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From:	Kai-Martin Knaak <knaak AT iqo DOT uni-hannover DOT de>
Subject:	Re: [geda-user] PCB and 3D Views
Date:	Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:47:20 +0100
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Cirilo Bernardo wrote:

> Another approach is to use 'IDF' - without making changes to PCB,
> it should be possible to at least export the board as an IDF file
> with correct dimensions.

The more I think about it, the more I like this approach. The big benefit 
of IDF would be the ability to indicate what components are supposed to be 
placed on the board. Position, orientation and keep-out of components is 
also included. 

This additional data would allow for a 3D representation of a populated 
board. A python script inside freecad could assemble the components on the 
virtual PCB, and render the result to PDF. Alternatively, freecad could 
export to STL which can be read by blender for extra fancy rendering. 

Freecad can export to STEP, too. So this would connect the 3D workflow to 
other CAD applications like SolidWorks. 

Here is a document with the IDF format specification:
http://www.aertia.com/docs/priware/IDF_V30_Spec.pdf


> there is also a tool to convert IDF to VRML if you
> want a VRML output for visualization.

IMHO, visualization should be done by the 3D CAD application of choice. No 
need to reinvent wheels here. 

---<)kaimartin(>---
-- 
Kai-Martin Knaak                                  tel: +49-511-762-2895
Universität Hannover, Inst. für Quantenoptik      fax: +49-511-762-2211	
Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover           http://www.iqo.uni-hannover.de
GPG key:    http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?search=Knaak+kmk&op=get

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