User's Manual

DOC-07000 Rev. A 5–7
Objet500 - Connex 3 User Guide
Preparing Models for Production
Modelpreparationinvolvesthefollowingbasicsteps:
1. Placeobjectsorassembliesonthebuildtray.
2. Ifnecessary,manipulatetheobject’sorientationandposition.
3. Selectthematerialsandmodelfinish.
JustasObjetprinterscanproducedifferentmodelsonthebuildtrayusing
differentmaterials,youcanproducecomponentsofamodelwithdifferent

materials.Todothis,eachpartofthemodelmustbeaseparatestlfile.Ifthe
model’scomponentpartswerenotsavedintheCADsoftwareasseparate
stlfiles,youcanuseObjetStudiotoseparatethemodelintocomponent
parts.(Thisisdescribedin“SplittingObjectsinto
Components”onpage 16
andin“DividingObjects”onpage 58.)
OBJDF Files:
Overview
Anobjdffiledescribesboththegeometryofasingleobjectandthe
materials,andfinishrequiredtoprintit.Theobjdffilecanrepresentan
objectthatisasinglestlfile,oranobjectassembledfromcomponentstl
files.
ObjetStudioenablesyoutosplitanstlfilerepresenting
acomplexobject
intoanassemblyofcomponentstlfiles,andsavetheassemblyasanobjdf
file.Eachpart(stlfile)describedbytheobjdffilecanhaveitsownmodel‐
materialcharacteristic,sothattheObjetprinterproducesthecomponent
partsfromspecificmaterials.
Anotheruseforobjdf
filesisforsavingagroupofseparateobjectsonthe
buildtrayasoneunit,togetherwiththeirrelativepositionsandmaterials.
Thisisespeciallyusefulforproducingmodelsinthefuturewiththesame
materials.Infact,whenyousaveobjdffiles,youspecifymaterialsfor
printingmodels
withoutregardtothematerialcartridgesloadedinthe
printer.Thesameobjectcanlaterbeplacedonbuildtraysforprinting.Each
timeyousendabuildtraytotheprinter,youdecidewhethertoallow
printingwithsubstitutematerialsoronlywiththematerialsspecified.
TheConnexversionof
ObjetStudioenablesyoutodisplay,manipulateand
printcomponentpartsofamodelassemblythatwassavedasanobjdffile,
sinceeachcomponentisaseparatestlfile.Thiscanbeusefulforprinting
onlyspecificpartsofamodel.
Model Files
Toproducemodels,youopenoneormoremodelfilesinObjetStudioand
positionobjectsonthebuildtray.Youcanplaceobjectsonthebuildtrayin
severalways:
• byinsertingindividual stl or slc files(oranassemblyofstlfiles).
• byinserting anobjdffile(anassembly).
• bypastingobjectsthatyoucopiedtotheWindowsclipboard.