Autodesk Platform Services Model Derivative: convert CAD to mesh formats
domain: autodesk.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Authenticate via APS (Autodesk Platform Services, formerly Forge) OAuth with data:read/data:write scopes.
Upload/register the source CAD file in an APS Data Management bucket/object, then base64 (URL-safe) encode its URN.
POST to the Model Derivative /designdata/job endpoint specifying the source URN and desired output formats (e.g. OBJ, STL, STEP, SVF2).
Poll GET /designdata/{urn}/manifest until the job's status for the requested output is "success".
Download the derivative output (e.g. the OBJ/STL mesh) via the manifest's derivative URNs using the Model Derivative download endpoints.
Known gotchas
Model Derivative is an asynchronous translation job queue — small files can finish in seconds but complex assemblies can take minutes, so polling or webhooks are required rather than expecting a synchronous response.
Not every source format supports every output format directly; some solid-to-mesh conversions require pairing with the separate Design Automation API rather than Model Derivative alone.
URNs must be base64 (URL-safe) encoded exactly as APS expects — malformed URN encoding is a very common integration error.
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