PRIME MOTIONImporting STEP and STL
Insert → STEP and Insert → STL, at the bottom of the Design rail, bring a part made in other software into the open design. The file becomes two things:
- the original, kept unchanged under Canvases in the design tree;
- a derived body, an ordinary body under Bodies that you can fillet, cut, combine and machine like any body you modelled.
STEP is a solid model and comes in exactly. STL is a mesh of triangles; Prime Motion derives a body from it, so curved faces stay faceted. Prefer STEP when the other program offers it.
Insert a file
- On the Design tab, outside a sketch, long-press Insert and choose STEP or STL. The drawer opens.
- Choose where the part lands: one of the origin planes (XY Top, XZ Front, YZ Right), a construction plane, or Keep file position to use the coordinates saved in the file. Until you choose, the drawer says Choose a plane, or Keep file position.
- For an STL, set Units to mm or inch: an STL file does not record its units.
- Tap File Asset and pick the file. The button reads Browsing… and then Importing… while it works.
The derived body appears in the view and under Bodies; the original appears under Canvases.
The original, and Re-derive
The original under Canvases is never modified. Its ⋮ menu offers:
- Re-derive… — makes a fresh derived body from the original. The drawer names the file (or Original unavailable) and has Derive; the result reads Derived or gives the reason. Use it after an import failed, or to have a second, untouched copy to work from.
- Edit — the original's name and details. Original reads Unchanged source file.
- Delete — removes the original.
Re-derive refuses, and creates nothing, when the original can no longer be trusted: Original file is missing; nothing was derived, Original bytes changed; nothing was derived or Original is no longer in this design.
When an import fails
If no body can be made, the original is still kept and the message says so: No body was created. ‹file›: ‹reason› The original was kept; use Re-derive… to try again.
Other refusals name the problem: the plane could not be resolved, the file was not found, or the STEP reader failed. An STL that is not closed, or not an STL at all, is refused the same way.