DXF turbocad to vector problem

[nikki]

Please anyone help me I am having a problem,,I take a picture in Turbocad and spline it select the spline and save it as a dxf. then I open that dxf in Vector and I can see the spline perfect but all around the spline lines are these jagged dashed lines how do I get rid of those lines without manually deleting each jagged line...I have tried Exploding and saving as other file types I know there is a simple step because Ron from R&GEngravers showed me how once but I cannot get a hold of him at all to find out how!!!

[edcoleman]

Nikki:

The dashed lines you see might be "light sources" which my (older) version of turbocad saves with the dxf file. You need to delete these light sources, which are used for 3D rendering within turbocad. In my version of Turbocad (V6.5), I go to the "view" menu then select "lights". A list of all the light sources will show up. Highlight all the light sources and delete them (hiding them will not work, they need to be deleted).

I'm not certain this is the problem you are seeing, but it is something I've come across. Hope this helps.

-Ed

[srwtlc]

Nikki,

Before you save your spline in TurboCad as a .dxf, explode it once and then be sure to save it as an AutoCad R14 .dxf.

After you open it in Vector, do an Arc Spline on it to fit it with arcs and splines instead of leaving it in many small segments.

Scott

[nikki]

Wow this is the first time I posted anything thankyou all for the help...I tried the light thing and there were no lights that I could select and delete. I tried to save as a AutoCAD r14.dxf but I do not have that exact option I only have AutoDAD Native Format which is a DWG. I tried that and Vector will not open or merge it!!! I am going to e-mail the file to Gerald D open it in Turbocad and see how nice it looks then open it in Vector and tell me what you think.....I am stumped I dont know what to do ..if anyone else would like to see the file let me know I will e-mail it to you ..it is a DXF. I use to do this all the time and it worked perfect..the version of Turbocad I am using is 9.5. thankyou so much NIKKI

[srwtlc]

Nikki,

When you do a save as (choosing the .dxf file type), there should be a button called "Setup". Click on that and choose AutoCAD R14 there, then save.

Don't forget to explode the spline once in TurboCad before saving as.

I have TurboCad 7.1 and 11, Vector 9 and VectorXT 10 and a spline comes through perfectly with all.

Send me the file if it still doesn't work.

Scott

[gerald_d]

Nikki, I saw a 7MB dxf file coming my way, so I stopped it! (I am on dial-up here at home). Could you illustrate the problem in a smaller file, or zip it down to something under 1MB? Also send Scott a copy at srwtlc(at)tds.net - he is smart with these things.

[mikejohn]

Gerald
I have just had a look at some of the biggest .dxf files on my computer, and the largest file I found was a little under 250KB. 7MB is either a huge and complex drawing, or is hiding something within the drawing that may be causing Nikkis' problem.
............Mike

[gerald_d]

Well, for my time zone, I went to bed while Scott worked the night shift. He figured out the problem and already mailed a reply to Nikki before I got to the office this morning:
quote:The original .dxf from your TurboCad appears to have all the separate splines grouped together. In this case you will need to ungroup (explode in TC) twice. Once to ungroup the splines from each other and once to explode each spline itself. Then save as choosing "Save As Type" .dxf, hit the "Setup" button in the save as dialog box and choose "AutoCad R14".
Thanks Scott!

Mike, I routinely see 1MB files, especially from traced "nurbs" splines. We trace in circle segments (arcs), not nurbs, to give us much smaller file sizes.

[nikki]

Guys again thankyou so much I need to come here with issues often and give Frank and Grant a rest at Shopbot!!! I did get Scotts e-mail and it worked on something else I splined...I am going to start fresh and re-spline the harlequin and follow those steps again but also arc spline it in vector to clean it up a bit!!! thankyou all for your help I will report back later to give an update on the re-splineing!!!!

Nikki Ferris
Godfrey Enterprises

[jf_allie]

Gerald,

When you say:
quote:We trace in circle segments (arcs),
Do you do this by hand or is it a feature of your CAD software?

[gerald_d]

See this thread (http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=2&post=18522#POST18522). We use AutoCAD LT.