VW to Acad

[marvinman]

Hi all, I';m new here and new to VW. I an Acad user, and every time a client send use VW dwg's there turn out pretty bad in the conversions process. Is there anyway to improve the export, so the dwg's will be better quality?

1. Most of the line don't intersect at a comment point, these 1/16" or so off.

2. Most of the objects are on the same layer "NONE"

thx for any help.

[Guest]

Is the problem when you import the file into VW or when you export a VW file to a dxf/dwg file and it's opening in AutoCad?

If it's when you import the file, the problem is in the AC file. Most versions of AC don't have a good accuracy level, and can only draw to a few decimal places, whereas VectorWorks can draw several decimal places out. It is easy to get a poorly drawn AC file and have lines intersecting improperly or not fitting together just right.

I've noticed this with alot of manufacturer part drawings. Kohler is the most recent I've worked with. Alot of the lines aren't lined up correctly and are off by a good bit in some instances.

Importing an AC file will put everything in one layer, unless there are several model space pages. Each model space page in AC will come in as one layer in VW, which usually ends up being "none". AutoCad layers come in as VW classes.

[ 03-25-2004, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: Katie ]

[marvinman]

No you misunderstood me. It's the opposite of what you said. I'm not an VW user, I'm an Acad user and my experience is the VW file aren?t very accurate. However sure both Acad and VW are vary accurate in there native program. We draw all our plans to 1/64" or 6 decimal places out. I?m sure it?s the translation process that causes the inaccuracies.

Basically, I'm asking if there is anything I can tell my client (who is using VW) how to export the dwg better so it's more accurate and not all on the same layer.

thx,

Barry

[jan15]

Barry:

re: your item 1: I've exported many drawings to DWG format and then opened them in AutoCad and found the geometry is identical. And VectorWorks geometry is very accurate. Perhaps your client is using "Snap to Grid", with a 1/16" Snap Grid, and snapping to grid points that appear to be intersections or endpoints but in fact are grid points nearby. To stop that, turn off "Snap to Grid" in the "Constraints" palette.

re: your item 2: VectorWorks has 2 features that can be translated to AutoCad "Layers". It has "Classes", which are very similar to AutoCad "Layers", and it has "Layers", which are not at all like AutoCad "Layers". VectorWorks "Layers" are more like what we normally mean by the word "layer", of things arranged one on top of another. "Layers" also have scale associated with them.

When exporting to DWG, VectorWorks gives the user the choice to export either "Layers" or "Classes" as AutoCad "Layers". It sounds like your colleague is using the default setting, "Export Classes as AutoCad Layers", since "None" is the default Class (like AutoCad's Layer "0"). You could tell your client to change the setting to "Export Layers as AutoCad Layers" in the "Export Options" window that pops up during export.

Are you sure your client is using multiple Layers or Classes? I think most VectorWorks users do use many of one or both, but it's less necessary in VectorWorks than in AutoCad because of all the additional ways we have of organizing drawing elements. I personally almost never use more than one Class, and for construction drawings that are going to be printed in black and white, I usually use one to three Layers for each scale on each sheet. So if I were doing a not too complicated drawing on only one sheet, and at only one scale, the file would have only one Class and one Layer.

[Guest]

Barry,

I apologize for the miscommunication. Your post was vague and I wasn't sure which side of the spectrum you were on.

Chances are, there is something the VW person isn't doing properly, I am going to assume that they are not using the correct snap points.

If you want, have them email their VW file to me and I'll look at it.

You are getting the none layer because they are drawing everything in the VW none class.

I'll be happy to talk to the VW user about how to draw files more efficiently.