Cleaning .STEP file converted into .OBJ

spexel

Do you guys have any tips on how to clean .Step that have been converted to .OBJ? When I export a model from SolidWorks into Maya as an .OBJ, it has a lot of vertices, normals are inverted and it is a mess. I need those models to optimize those models, is it better to clean the complicated part and just remodel the simple parts? Is there anything I should do inside SolidWorks to make the .OBJ cleaner? I never done this before, if anyone has a link to some documentation on how to speed up that process it would be great. 

Thanks!

DRoss3d

I wouldn't use .obj files from SolidWorks because .obj files don't export the scale information, so when you want to take it from maya to UE4 for example, your object will be very tiny. Try exporting an .stl instead, that will export the proper scale.

As far as cleaning up the models, unless it is a very simple object like a plate with holes punched into it, I would remodel it in Maya. Make the imported .stl live and use the quad draw tool to remodel it with clean/proper topology. 

You can also check out this video, it shows how they used CAD files to create some assets for The Division. It starts around 50:00  https://youtu.be/Fg6QPJ7XirE?t=2949

spexel

thanks!