Simplify3D User Forum

I see a lot of model repair tools, but the problem I'm having is I can't import the broken STL model to begin with. I can repair the model using Meshlab and Netfabb.
This has occurred with several models. I'm exporting the models from TurboCad for the Mac. I've attached the STL file for your review.

Any suggestions?
Walt

Walt,

I reviewed the file you're having difficulty with. It's a binary STL file which has some fairly strict requirements. You can read more about the format here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_ ... Binary_STL

Essentially, there is a header and then a 32-bit integer that specifies the number of triangles in the STL file. The problem with your particular file is that the number specified in the header does not match the number of triangles in the remainder of the binary file. Creator responds correctly and warns you about the issue since it would otherwise fail upon importing.

Being that it's a binary STL file, there isn't much more information I can gather from it. So 2 ideas to help us troubleshoot this.

1) Can you try exporting a much simpler file from TurboCad? A simple cube with 6 faces should be modeled with 12 triangles, so that should help narrow where the problem is.

2) Is there a way to export the STL file from TurboCad as ASCII instead of Binary? If it was ASCII, I would be able to help much more in actually seeing what is going wrong with the file.

Ok, I've re-exported the file as ascii, and posted it for your review.

Thanks for your help,
Walt

Walt - Do you still have issues importing that ASCII STL file? It loads fine on all the computer here I tested...

The solution might be that you need to export your parts from TurboCad into ASCII format. I'm not seeing any problems with the file you posted unlike it's binary equivalent

I can't believe it. I could have sworn I tried the ascii version of the file and it didn't load last night. It might be that I hadn't restarted the program, because I tried the same file again just now, and it loaded without a problem. Well thanks for the help. It will be ascii STL's from now on!

Walt