Stratasys Objet260 Connex - Preparing Models for Production; OBJDF Files: Overview; Model Files

DOC-06810 Rev. A 5–9
Objet1000 Plus User Guide
Preparing Models for Production
Modelpreparationinvolvesthefollowingbasicsteps:
1. Placeobjectsorassembliesonthebuildtray.
2. Ifnecessary,manipulatetheobject’sorientationandposition.
3. Selectthematerialsandmodelfinish.
JustasObjetprinterscanproducedifferentmodelsonthebuildtrayusing
differentmaterials,youcanproducecomponentsofamodelwithdifferent

materials.Todothis,eachpartofthemodelmustbeaseparatestlfile.Ifthe
model’scomponentpartswerenotsavedintheCADsoftwareasseparate
stlfiles,youcanuseObjetStudiotoseparatethemodelintocomponent
parts.(Thisisdescribedin“SplittingObjectsinto
Components”onpage 19
andin“DividingObjects”onpage 53.)
OBJDF Files:
Overview
Anobjdffiledescribesboththegeometryofasingleobjectandthe
materials,andfinishrequiredtoprintit.Theobjdffilecanrepresentan
objectthatisasinglestlfile,oranobjectassembledfromcomponentstl
files.
ObjetStudioenablesyoutosplitanstlfilerepresenting
acomplexobject
intoanassemblyofcomponentstlfiles,andsavetheassemblyasanobjdf
file.Eachpart(stlfile)describedbytheobjdffilecanhaveitsownmodel‐
materialcharacteristic,sothattheObjetprinterproducesthecomponent
partsfromspecificmaterials.
Anotheruseforobjdf
filesisforsavingagroupofseparateobjectsonthe
buildtrayasoneunit,togetherwiththeirrelativepositionsandmaterials.
Thisisespeciallyusefulforproducingmodelsinthefuturewiththesame
materials.Infact,whenyousaveobjdffiles,youspecifymaterialsfor
printingmodels
withoutregardtothematerialcontainersloadedinthe
printer.Thesameobjectcanlaterbeplacedonbuildtraysforprinting.Each
timeyousendabuildtraytotheprinter,youdecidewhethertoallow
printingwithsubstitutematerialsoronlywiththematerialsspecified.
TheConnexversionof
ObjetStudioenablesyoutodisplay,manipulateand
printcomponentpartsofamodelassemblythatwassavedasanobjdffile,
sinceeachcomponentisaseparatestlfile.Thiscanbeusefulforprinting
onlyspecificpartsofamodel.
Furtherexplanationsofobjdffiles,andtheirfeatures,appear
throughout
thischapter.
Model Files
Toproducemodels,youopenoneormoremodelfilesinObjetStudioand
positionobjectsonthebuildtray.Youcanplaceobjectsonthebuildtrayin
severalways:
• byinsertingindividual stl or slc files(oranassemblyofstlfiles).
• byinserting anobjdffile(anassembly).
• bypastingobjectsthatyoucopiedtotheWindowsclipboard.