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Exporting Spotlight 3D objects to DWG


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Hi all,

 

I've been trying to troubleshoot a file that a friend sent over. The task is to export a lighting plot which has been drawn in Vectorworks into DWG with all the 3D Spotlight objects in its proper 3D space when being opened in AutoCAD.

 

The lighting plot includes lighting trusses that are at an angle, so Design Layer Viewports have been used to properly display the angled trusses in 3D.

 

I have discovered that once hybrid symbols are being sent into DLVP I am unable to export the 3D objects to DWG properly. The DLVP objects that are exported are in its angled orientation but only with the 2D elements exported and not the 3D elements. The lighting truss and lighting fixtures that are not sent into DLVP - i.e. those that are in its "normal" horizontal orientation remains exported as expected.

 

To demonstrate, I have created a VWX test file with Spotlight 3D objects and exported it to DWG. Attached is the 3D test VWX file, another VWX file with the DWG reimported back in, as well as a couple of snapshots with the export settings. In the snapshots, the truss with its angled orientation is on the left, while the right is the truss with its normal orientation.

 

Possible (serious) bug, or am I doing something wrong?

 

Gabriel

 

3D test VWX file.vwx

3D test DWG import file.vwx

VWX 3D export to DWG - 1.png

Resulting DWG file reimported.png

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Smarter people than me will respond to this. As far as I know, using DLVPs (which I do all the time) is a fantastic tool in VW, but they do not translate to exports. I am not aware if this is an issue with VW > Cinema4D, but it is an issue when exporting to many other sources including Vision. I would assume that would be an issue with DWG files as the angled geometry is really not angled geometry at all; just a picture (for lack of a better term) of standard geometry that has been rotated. 

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I was able to achieve correct results by unchecking:  Display Planar Objects and Project Screen Objects in the DLVP settings and exporting from a 3D view,  not top/plan....   (#5 on the num pad in my case) 

 

image.thumb.png.62bfd2701800df3a682c740e19cf5aad.png

 

 

These were my export settings:

 

image.thumb.png.986c1532bbc8053ce33e6ebe2571ac24.png

 

I re-imported this from the DWG export:

 

image.thumb.png.29d4a8c5f81ccfa02434ea39049d38a2.png

 

Front View:

 

image.thumb.png.64d98d613ddee7a2d91f130d48d418be.png

 

And yes @scottmoore,  I have had success exporting DLVPs to Cinema 4D,   it dumps everything in the DLVP into group named after whatever class the DLVP lived on in VW.    Though I have heard DLVPs don't play well with some other programs.

 

Hopefully this helps!

 

-W

Edited by Wesley Burrows
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At the same time however, it seems that once they are sent to DVLP, even turning the DVLP layer off and then exporting the non-angled version (i.e. the non DVLP layer) still does the same thing, and that is a problem. I did think the DVLP might be an issue during export, it being a snapshot, so it might have been a simple work around to just export the original 3D objects (non DVLP) and then rotate these exported 3D objects in AutoCAD. Unfortunately, the problem still persists.

 

I then tried deleting the DLVP layer, and then re-exported the 3D objects - problem remains - so it seems once it is sent to DLVP the change is permanent. And this for me is a big issue.

 

Gabriel

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