Importing into 3ds Max

Importing Inventor data in 3ds Max - Exercise

Here we will be looking at taking the inventor file into 3ds Max and why we choose the STEP file, although 3ds Max can import Inventor native file format, it does come with additional intelligence which we don’t need for our VR project also STEP file have option that is useful for our VR project.

Continuing from previous tutorial, where we setup the system units:

  1. From the File menu select Import and Import… Select the location of the file you saved in previous tutorial, Front_Loader.stp, and click Open.

    Import tutorial file

  2. Selecting Import Options. From the Import setting set the following:
    • Convert to mesh: ON
    • Mesh density: Lowest
    • Hierarchy Mode: Using Layer

      Import Options

      Click Import.

  3. Once the file in imported, you can confirm that the asset is the correct scale by using the Measure utility and to that, open the Utilities from the Command panel. Check the dimensions of the object and it should show in meters.

    Confirm the asset's scale

  4. It is always a good idea to save the scene file. From the File dropdown, choose Save and give a file name.