Import DWG from Archicad

[Roger Evans]

I am working on a refit of a small unit which is part of a larger (already built) project

The previous architect has sent me a dwg plan & elevation saved from Archicad ~ the file is unreadable when I import it ~ very small & lacks detail & I have no idea of the scale he used or saved as

My main problem is that I work in isolation from other programs so my understanding is very limited at best. The intention was to try and save me some effort in redrawing the external elevations & the adjoining units

What should I ask him to resend the file as Another dwg? or an Archicad File ? Should I ask him for the 3D model & try importing that? How do you check scale? etc

Any help appreciated

Cheers

Roger

[Merlin]

I am working on a refit of a small unit which is part of a larger (already built) project

The previous architect has sent me a dwg plan & elevation saved from Archicad ~ the file is unreadable when I import it ~ very small & lacks detail & I have no idea of the scale he used or saved as

My main problem is that I work in isolation from other programs so my understanding is very limited at best. The intention was to try and save me some effort in redrawing the external elevations & the adjoining units

What should I ask him to resend the file as Another dwg? or an Archicad File ? Should I ask him for the 3D model & try importing that? How do you check scale? etc

Any help appreciated

Cheers

Roger

Hi Roger,
I'm not quite sure about the latest ArchiCAD but it used to export to .dxf format and not .dwg...(if it does then ArchiCAD has done some catch-up!) ...and, yes!, ArchiCAD's exporting does have some severe scaling issues!....when I last saw an ArchiCAD export it was something like 1:1000 scale of full size.

The first thing I would be tempted to do would be to open it in AutoCAD.....if it's in a .dwg format then open it in the program designed for it first......you say you don't have that?....hmmm....I guess I'd try to fiddle with the scale at import.

Keep us posted.
John Mc

[nole]

Hi there!
When importing DWG in file dialog there is opportunity to set Scale factor. If You think that Your dwg contains small length lines, than You should set Scale Factor 10 or 100 and try to import. When geometry of the dwg shows in Revit, than You should be able to dimension it and figure out real units of that geometry.

[Roger Evans]

This place is amazing ... replies from Brisbane & the Ukraine ...

Answer to scale was to import 1000 I now have plans that scale

Stage 2 of Question

The DWG Elevations only import to Plan views .. is this normal ?

How do you sort this out? is this Normal for DWG import stuff ? Is it Archicad specific ?

What's the best way to display DWG elevation ?

Cheers

Roger

[dgreen.49364]

You can go to a Revit elevation and import an AutoCAD elevation directly into it. I've done this as background information.

[trombe]

Hi,
probably a bit late for this, but I have had to import a few dwg files exported from ArchiCAD 8.1 and 9.
In all cases, if you know the scale it was exported as / from, it will usually open clean in Revit (well it did in 8 and 8.1).
I have had that scale issue of tiny blobs and several other issues with ArchiCAD imports like the no modelspace elements, wanna try paperspace ? go on, you know you WANT TO !
It was a right pain !!!
cheers
trombe