importing dwg nightmares

[sarah_earney]

I'm having trouble importing files from dwg (either suppliers details originating in autocad or some from the other side of the office coming from microstation).

The window details are made of a load of fiddly little polygons, which when I import them with the '2d objects only' option gives me 2d polygons that I can't clip or combine.

If I import them with the 'either 2d or 3d objects' option then they turn into 3d polygons that I can't snap to along the line. If I then select them and turn them into polygons VW actually turns them into individual lines and groups them all together (regardless how many 3d polygons there were selected they all get grouped into one broken down into lines), which means I can't just do a custom selection for all 3d objects and turn them all into polygons at once. Since there are about 17000 of these 3d polygons in one file I am not going to do them individually.

Is there a solution to this or should I just go and learn microstation?

[islandmon]

Think globally ... act locally ; )

Are there any selectable classes ?

Do you require 2d or 3d or hybrid symbols ?

[sarah_earney]

I want polygons that I can clip, move, stretch and combine, no symbols whatsoever. I don't have any symbols in these files, just strange polygons, or polygons behaving strangely. They are all on the same layer and class as a whole load of innocent objects that are fine, so not selectable other than doing a custom selection for objects that are 3d polygons. Selecting them is fine, what do I do to them to make them behave like a normal polygon?!

The ones I'm having most trouble with were I think originally Acad symbols, that then got imported into microstation, and then dwg'ed back out again and into VW.

VW 12.0.0 by the way, on a mac mini G4.

[Guest]

The objects are likely to be networks of lines and segmented polgyons with no surface. The key to using this information is the objects need to have surfaces, or capable of creating a surface.

You'll have to do a little leg work and dig into the file to determine the nature of the objects.

When you select the objects, are they reporting as polygons or lines?

Do they have a solid fill, or no fill?

Can you add a fill?

If the objects are networks of lines, they will need to be added together (composted or connect combine tool) to join together and convert to a continuous polygon. A polygon (or polyline) can have a surface applied (solid fill) and then cliped.

Whether the shapes are lines or polygons, you should be able to clip, copy, edit, reshape, etc. the shapes using the 2D reshape tool and other editing tools.

I would bet the different parts of the window are classed, so make sure the class options allow you to select/modify across layers (View > Class Options > Show Snap Modify Others)

The issue between importing as 2d or 3d isn't really an issue.

If you choose the 2D import option, everything will import as 2D only. If you choose the 3D import option, all 2D objects will be converted to 3D polys and all existing 3D objects import as such.

If you choose 2D and 3D import option, then the 2D objects come in as 2D objects and the 3D objects come in as 3D objects.

It sounds by the description, the windows were created in elevation using 2D simple shapes.

Lastly, in order to maximize information in the file, you'll need to decide how you want to use this information.

Are you going to use the windows in 3D models, just for details, part of 2D schematic design, etc.

Knowing that determine how the objects should be imported, edited, and created. Yes, you may find yourself redrawing parts of the window.

[ErichR]

Sarah, it can truly be a nightmare: There's more to it - you end up with a gazillion 3D polygons, when what you want is, at the bare minimun, lines.

Also, the importing of an ACAD drawing results in all Blocks being imported as Symbols. It's like everything that is a group in VW being converted into a symbol. In the case of importing an ACAD file, there can be hundreds of resulting "symbols".

Unless I am missing something, there may not be a convenient workaround. Plus scale: If you encounter an annotation or drawing done within ACAD's viewports, I challenge you to make use of the ACAD file.

Hopefully, this dialog will generate some needed responses. We would be pleased to read Katie's response.