Hi Clarence,

Thanks for reaching out on the Forum!

It sounds like your issue might be related to your Autodesk Inventor parts not being located in the proper OpticStudio folder. When you say you see various errors, are you seeing a message like below (my message says SolidWorks since that is what I have installed on my machine)?

What you'll likely need to do is place the Assembly and constituents parts in the folder that OpticStudio is defined to refer to for Inventor parts in your Project Preferences. By default, it is located at '{Zemax}\Objects\Inventor Files\':

If you changed this, then you'll need to place the files in the appropriate folder. You can read more about this process and how OpticStudio handles assembly files at the Knowledgebase article here.

Please let us know if this helps or if you have continued issues. If you still have problems loading the files, would you be able to provide screenshots, the associated files, etc.? It could help us in better determining the issue.

Thanks!

~ Angel

Hi Angel

All the files are indeed in the correct folder. Perhaps it would help to clarify that I received first the assembly file in .STEP format. Then I attempted to import the file into OpticStudio via 2 different methods:





Method 1. I import the assembly file (STEP) directly (STEP file in 'CAD Files' folder) into OpticStudio and apply explode assembly. A total of 386 parts were counted in OpticStudio -- which actually differs from the number I later then get when I open the STEP file in Inventor.

Before exploding:

Requesting to explode the STEP file:

After exploding:

Method 2. I open the STEP file in Inventor and save the converted .IAM file and its components in 'Inventor files'.


This is the NSC Shaded model display before exploding.

This is for when I ask to explode the assembly. Notice that only 382 parts were counted this time.

And almost instantly, I get a warning saying that the assembly file is not found.

And after some 260 (I counted it in my head) warnings I get this with missing parts.

Both methodss did not return satisfactory results. I attach a subassembly file (.IAM) for your reference where errors were also prompted.

Please advise.

Thanks!

Hi Clarence,

Thank you for providing the additional explanation!

I do not have Autodesk Inventor on my machine, but I do have SOLIDWORKS. I have run a few tests with a 200+ STEP assembly and wanted to share my findings. In general, I'm seeing a couple of reasons why the import could be failing, which I will list below:

1. When the assembly is imported into the CAD program, saved, then imported into OpticStudio, it is important to make sure the individual components of the assembly are imported as distinct parts. In SOLIDWORKS, this requires us to change the default settings as discussed here. Are there settings in Autodesk that you need to change before importing the STEP file and converting it?



2. When an assembly is imported into OpticStudio, any mating or geometry errors will cause the related component to disappear. For example, when I have an assembly where I have multiple, conflicting mates on a particular part file, that part will not load with the assembly in OpticStudio. The same goes for any geometry errors (for example, making a line horizontal and vertical simultaneously). Have you checked for these errors in the assembly file? 



3. It looks like OpticStudio may not be able to recognize sub-assemblies. Does your assembly file feature those as constituent parts? As a test, I opened an assembly file within SOLIDWORKS and found that it has 277 total constituent pieces - 21 are sub-assemblies, 256 are part files. When loaded into OpticStudio, the STEP file reported 256 parts when exploding the model. 

At this point, I would recommend thoroughly checking the model. Make sure all mates are valid, and make sure all the constituent pieces are part files, not assembly files. 

If you are still seeing errors in your model, you could try to emulate the design with native OpticStudio parts. For example, a metallic housing for a lens could be modelled with an Annular Volume object within Non-Sequential Mode. Here is an example of what I mean:

In the image above, we see a Standard Lens object held within an Annular Volume. The Annular Volume can be made metallic with a coating so that it acts like the housing you are trying to import. We have a discussion on how to model a metallic coating here: 'How to define metal materials in OpticStudio.'

Let us know if you have any other questions. And have a great weekend!

Best,

Allie