Trying 3D for the first time. Board is done. I built most of my parts. So far a vendor sent me a .stp file for his part. What do I do with it? Where does it go so it shows up on my board? Collecting other models; mostly RF parts (Mini-Circuits, etc.) Thanks for any advice.
There are some articles about 3D in the FAQ: (Start Here) Frequently Asked Questions. Read them and see if you can get started, then ask more specific questions here.
Each footprint can have 3D model(s) associated with it. You can set it in the footprint Properties. You choose the file location yourself. I recommend setting a path variable to the folder where your own 3D models are and using the path variable when adding a 3D model to a footprint. You can look into the KiCad standard library footprints and 3D models to see how they are done.
Do you do this within kicad? or in a shell that calls kicad and exports the path variable to kicad ?
Actually you can choose, but I strongly recommend defining path variables inside KiCad, Preferences -> Configure Paths.
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Add accordingly in Pcbnew | Preferences | Configure Paths | 3D Seach Paths,
then they will show up in the seach list of ‘Footprint Properties | 3D Settings | 3D Model(s)’ when you need to pick a 3d model.
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