DWFWriter v3 now only saves single sheets???

[johnstory70451]

This is what is happening with Revit Building after installing the newest version of the writer..... and it is a major pain, not to mention many many times slower than the previous version.

Is this a known thing? Will we have to use DWF Composer to assemble the sheets from now on? What about the linking between sheets on sections and details?

Anybody from the factory want to comment on this?
Somebody please tell me I have some settings wrong.......

[Wes Macaulay]

Yup. DWF 3 sucks. If you can find DWF Writer 2 you'll be happier. I don't know of a download link for it... but I do have it if you want it.

[johnstory70451]

Thanks Wes. Just wanted someone to confirm the problem was someone elses case of Cranial Rectumitis, not mine.

I have the older version and will put it back on the users workstations.

This version creates files that cannot be viewed.... literally. Example of a 64k roof plan file and it hammers the hard drive then never displays in the full view.

Many more improvements like this could be a real problem.........

[Wes Macaulay]

DWF Writer 3 obviously wasn't tested with current versions of Revit... :banghead:

You see all this jawing about DWF is great, see what it does in AutoCAD and Inventor! But wait, it crashes in Revit... oopsy daisy.

I've heard word that Revit is now being tested/developed with DWF 3 so here's hoping it will be more stable than 8.1 and DWF 2 even.

What's so bad about the current situation is that DWF Writer 2 isn't downloadable from Autodesk any more; you have to download it from someplace else. If you didn't know this, you'd think DWF was no good at all with Revit since DWF 3 is not compatible with current versions of Revit.

[Scott D Davis]

DWF's should see improvement as we get new versions of Revit.

[archjake]

DWF's should see improvement as we get new versions of Revit.In the mean time we suffer or just give up.

[aaronrumple]

Ah. But this is the app that will put Adobe out of business....

[Scott D Davis]

In the mean time we suffer or just give up.No, but there should have been a disclaimer on the download to not use DWF 3 with Revit 8.0/8.1. Should also be a link to DWF 2 to continue to use it.

DWF 3 was released AFTER Revit 8.1 was out, so Revit 8.1 was never tested with it.

[Joef]

No, but there should have been a disclaimer on the download to not use DWF 3 with Revit 8.0/8.1. Should also be a link to DWF 2 to continue to use it.

DWF 3 was released AFTER Revit 8.1 was out, so Revit 8.1 was never tested with it.If DWF 3 was released after 8.1 then there is no excuse not to have tested it.

[Scott D Davis]

It's not about testing, but about having the right "links" in place.

DWF 3 (AFAIK) uses a different DWF toolkit in its programming. (Basically the API that allows it to work with other programs).

In this case, Revit 8.1 had a previous toolkit avaialable for DWF 2, and thats the code it was based on. DWF 3 uses a new toolkit, and this toolkit was not available when Revit 8.0/8.1 were being developed.

Make sense? Revit 8.0/8.1 never had the right "tools" avaialble in the code to work with DWF 3, because DWF 3 came out later.

[LRaiz]

No Scott, it does not make any sense. Based on my knowledge of these things it should have been quite doable and not too difficult.

I suspect it was just a case of left hand not knowing what the right one was doing.

[ita]

Scott, this is apologetic B@#$$hit.

Autodesk are big enough and old enough to get this stuff right - no ifs, no buts, or maybe! They do not need defending! The fact that you cannot download a workable DWF writer for the current version of Revit is sloppiness of the highest order.

We are now using an AMD 2x64 bit processor (on a new workstation) which runs 32/64. Most 32 bit applications run perfectly, some have glitches and a a very small number like DWF writer refuse to install - both version 2 and 3!! 64 bit processors and workstations have been around for some 2+ years now and are becoming quite prevalent - so to not have a complying 32 bit app in DWF Writer questions ADesk's intention with DWF as a serious document format.

[Wes Macaulay]

I suspect it was just a case of left hand not knowing what the right one was doing....which happens a fair amount in Autodesk in my experience. But eventually the left and right hands do find each other after the left hand turned the wheel left and the right hand put the vehicle unexpectedly in reverse and put them both in the ditch :lol:

Actually there's no ditch -- you can still use PDF!

But... once it IS fixed, I'd like to see more people using the digital markups via Composer. YES, I know paper is easier, but paper gets lost, paper is harder to file, and paper takes up more space. Save trees, eh?

Here's a link to DWF Writer 2.0 on Download.com:
http://www.download.com/Autodesk-DWF-Writer/3000-6677_4-10276421.html?tag=lst-0-1

[Scott D Davis]

No Scott, it does not make any sense. Based on my knowledge of these things it should have been quite doable and not too difficult.

I suspect it was just a case of left hand not knowing what the right one was doing.
Well, Leonid, I would trust that you would know! So you are saying that with a new Build of 8.1, this could have been pretty easily fixed? I have always said "I'm not a programmer" but sometimes I wish I knew a bit more about it to understand these situations more clearly.

In any case, use DWF 2 for Revit 8.x (thanks Wes for the link) and hold off on DWF 3 until we see what the next version of Revit might have.