3D VIA Composer File question

[niart17]

I work for a company that recently started using Solidworks for it's design process. We are considering getting 3D Via Composer to start making more user-friendly manuals and assembies. My question is, does anyone know if the files that are created in Composer are able to be imported back in to Solidworks assemblies? In other words, if we use 3D via Composer to remove proprietary information and send that model to the customer, could they in turn load that into a Solidworks assembly to use for layout purposes in their production line? I am hoping the answer would be yes so we can benefit from the composer program for layout uses as well. Any and all help would be much appreciated. Also any other information from those that use Composer would be great too!

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Eltron]

The composer files are not backwards compatible. Although Composer references your CAD file during creation and keeps itself updated when you make changes, you cannot extract that data unless you redraw it.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[SnowCrash]

You can do some of what you seek by using the free efile exporter, but it will not be the quality of the Composer files. You can also use "Defeature" on an assembly to remove internal structures. That could then be used as a model in a production system.

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
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