The project aim is to import car engine CAD NX siemens (.prt) to VR (HTC VIVE) and use animations and interactions.
How would I go about this ?
You need to export or convert to a format supported by unity.
The following is a good place to start:
There are a few options available, the best answer for you may depend on what software you have already.
The best third party software I’ve found for this is from PiXYZ – the Plugin integrates directly into Unity while the Studio product does a standalone conversion (and offers more fine-grained import and data prep options).
Siemens PLM has also demoed a JT-to-Unity plugin, see https://community.plm.automation.siemens.com/t5/The-JT-Blog/JT-Open-TRB-Meeting-Hosted-by-LEGO/ba-p/447315 for more information. You’ll need to contact Siemens PLM directly for more information.
One “classic” path is NX > JT > 3ds Max > FBX > Unity. This works if you have a copy of NX or the creator can export a JT file for you, and if you already have access to 3ds Max. There are three different geometry representations in JT (JT Brep, XT Brep, JT Tessellated), so grab all three to cover your bases. This process goes through a lot of translation steps though, so I’d recommend one of the first two options unless you already have a copy of Max plus have the time to do it this way.
I hope this helps, please post a reply if you have more questions.
Ed Martin
Unity Product Manager, Automotive
I’ve beta tested the JT/Unity importer, and while the import pipeline is a little strange, it did a decent job on my limited test cases. It’s currently available, but only if you have a JT Open membership. If you have a Siemens rep, please encourage them to license it separately or, better yet, make it available on the asset store. The JT Open membership was just too expensive for us, as occasional consumers of CAD data (not creators), to justify. It requires an initial purchase, and then yearly maintenance.
I’d like to see Unity embrace the CAD/AEC market a little more. I know there was an effort a few years ago to integrate some CAD and GIS importers into Unity that was dropped for lack of expertise in those areas. My experience with the Unity AEC partner wasn’t very fruitful (and that’s as nice as I can put that). Anything Unity can do to encourage integration with third party tools and data formats would be a good thing.