Read IGES for PLY conversion
A IGES-to-PLY workflow combines the IGES reader with the PLY writer. Use it when the receiving application needs PLY data from an existing IGES model.
Read IGS or IGES geometry with the OCCT IGES interface. Inspect the transferred curves, surfaces and topology before conversion: an IGES model may contain disconnected surfaces or wire geometry rather than a closed solid.
Select the polygon data required by the PLY consumer
For mesh output, tessellate the imported faces and inspect boundaries between adjacent surfaces. Curves alone do not define a surface mesh. For BRep output, determine whether sewing or shape healing is needed before writing the translated geometry.
Write a polygonal derivative with the OCCT PLY interface. Agree on the mesh and property fields needed by the consumer: the PLY extension alone does not guarantee compatible color or other per-element property handling. Keep assembly and CAD metadata separately when it has no destination mapping.
Validate the PLY result
Check units, surface coverage, open boundaries and tolerances. A successful translation does not establish watertightness or restore product structure that the source IGES file did not contain.
Reopen the PLY in the downstream processing tool and compare units, bounds, surface coverage and the expected properties. Native PLY support in the catalog is write-only; this route does not imply a native PLY reader for the reverse direction.
For a production pipeline, keep a representative source file and its expected geometry and attributes with the conversion settings. Discuss conversion integration with the source and destination applications, or compare the supported format interfaces.