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[dlang]

I did a quick search to find dxf files to reflect furnishings and found http://seek.autodesk.com that has a lot of them available.

unfortunately when I try to import any of the half dozen files I´ve downloaded I get widely separated spotches (or at best widely separated lines)

any pointers?

unfortunantly the manual just says that it supports dxf import and export, it gives no clues for a beginner to know how to work it.

[xluis]

Hello.

You need Cycas Pro in order to import *.dxf files.

[dlang]

I purchased the pro version and installed the key last night.

I tried doing an export and import via DXF of my building to see how that worked. I was able to get a 2d version that showed everything properly, but the 3d version that I got back was missing all the symbols and dimentions (and put diagonal lines through all the 3d objects). is this what is expected?

I then tried to pull in the pre-generated dxf files, but got nothing useable from the attempts.

[xluis]

I`ve imported and exported dxf and 3ds files without problem (running OpenSuse 10.33 and 11.0). Try it again or tell us more about the question.

[steve]

Hi dlang

There can be problems importing dxf s. Many problems are easy to work around. If you post one or two dxf s that you are having trouble with, I will try importing them this side.

[dlang]

some of the dxf files I am working with can be found at http://lang.hm/house/

the kadota* files are my house plans, the other dxf files are ones I have failed to import sanely.

[steve]

Just a few background questions:
What app did you use to  build your house?
Did you draw it in 3d or 2d?

Kadota5.cyc for example seems good to me. Did you build that in cycas or import it?

Kadota2.dxf is wierd because it seems like a 2d floor plan but is actually made of 3d lines all in one plane.

The toilet dxf s as you say will not import. This could be related to dxf version, units or scale factors.

What I usually do is import with intellicad and save as dxf 2000 ascii. Cycas usually accepts this. But not in this case...

Another option is to use a converter like ECadConverter to convert to dxf 2000/2002.

I´ll try a few more things and keep you posted.

If you import any dxf into cycas the 3d objects will be made of triangular surfaces. Hence the diagonal lines. It´s just the nature of older dxf data. More recent dxf versions can contain polygon data.

And also, dimensions and annotations are not 3d data so they will not appear in any of the 3d views in cycas. Although they should appear in plan view.

Text size and dimension size often have to be adjusted when importing dxf s from other sources.

Hope that helps a bit!!

PS I have had success with dxf s from the Kohler website:

http://www.us.kohler.com/tech/cadsymbol/readme.jsp

[dlang]

all the cyc files were created in cycas.

the kadota.dxf was exported from cycas with the option 3D (not 3D only)

the kadota2.dxf was exported from cycas with the option 2D (not 2D only)

the other three dxf files were the ones I tried to import. I downloaded them from the autodesk site, I have no idea how they were created.

do you have a URL for ecadconverter? does it run on linux?

is there any option in cycas to use the newer DXF format?

I understand the dimentions and text not appearing in the 3d views, but shouldn´t I be able to export/import them along with the 3D elements and see them in the plan view?

[steve]

At this point Cycas only import older dxfs

It seems that when exporting dxfs, 2d and 3d data are exported separately. If the file contains only 3d data, the dxf will contain a projection of that on to x-y.
So you can´t export 3d data and annotations/dimensions in the same file.

Where are you exporting these files to?
Maybe you could export the 2d and 3d data separately and then merge them later?

Link for ECadConverter
http://www.etecad.com/

I somehow doubt if it runs on linux..but there are other converters

[dlang]

cycas can only import older versions, or can only export older versions? (or both?)

at this point I don´t know what software will be importing this (although I know that at least one version of autocad will be), I will be trying to interact with my designer and modular house builder and I have no idea what they are using (I purchased the pro version based on it providing the dxf import/export thinking that this would let me interoperate with them)

David Lang

[steve]

Both import and export would be older versions.

But that shouldn´t be a problem because most autocad or other design packages will almost certainly be able to import the dxfs from Cycas.

Taking a 2d drawing with dimensions etc from Cycas to another app is normally straightforward. Moving 3d data is less successful because walls in Cycas have special wall properties which are not transportable. So walls moved via dxf will end up as blocks made up of triangular surfaces.

There is also 3ds as a format for moving solids between applications.
 
I routinely move 3d data very successfully between Cycas and other applications. Sometimes a little tweaking is required. But that is not unique to Cycas...generally, moving between apps is tricky.

[luca]

I agree with steve for all, remember that talking about dxf, everybody I know, and me too, has always used the acad 12 dxf file format up to a cuple of years ago for granting compatibility between the applications, no matter on last dxf format in use.
Now cycas has support for the acad 2000 dxf format that is a good thing, and works fine even with 20Mb dxfs.
As steve stated for some particular project some trimming is required, ie if in acad you have some kind of 3d object is better to mesh and explode them or you get nothing anywere, but this is a problem related to how objects are implemented in acad or in every other app, not related to the dxf itself.
ciao
luca

[steve]

Yes Luca, that is the answer to one problem at least! The exploding!

David, those toilet dxf s will not open in Cycas because they have been saved as autocad "blocks" ...they need to be "exploded" first. After doing that they open perfectly in Cycas.

Here is one that has been exploded. Give it a try.

http://www.box.net/shared/annpnisdli

If you need any more done let me know.

Also, I have a few pieces of low poly generic furniture and fittings that I could send you (these toilets etc that you have found are very "high poly" meaning they are made up of zillions of polygons and the files are large. When you use them in modelling, they slow down processes like real time rotation etc and rendering)

[steve]

"I purchased the pro version based on it providing the dxf import/export thinking that this would let me interoperate with them"

There really shouldn´t be a problem.

When you export your floorplan as dxf, with dimensions etc using the 2d option, this will open in autocad as a 2d floorplan with all dimensions etc intact.

If you want to send a 3d model, use the 3d option in the dxf exporter. The model will open in autocad. The diagonal lines will only be seen in wireframe view and not in shaded view. But some adjusment may still be required.

[dlang]

yeah, that high-poly does make things pretty much unusuable. I would appriciate the low-poly objects.

are there any Internet repositories of such objects?

if not, would it make sense for us to start putting one together?

it appears that DXF isn´t a good interchange format to use (becouse if turning everything into triangles, being unable to handle newer formats)

it appears that 3ds isn´t a good interchange format to use since it welds everything together so the result can´t be edited

how does GTS work?