mcd/dwg/dxf converting

[Createur]

Im working in a danish architect studio with 12 employees. We all work with VW 12,5. It?s at time consuming proces to convert mcd files to dwg/dxf on a weekly basis and exchanging them with our other partners such as clients, ingeniuers etc.

Does anyone know about somekind of plug-in for AutoCad, that makes autoCAD able to import mcd-files? That way we would be able to share the work load with our partners so that we don?t to do both importing and exporting of the CAD-files.

[jfmarch]

none that i know of. we have always found the DWG export exceptional in VW. our consultants have never complained about the DWG quality. i am not sure why you are doing weekly exports, though. that seems to be the headache for you- pehaps you can make your exports more efficient by minimizing the the amount of exports?

[Createur]

We can?t really reduce the number of times we export since it's part of our work methods in Denmark regularly to exchange changes in the design so that ingeniuers always have the latest version of f.ex our floor plans and the other way around. This means numerous file exchanges throughout the design proces.

We also have to work with plans in seperate files since we have to name files in a certain way due to danish design standards and we have to be able to be more than one person working with different floor plans in the same project at the same time.

I haven?t yet seen a batch export feature in VW, which makes it at time consuming proces to export approx. 40 mcd files once every or every second week

[Petri]

Createur, I know what you mean... Batch export would be great - but I don't think really doable. Even the PDF batch export handles only the current file.

You don't give enough information for proposing a workaround, so I'll just make a lot of assumptions.

You might test the following with the engineers:

All floor levels of each building are exported as a single file, with each floor a separate layer. Export data limited to only what they really need; pen colours not ByLayer.

When the engineer XREFs the file, he or she can turn off the non-relevant layers (floors).

In your end, you would use Workgroup Referencing to automatically assemble the document used for the export.

(If this sounds complicated, I'm more than happy to come to Copenhagen for a few days to show how it is done for a modest fee - like expenses and free beer...)

[Createur]

Hey Petri

I previously worked with Bentleys Microstation. That program allowed you to do batch export of numerous files containing only one floor plan, facade, section, detail etc. In Microstation you don?t work with layers - you have only one. You could also do batch prints by selecting the files and telling the software to print according to a frame placed each frame with a certain color, linetype and class. It should be no problem to do batch conversions in VW - but it is

You would just have to be able to pick the files and convert them according to for instance a saved view or layer name and then apply a rule to the naming of the resulting dwg/dxf file. So nemetschek: get on with it

As to the beer Petri - you pay the ticket I pay the beer

Edited December 12, 2006 by Createur