Working with overseas contractors that use AutoCAD

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I am starting the process at my firm where we want to work with overseas contractors to do some tedious drafting for us. I have tried to "emulate" the experience here by creating translators for archicad, exporting to autocad, working a bit in autocad, then importing the file back into archicad. The main problem that I am having is that I want to have the autocad walls import in as archicad walls. Is there a way to do this by a translator or drawing technique in autocad or is it just wishful thinking. Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Alan

[TomWaltz]

Autocad 2D linework and details comes in pretty nicely to Archicad, but you're not going to get intelligent walls or anything out of it.

If you really want a migraine, you can fight with IFC for a few years, but that doesn't really work either.

[Djordje]

albertv05 wrote:
I am starting the process at my firm where we want to work with overseas contractors to do some tedious drafting for us. I have tried to "emulate" the experience here by creating translators for archicad, exporting to autocad, working a bit in autocad, then importing the file back into archicad. The main problem that I am having is that I want to have the autocad walls import in as archicad walls. Is there a way to do this by a translator or drawing technique in autocad or is it just wishful thinking. Thanks in advance!

Only if you start in Archicad, and choose the round trip so that the data are read again. But, if they edit your walls, it's gone.

Make sure that you have very clear and detailed terms of engagement (layers, pens, etc) otherwise it will cost you much more.

[Anonymous]

If you build your model properly you wont have any 'tedious drafting work'
Who is going to coordinate the drafting work done on AutoCAD
Walls are only walls in ArchiCAD.......in AutoCAD they are just dumb lines
Save yourself time and money and do it all in ArchiCAD