Conversion issues going from .drw to .dwg

[dmaynard]

My isometric image is not showing when I convert from a .drw to .dwg. Attached is what I get. Does anybody know why this happens and how to fix it?

[dschenken]

Not much help on the dwg portion - not a new problem http://communities.ptc.com/message/255583#255583

Apparently the shaded image file is also created at the same time, and saved in the same location as the dwg.

[TomD.inPDX]

The only fix is to create an overlay view using a no hidden option. The shaded view is not part of the translation other than to create the image like David said. I think shaded image implementation in Creo, as in WF, was only a half hearted implementation. There are so many limitations it is difficult to defend its use in general practice using Creo.

[dschenken]

Part of the answer to support for DWG is here http://www.opendwg.org/ (old) and http://www.opendesign.com/ (new)

Since DWG is a proprietary file format from Autodesk, and Autodesk doesn't seem willing to just hand over all the docs required, this group has reverse engineered/interpreted a spec and supporting routines for members. Example capabilities are here http://www.opendesign.com/the_oda_platform/Teigha

While PTC could better support the DWG format, I don't see the point of including bitmaps. It's not as if the recipient could synchronize the shaded image with other edits to the 2D data and it's not as if the shaded image would be of use on the drawing to drive downstream apps, such as CNC programming.

One could go with eDrawings or some such that embeds a lightweight version of the model with a view of same embedded or a version of PDF with a 3D representation attached.

[dmaynard]

I also put in a PTC trouble call to see what they tell me. I will update this thread once they resolve this issue.

[dschenken]

Just an update about DWG exporting - based on http://help.ptc.com/creo_hc/creo30_pma_hc/usascii/index.html#page/pma/data_exchange/About_Importing_DXF_or_DWG_Drawing_Files.html where PTC states

"Note: The PTC Creo Parametric Interface for DWG uses RealDWG technology."

The Help link is incorrect - at least it doesn't lead to RealDWG. This is a current Autodesk link http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=770257 to the Autodesk Developer Network page.

It supports "read and write support for AutoCAD releases since AutoCAD Release 14"

It's available through TechSoft, the company that also handles HOOPS and Parasolids.

An interesting interview with the top guy at TechSoft http://www.deelip.com/?p=3501 indicates that HOOPS was used in eDrawings and CADDS 5.

[dmaynard · Accepted solution]

Just got off phone with PTC techinal support and here is the answer. AutoCAD does not recognize .png files. To solve this, when you create .dwg files from .drw files, go to the "misc" tab and select ".jpg" to export images as jpegs. To make it a default, go to configuration editor and type in "int2d_out_image_format" and set to ".jpeg" to export all .dwg's as jpeg.

[TomD.inPDX]

Thanks for following up Damian. That is a great tip.