converting for Autocad

[MikeB]

I was wondering if any one has a solution for this problem.

The State of Kentucky is requiring us to submit digital information at the end of the CD phase of our projects with them, It is specified that it must be in Autocad V14 formatt. Seems simple but if you have a VW file with a 1" to 1" base sheet and an 1/8th scale plan and some 1 1/2" details for example, if you export as a dwg all the layer are switched to one to one, making the base sheet tiny in comparison to the plan, and essentially making the file impossible to plot in auto cad.

Has anyone seen a script or a utility designed to scale all the objects in a drawing to 1 to 1 while preserving the appearance of the file ( actually changing the size of objects to perserve the look of the sheet)? Or does anyone know of another solution?

Thanks

[ATHendry]

No simple way - it must be done at the Acad level through the use of either inserting the details (or plan or ....) as what Acad calls a "block" (it's actually a separate drawing) or xref'd in (an xref stands for eXternal REFerence, which is a separate drawing as well).

This is not for the "Acad-challenged" - as it does require some forethought and planning.

If you would like me to give you a hand on these please email me off-forum.

Alan T. Hendry

Architect

Clovis, California

Email : athendry@altavista.com

[Ken]

Have you tried "grouping" the layers in Autocad with their Layer Manager commands? It's in their "bonus menus." They function similar to VW's Saved Sheets command.

I always submit Autocad R14 drawings with a variety of scales in different layers (perhaps not as extreme as your example), and have had very good results (agreeable and impressed clients) when different-scale layers are simply turned off or clustered together. Save the view at a zoom-in state. When done in a neat and tidy way, the Autocad operator can easily work with it through XREFs, blocks, or whatnot.

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Kenneth

[Danielj1]

You might try Julian Carr's VectorWorks Essentials. One of the included scripts converts all layers to a single scale for DXF export.

Dan Jansenson

[MikeB]

Thanks Daniel, We bought the essentialls and it works perfect. For anyone interested there are several great tools in the Essentials Package.