Materials

[JL82]

Is it possible to define an individual material to surfaces of a part on Keyshot for Alibre? I have created a thin parts around a part for different materials but it is very slow.

 

[idslk]

Hello JL82,

see https://www.alibreforum.com/forum/i...re-user-shot-gallery.9139/page-10#post-131873 and following.
may it helps.

Regards
Stefan

 

[HaroldL]

IF KeyShot for Alibre has the Geometry Editor then you can split surfaces off the part KeyShot and apply different materials. However - it looks like that is a Pro feature so your stuck with adding "skins" or using another program to color surfaces.

Follow the link idslk posted.

 

[JST]

In past versions, the link from materials to Keyshot materials has not worked, only the link from part to material. I do not know if that has changed.
The colors in Alibre do not always seem to link up to colors that look the same in Keyshot, either.

You are SUPPOSED TO be able to do either link, but when I have looked in the BIP file, the linkage was hard-coded to "part".

 

[simonb65]

In past versions, the link from materials to Keyshot materials has not worked, only the link from part to material.

The current link is Part to material. There bave been some significant changes to Keyshort for Solidworks, so hopefully the Alibre version and Alibre link dll gets some modernisation soon too. For me, part based is not a real issue, and it does fit in with my process, but you should be able to define and use the material that is defined in the source CAD. After all, that's what the 2D drawing uses and the data is already there, so why do the job twice!
Saying that, and if your process is to import into keyshot to 'experiment' with materials and textures ... then there should be a link the
other way to tell Alibre what material you've finally decided the part is going to be!

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Perhaps this will change with Alibre Design 2019 HOOPS import/export pipeline?

 

[simonb65]

Perhaps this will change with Alibre Design 2019 HOOPS import/export pipeline?

The Keyshot live linking is a seperate keyshot API and not related to source geometry file import/export. I do hope though, that as part of the exercise to improve the links to the outside world, that keyshot integration and API functionality is also reviewed and improved too.

 

[JST]

The current link is Part to material. There bave been some significant changes to Keyshort for Solidworks, so hopefully the Alibre version and Alibre link dll gets some modernisation soon too. For me, part based is not a real issue, and it does fit in with my process, but you should be able to define and use the material that is defined in the source CAD. After all, that's what the 2D drawing uses and the data is already there, so why do the job twice!
Saying that, and if your process is to import into keyshot to 'experiment' with materials and textures ... then there should be a link the
other way to tell Alibre what material you've finally decided the part is going to be!

In Keyshot, there is already the "option" to create a materials link file using either the "part" OR the "material". But the "material" does not seem to work.

What is SUPPOSED TO happen, and does in other CAD programs, is that the Alibre "material" can be linked to a material in Keyshot, so that all you have to do is use the material in Alibre and the appearance in Keyshot is automatic, or nearly so.

Instead, I have to first import the BIP "in white", then assign all the materials, and finally create the file to link them, so that thereafter I can import, then assign that link file to the scene.

That would be reasonably OK if the assignment was to Alibre materials, but instead it is to Alibre filename. So if the part is changed, the assignment is rendered bogus and is ignored.

It very seriously fouls up the use of Keyshot with Alibre.

 

[DBC]

It is no fun having to make separate parts to make an assembly have separate machined surfaces. $2K for keyshot pro to be able to apply materials to separate faces (facets) is just ridiculous. It would be nice if Max and team could ride KeyShot to allow that component in the Alibre KeyShoy version. It would be nice if we could do threads and all as a separate material as seen below.