Our office has been very successful integrating VW with Cinema4D via the XChange Plug-in. Our multi-floor building projects are modeled in 3D in VW using one layer per floor, all of the layers have their own unique Z heights, then a single layer is exported using the Layer Link feature with all layers stacking properly where the model can be textured, lighted, rendered and animated in C4D. All works wonderfully.
Like many shops we sometimes need to send our drawings to other firms using AutoCAD. We prefer producing our drawings with layers stacked on top of each other for obvious reasons, and for the 3D aspect mentioned above, but exporting in this way creates an unusable AutoCAD file. We are trying to devise a way to avoid exporting layer-by-layer every time as many of our projects are browstone renovations that have 7 or 8 floors.
I'm wondering if maybe there is a way, using Workgroup Referencing and/or Symbols and/or Groups to create a target/slave file meant solely for AutoCAD export that we can simply update prior to export to pull in all of the latest drawings from each of the layers in a Master file. My testing has confirmed that this works to the extent that exporting to AutoCAD basically "flattens" all of the different design layers into one ACAD model space. All of the WGRs become editable as if there was no WGR in the first place, essentially as if all of those vectors were native to the exported file, not referenced.
I have very little experience with WGR and I assumed that using it would allow us to create all of our links and then place them as we wish around the design layers (to simulate how ACAD users scatter drawings all around the model space), similar to how Viewports reference design layers and can be moved around in a Sheet Layer. This can be done in the design layers after unlocking but obviously once "Update" is used they all move back to their origins based on the master files' origins.
Any input would be much appreciated.
