CompuServe Thread

>> I'm having a problem importing a .DXF file. It was imported from (exported I mean) from a package called Calma from Apollo systems. << several possibilities, so here's a list i use when dealing with DXF… get your capture buttons ready: 1) is the original geometry _really_ 3d (you would be surprised what some people think 3d geometry is) 2) are the entities in the original program 3d entities or extrusions (such as a circle with thickness in AutoCAD. 3) how old is the DXF translator? if prior to release 10, the DXF translator did not export tru 3D info. 4) if DXF was AutoCAD Release 10 version of DXF (all DXFs are not the same… think of them as you would a PLT file… could be anything depending on the year the DXF standard was used for programming as DXF has evolved with each release of AutoCAD and many companies do not understand this and wind up using very old DXF versions for their translators) there was a variable called FLATLAND that would or would not transfer 3d coordinate data. 5) is the originating program a 3D program capable of looking at these 3d objects from different perspectives? again, some folks do not understand what 3D means. many people have said that AutoCAD LT is a 3D program. perhaps it can read 3d entities from AutoCAD, but it has no 3D capability itself (extrusion is not tru 3d). 6) did the source create the 3d objects or did they get them _from someone else_ who says they are 3d? i learned long ago not to assume anything about the generation of a meshwork… did this group create the drawing themselves? if so, they should be able to tell you how they did it, with what release software and so forth. 7) if you have AutoCAD, import the DXF and look at it before importing it into 3D Studio. (if you'd like me to or someone else to who has AutoCAD, let me know)… that answers a lot of questions quickly about the DXF translation as 3D Studio's ability to handle non-planar entity types is limited. 8) contact Apollo systems, see if they've had this problem before and know something about their own DXF translator which might help in this process. hope these help for starters. -dave