New minor feature
release
Three new options added to STEP importer.
ShowProgress: whether to show progress during import stage.
ReduceObjects: whenever there are instances of the same object within the same hierarchy, replace them with a single Link array. This option works particularly well with the PCB models posted by easyw-fc, because all the duplicated pads are nicely grouped, and the import time can be cut down by half. However, it will slightly change the hierarchy (although, I think the hierarchy works better this way), which is why this option is off by default.
ExpandCompound: expand compound shape if it contains multiple solids. I suspect this is the critical option to
DISABLE when loading large and geometrically complex models.
Anyway, when I tried the 1G monster file with ReduceObjects ON, and ExpandCompound OFF, I was able to load the file in only about 1000 seconds. And import time is around 300 seconds. But my graphics card is completely overwhelmed, which takes almost 20 seconds to render one frame. Those of you have a proper graphics card can give it a try.
Edit: forgot to mention. I do have 16GB ram, and FC consumed more than 6GB at the peak for this file. So I think 8GB machines will have a hard time with this.