Viewing Models on Mac

[mclaser]

I have a client that does not have access to PCs, only Macs (entertainment industry type). Does anyone know of a free viewer or other method for Mac users to view SE models. The Web Publisher Plug-in is an option, but I believe that it is a $4-500 cost.

Greg

 

[Gemnoc]

Wow, that reminds me why I abandoned the Macintosh plateform almost 10 years ago. Very limited options in mechanical CAD!

I made a search, there doesn't seem to be a quick, easy and free way to do it.

Believe it or not, if you were working with SolidWorks or even Pro/E, the solution would be quick: there's an eDrawings 2007 Viewer for Mac available for free on SolidWorks web site. If it has the same fonctions as the Windows version, it can view eDrawings files, Solidworks files, Pro/E and DWG/DXF (2D only), 3DXML and STL. Of all these, SE can only export the last one in 3d and it would be close to useless.

An option for you would be to download the eDrawings Publisher for Solid Edge; it allows you to generate eDrawings files (drafts, parts and assembly files) that your customer will be able to open with the viewer. What I don't like is they require registration with phone and zip code before allowing the download.

An easier way for your customer, but it would require you a big purchase ($995): convert your 3d model into a 3d pdf with Acrobat 3D. The latest Adobe Reader reads 3d pdfs and upon opening one, you activate a toolbar with simple tools to manipulate the model.

Yet another option to explore: Google SketchUp Free for Mac. But I'm not sure that SE can export to a format that SketchUp can read. I believe that when I tried it a few months ago, I had to convert my model to ACIS (.SAT), then open in AUtocad and export to 3ds.

Good luck!

 

[mclaser]

Thanks Gemnoc,

It looks like Acrobat 3d doesn't support SE .asm file so that won't do. I've been playing around with eDrawings for a couple of days now and I like it. You can publish particular display configurations and it has a nice VCR style play feature that cycles though the standard viewing perspectives with smooth transitions. It makes the model look great running in the background while we're discussing the project. It's driving me crazy, however, that it can't seem to remember where I placed the toolbar between instances.

I'm still waiting to hear from my Mac guys to see if they like it.

SketchUp needs 3DS as input, like you said, which SE can't natively output, which means you need a conversion pgm like PolyTrans or equivelent, or go through some other gyration.

What a pain!

 

[Gemnoc]

Yeah, I love SE and I'm the one who recommended my employer its purchase over SW, but sometimes I regret that it's not as "universal" as SW.

By the way, you can actually convert SE models into 3D PDFs. Acrobat 3D cannot read SE files, but it can read SW and Parasolid. So you have to convert your model to Parasolid first.

There's a complex interface added to Acrobat 3D that is similar to Explode/Render/Animate in SE, but I've not worked with it.

From your comments, I may download the eDrawings publisher and give it a go.

Anyone uses the JT format?

 

[Gemnoc]

I wish that you could edit a posted message like about all the other forums do...

I wanted to add, as regard to lack of SE compatibility with Acrobat 3D. Considering they own Parasolid, it's ironic that the package most compatible with Acrobat 3D is SolidWorks, not SE.