CAD — read by a geometry kernel
Render an IGES file in your browser
IGES is the older interchange format, and a lot of jewellery and tooling still travels as .igs. Rendermio reads it through the same geometry kernel as STEP, on your own machine, and turns it into store-ready images.
How Rendermio reads IGES
Accepted as .iges, .igs. STEP, IGES and BREP go through a real boundary-representation kernel — OpenCascade, compiled to WebAssembly and run inside the page. The kernel reads the exact surfaces, then tessellates them at a tolerance tuned for jewellery (a bounding-box ratio of 0.0002 and an angular deflection of 0.12 radians), which is far finer than a viewer's default. That is why a curved band renders as a curve and not as a polyline of visible flats. IGES predates solids: many IGES files are collections of trimmed surfaces rather than closed bodies, so the kernel reads each surface and the studio treats each as a part. That is usually what you want for a render, and it is why a well-made IGES can look identical to a STEP of the same design.
What comes through
- Exact curved surfaces, finely tessellated
- Each surface or body as a separate part
- Real-world scale
What does not
- Part names — IGES rarely carries useful ones, so parts arrive numbered and you tell the studio which are stones
- Solid-ness: a surface-only IGES has no inside, and a face exported the wrong way round can appear dark until it is flipped by choosing a two-sided material
- Colours, in practice: IGES can hold them but few exporters write them
Exporting IGES from your CAD program
- If you can export STEP instead, do — it is the same kernel with more of the file's meaning intact
- Export solids where the program offers the choice; surface exports render but need more sorting
- A file that opens as one giant part is a sewn export — ask the exporter for separate bodies
IGES files typically come from Rhino, MatrixGold, older SolidWorks and Pro/E exports, toolmakers and casting houses. Working in SolidWorks, Fusion, CATIA, Inventor or Creo? Their native files are not readable in a browser — here is what to export instead.
Then what happens
Once the file is in, the steps are the same for every format: tell the studio what the object is, and it dresses it — one click finds the stones in a ring and makes the rest gold. Pick a Look, which sets lighting, backdrop, pose and camera together. Export a listing pack up to 8K or a 360° turntable video. Everything runs on your own GPU; the file never leaves the page.
Questions
Is IGES worse than STEP for rendering?
Not in geometry — both go through the same kernel and tessellate the same exact surfaces. IGES is worse in metadata: it seldom carries part names or colours, so you spend a moment telling the studio which parts are stones. If both are available, export STEP.
My IGES renders with dark or missing faces. Why?
The file is a set of surfaces rather than closed solids, and some faces are wound inside-out. Rendermio's metals are two-sided so most of it renders correctly; where a face is still dark, re-export as solids from the source program.
Can Rendermio open .igs files from a casting house?
Yes. .igs and .iges are the same format and both are accepted. Casting-house files are typically clean solids and render straight away.
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