Inported CAD

[whitebirchstudios]

When I import, the lines are not accurate at all. How do i fix this? The lines look fine in my drawing viewer.

[RobH2]

How far away from the 'Origin' is your model? Max does not like it if something is really far away from 0,0,0. Sometimes architectural models import from some real world coordinate and can be miles away from the Orign. Max does not use 'double float' precision so it needs to have things near 0,0,0 and not too large or not too small. 

Select everything, 'Group' it and then use 'Transform Type-in' (F12) to move the Group to 0,0,0 and see if things look ok. 

[whitebirchstudios]

Yes, it is far from 0 and I tried moving it, but everything still comes in a mess.

[RobH2]

Can you upload the file? I'd be happy to look at it. 

[whitebirchstudios]

Here it is

[RobH2]

I can't get this file to import nicely either. Even with moving to 0,0,0 it's still kind of a mess. I'm not an expert importing architectural DWG and DXF files. Maybe someone who is will see this thread. 

I did try to import it in Rhino and in  a CAD program and it failed. It could be the file you are trying to import is defecetive. Did you create it? If so, maybe create it at 0,0,0 and save it and try again to import into Max. If someone else gave it to you, maybe ask them to create it at 0,0,0 and export it in a couple different formats and see if any of them work. 

One thing I did notice when I tried to open it was a warning message. Frequently people just ignore those and just click them away. But if you  read this one, it might be giving you a 'huge' clue as to why the file won't import. A module that you need might really be needed. I've posted that message in case you didn't see it. 

Wish I could be more helpful. I think someone more experienced with DWGs is going to need to help you. 

[whitebirchstudios · Accepted solution]

Thanks for taking a peek. I had the civil engineer send me a new one, but this time, moved to 0,0,0. The new one worked. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about, so I think they just open AutoCAD and start drawing lines.

[RobH2]

That's really good news. Yea, generally when you see squiggly lines on an imported line drawing from Autocad or something, it means the lines are in real world space that is often far away. I've always wondered what the 0,0,0 spot is for say a large architectural Civil road job is. Is it a nearby city, is it arbitrary (if so, it should just be 0,0,0 but seldom is) or is it some surveyed benchmark on the property? Who knows, but they are frequently very far away from Max's center coordinate. Normally, just moving it over and up or down fixes it. But maybe yours got corrupted by being so far away such that moving it wouldn't correct it. 

I'm glad that by simply having it at 0,0,0 before they exported it solved the problem. That's a very easy solution. 

[whitebirchstudios]

Working with the 'fixed' one isn't going very well. Picking a spline and waiting five minutes for MAX to do something will not work for me. I have been trying to create a parking lot using the CAD spline all morning, which should be a few minutes of work.

[RobH2]

can you upload the new file and let me try it? What version of Max are you using. It's always good to say that. In fact, make a 'Signature' for your profile and put that in it so people always know. 

[whitebirchstudios]

MAX has been a bugger to work with for several years now. What was once easy has become almost imposable. I have been trying to model this parking lot for about three hours. I couldn't use the spline, so I created a new one from the CAD, which worked, but now I can't shapemerge and cut out like I have always been able to (years earlier). 

[RobH2]

Could it be that there is something going on with your computer or that you are using a laptop. Max is supremely powerful these days I've found and I have no trouble working with this file in Max 2024. Here's a video. It's smooth as glass and works well. Sorry, I accidentally recorded sound, but, it's pleasant and you might enjoy it...

[whitebirchstudios]

I am on a laptop, but it is the mac daddy of laptops. I can render massive scenes, but when it comes to polylines, MAX struggles. It also struggled on my workstation.  I'll watch you video shortly; thank you!

[whitebirchstudios]

I was able to work through the site, but it was painful. Things simply stop working. I can cut into the site perfectly fine, and then it'll stop working and the site goes wonky. Even seeing my vertexes stop working. Selecting things stops working. A lot of cutting and pasting from backups, and rebooting MAX to get things working again. I have been doing this same work since MAX was DOS, and I can say, the software has become less stable over the years. Anyway, thanks for your help.

[RobH2]

Looks good. But what a lot of work it took for you eh? Things should not take so much time. I have the same problems as well. Sometimes I quote 3 hours to a client and it takes me 10....argggg.... I feel your pain!

I do agree Max has gotten less stable. More powerful and plays better with others, but crashy. I find it more capable of handling larger files, but I agree, it pretty crashy these days. Sorry you had so much trouble but looks like you got it. 

[whitebirchstudios]

I think it was 2017 when things went south for me with MAX. I could go back to 2017 and be much more proficient. MAX 2024, has been installed and I am waiting for a plugin to get updated. The developer wasn't told by AD that 2024 was being released when it was.

[RobH2]

Gotcha. 2023 has been out for over a year and still no plugin update? That's not helpful. 

[whitebirchstudios]

Sorry... I meant MAX 2024

[RobH2]

Understood. That makes sense...  🙂