importing dxf into ArchiCad - several questions

[Anonymous]

hello world! new user here with access to AC 8.1 and 9.0. i am trying to build a library of mfg objects. kohler has a full set of 3D dwg and dxf. both dwg and dxf import into SketchUp flawlessly. have tried many variations of AC translator. 2D comes into AC well. no luck with 3D- sometimes a few small 3D parts and a few polylines in 3D window- way out of scale. anyone know of successful method?

does the translation improve if a dxf file is made a GDL object first?

[Ben Odonnell]

Herb wrote:
does the translation improve if a dxf file is made a GDL object first?

Herb ,
Absolutely. You will not get ACIS information into ArchiCAD by importing directly into ArchiCAD.

So basically you have answered your own question. Open your DWGs "AS" GDL objects first.

HTH.
Cheers.
Ben

[Karl Ottenstein]

As Ben confirmed, you must open a dxf or dwg that has 3D content as a GDL object.

The next thing you'll discover with the Kohler objects (I've been there) is that the object comes in as all one material.

If you are not rendering, that's probably fine ... it'll look great in your various drawings. And, it's easy for users of all levels to do.

But, if you need to render and want different materials, Daniel Lindahl posted an excellent tip here (should have been tip of the month IMHO) about how to make that happen:
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=18555#18555

It's a little guesswork, but it worked for me with the Kohler shower fixtures I tried after Daniel posted that excellent tip.

Cheers,
Karl