FAQ

There are three ways of importing a design made with another CAD software in Shape3d: using an export in the IGES format, or an export in the STL format. With the first two methods you'll need the Scan Import option, with the last method you'll need a Design Pro license.

- If the shape is simple enough, you can do an export as NURBS (spline) surfaces in the IGES format of your design and try to open it directly with Shape3d. If the structure of the surfaces is simple enough and has no trimmed areas, it might work directly. In most cases you'll get distorsions. Watch the video tutorial about this:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/VideoTutorials.aspx?Search=IGES

- If this doesn't work you'll need to do an export as meshes in binary STL. And then load the STL as scan data in the Scan import option. You can read this FAQ about it:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/FAQ.aspx?Search=scan%20import

and watch these video tutorials:

https://www.shape3d.com/Support/VideoTutorials.aspx?Search=scan%20import

- If you don't have the Scan import option but a Design Pro license, you can load the STL file as a ghost to copy the shape "by hand". You can use the automatic fitting functions to adjust the outline, stringer and slices curves on the ghost.

- Choose the importation format "BOARD" and browse to open the file you want to import (DXF, G-Code, or text format). Click on the button "load".

- The scan points appear on the controller. The grey points are the file data, and the blue points are the one that will be imported into Shape3d.
Check that everything is alright (tail at x=0, deck upward ...).

 If everything looks alright:

Check the "automatic fitting" box and click on OK.
It will take a few seconds to adjust the curves on the scan points.

 If the scan data doesn't look good:

If the scan data doesn't look good on the controller after importation, click on “Advanced”:

- Check the box "One side" if the file contains only half of the board.

- If the digital probe is a ball, you can input the probe radius, which will be subtracted to the dimensions.

- If you want to import your data into a board that is in the "Stringer" design mode, check Profile detection: "Stringer". The software will then look for the stringer data around the X axis (with the tolerance fixed in the box Slices: "Tolerance"). On the other hand, if you want to import your data in a board that is in the design mode "Profile", check Profile, and the software will look for the lowest and highest points of each slice to create the profile.

- If you want to import your data into a board that is in the "Deck" design mode, check Top import: "Deck". If you want to import your data in a board that is in the design mode "Thickness", check Thickness, and the software will recreate the thickness from your data (in this case your data must be clean).

- You can also reduce the number of slices if too many of them have been scanned.

- You can tune the tolerance. It allows the importation of slices even if they are not right in the Oyz plan.

- You can switch the axis: the X must be the length direction (towards the nose), the Y must be the width direction, and the Z must be the vertical direction (towards the deck).

- You can change the direction of each axis.

- You can reduce the scan data to a window in each direction using the function “Filter”.

- You can apply an offset to the data in each direction using the function “Offset”.

- If the board is not well aligned with the axis, you can apply two rotations around the axis of your choice.

Then press “Apply”. Note that if you press the button “Load” again, your axis settings will be conserved, but the data will be repositioned so that the tail is at x = 0.

Launch the automatic fitting when it looks good.

 If the automatic fitting fails:

You can do the importation of the data without adjusting the curves automatically. Then the dimensions of the model will be adjusted with the data dimensions, but the curves of the model won’t be fitted on the guidelines. It can be a good way to see what’s wrong with them, and move, or remove, the bad ones.

Then, you can choose to adjust each curve automatically or by hand.

 When the automatic fitting is finished:

Check all the curves of the model:
- Check profile and outline. The automatic adjustment may not be perfect. You can do the automatic adjustment again choosing the number of control points you want (right click, automatic fitting, fit the whole curve, choose the number of arcs). You can do it by hand as well. Check in particular the points and tangents at each end, and then, the smoothness of the curves.
- Check the slices; the automatic fitting tries to place a control point right at the rail, but if the rail is not sharp enough, or if
the scan data is not very clean, the control point can very well be at a wrong position. If so, you can clean the guidelines and do an automatic fitting again. But the safest way is to place the control point right at the rail by hand and adjust the slice, arc by arc. Do it for each slice.
DO NOT HESITATE TO DELETE THE SLICES THAT DO NOT LOOK NECESSARY; the less slices the smoother (same with the control points).