Best format to share 3D Model
I've started uploading models. I upload in STEP or STL (or both), and that works for most people. But, I'd REALLY like to upload the design. An editable model. A STEP or STL is kind of like a PDF, while a DOC can be edited for something new (or just different). With the source, they can change a dimension, or add two bumps instead of one, or pretty much anything they want.
I do all my work in OnShape. I can (and do) link to the OnShape file, but that limits me. I have to respect that file forever. I can't rename it, I can't combine it into another file for organization, I can't change it into something else, etc. It has to sit there "as is" forever. It also requires any other user who wants to use it to get an OnShape account (it's free, and a good program, but it's not what EVERYONE uses!).
Is there a "best practice" for sharing a model for others to remix? Is STEP, which is really limiting, the best there is?
RE: Best format to share 3D Model
I don't use OnShape myself. Ideally you'd export in a format that most CAD software can read such as Fusion or Solidworks format. Otherwise STEP is your best option.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- https://foxrun3d.com/
RE: Best format to share 3D Model
Step and STL are very much different. I really like working on STEP compared to STL. I agree, in that it is likely the best option. I find STL like a JPEG and STEP like a PDF.. at least you can edit text in a PDF.. but analogies are weak here.
RE: Best format to share 3D Model
The main issue is that different CAD package handle the construction of models very differently. So unless your CAD package understands the format produced by a different CAD package, no luck. STEP is package agnostic. It doesn't describe HOW to build the model but describes it in a way that other packages can work with its surfaces, edges, and faces. STL is the worst format to actually modify a model as it's just a long list of triangles that make up the model surfaces. Fusion, for example, offers a function to convert STL to solid but it usually chokes over 10,000 triangles, and more often than not produces artifacts, or at best a model with thousands of surface triangles that are hard to manipulate.
TL;DR: If you want to encourage remix, upload the STEP file. You may also want to upload whatever native export file your CAD program creates, so that others with the same program have a head-start. But unless it's a Solidworks or Fusion file, you may not find many takers.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- https://foxrun3d.com/
