Getting the render right
Putting the stones back into an STL
An STL from a casting house, a print service or a client almost always arrives without its stones — a print does not need them, so the export dropped them. The seats are there, empty. The studio has two ways to fill them: one click if you have the 3DM, and a click per seat if you do not.
Why they are missing
STL is a print format. It carries the metal that will be cast and nothing that will not — no stones, no names, no colours. The prongs and the seat are in the mesh because they are metal; the diamond that sits between them was never exported. This is not a fault in the file; it is what STL is for.
The fast way: From .3dm
If the design's Rhino or MatrixGold file exists, the Stones step's From .3dm button reads it — even alongside an STL already loaded — and places a real gem at every stone position the 3DM records, at the recorded size. Forty pavé stones in one click. This is the reason to ask for the 3DM whenever an STL is what you were sent.
By hand: pick a cut, click a seat
Without a 3DM: choose a cut from the palette — round, princess, oval, pear, cushion, marquise, emerald, heart and more, forty in all — and click the model where the stone sits. The studio measures the seat around the click, the surrounding prongs, and sizes the stone to fit. Auto-fit is on by default; turn it off for a size slider if a seat is unusual.
Escape stops placing. Remove added takes out everything you placed, without touching the file's own parts.
- Pick the cut, then click each seat
- Auto-fit sizes the stone to the prongs
- Esc to stop; Remove added to undo the lot
Then treat them as stones
Placed stones are real parts: they take the Traced, Sparkle or Crystal renderer, they tune individually in the console, and they appear in every export. A centre stone placed by hand and a halo placed from a 3DM are indistinguishable in the render.
Do this once, save the 3DM next time
Placing by hand works and is fine for a solitaire or a three-stone. For pavé it is slow, and the fix is upstream: get the 3DM, or ask the exporter to include the stones as separate bodies in the STL so they arrive as parts. Everything here happens on your own machine: the file is converted and rendered in the browser through your GPU and is never uploaded, so an unreleased design stays unreleased.
Questions
Why does my STL ring have no diamonds?
The export left them out — STL is a print format and a print does not need stones. The seats are in the mesh because they are metal; the stones never were.
How does the studio know what size stone to place?
It measures the seat around where you click — the surrounding prongs — and sizes the stone to fit. That is the Auto-fit setting; switch it off for a manual size slider.
Can I place stones from a 3DM onto an STL?
Yes. With the STL loaded, From .3dm reads the design's Rhino file and places every stone at its recorded position and size. One click for the whole piece.
Free · runs in your browser · your file is never uploaded