When I run KiCadStepUp’s Export function to create the .step and .wrl files, my FreeCAD model is changed. Before I have a nice FreeCAD model where I can make changes and the model is changed as expected. After running Export, the model has changed (I edited to replace the typing with images) and modifications do not appear (likely due to the gray-outs).
Is this expected? Are there benefits to the new organization?
Input model structure (approx - I’m typing it):
After Export:
I’ve learned (painfully) to avoid saving the FreeCAD file after exporting.
Windoz 10, Up-to-Date
FreeCAD 0.20.1
StepUp Workbench 10.15.1
KiCAD 6.07 (not involved here). [I’ve installed 6.08 but haven’t used it yet.]
@GlennP17321, @maui is the developer of StepUp and is always great answering questions. I would give the StepUp documentation on GitHub a look (you may already have), but I did not see the answer to this right off.
StepUp creates a Compound model from the files you select to export.
The Compound model is the last item in the Tree (blue box thing).
To edit your model/etc, hide visibility of Compound and select the Padded14 (or whatever item you want to work with) and turn on it’s visibility… etc. This is less about StepUp and more about Knowing FreeCAD
When I run KiCadStepUp’s Export function to create the .step and .wrl files, my FreeCAD model is changed.
You can select the model to export, then click on kSU union button and finally export the resulting object.
This procedure would just make a unioned copy of your model before exporting it.
@GlennP17321
this behavior was related to an old need to reset placement when exporting STEP models…
I have updated the tool to avoid this issue
Please have a test with the new release
[Note: Although the AddOn manager said the was a new version of the StepUp tool, it still reports the same version and date. How do I get the new version? It doesn’t seem to be in the Master branch.]
The behavior did not change, it does not leave the FreeCAD model unchanged. Here is the layout:
Before Exporting, I can change a property (say the height of the cylinder) and it changes the model.
After Exporting, the same change does not change the model as displayed even if I ask for recomputing.
It’s true I’m a newly minted FreeCAD user. But the analogy I’d draw is if I’m in a word processor (say Word™) and I export a PDF version of my file I don’t expect the file to be changed by the export.
All this said, I have a method to satisfy my needs - just Discard the changes after the Export. So I don’t mean to raise a big fuss. And I’m very glad I don’t have to handle the creation of the .step and .wrl files (with attendant scaling) myself.
with the new approach, the model get ‘copied’ and then exported…
the original model just get hidden.
Before Exporting, I can change a property (say the height of the cylinder) and it changes the model.
After Exporting, the same change does not change the model as displayed even if I ask for recomputing.
this is because now you only have a simple copy (non parametric) of your original model;
but your original model (just hidden) can be modified as before, just re-enabling its visibility
You are, of course, absolutely correct on both points.
I made the fusion visible, the copy invisible, and then made changes that are visible.
I was also able to delete the copy with no apparent issues - but without extensive testing.
My only remaining question is: what is the utility (to me, not StepUp) of the copy?
If there isn’t any, should Export delete it when it’s no longer needed?
I assume 3D-model contributions for consideration should include the Export-generated copy in the FreeCAD file. Is that true?
Are there any newer or more official documents or discussions about 3D-model contributions beyond the March 31 post from s_light (KiCad *official* libraries - #3 by s_light)?
Thanks. I’ll try to get the models I’ve been working on submitted. They correspond to existing (model-less) footprints. Longer-term, I have about a half-dozen footprint+model combinations that might be useful.
