A major flaw with DWG importer??

[Dar]

Hello

I have a 2d autocad plan of a retail store with all the fixtures in place as blocks. How do I get this drawing into max with the blocks converted to instances? Having to replace every single block manually with a 3d model seems like such a waste of time when it has already been done in the 2d plan. I want to change just one instance and have all the other positioned instance change automatically.

Any help would be really appreciated

[mikedeerf]

That's a good question - unfortunately I don't know either - if you find anything out, please post the answer - it'd be a faster way to handle landscaping plans with 20-30 identical tree blocks too...

[chiquito]

sounds tricky, whay I would do is the following.

first have two dwg´s. One with the intance elements (your blocks) you want to have on the on max.

To do this, you just select the elements, and ctrl + c, and on another autocad dwg, edit, paste to original coordinates.

import the blocks dwg in max, and save it as a single file.

Then you xref that one to the whole retail dwg imoported to max.

 

another way, would be to save the block originaly from autocad, lets say you called that one "1" explode one block, and have the same insertion point, and you save that one as "2", now double click any block "1" and redraw just a tick, lets say. Have this blocks "1" in a diferent layer.

export everything to max.

when you want to render a proper thing, revert to autocad, and double click "2" renaming it to "1", all blocks will change, then you export only that layer.

I hope I wasnt to confusing, and That It helped.

Good luck, share your results

M.

[chiquito]

Just out of curiosity, what would you want a 2d in a 3d application?

[mikedeerf]

Dar - please correct me if I misunderstood you,

 

But the situation I believe he's asking about is like this:

say you're working on a big store, and there are 200 shelf units on a floor. Someone already took the time in 2D CAD to copy those blocks 200 times and change the rotation, etc.

 

Keep in mind I'm a beginner with Viz/Max, but I think with DWG import or file link, you can replace a single block with a single 3D object. But you'd have to do that 200 times, pretty much duplicating the work the 2D drafter already did.

 

Dar, are we on the same train of thought??

[mikedeerf]

Forgot to say - Martin, I'm still trying to work through your idea in my head. I'm not sure I've grasped it right, but it sounds interesting. If I ever get some free time I might try to work through it...

[mikedeerf]

Sorry for the multiple posts. Martin, I just got what you were saying. If Dar was looking for a way to have the 2D AutoCAD blocks still display as 2D spline blocks in Max, he'd go the separate xref route as a way to avoid deleting all the imported blocks and re-importing when something moves.

I think that file link is supposed to deal with that issue, if that's what you're looking for Dar. Have you used File Link at all?

[chiquito]

never tryed file link before... I will

[mikedeerf]

Ok, I think I might have it.

I'm still having a hard time telling what's an instance, and what's an individual entity, but here's what I did:

 

1. created an AutoCAD drawing - drew a circle, made it a block, called "tree", copied it 4 times in the drawing.

2. created a Viz drawing - created an AEC foliage object, called it "tree"

3. reset Viz to a new scene.

4. imported the CAD drawing, using entity by object (note: tried File Link first, and the replace command didn't seem to work right - so forget I mentioned File Link, I think)

5. used the Tools\Rename command to rename the 4 objects "tree" (instead of "block:tree"

6. cloned one of the "tree" circles to create 2 instances (in addition to the 4 originals) - there are now 6 objects, 4 called "tree", 1 called "tree01", 1 called "tree02"

7. used the File\Replace command, picked the .max file from step 2, selected "tree" in the object list

8. voila! all 6 circles disappeared and were replaced by the AEC foliage object - even the Tree01 and Tree02 (wasn't sure that would work).

 

When I go to add the "skew" modifier to one of the objects, it automatically selects all 6 trees and applies the modifier to all - so it seems as if they're all acting as instances. But I could be wrong.

 

Hope that helps with what you're working on...

[mikedeerf]

Of course trees have the advantage of being round. So the AutoCAD blocks had their insertion points at the center of the circle, and Viz puts the insertion of AEC trees at the center of the trunk.

 

So to use Replace with non-round objects, you'll have to experiment with insertion points and rotation values, but I think we're on the right track, unless someone has a better idea and/or a command I don't know about yet.

[chiquito]

brian, seems like you have got it, at least from what I understood of the original issue.

[neko]

nice work brian - i've struggled with that issue myself.

 

thanks for doing all the hard work !

[mikedeerf]

This thread should be titled "Replace is the greatest command in the history of the World!"

 

Ok, maybe not, but I sure am glad you asked your question, Dar. I hope that helps you as much as it helped me.

 

I just tried it out with a real landscaping plan, and I now have a new workflow that will save HOURS of time. Our Landscape plans are done with a set library of blocks (shrub1, shrub2, decid1, evergreen1, etc. etc.). Then the blocks are scaled and what-not in CAD for different sized vegetation.

 

For the plan I just used, there are 49 trees, 115 shrub1's, 54 shrub2's, and 18 shrub6's.

 

I created a .max file with 2 foliage objects, one for the trees, one for one of the shrub types.

 

Replace finished my plan for me. It even scaled the foliage objects according to the scale factor on the individual blocks from AutoCAD. Last time I did a project, I would have imported 4 Vue trees, and then gone about cloning the objects 236 times, moving each to the right location and varying the scale, etc. Freaking A!

 

(now the veterans here are laughing pretty hard, I bet - I'm sure I'm about the last to discover this "new" command. But I don't mind, I'm REALLY happy.)

[Brian Smith]

page 9 of this tutorial shows how it can be done...while keeping the proper orientation as well. it works for what you're trying to do just as it does for the landscaping in the tutorial

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/upclose/VI/Week8/Creating_Vegetation_Large_Scale.pdf

[Zdravko Barisic]

I have never used file>replace command, but inseated file>merge with the same names of the object I want to replace, now I will try file>replace.

How about rotation/scaling, they are calculeted too?

Thats magic!

 

@Dar

 

You ar the hero of the Month!

 

@Mods/Admins

 

What do you think about new stuff, something like 10 topics of the month/ or week? Not from gallery, just great questions +answers? The users will define it by them seld by cklicking on some button?

[Dar]

thanks for all the info.

I have been away and on different jobs so havn't had a chance to digest all this. Sounds like replace is what i was after. Will let you know what the results are.

 

LAter

Dar