Recovering Data from Corrupt 3DM Files

By Darla Alvarez, GIA Jewelry Design & Technology Instructor

CAD files, lacking tangible qualities, are not always thought of as being real, per se, until something goes wrong with them. Many conditions can corrupt files, such as a failing hard disk or a poor file transfer caused by a bad USB port. Using the Open or Import options will fail to load these files. Rhinoceros 3D does have a tool that can make file recovery possible, Rescue .3DM File, which can read a file with errors. Being a Rhinoceros 3D function, it is accessible in Rhino-based jewelry plug-ins as well. We can even test this tool out on a good file to see how it works.