Question about three dim models

[feinddj]

I have a client who wants me to cut, well, the space shuttle. Will be foam and I will slice the model to stack it. The question is what format should the model be in so that Aspire can read it? The model is in Sketch Up at the moment.

David

[myxpykalix]

Not sure about aspire but like with artcam you need it in a stl. I don't know if it takes sketchup but i believe you need a true 3d format for these programs and i don't think sketchup is a true 3d solid modeler.

[steve_g]

SketchUp can export as an STL… if you have the free version, you have to install a plugin, which plugin is determined by which version you’re using…
Here’s one source:

http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/convert-sketchup-skp-files-dxf-or-stl

One problem with this and other exporters, the “.STL” extension isn’t added to the file name you create and it isn’t recognized by your software until you manually do it…
SG

[adrianm]

The recent versions of Aspire can load a Sketchup model directly as an SKP file. If you import it using the 2D import menu items/icon on the drawing tab then you get the 2D vectors but if you import it using the 3D import menu items/icon on the modelling tab then you get the full 3D model.