User's Manual

DOC-13000 Rev. E 5–3
Connex500/350 User Guide
Preparing Models for Production
JustasConnexprinterscanproducedifferentmodelsonthebuildtray
usingdifferentmaterials,youcanproducecomponentsofmodels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file
s,youcanus
eObjetStudiotoseparatethemodelinto
componentparts.(Thisisdescribedin“SplittingObjectsintoComponents”
onpage 8andin“DividingObjects”onpage 39.)
OBJDF Files:
Overview
Anobjdffiledescribesboththegeometryofasingleobjectandthematerials
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Connex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relativ
e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cartridg
esloadedinthe
Connex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yo
utodisplay,ma
nipulate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.
Furtherexplanationsofobjdffilesandassemblies,andinstructionsfor
utilizingtheirfeatures,appearthro
ughoutthischapter.
Opening
Model Files
Toproducemodels,youmustopenoneormorefilesinObjetStudioand
positionthe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importinganobjdffile(anassembly)
• bypastingobjectsthatyoucopiedtotheWindowsclipboard
Opening STL
& SLC Files
To place an object on the build tray using stl or slc files:
1. OpentheInsertdialogbox—
• FromtheObjectmenu,selectInsert.
or—
• Onthetoolbar,clicktheInsertModelicon .
or—
• Right‐clickonthebuildtray,andselectInsert.
TheInsertdialogboxappears.