importing site dwg

[Anonymous]

Hello all
i've gotten myself confused. i've been watching some tutorials and now i'm not sure how i should be using the dwg supplied by the surveyor. i need to prepare a site plan with my new building locations etc. i have been merging the dwg on it's own story, but is this right? i saw something done with worksheets, but it doesn't make much sense to me. i need to be able to edit the imported dwg to turn off layers and edit the info. do i place it on it's own story? it seems odd to have 2d info on it's own story. terrain makes sense obviously.
wb

[Barry Kelly]

There is no need for separate storeys if you are happy manipulating the layers (ideally with layer combinations and saved views).
Even for the 3D terrain - it can all be done in layers if you want.

And with turning layers on/off I don't see the point of worksheets.
Espescially as they convert all the 3D info to 2D lines and fills and they only update when you make them.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

ok, so where do i import the dwg to? i can't just import it to a layer.
wb

[Barry Kelly]

If you add with the "Drawing" tool in your plan then you can place it in any layer that you want.
The problem is that you can't manipulate individual elements.

So you can explode it and retain the original layers - but you will get all the layers as set up in the DWG added to your layer list.
Now you can manipulate layers and elements as you want.
You can explode it and keep everything in the original layer that you placed the drawing in but everything will be in the one layer.

You might want to open the DWG in a separate Archicad first and then manipulate it so that it has the layers you want.
Then copy and paste into your job file.

I never really use XREFs but I think you can attach it as an XREF.
This will give you the ability to turn layers on or off but not manipulate the individual elements (unless you go back to the source DWG).

Barry.

[Anonymous]

I think i understand about placing it then exploding. this way i could move things to the layers i want instead of importing all the dwg layers and cluttering up my layer set. i'm surprised this isn't covered better in the lit. this is the sort of thing that everyone does at least once with every set of plans. i'll give it a go.
thanks,
WB

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I will open up the survey info in a new archicad file... prefix all the layers with a reference letter/s I know relates to survey information..ie. S-levels. I sometimes 'clean up' linetypes etc and then copy and paste is into my Model file.

That way all the survey layers are grouped together in the manager and I have control over what is visable or not.. usually end up creating a 'Survey Hidden/removed' layer or similar so I can turn off some info but keep it in model for reference.

[Anonymous]

OK i'm not liking this at all. is there a tutorial on importing these things? i have a metric survey and imperial drawings, i need to manipulate the dwg once imported, i need it to scale, but i can not figure this out. if i add external content i can't edit it, if i merge it, i can't get the scale right. do i set my view scale to that of the dwg or do i set it to the scale of my drawing? do i set the import units to meters like the dwg or feet like my drawing? and why is there no real info in the help?
wb

[Barry Kelly]

What I would do is open the survey in another copy of Archicad (you can't do any damage to you main file in this case).
Set up a translateor that you can use when you open it.
The translator can be set to Feet/Inch units the same as your main file.
Also set the scale that you want the text to appear correct at when viewing the survey.

There are a lot more options you can set in the translator but these are really all I worry about.
If you always get your surveys from the same source and they are consitent in their layer names, pen colours, line types, etc., then you can get the translator to swap these to what you want as well.

Now you can manipulate the layers of this survey to get them as you want.
Then simply copy and paste into your main file.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Barry, i'll give it a try. I'm still not sure about the scale though. i'll have to play with it.
WB

[Karl Ottenstein]

Apologies for not reading the entire thread in case this has already been said by Barry and others:

To bring the dwg into AC at the proper scale, you must set the UNITS in the translator to match exactly the units for the dwg, as shown by Barry. Measure a known distance in the imported dwg to verify that you got it right; if not, rinse and repeat.

Text is another matter. Djordje gave this solution many years ago. The size of text from a dwg depends on the scale of the WORKSPACE (worksheet, floor plan, whatever) into which it is brought. So, it is important to also set your worksheet (or whatever) to be the scale of the original drawing as intended by the originator. THEN, merge the dwg. The imported text then becomes ArchiCAD scaleable text.

For example, if your worksheet is set at 1/4" = 1' and you merge in a site dwg that was prepared for printing at 1" = 20' - then the text will appear completely unusable when you later switch to 1" = 20'. Merging at the modeled dwg UNITS and into a workspace at the originally intended SCALE will get both your model to scale, and your text sized properly.

HTH,
Karl