I am working with an engineer who would like a 3D DXF of just the centerlines (axis) of a frame. Is is possible to do this?
3D DXF export of just center lines (axis)?
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No, the axis cannot be exported at the moment. Until now nobody has asked for this.
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In DiCAM, if you use the 1-03-3 option to "transfer plane frames", you can automatically draw most of the element centerlines on each plane very easily. Since these are drawn as "assisting geometry" they can be exported into a 3d-DXF.
If you have a few "odd" elements (hips, valleys, etc) that cannot be transferred easily to a meaningful plane in the building, you can turn on the axis lines, use 4-5-1 (draw a free line) and draw a few lines from end to end of the member axis you still need. Then export the 3d-dxf with a "assisting geometry" turned on.
As far as engineering goes, this is much better than the axis lines, since this puts planar elements on the same plane, even if their axis don't quite line up (for example, if they are different thicknesses). It also creates all of the proper node locations for easily inserting into an engineering / finite element program. For more engineering softwares, you need a node (or line end) at each intersection in the structure.
All in all it shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to export all of the centerlines of the elements in a format that can be direct input for the engineer.
Even if you were able to export the axis directly, he would still have to spend several hours making all of the centerlines match up.
Hope this helps,
Joe
