Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

AutoCAD ArchiCAD interoperability

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi, I am a services engineer who uses AutoCAD MEP and works with some Architects who use ArchiCAD 11. Is there anyway of saving the ArchiCAD 3d pln as a dwg so that I can work on it as a 3d object? I have tried using the IFC format but the building model does not transfer accurately 100%

Regards,

Andrew
5 REPLIES 5
Erika Epstein
Booster
Yes.
They can save 2D dwgs. From the 3D window they can also save a 3D DWG. This is a much smaller file than IFC, not 'smart' but you can put them in the same space so they overlap and see how they work together. Navigating in each programs 3D windows you can find many of the clashes. Do a search here for additional posts on this topic, there have been many in the last year.
Erika
Architect, Consultant
MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch Yosemite 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Mac OSX 10.11.1
AC5-18
Onuma System

"Implementing Successful Building Information Modeling"
Anonymous
Not applicable
We tried that but the software has problems saving the 3d dwg. it seems that there are some archicad files that cannot transfer to autocad.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Andrew wrote:
We tried that but the software has problems saving the 3d dwg. it seems that there are some archicad files that cannot transfer to autocad.
When you say "some ArchiCAD files", can you be more specific? The 3d dwg export seemed pretty accurate, so it would be useful to highlight any problems you have noticed.
Laura Yanoviak
Advocate
I know that there may be some issues with "triangulation", but we've actually experienced smoother interoperability with ACAD MEP then Revit Structure.
MacBook Pro Apple M2 Max, 96 GB of RAM
AC26 US (5002) on Mac OS Ventura 13.5
Anonymous
Not applicable
The new Archicad MEP package is supposed to help with that as well. You may want to try a .3DS file if you want just the massing of what is in Archicad.