Working with AutoCad Files

[grasshopper]

Hi all one of the most annoying problems I’ve been having lately is working with AutoCAD files. They just seem to slow down Viz to an almost unworkable speed. I'm not sure if it is the graphics card or the giant file size they create. Does anyone have any tips???

What I do is. - At the beginning of a project I open the AutoCAD files strip out all the layers I don't need. Import it into viz and use it as a template to trace round. Now some projects have several floors several elevations & several section to work with as well as landscapes etc and once all this data is inserted it's a nightmare to use.

On one of the bigger projects what I did last time was create a Viz file for each floor and Xref them into the scene. This fixes the giant file sizes but I still seem to have to constantly hide and unhide the layers so it runs smoothly.

I've tried using the file link manager but that makes things even slower. This could be a network speed issue but I don't know anyone else who has used it successfully.

One thing that would help a few issues is some way of grouping layers into folders like Photoshop to create an easier workflow. And why’O’why do you have to scroll down through the layer drop down if you have more than about 10 layers, surely they can make it drop down further to start with. The Bastards!!!!

Anyway sorry, but if anyone has any tips, ideas or comes across similar issues please reply here. Thankyou

[travistlo]

I use it all the time even with large files. The only time its slow is when I am inserting/linking the file, other than that it runs fine.

What display driver are you using? If you are using software for your display drivers try directx.

[grasshopper]

I've been using direct X but i just tried Open GL which seems to be working a little better. Although i know had a issue with open GL displaying my testures in the viewport before. Or should i say not displaying my textures in the viewport

[dapeter]

I use the File Linking all the time, makes it easy to update changes. Usually what I end up doing is selective link only the specific layers I need at the time and nothing else. As long as the drawings don't change, you can unlink them when you're done and link a new one, or only link the drawing as you need.

The one place I sometimes see a slowdown with the Acad drawings is snapping.

[unknown]

i aways make it a habit of stripping them out to the bare essentials, if you miss somehting you can always bring it back later. All the text, that has to go, too many curves slow everyhting down, just keep the straight lines, no hatches or anyhting. you can always get a dwg viewer and refer back to the original for any deleted data.
then attached them all into one shape. max doesnt like thousands of objects. works much faster if they are collapsed.

[RErender]

I like to clean the cad to the bare minimum too, then copy only the stuff i need to a new dwg to get rid of all the extra layers and stuff, then when importing into max welld the verts, takes longer to import but max will be happier from then on, also i agree it is good to collapse into as few objects as possible.

[Neilg]

I'm echoing the above, I get it down to a bare minimum, copy & paste it into a new drawing, explode all the polylines and blocks, get them all on layer '0' and purge it.

[jacksc02]

get rid of the hatches, they dont like viz/max for some reason

[Jerry]

Indeed, remove the hatches.

An audit & purge in Autocad will remove the errors and clean up empty layers.

The less information your dwg has, the better the import/link is. ( in our case that's bring it down to solids, regions and some polylines)

Ps. I also prefer the file linking. But beware, Max 9 (64-bit) and Autocad 2007 cant seem to cooperate properly. I dont know which versions you have of Viz and Autocad?

[jacksc02]

jerry, you should save out your autocad 2007 files as autocad 2000 format and it will be alot nicer in 64bit max

[unknown]

I like to clean the cad to the bare minimum too, then copy only the stuff i need to a new dwg to get rid of all the extra layers and stuff, then when importing into max welld the verts, takes longer to import but max will be happier from then on, also i agree it is good to collapse into as few objects as possible.

forgot that one, but yeah do that, and zero stuff too. Working away from the origin is unstable, and very slow.

[Jerry]

jerry, you should save out your autocad 2007 files as autocad 2000 format and it will be alot nicer in 64bit max

Thnx, we already figured that out We output to the 2004-format. Works perfect.

Check link for more info http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...hlight=#153166

Edit: Output from acad 2007 > 2004 format doesnt work correctly. Opening & saving the file in acad 2006 > 2004 format *does* work correcty.

[grasshopper]

i aways make it a habit of stripping them out to the bare essentials, if you miss somehting you can always bring it back later. All the text, that has to go, too many curves slow everyhting down, just keep the straight lines, no hatches or anyhting. you can always get a dwg viewer and refer back to the original for any deleted data.
then attached them all into one shape. max doesnt like thousands of objects. works much faster if they are collapsed

See when you say attach them all into one shape do you mean make them a blaock? If not how do you go about doing that?

[unknown]

pick one spline, then go to attach, and join them all into one object. grouping thousands of objects is a very slow way of doing it. works the same with meshes too.

i always collapse meshes together once im done on them. like all floor plates etc. models become much lighter, i always bin modifiers too. once it collapsed all is not lost with a bit of quick poly modeling.

[grasshopper]

Nice one i thought you were talking about attaching them all in Autocad