DWG import of site survey turns into gigantic circles in design layers, sheet layer fine

[JohnAthayde]

I've imported a DWG we received from our surveyor into Vectorworks (first time trying this, and I don't have other files to try and replicate) and it looks fine in the sheet layer. Click over to the design layer and the object that was drawn in AutoCAD at 1:1 shows up as a big purple circle. offset at -1600' in both the X and Y. 

 

Is this a configuration issue? I can have them export it in a different format or change things in the original file if needed, but want to make sure this isn't something I'm doing wrong on my end (and as a new VW user, I'm willing to bet that the issue lies right here between the screen and the chair )

[Benson Shaw]

Something to try:

 

Your OIP shows 2 symbols.  On the Design Layer, Do a Select All, then zoom to selection.  You may have more than two objects selected. They may be little tiny dots widely separated.  Try to select each one and zoom to selection.  One of them should be the geometry.  The others might be the sheet border or a text block or other incidental object at far remove from the site geometry.

 

 

 Good luck!

 

 

[mike m oz]

Check the scale of your Design Layer.

[rDesign]

Like Mike mentioned, I would try changing the scale of the Design Layer containing the Imported DWG to match the 1" = 120' of the Sheet Layer, it doesn't need to be at 1:1 scale. (That purple circle you mention looks to be about 0.05" in width). You can also try turning off 'Zoom Line Thickness'.

Edited January 13, 2017 by rDesign

[AlanW]

Try importing the file with this box ticked.

[JohnAthayde]

Started with Benson's suggestion - deleted those two circles (zoomed all the way in and there was nothing else there) and then zoomed to fill content on the design layer and it has the drawing.

 

After adjusting the scale to match 1" = 120' (1:1440), the drawing has all sorts of gray circles overlapping (I change the lines from Autocad colors to grey so I could see it more easily). 

 

Alan's suggestions got it in without the gray circles and scaled correctly. 

 

Also, I converted the document to 1:1 in Autocad, deleted out the paper space, and was able to import it 1:1 into VW and it's setup correctly. Coming from AutoCAD, is there a reason to not draw in design layers at 1:1? 

 

Thank you everyone for your quick replies and help

[Pat Stanford]

The main reason for drawing at a scale other than 1:1 is that it allows you to use and see reasonable line weight and text sizes in the drawing. It can also more easily let you see how things are going to layout on the sheet.

 

If your final output is going to be at 1/4" scale on a 24x36 inch sheet, if you draw at 1/4"=1ft scale, with the page boundary turned on, you can see exactly (WYSIWYG) how your final drawing is going to look.  Moving a few scales up or down you can use the scaling factors in viewport Advanced Settings to bring things back if you need detail or a site plan.

 

Everything is still drawn at real sizes. Think of the page scale as kind of a permanent zoom to make it easier to visualize page vs drawing size.

[JohnAthayde]

Ah okay. Makes sense, Pat. Thanks!