AutoCAD 2006 and DWF files

[SandmanNinja]

Hello all...

I am trying to get a handle on exteriors of houses for modelling in 3ds. I have AutoCAD 2006 and even that freebie program from AutoDesk that converts higher versions of Cad files down so I can read them (TrueView?).

I found a company in the UK that has a bunch of house plans on a CD for pretty cheap. Thing is, their example is a DWF format. I can view the example file in AutoDesk Design Review but cannot export/convert it to a dwg. I fire up AutoCAD 2006 and cannot seem to do anything with the dxf file. I've even tried to 'cheat' and just drag-n-drop the file onto my open AutoCAD. It just sits there as a red icon...

My knowledge of AutoCAD is very limited. I can muck around with the Layer Manager, make poly lines, snap, ortho, etc. Just the basics really to clean up an existing autocad file and get it ready for bringing into 3ds.

I'm sure I'm overlooking something.

I did a search of the forum for DWF but nothing turned up for what I was looking for. Maybe it's too noobish a question...? <shudder>

Thanking you...

[stef.thomas]

DWF is a format used frequently for sending drawings out which allows the recipient to view, print, take measaurements from and add comments/revisions to. But not, as you've discovered, to edit in any way.

Sorry.

[stef.thomas]

A quick search for 'DWF to DWG converter' will reveal a few options, but I couldn't vouch for any of them having never tried it.

[SandmanNinja]

Ah, maybe the company/person released his plans in that format to protect them.

I'll make an inquiry then.

Thank you for explaining that.

[bev.lynn]

Joel, your original post references two formats: DWF & dxf. Which format are the files?

[neko]

if you can print it as a PDF file, you could then use illustrator to export the PDF back as a .DWG (all layers will be lost though).

never tried it myself, but can't see why it wouldn't work.

[SandmanNinja]

I meant DWF. I have a problem when acronyms are too similar...

Neko, thanks! That's a very interesting idea.

[Cad64]

The problem with converting raster to vector in Illustrator is that everything gets broken down into tiny little line segments. Circles, arcs, text, dimensions, etc. It can really become a bit of a mess. So when you open the converted dwg file in Autocad, you will have to do a lot of clean up before you will be able to take it into Max, or whatever you plan to do with it. You're almost better off re-drawing the thing. I see you're using Autocad 2006. If you had 2007 or newer, you could insert the dwf as an underlay and trace over it.

[Cad64]

There are also several dwf to dwg conversion programs out there. I don't know if they're any good, but if you're going to be converting a lot of these dwf's, you might want to check them out.

[SandmanNinja]

Got an email back saying the actual files are DWG, the company just released the DWF to protect themselves.

Now I have wait 2 weeks for the disc to arrive...

Thanks for all the help