ArchiCAD and SAP

[Maged Ibrahim]

Our customer used to create a 3D faces with AutoCAD and then Export it to the structural software SAP to continue the structural design there. When we try to do this with ArchiCAD we used the mesh and the slab and export them to SAP nothing has been exported we got blank page in SAP!! Is there a way to do it?

[stefan]

What data does SAP require?

DWG files with Surfaces? Go to the 3D-window and do a save-as...

DWG files with solids? ArchiCAD cannot make it.

Other formats?

[Maged Ibrahim]

3D Faces from AutoCAD as DWG. WE saved from ArchiCAD 3D window and we get nothing.

[stefan]

When you export a DWG from the 3D-Window, you can define a custom translator. The default one makes ArchiCAD objects into blocks.
If you explode the Block in AutoCAD, you get a Polyface Mesh.
Once that is exploded it turns into 3DFaces.

You can opt for "Export File with Simplified Data Structure" from ArchiCAD (In the Save Dialog: Translator settings -> Save Options -> Saving 3D Data). Now the geometry is not a block anymore, but it still is a Polyface Mesh. This could be exploded (in AutoCAD) to 3D-Faces.

Try both options and see if it makes a difference.

If you export the DWG from the 2D Window, you get a 2D-drawing, where each wall is a block. Once exploded they turn into polylines & hatches, but no 3D data.