topic Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file? in Collaboration with other software

Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 18:02:37 GMT

We received a Vectorworks file from a previous Architect. Is there a way to open this without pestering them to change the format or to use IFC?

The typical "merge" command does not work.

Thanks,

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Karl Ottenstein — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 18:25:16 GMT

If the 30 day free trial lets you save an IFC, then that might be the easiest way:

http://www.vectorworks.net/trial/form

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 18:58:34 GMT

Thanks Karl.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Karl Ottenstein — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 20:58:08 GMT

You're welcome. Please post back if it is successful... at least with saving the IFC. Their free trial might be like AC's demo mode which doesn't allow saving files... I've never tried VW...

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:12:34 GMT

Well... it was sort of successful. I downloaded the trial (seems like a full version, you can export to IFC) and exported the file. Then imported into AC, but the results were not as expected. Supposed to be floor plans.

I'll try as a dwg.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:24:25 GMT

DWG export was successful. I think the original file was mostly 2D with 3D parts for plumbing fixtures, which were lost in translation and came through as those blocky blobs.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 14:10:20 GMT

Thanks for sharing the info on the trial. Knowing that it seems to be a full version with save capabilities will help some of us in the future.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Laszlo Nagy — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 12:16:39 GMT

Yes, a Vectorworks Trial version is a 30-day fully functional version, just like in case of ArchiCAD Trial. You can do everything with it until the 30 day expires.

I was wondering that the way you save that IFC from Vectorworks might matter. I am not that familiar with it, this is just an idea: try to display the 3D model of the file in Vectorworks (not its Floor Plan View) and save as IFC then.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

schagemann — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:40:07 GMT

Sorry for the late reply - we are in fact operating both Vectorworks and ArchiCAD in tandem with one of our clients.

Your best bet is using DWG's to export, then place a plan drawing to avoid polluting your ArchiCAD file with the VW attributes.

The obvious irony here is that Graphisoft is owned by Nementschek / Vectorworks...

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 01:04:00 GMT

schagemann wrote:
The obvious irony here is that Graphisoft is owned by Nementschek / Vectorworks...

It is a bit different: both Graphisoft and Vectorworks are owned by Nemetschek.
But I get what you are referring to.

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 22:34:29 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of transferring a model from Vectorworks into ArchiCAD 21 and the previous suggestions did not work for me. DWG format completely flattens out the file when opened in AC, while an IFC file imports only specific layers of the model, even after customizing the export configurations. I also tried hiding the "unwanted" elements, a file with only the element I want to export, unlocking every part, and also combining elements in a layer that did transfer some components before. I end up with the same result which is a few elements from 2 layers being exported.
My guess si that the model to be exported should have different configurations yet I do not know what else to try. Any suggestions on what the source of the problem may be? Much appreciated!

MC

Re: Can I (easily) import a .vwx Vectorworks file?

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 19:30:03 GMT

I think you should keep trying to do it using IFC. Experiment with various settings and ways of exporting the IFC from Vectorworks. I think it should be able to export the whole model as IFC.
As an intermediate step, you could using the free Solibri Model Viewer to check what was exported into IFC. ARCHICAD should also be able to bring in the whole IFC model.

I suspect with the current export settings the resulting IFC does not contain all the geometry and that is what you see when you import it into ARCHICAD.