The Complete IGES to STEP Conversion Guide
Table of Contents
- General Information
- Converting and Optimizing IGES Files to STEP
- What are IGES and STEP files commonly used for?
- Comparison of Features Supported by IGES and STEP
- Limitations of IGES Files to STEP Conversion Workflow
- What's the best way to get IGES files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using STEP?
General Information
This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert IGES to STEP, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:
Converting and Optimizing IGES Files to STEP
RapidPipeline can import IGES files, but currently doesn't support exporting to STEP format yet.
If you specifically need STEP export functionality for your workflow, please feel free to get in touch with us - we'd be happy to discuss your requirements and potential timeline for adding this export capability.
If you need, you can import STEP files and convert them to any of these 8 formats: FBX, glTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, USD, USDZ, and VRM.
In the meantime, you can explore other options on the 3D Formats Knowledge Database, which might serve as suitable alternatives for your workflow depending on your target applications and use cases.
Comparison of Features Supported by IGES and STEP
| Feature | Supported by IGES | Supported by STEP |
|---|---|---|
| Morph Targets | No | No |
| Rigid Animations | No | No |
| Skinned Animations | No | No |
| Animations | No | No |
| Free-Form Surfaces | Yes | Yes |
| Geometry Compression | No | No |
| Quad Meshes | Yes | Yes |
| Basic 3D Geometry | Yes | Yes |
| PBR Materials | No | No |
| Transparent Materials | No | No |
| Vertex Colors | Partial0 | No |
| Materials | Partial1 | Partial |
| Scene Composition | Partial2 | No |
| Hierarchical Scene Graph | Partial3 | Yes |
| Scene Nodes | Yes | Yes |
| Standardized Format | Partial4 | Partial |
| Embedded Textures | No | No |
| Multiple UV Channels | No | No |
| Normal Mapping | No | No |
| Procedural Textures | No | No |
| Texture Compression | No | No |
| Texture Transforms | No | No |
| Texturing | No | No |
Limitations of IGES Files to STEP Conversion Workflow
The following limitations should be taken into account when converting IGES files to STEP format:
| IGES Feature (not supported by STEP) | Limitation Details |
|---|---|
| Vertex Colors | Vertex Colors Support: IGES: Partial support | STEP: No support   IGES Notes: Limited color support for visualization Impact: Vertex colors allow the attachment of colors to each vertex of a 3D model. This can be useful in scenarios such as scientific visualization, or when converting/meshing data from a colored 3D point cloud, for example. On the polygonal surface connecting the vertices, the respective vertex colors are usually smoothly interpolated. In this example, different colors are attached to the different corners of a cube. Without support for this feature, the cube won't have any colors. |
| Scene Composition | Scene Composition Support: IGES: Partial support | STEP: No support   IGES Notes: Assembly relationships with limited constraints Impact: Scene Composition describes the process of composing a scene through links from a main scene that pull in various other scenes/3D models. This can also happen in a nested fashion (through multiple levels of linkage). With a target format not supporting this feature, references to external models must be resolved and the content be baked into one 3D model, which is then saved in that target format. |
What's the best way to get IGES files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using STEP?
Doing 3D conversion right, especially at scale, can be tricky, as 3D data is in general a rather complex (yet very powerful!) medium. This also applies to IGES and STEP files - the conversion guide above provides a rough first idea about that. Once you know what you would like to do, tools like RapidPipeline can help you perform the necessary steps, and to even automate the process for thousands or even millions of files.
Especially when introducing pipelines and workflows at scale in an enterprise context, it is usually good to rely on dedicated tools and expertise, making sure you do not introduce any steps into your 3D workflow that are detrimental to the final output's quality, or that take your team too much time (and money).
If you're interested to hire dedicated expertise from the best in the field to help your company reach your goals fast and reliably, please do not hestitate to contact DGG. Being the creators of RapidPipeline, and ambassadors for open 3D standards for more than a decade, we have been building some of the world's most advanced 3D pipelines, having processed many millions of 3D assets.
Therefore, our expertise will help you to reach your goals faster, at scale, and with the least possible friction, since we are focused on maximum interoperability.
To get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today, sign up for a free account!
If you have any questions, feel free to chat with our human team.
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