Converting microstation .dgn to autocad .dwg

[VictorBiot]

Hello guys,

I already read on Autodesk knowledge on how to import/export and I`m with some problems to import .dgn documents from microstation to autocad. I have been doing a lot of tests, involving the export option on microstation to .dwg and also inside autocad, using the import .dgn option to .dwg.

Here are some of my issues:

*When importing .dgn to .dwg on autocad:

        - Block missing, missing a lot of drawings informations  (any solution?)

        - Font text different from microstation fonts

        - Diferent line types from microstation

        *** There is a feature named "smartlines" from microstation that when imported to autocad, it is translated to polylines. When it comes to autocad, the geometry of those "smartlines" are fully converted as it was in microstation. When we are dealing with complex geometries of those polylines, it is too messy to eddit, when comparing on how it is to eddit those "smartlines" in microstation. Is there any feature in autocad that can be used to solve this problem, and to really makes that eddinting easy?

Those smartlines are being used ilustrate flexible risers for petroleon and gas industry. We are dealling with complex paths and long distances. Edditing polylines for this job are being really messy and hard working.

When exporting .dgn to autocad on microstation:

- Blocks become "unnamed" (I found a solution by using unanon lisp, but when the block is an assembly of blocks, unanon command must be used inside the block edditing, to keep oppening those blocks, which is not an easy and intuitive way) Is there any other solution?

- Texts fonts appear to be correct when .dgn is translated to .dwg from microstation

I will be very grateful if someone who has already experienced those problems can help me with tips and solutions.

The microstation version of those drawing are v7 and v8.

Thanks!

[artc2]

For missing geometry, is that geometry Parasolid based elements? Those will not be translated.

For the fonts, what type of fonts are they?

For the linetypes, if they are in rsc files for MicroStation, then you'll need to have those rsc files available somewhere in the AutoCAD search path. And, they need to be there from the first time you do anything with dgn files in AutoCAD during that AutoCAD session because the first time anything is done with dgn in an AutoCAD session, the dgn system is initialized for that AutoCAD session and it sets up a list of rsc files that are available. That list does not update during that AutoCAD session, so only the rsc files that are found during initialization will be available for that AutoCAD session.

[ChicagoLooper]

Have you tried to IMPORT the dgn files directly, without doing anything fancy-schmancy on the microstation side?

Import the dgn file from either the Ribbon or the Application button.

To bring in line work so they appear like they do in the dgn, you'll need to go to Mapping Setups to map the levels to the AutoCAD layers. An alternative would be not use mapping setups, just accept the defaults then use AutoCAD's Layer Properties to controll your line weight, line type and line color, and yes, it might be painstaking.

 

If you run Civil 3D you can try using MAPIMPORT command, you might get better success. It'll separate ByLayer.

Hope this helps.

[VictorBiot]

"For missing geometry, is that geometry Parasolid based elements? Those will not be translated."
No, I`m taking about cad formats (.dwg). I`m losing some block elements when importing some .dgn files to autocad, using the custom import option avaiable in Autocad.

"For the linetypes, if they are in rsc files for MicroStation, then you'll need to have those rsc files available somewhere in the AutoCAD search path. And, they need to be there from the first time you do anything with dgn files in AutoCAD during that AutoCAD session because the first time anything is done with dgn in an AutoCAD session, the dgn system is initialized for that AutoCAD session and it sets up a list of rsc files that are available. That list does not update during that AutoCAD session, so only the rsc files that are found during initialization will be available for that AutoCAD session."

Where can I find this .rsc file?

[artc2]

I think you misunderstood me when I said Parasolid based elements. Parasolid is the solid modeler that MicroStation uses for its solid elements such as cylinders, spheres, etc. So, I was asking if the elements in the dgn file that did not get translated into the dwg file were those types of elements.

Some rsc files ship with MicroStation. There are others available from 3rd parties. In your case you'd probably want to get it/them from whoever created the dgn file.

[jscher3DA2Q]

Try to export your DGN file as a DXF.  Open the DXF in Autocad.