Measurement software on 3D models (.stl .obj .off .ply)

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Hello

I'm looking for a software that allows me to make measurements on 3D models in .stl, .obj, .ply or .off format.

Point-to-point distance measurement, and perimeter measurement of a section.

My 3D models have a large number of facets, it is complicated for me to open them with SW. They have a volume of less than 1m3, with a resolution of around 5mm.

I don't know much about cloud management software, and I'm looking for something free or cheap, not requiring a war machine (I have a laptop with an I5 and 8GB of ram, which suits me for SW for small to medium asm)

Do you know a software that can do the job? Thank you in advance!

2

Hello;
Edrawing accepts to open a lot of formats and measure them.

You can also use Blender for measurements (Free but you have to get used to the interface...).
https://www.blender.org/download/
On the other hand, with only 8GB of ram, you'll have to be patient. I'm even surprised that Solidworks is still running (which version are you using?)

Kind regards.

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2015… I go there with patience and delicacy

4

I just did a test on edrawing: the measurement is not activated for objects in STL. Too bad.
Tonight I'm trying Blendre. I'll tell you if it corresponds to what I need
Thanks for the MacLane tip :wink:

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Blender does this very easily. The measurement tool is present on the main page.
Stay in object mode

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It matters all these types of files
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For 8GB of ram, Blender works very well with stl files that do not exceed 100MB.
Otherwise simpler and more free there is Meshmixer from autodesk.

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In Blender, I imported my STL and tried to create a spline and snap it to the surface of the object. I can't get it on the surface.

At first glance, Blender is not really made for that. I should look for something more suitable and simpler.
Meshmixer doesn't allow me to do what I want.
I'm going to try fusion 360.
Do you have any other ideas?

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I just installed fusion 360. First of all, it looks more like what I'm used to using (Solidworks).

To measure a distance between 2 points on the surface of my object, that's fine.

To measure a perimeter, it's more complicated. I can create a sketch by crossing a plane with my object, but I can't measure its length.

Could anyone help me?

image.thumb.png.c9c293db58818bfda358e3863f8b89fa.png

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I don't know enough about fusion.
For the free ones there is freecad too. Interface close to CAD too.
Otherwise in blender you just have to press ctrl during the measurement. This allows you to hold on to the mesh.

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I pretty much managed to do what I wanted: on my section plan I drew a spline that I am able to measure.
Thank you for your help

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To be able to do actions on an stl in merge you have to convert it

About Fusion:
Mesh menu→ Edit → Convert Mesh.
The thing is that if the stl has too many faces/triangles, it will be very long or even impossible, you will probably have to reduce the stl, with loss of resolution. Sometimes it is better to sausage the stl with meshmixer to have an stl that is not too large.

mesh menu→ Edit → Collapse

Once the STL has been converted, it is possible to generate profile sketches
Create menu→ Create a mesh section sketch.

The stl is basically an "unusable" file on CAD tools, there are features that help but it is not always easy to use, especially depending on the complexity of the shapes, it is a little like a pdf, not easily editable.