DWG from Revit

[Roger Evans]

This should be a simple question to answer ..
What is the best way / method of forwarding a DWG to someone to read in Autocad from a Revit Model? eg basic Plans Sections Elevations

First I should explain that I do not have Autocad .. & I have absolutely no experience with it .. (don't really want to) .. but I need to forward email a DWG

Do you forward a sheet containing various views ?? Or do you send each view plan / elevation / etc individually & seperately??

When I export to DWG I note it saves with DWG & PCP versions
So what exactly do you have to send for it to be read properly?

I've tried importing a drawing sheet with various views saved as DWG back into a blank Revit file but have no yardstick or knowledge of Autocad by which to judge how good it is ~ also some elevations missing from the original sheet.

I look forward to your erudite advice.

[Allen Lacy]

I usually send each view separately. I don't bother with the PCP file. If you send a sheet, Revit creates a sheet which xrefs each view on to it. If your end user is not an experienced Autocad user, then this might be confusing. If they are, then they should be able to create their own sheet.

[luigi]

Hi Roger,

First of all, if you don't have autocad to review the drawing before you email it, there isn't much to do. I found that there are always a few things to modify before emailing it to our consultants.

In which way to send cad drawings depend for what reason they need it. In our case there is a difference between consultants under our contract and anybody else (except for the client himself)

Consultants under our contract:
Usually they need the raw cad drawing to use as an underlay for their cad work. So they need just the floor plans, ceiling plans. In this case I just export each view (not the sheet) for them. I will also make sure that our title block is exported (we make them use our title block)

Any other consultants or people NOT under our contract:
We have a policy to first get it signed off and then not to give them our titleblock. I would only give them what they need (i.e. any of plans, elevations, sections, details, 3d) usually it is a plan, or site plan. If for some reason they need the construction document set, then we would export the various sheets, but then not foward our title block drawing.

The way Revit/Autocad relate to each other is that when you export a sheet to Autocad, Revit will export the sheet as a drawing (all items drawn or placed in the sheet, not views) and there will be an export for each view that Autocad then references in the Sheet drawing.
The pcp file is a file that Autocad (if the user in the other end knows how to use it :) ) will tell autocad about the color of the lines and thickness, a method of controlling the plotting of the sheet.

I hope this helps, I am sorry there couldn't be a shorter answer.
If you need more help, please let me know.

[Roger Evans]

Thanks for the reply guys

I've existed to date by screen capture of views / drg sheet & Jpegging .. but I've noted that some text on the sheet disappears for some reason ..

Will text on the dwg still be readable??

Thanks again

[Allen Lacy]

Thanks for the reply guys

I've existed to date by screen capture of views / drg sheet & Jpegging .. but I've noted that some text on the sheet disappears for some reason ..

Will text on the dwg still be readable??

Thanks again Yes, though the font might not be the same.

[Alex Page]

Also note that if you have revit models linked to your main model, this will come through as an xref to autocad as well..therefore you will need to send all .dwgs created when you export them, not just the obvious one

[ejburrell67787]

In addition to all the advice given above, I would suggest that unless you are emailing the drawings to a consultant that needs the actual CAD data, it is better to email them as PDF or DWF files instead of DWGs. This way you ensure that they get a file that shows exactly what you see and expect them to see (no lost elevations, no changes or loss of text...). Also viewers for these file types are free so anyone can view them and print them.

Elrond

[Roger Evans]

Had some feedback today from the company I sent the DWG

They couldn't open my DWGs & have requested I resend in Version 2000
They use Autocad Lite 2000

I'll now try them with a pdf instead ~ but I would appreciate advice on above

Thanks

Roger

[PeterJ]

They couldn't open my DWGs & have requested I resend in Version 2000
They use Autocad Lite 2000

I'll now try them with a pdf instead ~ but I would appreciate advice on above
There is an option when you export to do so as AutoCAD 2004 or 2000, it defaults to 2004 - not unreasonable as that is what Autodesk would no doubt wish everyone to be using, but still a pain in the backside much of the time...

Look for a dropdown box just below where you enter the name of the export

[Allen Lacy]

When you export as DWG file, you have the option of saving as AutoCad 2004 DWG, AutoCad 2004 DXF, AutoCad 2000 DWG , AutoCad 2000 DXF or Mircostation DGN. This option is just below the file name to be exported.

[Roger Evans]

Doh .. & thanks .. just found it

[cjneedham]

I have a customer that has had problems with Multiple Export of DWG files, where viewports on sheets end up displaying the incorrect views of the xrefs attached beneath - ie. they are left with 'empty' viewports. Has anyone else found this problem? Has anyone found a solution, or is it a bug?

Regards to all.

[beegee]

I remember a problem like this from some time ago.

I think it was fixed in a new build. Check which build the customer has and if necessary install the latest and test that.

[Steve_Stafford]

Is it possible that the names of sheets and views are so long that they are getting truncated resulting in some "same" file names on batch export. Which means some files are overwritten with the "wrong" views?

[PeterJ]

It was a problem I ran into frequently doing batch exports under 5.1 (and maybe 6) but working methods here have changed slightly so it hasn't been noted recently. There appeared to be a bug but I'm afraid I don't recall it's exact characteristics. At the time we simply did a series of individual exports but the projects were only requiring 10 or so drawings go to consultants, not all the detail views and do on.

[cjneedham]

Beegee,

They're on 6.1 so I don't see that as being much of a chance.

Steve_Stafford,

I can check this out, but isn't it Revit that comes up with this nomenclature? If so, it would be a pretty serious error, I would think (more people would be complaining?)

PeterJ,

I'd like to tell them to do them all individually too, but they've got hundreds to do... I've submitted something to Autodesk, so we'll see what comes of that.

Thanks all.

[Steve_Stafford]

I can check this out, but isn't it Revit that comes up with this nomenclature? If so, it would be a pretty serious error, I would think (more people would be complaining?) I don't think as many folks batch export to dwgs as we might imagine....

I suggested this in light of THIS THREAD (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=5078&highlight=export)