Some time ago, FSM told us about rapid prototyping- 3D printing. Neat stuff, but jeepers, how to create the required stl file? Every prototyping service I look at nonchalantly says that most all CAD programs can output stl files… WRONG. Seems like you need to have a high end CAD seat to get this capability… and most of us (outside of work) don’t have access to CATIA, I-DEAS, ProE, etc. I use a cheap home software, TurboCAD… Even though it can create full 3D solid models, it won’t output stl. I’d have to plunk down $700 for their “pro” version and get a full suite of CAD/CAM utilities just to create a stinkin’ stl file.
There must be another way… anyone know of any inexpensive utilities/translators etc that will let me create an stl???
have you tried a search online? i have autocad and use a variety of different 3d cad systems at work and i know what your saying. alot of the systems use it. that aside alot of the older systems dont and many companies complain about this. so i have to almost guess there is someone out there via the internet that offers this as a translatable/downloadable file.
Thanks and yes I searched high & low… but got the answer today on a CAD forum. I’m running an old (cheap) version of TurboCad, and I can output a wrl file from that. Then a neat utility called MeshLab will convert the wrl to stl, it’s easy and slick.