

Hi Pascal,

I’ve been experimenting with the maximum angle settings in V7 in an attempt to get closer to V6 results, but I’ve ended up with some big file sizes, too large for the verification software. It slows it down to a point of being impractical, and still flags false tool collisions.

I wonder if anyone has figured out if there are settings in V7 that will replicate the default settings in V6. We always just used the default in V6 and it worked very well.

[pascal (Pascal Golay)]

Hi Dan - I’ll experiment - I might even have logged a bug, but it seems to me I encountered cases where using the angle setting at all in V7 sent the meshing into vast numbers. That seems not to be the case in general though, I just poked it a few times.

Maybe just send me an example file off line that I can monkey with and log a bug or possibly even figure out. But to answer your question, I do not know of any specific changes, nor how to work around what you report…

-Pascal

[DanBayn]

Hi Pascal,

I will send you a link in a minute or so.

Thanks,

Dan

[Helvetosaur]

@pascal

I might even have logged a bug, but it seems to me I encountered cases where using the angle setting at all in V7 sent the meshing into vast numbers.

I was one of the people that reported this - even for display meshes. Seems to be a combination of angle and aspect ratio settings that causes this - the huge file sizes in any case.

[pascal (Pascal Golay)]

Hi Mitch - fwiw, I was not able, so far, to repeat what Dan is reporting, with his file, at the settings he posted above - the V6 and V7 meshes are the same. There are multiple parts however and I’ve only tested what looked to me like the most complex one.

-Pascal

[Helvetosaur]

FYI, this was the topic I posted -

Odd render meshing with some extrusions and certain settings

Got a file from a client who was bewildered by the fact that his file size was huge and he didn’t understand why. I isolated a few of the elements that were causing this and they are in the file below, saved small (no meshes) - only 2.2 Mb for three extrusions. If I use Open to open the file, the render meshes will be regenerated, if you then save it back, you will see that the file size goes up to… 450Mb!! If you check out the render meshes, they are somewhere between 2 and 4 million polys …

[pascal (Pascal Golay)]

Ah yes, thanks … I will test. Not sure if Andy got to it or not.

Mitch, this one is indeed weird - it is at a jump in aspect ratio from 5.3 to 5.4 where it kicks in from what I can see. But just on these objects. I’ll just make a bug for this one…

@DanBayn you might try the aspect ratio setting, just to see, but, it did look ok here in V7 at your settings.

-Pascal

[DanBayn]

Hi Pascal,

I’ve had some good results by turning off the aspect ratio. I think you sent me down the right track, once again.

Thanks,

Dan