Import 3D Step file
Pete , 12-13-2016, 07:03 AM
Hi,
I’m designing a board with a toroidal transformer. When I first created the PCB footprint there was a square keep out region around it which prevented me placing components close the edges of the component. I got around this by going into the tools menu in Altium and selecting manage 3d bodies and choosing closed shape under detection method (previously bounding rectangle).
I then got a CAD model of the actual component from Inventor and imported it to Altium as a step file. When I import this step file into Altium, I can see the model is correct in 3D view but in 2D layout, I again have this bounding rectangle which now cannot be fixed with the previous method.
Has anyone encountered this problem before and do they have a fix?
I’m designing a board with a toroidal transformer. When I first created the PCB footprint there was a square keep out region around it which prevented me placing components close the edges of the component. I got around this by going into the tools menu in Altium and selecting manage 3d bodies and choosing closed shape under detection method (previously bounding rectangle).
I then got a CAD model of the actual component from Inventor and imported it to Altium as a step file. When I import this step file into Altium, I can see the model is correct in 3D view but in 2D layout, I again have this bounding rectangle which now cannot be fixed with the previous method.
Has anyone encountered this problem before and do they have a fix?
robertferanec , 12-13-2016, 10:20 AM
What you see in 2D model, it is "shape" (or outside edges) of the 3D model. If you are sure, that you can place other components into the area of the transformer, you can do so. In case you are getting violation / DRC error, you can set a special rule for these two components to ignore the clearance. Go to your PCB: Design -> Rules -> Design rules -> Placement -> Component Clearance and create a new rule. Have a look at this picture:
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