Alias surface models can be transferred to Pro/ENGINEER in either IGES, STEP or PTC Granite formats.
By using Alias, there are two types of model information that can be set to and read by Pro/ENGINEER: geometry information and topological information.
The Alias IGES file includes only the description of the geometry information. The STEP entities that Alias supports means that both the geometry information as well as the topology information can be transferred and read into Pro/ENGINEER. The geometric data describes the basic shape of the object and in both Alias and Pro/ENGINEER, geometric data is represented using NURBS.
Topological data describes how the geometric components are connected together to form a solid. The STEP file format has advantages over IGES when transferring Alias models to Pro/ENGINEER because there is more information describing the model that is being transferred.
Workflow for exporting PTC Granite files (Window only)
- Set Preferences > Construction Options
Construction Presets to Pro/ENGINEER before creating a model in Alias for Pro/ENGINEER. - Use Alias, choose File > Save As, with File Format Option set to PTC Granite, to save a model,
or
Use Alias, choose File > Export > Active As, with File Format Option set to PTC Granite, to save selected parts of the model.
- Make sure the system's units in both Pro/ENGINEER and Alias are set to millimeters as the default.
- Make sure the model part files do not have short edges (shorter than curve-fit tolerance) before importing the PTC Granite file into Pro/ENGINEER. To check, use Evaluate > Check Model
and select the option Short Edges under the Product Data Quality Recommended Checks section. - Try to remove all surface multi-knots from your Alias model before saving as a PTC Granite file. Multi-knot PTC Granite files may not be read into Pro/ENGINEER with proper trimmed edges.
- Save translation time and make the transfer to PTC Granite format faster by splitting closed surfaces, such as cylinder, torus, sphere and cone, into two or four parts before saving. The Pro/ENGINEER translator will split closed surfaces automatically but if this procedure is done before it will save time.
When exporting PTC Granite geometry from Alias to Pro/ENGINEER, you should:
To create a PTC Granite file for Pro/ENGINEER (Windows only)
- Choose Surface Edit > Stitch > Shell Stitch
to ensure you have created a closed volume before exporting it in PTC Granite format. - Choose the object to be exported so that it is the “active” object.
- Choose File > Export > Active As
. - Choose PTC Granite from the File Format pull-down menu.
- If the file is going to be read by an older version of Pro/ENGINEER, you may need to set the Granite Version of the translator to an earlier version as well. The default is Granite 6.0 (current version).
- Choose the Save icon and specify the PTC Granite file name. Alias automatically appends the .g extension to the file name. This file is now ready to be read into Pro/ENGINEER.
For more information refer to Workflow for exporting PTC Granite files (Window only).
To create an IGES format file for Pro/ENGINEER
- Pick the object to be exported so that it is the active object.
- Choose File > Export > Active As .
- Choose IGES from the File Format pull-down menu.
- Choose the Save icon and specify the IGES file name. Alias automatically appends the .igs extension to the file name.
The file is now ready to be read into Pro/ENGINEER.
To create a STEP file in Alias for Pro/ENGINEER
- Select the object to be exported so that it is the “active” object.
- Choose File > Export > Active As .
- Choose STEP from the File Format pull-down menu.
- Choose AP214 for the Application Protocol.
- The Alias model should have already been stitched into a solid shell (volume) or a shell (group of stitched surfaces that do not describe a volume).
- Choose under the Model Type either:
Manifold Shells- A collection of stitched surfaces that do not describe a volume is saved out as a G3 Manifold Shell.
or
Brep Solids-Stitched geometry that describes a closed volume is written out as a G5 Brep Solid.
- Choose the Save icon and specify the STEP file name. Alias automatically appends the .stp extension to the file name. This file is now ready to be read into Pro/ENGINEER.
To set options in Pro/ENGINEER for export and import
- In Pro/ENGINEER, select Utilities > Options.
- Add the following data to the configuration file.
IGES_OUT_ALL_SRFS_AS 128 IGES_OUT_SPL_CRVS_AS_126 YES IGES_OUT_SPL_SRFS_AS_128 YES IGES_OUT_MIL_D_28000 NO IGES_OUT_TRM_SRFS_AS_143 NO IGES_OUT_TRIM_CURVE_DEVIATION DEFAULT INTF_OUT_BLANKED_ENTITIES NO INTF3D_OUT_EXTEND_SURFACE YES INTF3D_OUT_FORCE_SURF_NORMALS YES IGES_IN_106_F2_AS_SPLINE NO IGES_IN_DWG_LINE_FONT YES IGES_IN_DWG_PNT_ENT YES IGES_IN_DWG_COLOR YES FIX_BOUNDARIES_ON_IMPORT YES
To make the import and export of IGES and STEP files easier for Alias to read.