Sharing large files for project

[Jon Howard]

I am still having issues with a design client who wants to share exhibition design files with me (I provide the lighting design for their exhibitions). They usually want to send me a single project file, which contains all of the drawings, and usually requires several referenced drawings (the building walls, base build information and so forth). As they are designing 3D exhibitions, then scans or .jpegs  of the objects or artworks are included. The upshot is the file sizes can often reach 800-900MB. For me, only adding a layer of lighting information to each drawing, this makes the files unwieldy & slow to use.

 

At present, the simplest work around for the designers is to export the relevant drawings to me in .dwg format, which I then convert back to .vwx to use. This is clearly silly, and we are now beginning to wonder why we don't just all convert to using Autocad to cut out the middleman.

 

Is there a way the designers could export the drawings that I need in a simple manner without all of the detail that they want to keep? The process of stripping this detail out for them is deeply tedious, so they just send me .dwgs. Why can't Vectorworks offer such a similar feature that reduces the file size, without us needing to invoke a third-party process?

[AlanW]

Would be nice to be able to export design layers, but one solution is to isolate one design layer, copy the information, have them send you the file with only the design layer and paste in place on a new file and export that file. You could either past in place on a new design layer on your drawing or xref it.

[Jon Howard]

Thank you - that's pretty much how we're doing it. I am then sending them back the reduced file, with my information added, and they are copying my layer back into their mega-file.