DWG to VWX lighting plan conversion - Symbol offset issue

[Cookie_NZ]

Greetings all,

 

I'm converting a DWG lighting plan to Vectorworks and have run into a problem with some of the instrument symbols from the DWG. 

My usual tactic for this is to import the DWG into VW, then select each set of symbol types by name (All of the 2k fresnels for example).  Then replace those with my 2k fresnel symbol & run the convert to instrument command.  This was working well until... some of the original symbols in the DWG are drawn a very long way from the origin (38km in one example).  If I replace these with my instrument symbols, they end up a long way off the plan.  I can't do a global move on these either as they have all been individually rotated to indicate focus, so effectively all end up with a different offset.

 

Any ideas much appreciated! 

[Pat Stanford]

Is your site actually so big that you have lights 38km apart? Or is it just that the DWG has come in that far from the origin.

 

If it is the later, then either look in the Help or search here for information on moving the origin or for importing while using custom origins. This can give you dimensions that match the DWG, but put the drawing much closer to VWs "origin" (and probably the page center) that it uses for calculations and display.

[Cookie_NZ]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the prompt reply.  The DWG for the site came in fine. (And no it's not 38km wide!). The problem is in the individual symbols in the DWG.  If you edit one of these symbols, the light is drawn 38km from the origin.  So if I replace one with a symbol that is drawn at 0,0 then it ends up 38km from the original symbol on the plan.

 

 

[Pat Stanford]

Is the 38km offset the same for all the symbols? If so, could you replace and then Move. The Move command should retain the settings from the previous time. 

 

An extra couple of keystrokes for every symbol, but not a lot you can do about a poorly drawn import.

 

Or maybe better.  How many different DWG symbol definitions need to be changed?  Maybe Edit the symbol definition, figure out the offset the objects need to be moved by to put the origin at 0,0 and make the move. Then use Custom Selection to find every instance of that symbol and move it by the inverse amount of how you edited the symbol def?

 

On a lot of other days I would offer you a script, but I am slammed until at least the middle of next week.

[Cookie_NZ]

Hi Pat,

 

Yes the offset is the same for each type of symbol made, but they have all been individually rotated to indicate focus (see attached screen shot).  So the relative 0,0 point to each one is in a different place depending on how it's been rotated.  So unfortunately I can't just replace and move as it doesn't take into account the rotation angle.  

I'm sure there's some maths that could sort this out, but it's more than my brain can manage!