3D viewer not rendering x3d files correctly

[anuprao]

Hi Everyone,

The following is to elaborate an issue with the 3D Viewer.

I created an X3D file using Blender with instances for the leads. Basically I am creating linked duplicate so that the file size is small.

As seen in the Titania, all looks well:

But when seen in the Kicad 3D Viewer only one pin is rendered ( Kindly ignore the darkgrey flat rectangle block under the packaging ):

Please help me find a solution. I intend to create the PLCC52 and PLCC44 socket as well as package models for my project. I intend to share the results with the community but this seems like a blocker.

Regards,
Anup

Note: The X3D file in question (as I cannot seem to upload attachments as a new user):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

[kammutierspule]

x3D file reading on KiCad is likely kept only for legacy proposes. It is not being improved since long time.
You may would like to export in VRML or create the model in other SW using STEP (and then maybe convert it to VRML if you want).
I recommend you use the latest nightly builds and you will be using the latest 3D Viewer. What KiCad version are you using?

[anuprao]

Hi kammutierspule,

I am using Kicad 4.0.6-e0-6349~53~ubuntu16.04.1.
I am using Blender since my assets workflow is based around it.

As Blender’s exporter does not seem to work, I tried using the exporter at

anpaza/kicad-libs

However, this works with fully duplicated leads and not linked leads.

Basically, the USE keyword is not used in the VRML output. This would reduce the size of the file drastically for a PLCC52 or PLCC44 package.

Ref: http://www.c3.hu/cryptogram/vrmltut/part3.html#3.13def

Regards,
Anup

[kammutierspule]

My best recommendation is that you use the latest “nightly build” version of KiCad, it really improve every aspects of 3D things.
If you really need to stay with KiCad 4.0 it will be very tricky to get the 3D right using Blender…

[cbernard]

All the 3D parsers were completely replaced in the development branch; the problem you describe probably no longer exists. Unfortunately the code change was so big that we couldn’t possibly backport to the stable release. You would have the same problems if you attempted to use VRML2 - the DEF/USE scheme was not generally implemented.

[anuprao]

Hi kammutierspule,

I moved to the nightly build. the version info says:

Version: no-vcs-found-2a301d5~58~ubuntu16.04.1, release build

In this version, the preview screen is always black when adding a 3D package to a footprint.

None of the wrl files show up in the viewer upon continuing.

Is this expected ? (Apologies, if the post sounds off topic)

Regards,
Anup

[anuprao]

Hi cbernard,

Thank you for the comment. You are right, I constructed a valid wrl file with USE and DEF but the viewer refuses to budge.
I have now moved to NIGHTLY.

Regards,
Anup

[maui]

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[kammutierspule]

@anuprao

Is this expected ?

It is not expected
Could you check what types of files are you able to read in the dropbox “All Files(.)”, what formats are listed?

[davidsrsb]

This issue perhaps?

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[anuprao]

@davidsrsb,

This is exactly the same issue I am facing.

[anuprao]

@kammutierspule

This is what I see when I look at supported file types :

[davidsrsb]

What version of KiCad, operating system etc?
Also have you got an unusual Python setup, which has been known to break KiCad