Parts/Items library

Need help? We are here.
1

Hello,
is there possibility to create a library of parts, items, sketches etc so that you can use only selected parts in next projects?
I have tried to search around but not been able to find an easy way, possible to create 2D drawing with information, save them and import as sketches, but would be much nicer to be able to use the parts directly.
If there is no possibility right now, is there any plan for this?
Would not need to be any highly developed with tons of features, but simple for parts/object reusability.

2 Likes
2

My understanding is that it doesn’t exist as such (if you are thinking like components as in Sketchup). The only way that I know to do this is to save each part as an independent drawing then import them into your master.

The downside to this is there is no linkage between the two. Changes to one part do not automagically affect the others.

This has been alluded to, but has yet to be implemented.

You may want to indicate your need for this here.

3

Indeed, this does not exist yet. Only the S3D-team knows when assemblies and ability to organize designs in subfolders will come.

How do you save a part as a drawing? I may have wasted years with the creation of drawings… :crazy_face:

In fact all that S3D provides today is Shapr3D-documents that contain a singe Part with bodies (at least one) and drawings of the whole part (all bodies), or several bodies or single bodies.
Today you may duplicate your Shapr3D-document, strip it down to your desired body and and export that as .shapr-file to your local drive. Now you could import that from your drive to another design by importing that, but the imported geometry has no associativity to the original file - means the imported geometry won’t change when the origin-part changes.
I am pretty sure the S3D-team is already aware that this is cumbersome and they have a plan to deliver us a solution. But that will definitely take some (a lot) time, because the structure is not there, yet.

By the way: The usual hierarchy in CAD is:

  • Assembly (as document)
    – Part (as document)
    – Subassembly (as document)
    —Part
    ----Body
    -----Feature (if parametric)
    ------Sketch
    -------Sketch-Elements

A drawing (as document) could be made from parts or (sub-)assemblies
A component is usually something that is used in an assembly (what could be parts as well as subassemblies [and every assembly could become a component by being put into another assembly])

To be clear about this word-meanings helps a lot in the communication.

Cheers Matt

1 Like
4

I agree it is not particularly useful (we are in the game asset business so components to us are things that are reusable — and right now Shapr3D just doesn’t have that).

For us it is mostly a minor inconvenience (except for all the cases where it isn’t :sob:). We don’t follow CAD hierarchy… except when we do. So, for us at least, “usual” only applies except when it doesn’t.

5

That is not fully true - you might export your .shapr-file to your local harddrive and reuse it until is sues you!
But it has no associativity to the orginal-file (als already stated).
Plus: even if “CAD” is not your business, you should learn to differentiate a (3d-)model from a drawing, because these are two different sides of the same coin/medal and it would help in the communication!
Cheers Matt