DXF importing

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Alex Bowler
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DXF importing

Post by Alex Bowler »

Hi

I am having a problem with a imported DXF shape to apply to a cabinet in e cabinets. I can import it but it seems to
be to big for E cabinets to cope with (4000 individual lines when i explode it in my other cad program) and e cabinets
runs extremely slow and often crashes.

Is there any other formate that i could use or any way around this?
Scott G Vaal
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Scott G Vaal »

Alex Bowler wrote:Hi

I am having a problem with a imported DXF shape to apply to a cabinet in e cabinets. I can import it but it seems to
be to big for E cabinets to cope with (4000 individual lines when i explode it in my other cad program) and e cabinets
runs extremely slow and often crashes.

Is there any other formate that i could use or any way around this?
Alex,

If you get me the dxf, I can try it on my system and see if it causes the same trouble. Also, I have to ask, why does it have so many lines. If it is drawn with lines and arcs, it will come out as lines and arcs in eCabinet Systems. Was this drawn using splines, polylines or polyarcs? If so, you will get many tiny line segments that make up the shape. This can and does cause excess overhead for eCabSys and a weaker graphics card may not be able to handle it. Get me the dxf and I will examine it.
Regards,

Scott Vaal
-Thermwood/eCabinet Systems-
Dell Precision / Xeon E3-1240 / 8GB RAM /NVIDIA Quadro K2000
Alex Bowler
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Country: NEW ZEALAND

Re: DXF importing

Post by Alex Bowler »

Hi

I'm sorry i cannot send the dxf because of a privacy agreement we have with customer, but i know it was drawn using polyline/polyarcs.
Do you know any way i can get around it, I have Rihno and Autocad so can formate it in different ways. At the moment It only seems to import the
curves correctly if i open it in Rihno save as DXF and set to R12 natural lines.
Scott G Vaal
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Scott G Vaal »

Alex Bowler wrote:Hi

I'm sorry i cannot send the dxf because of a privacy agreement we have with customer, but i know it was drawn using polyline/polyarcs.
Do you know any way i can get around it, I have Rihno and Autocad so can formate it in different ways. At the moment It only seems to import the
curves correctly if i open it in Rihno save as DXF and set to R12 natural lines.
Without seeing it, it is hard to give you suggestions or a direction. But, most drawings made up of polylines/arcs can be redrawn using simple lines and arcs. Can you send me a portion of the shape that includes some the complicated sections but not enough for me to know the final shape? If so, I can try and give you more input.
Regards,

Scott Vaal
-Thermwood/eCabinet Systems-
Dell Precision / Xeon E3-1240 / 8GB RAM /NVIDIA Quadro K2000
Scott Marshburn
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Scott Marshburn »

I don't know if this would help but we had a similar situation on a previous job that was drawn in sketchup.It had a lot of curves with concave and convex doors and fronts and all of the arcs and curves were segmented. I was able to change the number of segments in sketchup to 2 then export as dxf to draft sight and redraw all of the curves as 3 point arcs by connecting the points. then imported to ecabinets.This was time consuming but in the end the result was an exact reproduction of the original design.
Ray Jorgensen
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Ray Jorgensen »

Alex,

Download CamBam. It's got 40 free evaluation uses but only cost $150??. Load your file - click on the line - go to edit - transform - arc fit. You'll need to input a tolerance, I usually go .001 - .005. To see haw many segments you have now explode it. I't also in the edit menu.

This is from memory so might be alittle off but it'll get you in the right area.

I use this all the time when I use the profile modeler.

Let us know how you get along.
Gary Campbell
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Gary Campbell »

Ray...
DraftSight, recommended to me by Kerry F., is a free CAD program that will allow you to import, explode and save a DXF in R12-13 format that eCabs will be happy with.
Gary Campbell
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Alex Bowler
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Alex Bowler »

Hi

Thanks for you help i tried Cam Bam and joining the segments but the file was still to big to use in e cabinets properly (runs slow and crashes).
I do not have a problem joining the lines i can do that in Autocad or Rihno but since it was drawn using polylines the file is still to big. Is there a way
using Cam Bam or any other program to reduce the amount of polylines or convert them to another formate that e cabinets can handle.
jason galbraith
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Re: DXF importing

Post by jason galbraith »

DraftSight as recommended by Garry and Kerry Fullington converted a DXF for me that was full of arcs and lines, that used to freeze ecabs.
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Alex Bowler
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Re: DXF importing

Post by Alex Bowler »

Hi

Thanks for your help i have not had a chance to download Draftsight yet as had to just complete the job in our other software
but will defiantly try draft sight as e cabinet should be allot easier once i have the profiles imported.
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