Jump to content

Importing DWG files


Recommended Posts

2 minutes ago, Olivia-OBryan said:

We are using Vectorworks Architect 2022. 

I'm also using 2022.  

 

I'm not an expert on Windows computers, but if I'm reading this correctly, I don't think your computer is the problem.  

 

There's no 3D anything on this file.  Not even a texture.

 

Two thoughts: 

 

1.  Some of the polylines with really heavy line weights are displaying in a funny way I don't think I've seen before.  Don't know what it means.  If you knock the super heavy line weights down to something reasonable they display just fine.

2.  There was a long list of fonts that I didn't have on my computer that needed to be substituted.  I let it use Ariel for everything.  Maybe you're mapping to a corrupted font on your computer?  That's a long shot.

Link to comment

There is at least one issue with the dwg file, it is referencing to itself twice

image.thumb.png.1f64e33db3f134294c49a232d1024bde.png

 

With the bind external references it will import 900k+ objects, with ignore external references it will import 475k and something and at first overall glance both imports look the same. Both imports hang a little while around the 80-88% mark but complete the import. The 2nd import is faster than the 1st import though.

 

What happens if you import with the ignore external references selected instead of binding external references?

 

Another possible issue is with the dependencies, Vectorworks might be ignoring those but BricsCAD becomes "not responding" when trying to list them in the drawing explorer.

 

All of us who have replied so far are at least on VW2021 and those of us who could import the dwg are all on VW2022. VW2022 has apparently better dwg/dxf import than VW2020 so it could be that there is something in the file that causes VW2020 to not complete the import and/or crash where VW2022 will continue.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
19 hours ago, michaelk said:

@Art V  Great catch.

 

I don't see any way to figure that out during the VW import.  How would you fix it?

You would need either a DWG based CAD program to view, and fix if necessary, these things or a viewer that can do the same. I doubt that VW would recognize a self-referencing dwg file upon import.

 

Regarding the depencies, it could be anything from fonts to textures, (missing) external references etc. and with 400k+ objects it will take time to find out what object(s) might be causing the issue.

 

Generally speaking any non-readable (or corrupted) data should simply be skipped on import and a message should be shown that data/objects were skipped on import because it couldn't be read/interpreted, without crashing the program.  VW does tell things didn't get imported but that is usually non-compatible things or missing references etc. If it crashes VW but opens apparently ok in a DWG viewer/CAD program then it is most likely that some geometry or data is at fault and then having a DWG based program would be handy to have to be able to dive into the file and fix it. It is too bad that there is no longer a free version of Draftsight as that might have been a suitable option to have alongside VW.

Link to comment
39 minutes ago, Art V said:

You would need either a DWG based CAD program to view, and fix if necessary, these things or a viewer that can do the same. I doubt that VW would recognize a self-referencing dwg file upon import.

That makes sense.  

 

There is an online viewer that's a bit of a pain to use.  That may have been able to deal with references.  There is also a lightweight .dwg viewer for Mac called - unbelievably - MiniCad.  But I don't think it will manage references.

Link to comment

@Olivia-OBryan Attached is your uploaded dwg file with the self-referenced dwg xref removed and the drawing file audited (169 errors fixed). It is now also possible to look at the dependencies without freezing BricsCAD so it was probably some corrupted data inside the DWG file that may have been causing issues during import in VW2020.

 

Could you try importing this file to see if it works now?

LENXR1 (audited).dwg

Link to comment
On 11/1/2021 at 11:47 PM, michaelk said:

@Art V  Great catch.

 

I don't see any way to figure that out during the VW import.  How would you fix it?

Didn't get to it last time but this time I did an audit with fixing errors in the drawing and that solved the dependencies viewing issue. This basically requires having a DWG based CAD program because VW cannot do this upon import as far as I am aware.

 

ODA (Open Design Alliance) has a viewer and converter on their website for Win/Mac/Linux, if I recall correctly the converter can do an audit to fix issues when converting to a different dwg version (or even the same dwg version).

https://www.opendesign.com/

 

@Olivia-OBryan maybe this ODA viewer and/or converter might be an option to install on your machine to view/fix DWG files if they cause issues upon importing in VW2020.

Link to comment
49 minutes ago, Art V said:

@zoomerRemoving the self-referenced xref worked just fine on my measly Windows laptop. Did you try it on your Mac or on your Linux machine?

 

 

Mac of course 🙂

 

I even only downloaded and looked at the DWG as found the self reference interesting.

And to make it more interesting I use a) a M1 Mac and b) under newest OS Monterey 🙂

 

Will load your cleaned file and examine,

Also retry the original reference detach thing under Windows.

 

BTW

V22 doesn't even feel as stable on Windows as I was used too.

Edited by zoomer
Link to comment
8 minutes ago, zoomer said:

BTW

V22 does't even feels as stable on Windows as I was used too.

So far I'm not noticing much difference compared to V21 when it comes to stability. Are you perhaps using add-on applications? Sometimes those can cause some stability issues with BC by itself or conflict with another add-on application and then cause stability issues.

 

Or it could be something from other installed software/OS updates that is causing a glitch. Refreshing the OS install may get rid of some of those things causing problems. I know it did solve some issues in the past on my Windows machine, including issues with VW This might be worth trying if you have done update over update over update on the OS and/or software.

Link to comment

No Add-ons but maybe there are still some hidden problems with latest AMD GPU drivers.

And it has to do with my crappy client IFC or RVT imports. When doing DMSIMPLIFYALL or

DMAUDITALL, before a regular AUDIT.

Which most times would delete about 30% of the crappy geometry in advance 🙂

 

BTW,

currently BC is occupied for an hour to have run through about 50% of a 2D DWG

(exported from a client VWX) for an OPTIMIZE test.

Which is one of the coolest features (personal opinion) I have ever seen.

Didn't realize that existed already in V21.

 

Have you seen the V22. Point Cloud Tools presentation Videos ?

🙂

Edited by zoomer
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...