autocad 3d to arcgis pro

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10-14-2015 07:39 AM
maria_ioannou
New Contributor

Is it possible to export a 3d building model from auto cad 3d to arcgis for data management?

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13 Replies
DonKuehne
Esri Contributor

It depends on the geometry used  to model the building information in AutoCAD.   ArcGIS does a pretty good job of using 3D polylines and 3DFACES directly from AutoCAD files and or converting those CAD objects to MULTIPATCH features.

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Milton
by
New Contributor III

Yes but it may take some work to fine tune how you do this to get the data out in the best format. 

first challenge is georefferencing.  Then you may have to export as a dxf to simplify new more complicated objects in AutoCAD.  Or just have to save the file in AutoCAD with the proxigraphics setting set to 1 to simplify the new advanced objects to GIS compatible.  Once you have the file in GIS it is a matter of filtering out the objects that are not meaningful to your final goal. 

I am in the middle of automating a BIM conversion from a CAD-like program.  Best of luck.

ZacharyJaffe
New Contributor III

I am having a similar issue. I have a bunch of polylines in civil saved as a .dwg (2013 version) which has been correctly imported into ArcPro. In AutoCAD Civil 3D they are created into 3D model/blocks (a network of pipes and valves). When I import the new .dwg into ArcPro, nothing is displayed and the features contain no attributes. It seems like there is some issue wen the polylines were converted to 3D models? I have tried saving as a dxf and dwf as well with nothing working. Any Ideas?

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DonKuehne
Esri Contributor

Zachary,

ArcGIS Desktop doesn’t support all of the 3D entities of AutoCAD, and currently does not support Civil 3D custom AEC objects.

You may find that if you demote the objects to something like an AutoCAD MESH within AutoCAD ArcGIS Pro can see them. You might also have more capabilities in the data interoperability extension to read more of the attributes of Civil 3D objects.

-Don

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ZacharyJaffe
New Contributor III

Don Kuehne

Thanks for your response. That must be the issue. I will try a work around and converting the data to different 3D types. Thanks!

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Milton
by
New Contributor III

In civil3d try turning proxygraphics to a 1 in the command line then save.

You should see the file size get absolutely huge. That will be autocad

storing all the contours as polylines instead of calculating them from the

surface stored in the file.

If that doesn't work it is likely that the surface is a reference. If that

is the case in the command line open the properties box by typing mo,

select the contours/surface and run explode in the command line. Select

again and it should be a block in the properties window. Explode until you

select a polyline. Save and open in arc map.

The other issue you might be having is civil/survey guys love to work in

meaningless coordinate systems when it comes to GIS. If that is the case

you will want to get with the project surveyor to get scale and rotation

information.

Hope this helps.

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ZacharyJaffe
New Contributor III

Milton Williams

I turned the proxygraphics to 1 and am getting the same results. I followed your instructions for using the Explode tool. The valves and manholes come in, but not whole, and the pipes are completely missing. The features were created in state-plane and were accurately located and scaled. Any other thoughts?

 

Thanks!

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Milton
by
New Contributor III

Try saving back to autocad 2000. That is pre civil3d and it usually

explodes everything.

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ZacharyJaffe
New Contributor III

Milton Williams

Still no luck... As a work around, I am converting my 3D AutoCAD model to a REVIT Model which I know will work they way I want it to. 

Thanks for the tips.

Zach

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