Max - DWG Question

[danieljhatton]

Hi,

Just a general Max Question. Might be a good idea to have a forum for Max questions unrelated to vray.

My question is, is there a way to display the text present in DWG files? I have used the file link manager to bring in a DWGsurvey and it would be an advantage to show the text indicating particular height values of landscape. It would save alot of back and forth to AutoCAD to read the values.

Thanks

Danny

[percydaman]

we do have a forum for non vray related questions. It's called the take 5/off topic section. Enjoy your ride.

[peterguthrie]

I think I had this problem once

Try importing as a legacy dwg (and saving as such) autocad file under import. Not sure about dwg linking.

If this is nonsense, then sorry, but its been a while... Autocad... shudder

EDIT: I just tried it and it didnt work, memory is failing me, sorry!

[mikeh]

acad text does not read in max or viz. If you want to have the teaxt in you max/viz dwg you will need to plot the dwg file to pdf then convert it to jpg then pop it on a object in max that is sized correctly and place the object under the max linework. Sounds convoluted but it works.
mh

[dlparisi]

You can explode all of the text in autocad before importing. This will convert it all to just lines and arcs. You'll need to use the "explode text" tool under the bonus tools, not the standard explode command.

[percydaman]

ya i was going to suggest there had to be a way to tell autocad is was no longer text and just lines/polylines. But then I usually delete all that text stuff before importing into max anyways.

[travistlo]

You can explode all of the text in autocad before importing. This will convert it all to just lines and arcs. You'll need to use the "explode text" tool under the bonus tools, not the standard explode command.

Make sure to use a Outline font. If you use a filled font (like Arial) it will make a bunch of lines in the middle of the text that you will have to manually delete.

Also, run the command Overkill on the exploded text (also another express tool)

[dlparisi]

Make sure to use a Outline font. If you use a filled font (like Arial) it will make a bunch of lines in the middle of the text that you will have to manually delete.

Also, run the command Overkill on the exploded text (also another express tool)

For Truetype fonts explode the text, then type "Region" and select all of the shapes, then "Union" all of the shapes together, then "explode" (the normal "explode" command) all of these unioned shapes to get back to just lines and arcs. Works a treat, the only thing to look out for are letters with holes like 'P', 'R', 'O', etc. as it will union the center part of the letter and make it solid. You'll need to "subtract" these areas rather than union them. Granted it's a lot of work if you have a lot of text (i.e., paragraphs) but it does work pretty dependably. Depending on your needs you don't actually have to do the last explode as the unioned regions will import/link into max as filled shapes.

[mikeh]

the problem with exploding text is that it is often text within a block, so that as soon as it is exploded it loses its information. An example would be all the text we have in our dwgs regarding spot elevations and top of walls and center of street elevations and so on. Explode them and you lose all the info so that what formerly said 403.00 then reads xxx or such.
mh

[dlparisi]

the problem with exploding text is that it is often text within a block, so that as soon as it is exploded it loses its information. An example would be all the text we have in our dwgs regarding spot elevations and top of walls and center of street elevations and so on. Explode them and you lose all the info so that what formerly said 403.00 then reads xxx or such.
mh

I assume your talking about blocks with attributes, in which case you can use the Express/Bonus Tools command "Explode Attributes to Text". It'll explode all of the blocks but keep the text as entered in the attribute. From there just use the steps I outlined above.

Another option that might work is to print to a pdf and then open it in illustrator. From there save it as a dwg but there's an option to convert text to outlines. Then just import into max and adjust the scale (i think you can even do this at import if you know the drawing was 1/4", etc.). I'm recommendiing the pdf way rather than opeing the dwg directly in illustrator because I've had problems with illustrator importing text at the wrong size, the pdf always comes out correct.

[timmatron]

There are ways to explode blocks too so it retains the text. I forget what it is, but i think it's in the express tools. Something like block explode, err somethin. But it is definitely possible to explode the block, keep the text, and then explode the text to lines. When you explode the text, make sure you are zoomed in pretty close, and then regen. This will smooth out the curves in the text.

[RErender]

if you type in "viewres" then "y" and then "20000" the arcs will all be smooth no matter what zoom