{"id":191303,"date":"2022-09-20T08:43:17","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T12:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/?p=191303"},"modified":"2022-09-20T08:43:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T12:43:17","slug":"imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Imported Geometry | It Doesn&#8217;t Have to be Hard to Work With"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brennen here, back with some more imported geometry. Have you ever had some simple purchased parts that you\u2019d like to incorporate into your design, and so you read over the dimension specs and create the right cut-out for the part? From bearings to gears to O-rings, the type of purchased part can vary widely, and no matter what you\u2019re using, this process can end up being painful and tedious.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, nowadays many major part suppliers let you download a 3D model of their part. This often comes in the form of a STEP file. Sometimes suppliers will even publish a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/software\/solidworks-3d-cad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SOLIDWORKS<\/a> part file instead of a STEP file. Along with that, there is a variety of parts included in the SOLIDWORKS toolbox, and some suppliers have even created add-ons or design libraries so you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/free-solidworks-content-and-tools\/\">access their files directly from within the SOLIDWORKS environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Using Imported Geometry in Your Assembly<\/h2>\n<p>Regardless of whether you\u2019re fortunate enough to have a real SOLIDWORKS part, or are stuck working with a STEP file, we can easily use those files to help us create our design. To get started, open up your imported file, and save it as a SOLIDWORKS part. Don\u2019t worry if your feature tree is full of \u201cImported\u201d geometry, and don&#8217;t worry about feature recognition.<\/p>\n<p>With your assembly open, simply add in the imported geometry you want to work with, and we\u2019re off to the races. I encourage you to save the file you\u2019re using with the rest of the assembly so when SOLIDWORKS tries to track it down for in-context references, it doesn\u2019t have any difficulty. Once you\u2019ve got your model in the assembly, the next step is to position it where you\u2019d like it to end up using some simple mates.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191304 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/word-image-191303-1.gif\" alt=\"Save your imported geometry as a simple part file and then insert it into your assembly as you would any other component.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Import the Geometry<\/h3>\n<p>From here, we can start using the imported geometry to create new geometry. Whether it be a boss or a cut, we can use the edges of imported geometry to control its shape. To begin, select the part you\u2019d like to edit, and select \u201cEdit part\u201d. Next, you can use relations &amp; or convert entities to grab the desired geometry and add it into a sketch. With your sketch finished, you can create whatever feature you need, using the geometry.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191305 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/word-image-191303-2.gif\" alt=\"Convert entities is a great tool when using imported geometry. Use it is project a sketch onto another face, giving you the imported file as reference.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Final Mates<\/h3>\n<p>With your feature created, you can now add any more required mates for your design. This could be as few as just one more, or it could be a handful.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191307 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/word-image-191303-3.gif\" alt=\"No matter how you work with your imported geometry, SOLIDWORKS let's you mate it in place using the standard out-of-the-box mate set.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Parametric<\/h3>\n<p>Thanks to SOLIDWORKS&#8217;s parametric nature, the in-context changes propagate out to the part level. This creates an in-context relationship between the two parts.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191309 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/word-image-191303-4.gif\" alt=\"In-context references mean that changes to sketches or geometry populate down to the feature that references the original.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Breaking the link<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes those in-context references can be a headache, and maybe you just needed one briefly. Thankfully, we can always break the link. Be careful though, as breaking the link is permanent. In order to reestablish the link, you will have to go through some of this process again.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191313 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/word-image-191303-5-1.gif\" alt=\"When creating in-context references for imported geometry, it's possible to go back and break the link between the feature and original component.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the basics of doing some in-context modeling, whether you have a genuine SOLIDWORKS part or some imported geometry. Stay tuned for part 2 where I talk about design changes with in-context parts and go over how to fix some errors including mates and relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Brennen Sands<br \/>\nApplication Engineer<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/cati.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Computer Aided Technology<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brennen here, back with some more imported geometry. Have you ever had some simple purchased parts that you\u2019d like to incorporate into your design, and so you read over the dimension specs and create the right cut-out for the part? From bearings to gears to O-rings, the type of purchased part can vary widely, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":191368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2286,2285,1086],"tags":[2471,2470,61,42],"class_list":["post-191303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks-topics","category-modeling","category-solidworks-3d-cad","tag-imported-geometry","tag-best-practice","tag-tips-and-tricks","tag-solidworks-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.5 (Yoast SEO v22.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Imported Geometry | It Doesn&#039;t Have to be Hard to Work With - Computer Aided Technology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Making modeling changes using imported geometry doesn&#039;t have to be difficult, thanks to SOLIDWORKS in-context modeling.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imported Geometry | It Doesn&#039;t Have to be Hard to Work With\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Making modeling changes using imported geometry doesn&#039;t have to be difficult, thanks to SOLIDWORKS in-context modeling.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Computer Aided Technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ComputerAidedTechnology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-20T12:43:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/2022-09-12_9-05-33.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1918\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"935\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brennen Sands\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CATISolidWorks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CATISolidWorks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brennen Sands\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brennen Sands\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/918586b3323e9aa26595e6eb60ef2e06\"},\"headline\":\"Imported Geometry | It Doesn&#8217;t Have to be Hard to Work With\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T12:43:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-20T12:43:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/2022-09-12_9-05-33.png\",\"keywords\":[\"imported geometry\",\"best practice\",\"Tips &amp; Tricks\",\"solidworks\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SOLIDWORKS Topics\",\"Modeling\",\"SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cati.com\/blog\/imported-geometry-it-doesnt-have-to-be-hard-to-work-with\/\",\"name\":\"Imported Geometry | It Doesn't Have to be Hard to Work With - 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