Importing DWG
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@jdadesignstudio said:
You can also fix this in CAD-in CAD go to format units, and check what they are. If you put it into architectural, then it should import properly into SU if SU is in the feet mode.
Unfortunately not. The SU importer (and exporter) ignores the unit variables embedded in DWG files. The LayOut exporter understands them partly (it creates correct variables if your units are inches or millimeters). Exports from SU use the current model units, but the unit is not recorded into the file, so when importing them to ACAD, you have to take care.
Anssi
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If you import with the wrong units set don't use the Scale tool but use the Tapemeasure tool [within the imported component edit if applicable] - pick two points that are a known distance apart and type in the required 'real' distance; you are asked if you want to rescale - say yes and the picked distance is turned into the typed in amount... and the rest also scales to match - much easier that using the Scale tool and having to work out conversion factors etc...
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@anssi said:
@jdadesignstudio said:
You can also fix this in CAD-in CAD go to format units, and check what they are. If you put it into architectural, then it should import properly into SU if SU is in the feet mode.
Unfortunately not. The SU importer (and exporter) ignores the unit variables embedded in DWG files. The LayOut exporter understands them partly (it creates correct variables if your units are inches or millimeters). Exports from SU use the current model units, but the unit is not recorded into the file, so when importing them to ACAD, you have to take care.
Anssi
Really? Ive had cad files that were originally created by engineers so they are in engineering units and when I import them into Sketchup they dont match up correctly. Then Ive gone into the CAD file, changed the unit format to architectural, save and re-import into SU and they come in correctly....
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I always thought (and have been told) that DWG does not store the unit type in the file.
None of the DWG/DXF viewers/converters I've been using have been able to read the units from the files. It is just numbers.That a change of units in the dwg exporters results in a correct import into SU only shows that you happened to have your import units set to the same type as it was exported as.
All DWG files I've got from architects here in Norway use either mm (single buildings, plans etc) or m (site plans, terrains etc), which makes it quite easy to import correctly in the first place, once you know what the file contains. I usually prefer to use cm, which causes no problems at all in SU.
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As far as I know too a DWG/DXF contains 'numerical' information for points etc that is devoid of 'units' so a line is simply 123.4 long - if you are working in mm it's 123.4mm, or if it's m it's 123.4m, or if it's inches 123.4". That's why it's important to know the units that the author was assuming while drawing as you need to tell the importer.
In the UK [as Norway] a surveyor usually works in m while an architect works in mm, if you import a CAD file into another CAD file that was assuming different units the result is scaled oddly - so the site file might be 1000 times too small when added to the building file or the building file 1000 times too big when added to the site file !
CAD programs obviously have ways of setting the units used in making their geometry so that the correct units can be suffixed to dims or area reports, BUT as far as I know the SKP DWG/DXF importers do assume the units as set in the options, which by default is SUp's base unit of 'inches'... -
When you import any DWG/DXF file into SU you need to tell SU which unit is being used in the file.
You don't have to do any conversion yourself, as SU will do it all for you.
It is no problem to import a file using inches into a model that uses cm (or whatever you're using), You just go into the Options and select Inches.
If you don't know the units used you could either try different units until you hit the right one, or just use the Tape Measure to scale it correctly. If in doubt I load the file into a DWG/DXF viewer first to look at some dimensions texts (which will not be imported into SU) etc. -
@bjornkn said:
I always thought (and have been told) that DWG does not store the unit type in the file.
None of the DWG/DXF viewers/converters I've been using have been able to read the units from the files. It is just numbers.I don't remember when this was introduced, but newer DWG/DXF files have information about the model unit embedded in the file header. It is in the form of variables:
MEASUREMENT 0 for Imperial, 1 for Decimal. This has existed since time immemorial
INSUNITS 0 unspecified 1 inches 2 feet 3 miles 4 Millimeters .... 20 ParsecsThe SketchUp exporter does not record this information, so when you insert a SU-exported DWG into another in AutoCad, it uses another variable, INSUNITSDEFSOURCE to determine how to scale it - this defaults to Inches
and is stored in the Registry whereas the two prementioned are within the drawing file.Anssi
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@bjornkn said:
I always thought (and have been told) that DWG does not store the unit type in the file.
None of the DWG/DXF viewers/converters I've been using have been able to read the units from the files. It is just numbers................That's it. Never really thought of this before, however all Cad models are actual size, but perhaps in terms of their basic units. Therefore a 10 unit model in inches is 10 inches, but the same model is 10 mm if its units are mm. So, if your model is prepared using units by inches, and you need to model in mm, you must convert the quantity of units in inches, to their equivalent quantity units in mm.
Btw, at least in the US, Engineering as well as Architectural models are in units of inches, or possibly feet.
Am I wrong?
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Sorry I mispoke a bit, but I did just do a little test to recreate what I have done in the past (and make sure I wasnt making things up in my head
). In CAD I mispoke when I was talking about architectural vs. engineering-I should have said it is the insertion scale that you change under format units.But if you draw a box 10'x10' in CAD, and have the insertion scale set to feet (which often people do if their units are not in the architectural or engineering format) the box will come into SU recognizing the feet as inches, making the box 1/12 the size it should be. I think thats what we all agree on. However, if you simply change the insertion scale in CAD to inches instead of feet, save and reimport into SU, the file will import correctly. Obviously you could use any of the other methods provided in this thread, but this does work as well.
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HI I WAS WONDERING IF SOMEONE CAN HELP IMPORTING THIS FILE TO SKETCHUP... THANKS IN ADVANCE
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@nina792 said:
HI I WAS WONDERING IF SOMEONE CAN HELP IMPORTING THIS FILE TO SKETCHUP... THANKS IN ADVANCE
Welcome to sketchUcation! Here you go with some help so you don't have to rely on other people:
- Convert DWG file to DXF. You can use a free program like DraftSight to do this.
- Navigate to the pluginstore, search: DXF
- Read through the results and decide which of the solutions you would like to use.
And there you go! You're welcome!
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