On Mar 23, 2011, at 10:36 AM, Bart Vandewoestyne wrote: > OK. The point is that I am looking for a tool that I can use to > draw 3D geometries and export them to a file format that gmsh can > handle. For as far as I can see, gmsh prefers STEP files over > IGES... so that's why I am looking for STEP file functionality.
gmsh also supports STL and VRML as import options, which we do have exporters for. Import/Export is generally a painful process either way, especially if the geometry has to undergo a representation transformation (which in the case of stl and vrml, they do). > 1) Look for another tool. Does anybody know of another (Open > Source) tool that can export to STEP files? Preferably, I'm > looking for a tool that works on both Windows and Linux. Not really. We're the first non-OpenCascade based open source project to even provide a STEP importer that I'm aware of. STEP is a massive and expensive standard to support. > 2) Draw with BRL-CAD, convert to some other format and then > convert this format to a STEP file. What would be the preferred > file format to export to and what (Open Source) conversion tools > could I use for the final conversion to a STEP file? Unnecessary (or at least just adds more potential for error and problems) given one of the other formats would be something like STL. STL is a horrible simple format, but pretty much everyone supports it. I know it's not much consolation, but I think your best bet (amongst the open source options) is to motivate someone you know with coding skills to implement a STEP exporter for BRL-CAD. :) Cheers! Sean ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enable your software for Intel(R) Active Management Technology to meet the growing manageability and security demands of your customers. Businesses are taking advantage of Intel(R) vPro (TM) technology - will your software be a part of the solution? Download the Intel(R) Manageability Checker today! http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devmar _______________________________________________ BRL-CAD Users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/brlcad-users
