IMPORTING 3D MODELS:

  • Confirm that the “Units Specified In CAD File” are correctly set. If there are question marks around the current selection, AGi32 was unable to determine the Units in the CAD file and has selected either “Feet” or “Meters”, depending on the current Units set in AGi32.
  • If there are Layers that do not need to be imported, hold down the CTRL key and deselect the highlighted Layers that do not need to be imported.
  • If you want to know more about what is on the Layers, click the “CAD Viewer” button.  The Viewer will appear and show what is on the selected Layers. If you need to get back to the default set of selected Layers, click the “Smart Select Layers” button.
  • If a 3D model with curved surfaces is being imported, it may be necessary to lower the Curve Increment and apply it to the 3D geometry. Recommended: Leave everything as is initially, but if the curving 3D entities didn’t import correctly or with enough resolution the first time around, try the following:
    • Click the “Advanced Options” tab.
    • In the “Advanced 3D Options” section, choose the “Use Curve Increment” option.
    • If attempts have already been made to import 3D entities with the Curve Increment set to “15” and this wasn’t enough resolution, try changing the Curve Increment to “10”. Setting the Curve Increment lower than “10” is not recommended unless absolutely necessary.  It should not be set lower than “5” unless the model being imported isn’t too complicated. (Decreasing the Curve Increment increases the number of surfaces in the model, which can have a dramatic impact on calculation time.)
  • IMPORT MAPPING (optional) – If the CAD file is set up with meaningful Layers, you can automatically assign surface properties to every surface during the import process based on the CAD Layers (i.e. windows layer, doors layer, etc.). For more on Import Mapping, please see the help topic “Importing CAD Files – Concepts.”
  • Click the “Ok” button to initiate the import.
  • The next dialog, the Import Summary shows what was and was not imported. In the case of 3D entities, knowing what did not import can be as important as knowing what did. Click “Ok” again to finish the import process.


[For a list of entity types that will and will not import into AGi32, please visit this AGi32 Help page. If issues are encountered while importing into AGi32, please take a look at the “Prepare an Autocad file for AGi32 Import.] 


For post import suggestions see: Check your Import for Issues