Altium export to 3D STEP only shows component

[kian0079]

Hi all,

I am now having a strange problem. When I try to export my PCBdoc as a STEP and view it on Solidworks, the actual pcb board disappears and only 3D models of the components appears. Anyone knows how to fix this or what could be the issue?

[thm_w]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PrintedCircuitBoard/comments/xj2bia/altium_export_to_step_3d_but_actual_pcb_board_is/

[twospoons]

Do you have any holes tangent to the edge of the PCB? Like mouse bites for breakaway tabs? That will cause the step import to fail, as Solidworks will see geometry with zero thickness - and it can't deal with that.

[ANTALIFE]

Exporting as STEP has always been finicky for me, but I find "Export As Single Part" greatly helps with errors. Otherwise suggest exporting as Parasolid, especially if you are working with something like SOLIDWORKS

[twospoons]

+1 to using parasolid. I spent some time delving into the step and parasolid exports, and the step export has some poor internal object naming - which can confuse solidworks if you are importing several PCBs as step files. The parasolid files dont seem to have this issue.

[Jester]

My fuzzy memory tells me make sure you are viewing in 3D mode when you do the export.