Microstation to AutoCAD export does not display properly?

[mat8iou]

Has anyone else come across this problem?

 

I've only noticed it since switching to Microstation XM & to AutoCAD 2007 / 2008. It may have been a problem before that, but if it was I never noticed it.

 

The problem only seems to affect some drawings - others work fine. When the drawings are exported, everything looks fine in wireframe view. If you turn on shaded view in AutoCAD though, it displays strangely - similar to if you had "discard back faces" turned on - but more random than that - bits are missing from almost all the faces. Sometimes it displays fine at first - then you zoom in & the problem appears but remains when you zoom out. Sometimes the problem only shows in quick renders in viewports - if you do a full render it looks ok. Other times it doesn't sem to display properly at all.

 

When the problem occurs, the exported file is pretty much unusable in AUtoCAD, as it is so hard to set up any sort of 3D view because the previews are so confusing.

 

I've never had this problem with files created in AutoCAD - ony those that originated in Microstation.

 

Its not a graphics card problem, as I've tried opening the same file on various different machines.

 

For exporting, most of the options are set to create regions rater than faces or polyface meshes.

 

Has anyone else seen this problem - or does anyone else have any solutions for it?

[Tonsgaard]

It is most possibly because of wrong translation into a bunch of polys with random flipped normals...

When doing a save as dwg in XM, try the following.

 

click the options button in the save as panel, and go to entity mapping rollout.

Set flat Solids and surfaces, and curved solids and surfaces to ACIS Entity (Body or 3d Solid)

 

that could possibly do the trick..

[Tommy Burns]

I have the same problem and its xm too. It seems that xm has two types of solids smart and just solid and one of these show as a wireframe if you use the asci solid in entity mapping. What I do is make it all a mesh although then its harder to modify if you just want to use it in autocad but in max its easier to modify using vertices. It's a real pain to work between microstation and max and this has led me to learn how to model in max and believe me its well worth it especially when you have changes to do as there always are.

 

Hope this helps

 

Maybe there is someone out there that knows how to export flawlessly as promised in xm but is actually worse than v8. they could even post their export option settings file.

[mat8iou]

I'm glad someone else has noticed this problem too. Form what you describe, it is exactly the same thing as I'm seeing.

 

Unfortunately, exporting to polyfaces makes life very awkward, as people are wanting to edit some of these models in AutoCAD.

 

You are right though - prior to XM, it seemed to work far better. It seems almost as though the regions / solids are coming through as corrupted in some way - they look fine, but in reality they don't work as expected.

 

I just don't understand how something that worked fine can then stop working anywhere near as well in a newer version.

[cdos00]

It is how they get you guys to upgrade to BIM. (joking of course)

 

I have been doing most of my models in Sketch Up instead of doing it in XM just because I am afraid of attempting to learn a new modeling program (I have always modeled my solids in Acad before switching to a MS house.)