Model scale export issues

[Redwizard000]

Hello,

I am new to 3D printing and I need a little help with the software.

I modeled an object in Lightwave3D 11.5 to a specific scale. It is about 111mm X 60mm. In Lightwave it is correct and it looks fine. I exported to .obj and imported it into Simplify3D and it is very very very tiny. You can't even see the model on the S3D grid unless you zoom in all the way. If I scale the model up in S3D I can make it bigger but I need the scale to be exactly the same when it is printed as it was when it was modeled. One reason being that there are holes in the model that need to be an exact size because other hardware is going into them.

I have also tried exporting\importing .stl with the exact same results.

I have seen other people print Lightwave models...

does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

-RW

[jimc]

sounds like it needs to be scaled exactly 25.4% simplify is probably set as mm for default and you modeled in inches. you can change that in preferences.

[Redwizard000]

I had to scale it by 1000x to get the XYZ dimensions of the model correct. Seems kind of inefficient. The model was scaled by mm when it was created. Isn't there a way to export the model so that the scale comes in exactly as it was modeled?

[jimc]

S3d doesnt rescale anything on its own except if it detects it was modeled in inches. Then it will scale up by 25.4, otherwise the model is brought in just as its modeled. Perhaps there is something going on in lightwave during the export process. Did you try exporting as an stl?

[billyd]

This seems like a good place to mention this bug:

If you scale up a model, say for example to 2x. When you save the factory file, it will saved the scaled up stl correctly. However when you reload the factory file, the model will be scaled up correctly, BUT if you double click the model, it will show the scale as 1x instead of 2x. So this is very confusing and should be corrected.

[JoeJ]

@billyd - that's a completely separate topic entirely. Please use a different thread. And it has already been mentioned many times, so please search before posting.