Pro/Engineer "Render .SLP" Importer

Please also refer to our Pro/Engineer Solutions page and our "PTC Granite" suite of solids-based CAD importers. The complete set of importers is listed here, and exporters listed here. CAD program compatibility is listed here.

This geometry import converter imports and processes SLP ("Render") files which are typically exported by PTC's Pro/Engineer program. Once the SLP file has been imported it can be automatically exploded into separate objects, and each object can have its vertices welded together. The resulting optimized polygon mesh can then be rendered with no changes necessary using such programs as Okino's NuGraf; Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, etc. For an example of this conversion process click here to see a rendering of a Pro/E model rendered within Okino's NuGraf software.

The SLP file format is very trivial, yet it performs an acceptable job. Other more extensive file formats that can be used to import from ProE are the native ProE Granite importer (included in the Granite/Pack add-on), the Okino IGES importer and the PTC IGES importer.

The import process proceeds as follows:

• The raw SLP triangle data is parsed and read into memory.
• The vertices of the polygonal data is optionally welded together so that each polygon shares explicit vertices with that of its neighbour.
• The redundant vertex normals (which result from the welding operation) are deleted.
• The polygonal mesh is exploded into separate objects according to the original colors assigned in Pro/Engineer.

Notes

In order to properly explode the polygonal mesh into separate objects you must assign a different color to each part within Pro/Engineer (up to 256 colors are allowed by ProE).

Dialog Box Options

Explode SLP Data Into Separate Objects

If this option is enabled then the imported object will be broken apart (exploded) into separate pieces according to the colors assigned to each polygon. For example, if the imported file has half of its polygons assigned a red color and the other half assigned a white color then the object will be broken apart into two separate pieces, each with its own unique material (one material will use a red color and the other material will use a white color). If this option is not enabled then the imported object will not be broken apart.

Report Statistics About the Geometry File

If this checkbox is enabled then the import converter will print out the number of objects, polygons, normals and surfaces that were parsed from the file.

Weld Adjacent Vertices Together

This function will combine all adjacent vertices together which are within a specified distance of each other. The default distance is shown on the dialog box. This is a useful function to apply to SLP data since the polygon data is stored in the .slp file as separate triangles and not as a welded mesh. Such a disjoint set of triangles will not appear "smooth" when rendered in such programs as 3D Studio MAX unless they are welded together first.

Threshold Value Type-In

If the distance between two vertices is less than or equal to this number, and the "Weld Vertices" checkbox is check-marked (enabled) then the two vertices will be collapsed (welded) into one.

Remove Redundant Vertex Normals

After the welding operation is complete there many be a significant number of redundant (duplicated) verted normals. As an optimization step this option can be enabled to remove all redundant normals from the polygon mesh - this will make the polygon mesh use less memory but it will NOT affect the appearance of the polygon mesh in any way.

Reverse Orientation of all Polygons

If this option is enabled (checkmarked) then the orientation of all polygons will be reversed and all all vertex normals of the polygons will be flipped. For example, if the vertex normals of the object currently all face inward then this function will cause all of the vertex normals to face outward. Normally this option does not need to be enabled for SLP data.