Hello,
I think this is a very general question, I tried searching the forum for similar threads but couldn't find any. Let me try to phrase the question:
Our clients request all As Built documentation to be delivered in PDF and DWG. They won't accept DGN because Microstation / Openbuildings Designer / ProStructures (the softwares we use at our company) are simply very little known or used in our region. So that means I have to convert all sheets to DWG.
Unfortunately though, I can't find a good setting to create well structured DWG file. What I would like to achieve is a single DWG file for each sheet where the geometry, annotations, ... from the (DGN) drawing models are placed in the model space and the layout contains viewports. The way it would be if I created the drawing in AutoCAD for example. Other software like Revit and Tekla Structures do this in a good way, in my opinion.
The best I can achieve from Bentley products, without having to use XREF to external files, is to use the option to "merge" references. But this means that all geometry will be drawn in the layout/paperspace of the DWG file and model space will remain blank. This is unacceptable.
I can imagine one of the difficulties is that DWG only supports a single "Model space", which would correspond to the design/drawing models in a DGN file. And one sheet usually references multiple of those models.
The other softwares I named above handle this by placing all the geometry side-by-side in the model view, then creating the relevant Viewports in the layout. A much more elegant solution, meaning mostly that one can simply measure in the model space without worrying about scale etc.
As it happens I just got a question from one of my colleagues related to this exact problem, while I was typing this post. So I'm 100% certain that we are not the only people struggling with this, there must be others, architects, ... who have the same issue.
Is there a solution for this? Or would it require a big amount of rework for the DWG exporter to create such functionality?
Johan De Cock said:Our clients request all As Built documentation to be delivered in PDF and DWG. They won't accept DGN because Microstation / Openbuildings Designer / ProStructures (the softwares we use at our company) are simply very little known or used in our region.
For this case, I recommend you directly use DWG format rather than DGN format. MicroStation natively support DWG file format.
Thanks for your reply, but that's not a solution. Like I stated I am using Openbuildings Designer and ProStructures. I'm quite certain they don't work in DWG mode.
Anyway, even in plain Microstatoin, it would defeat the purpose of using MS, wouldn't it? In that case I could just as well draw everything in AutoCAD.
I don't have to deal with this sort of thing often because our main client simply wants PDF submittals, and I suspect it will be years before they want anything else. We could still draw sheets up by hand with a slide rule, and as long as it was correct, we'd be fine.
I do know, however, that this isn't our only client, and as we expand our market and our partnerships, this sort of situation will come up more often. We will probably end up doing DWG deliverables in Civil 3D just to avoid the translation boondoggle. Not my preference, but what the client wants, the client gets.
MaryB
Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918Power InRoads 08.11.09.918OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2
MaryB said:our main client simply wants PDF submittals
What sector are you working in?
It surprises me a bit, but maybe that's because I work for a contractor and not a design office. But we really need DWG for almost everything so that we can measure, the surveyor can use the drawing, ...
And then there are our clients (industrial plants owner/operators), who want the DWG files to implement in their archives.
When it comes to (public) roads an stuff, 90% of the work in Belgium is for the government. And they also require everything to be delivered in DWG. They are also working with a platform to add "BIM"-like data, which connects with Civil 3D as well. But as far as I can tell they accept the data in other formats as well so it could just as well be generated from OpenRoads. In their case, I don't think they bother much with sheets, as long as the data in the "model space" is correct.
I work as for a civil/transportation consultant firm, with the bulk of our work being for the State of Indiana in the U.S.
Indiana is not the most forward-thinking place, and I suspect the DOT CAD developers are understaffed and overwhelmed. The state next door, Ohio, was one of the top DOTs that I knew for their development of MicroStation/Geopak standards in the 90's. In the same time period, I still had Indiana projects that were hand-drafted. Not many, and they had been on the shelf for a few years, but still. The prints were the only portion submitted, and that hasn't changed. Indiana didn't even provide CAD standards that consultants could use until the mid 2000's. We just got their ORD standards in November. I may be able to retire before Indiana starts requiring CAD model submittals.
Other clients do ask for CAD data, but that is most often just design drawings. I can't think of the last time I had to deliver an actual sheet drawing to anyone.
Thanks! Always interesting to learn how work is done in other parts of the world :)
Maybe need to use CVE's for some or all of the views?
It would be interesting if Axiom could help. Sounds like this would be common problem.
www.axiomint.com/.../
Thanks Dominic! I'll contact them to find out what their DGN to DWG converter does different compared to the built-in one from Bentley.