3-D Interfaces

To save drawing files in the file formats listed below, click the ISD Button and select Save as... > 3-D formats (Step...) . Some other options are available via > Save as... > Further ....

For each of these formats you can specify, via the Parts to be exported field on the top right of the export dialogue window, whether you want to save the complete drawing (All), or only selected parts (Selection list).

To load the file formats, select > Open > Step, Iges ... > Open > Step, Iges ... ., then select the required file format.

3-D
Interface	Read	Write	File format
IGES			IGS, IGES
CATIA V4			MDL, MODEL, EXP, ISO, DLV3
CATIA V5			CATPART, CATMODEL
ACIS			SAT
PRO/Engineer			G, ASM, PRT
Parasolid			X_T, XMT_TXT, X_B
STEP			STP, STEP
FEM			PTK, MAK
VRML			WRL
DXF/DWG			DXF, DWG
HiCAD Reality Studio			TGF
MTA			MTA
Inventor			IPT
SolidWorks			SLDASM, SLDPRT
Unigraphics			PRT
JT			JT
3DPDF and Universal 3D			PDF, U3D

Please remember the following for 3-D interfaces:

Parts in 3-D CAD formats (Step, Iges, ...) to be inserted in HiCAD will be opened in a new drawing that will be automatically created especially for this purpose.
Only 3-D elements will be read, i.e. no feature, no product data and no 2-D data.
The following conditions need to be fulfilled, as HiCAD has high accuracy standards:

All parts should have the same tolerance. Field tolerances will not be supported.
The 3-D models you want to import should have a tolerance of 1/1000. Deviations by factor 10 can be tolerated if the test (see below) has been successful.
Part names should have a maximum length of 32 characters.
Freeform surfaces must not include self-intersections within the surface.

If there are problems after reading the file, we recommend to perform a data structure check.

The most important data structure tests will then be executed automatically by HiCAD. If these tests are not successful, or if possible errors cannot be corrected automatically by HiCAD, please call the hotline.

You can accelerate data conversion by using appropriate Macros. For this you will need the Design Automation module.
Use InterfaceLists to convert a number of files.

When writing CATIA V5 files, a file with the extension CAT.PRODUCT will be created for the drawing and a file with the extension CAT.PARTwill be created for each part of the drawing. If you want to transfer the export file, you need to make sure that you actually transfer all relevant files. It is therefore recommended to create a separate folder for the export.
When writing PRO/E files, files with the extension.g will be created for the drawing as well as for the individual parts of the drawing. If you want to transfer the export file, you need to make sure that you actually transfer all relevant .g files. It is therefore recommended to create a special folder for the export.