AFTER COMPLETING THE IMPORT PROCESS AND BEFORE ADDING ANYTHING TO THE MODEL


  1. Check Drawing Extents:  If nothing appears on the screen, look at the coordinates in the lower left corner of the AGi32 Model Mode screen while moving the cursor around the extents of Model Mode. If the coordinates vary wildly and are large positive and/or negative values, then something was imported that is a long distance from the model/site itself. To locate and delete extraneous entities:
    1. On the main menu bar, click on [Tools > Resolve Extents].
    2. Select “Find Drawing/Object Entities Close to Minimum Extents” and then click “Ok.”
    3. If what appears on the screen is something that does not need to be in the model, delete it and then press the “Plan/Top View” button at the top of the AGi32 dialog.
    4. If nothing is visible, repeat Steps 1a-1c, above until the lower-left corner of the model/site appears. If the model/site appears but clicking the Plan/Top View button still results in nothing being visible, repeat Steps 1a-1c but this time choose the “Find Drawing/Object Entities Close to Maximum Extents” button to locate extraneous entities.
    5. Repeat the process described above until clicking the Plan/Top View button shows the model/site.


  2. Check Scaling:  Use the Measure Distance Tool at the top of the AGi32 dialog to measure the distance across an entity with a known dimension (e.g., door, parking space, etc.) and evaluate whether it is the correct size. If it is the correct size, skip to the next step; if not, scrap the import and go back and determine whether the “Units Specified In CAD File” need to be changed or a Scaling Factor needs to be applied when importing the file.
  3. Check Drawing Coordinates:  Look at the coordinates in the lower-left corner of the AGi32 Model Mode screen while moving the mouse around the extents of the imported model/site. If any portion of the model/site is located at coordinates outside of approximately +/- 10000 Feet or Meters, it is strongly recommended that the model’s Origin be moved to avoid future problems. To move the Origin:
  4. On the main menu bar, click on [Tools > Translate Origin] to initiate the moving of the Origin.
  5. If the model/site is extremely large, consider moving the Origin to a point in the approximate center of the model/site. If the model is not really large, move the Origin to wherever it makes sense, perhaps somewhere at the southwest corner of what is being evaluated. The goal here is to have everything in the model fall within the +/- 10000-Feet or -Meters coordinate range.
  6. IMPORTANT NOTES: When exporting a model back to DWG, the default behavior is for AGi32 to move everything back to the original coordinates in the exported DWG File. Also, if it is ever necessary to import a revised background to the original coordinates, make sure to reset the Origin by clicking on the main menu bar [Tools > Reset Translated Origin] before importing the revised background, and then make sure to move (Translate) the Origin again after the revised background has been imported. There is no reason to avoid Translating the Origin when large coordinates are present in a model.
  7. Save the AGI file and move forward with the modeling process.