Please follow these recommendations to prepare your line drawing in AutoCAD (if you are using a different program than AutoCAD, you may still be able to use these same recommendations):
1. When drawing lines in your CAD program, use POLYLINES with at least three points! We have found that polylines defined with three points will remain the same color when processed through the current DXF translator in HVE-2D. Two point polylines may not retain the same color, and they may not be processed through the translator as expected. Polylines with three or more points retain their color, are editable as separate objects in the 3-D Editor, and will not be lost during the translation.
Other useful tools to create 2D line drawings in AutoCAD are ARCS, RECTANGLES, and CIRCLES. (Tools to avoid are NORMAL LINES, BLOCKS, or X-REFS)
2. Locate the origin (0,0,0) in your CAD program at a point on your line drawing that will be convenient to use in HVE-2D. HVE-2D recognizes the origin (0,0,0) of the World Coordinate System (WCS) in AutoCAD as the origin of the line drawing when it is imported. If (0,0,0) is not located on your line drawing in a convenient reference location for your simulation work, you should move your line drawing in AutoCAD so that it is.
3. Use the Export or Save As feature in AutoCAD to save the line drawing as a R12, R13, R14, or 2000 dxf file format. Always try to use the DXF format for the version of program you are using. If you are using AutoCAD R14, try using the R14 format. If you encounter any problems with importing your file into HVE-2D, then go back and save the file as the next older DXF version available. This can result in a change of data structure within the DXF file and allow you to import the drawing into HVE-2D.
Please follow these recommendations to modify your DXF file using two functions provided in the Options section of the Environment Information dialog:
1. HVE-2D uses the SAE coordinate system where the Z-axis is positive into the Earth. AutoCAD uses a coordinate system where the Z-axis is positive away from the Earth. When you import a CAD drawing into HVE-2D, the Z-axis will point down, which results in your drawing appearing to be “upside down”. Use the Flip About X-Axis function to have your drawing appear right side up.
2. If the line drawing was not drawn in inches in your CAD program, use the Scale Factor functionality to convert the drawing units to inches. (e.g. Use 12 to convert from feet to inches)
If after carefully following all of the recommendations you are not able to import the DXF file into HVE-2D as expected, then EDC may be able to help with some additional translation. You will need to provide EDC with your drawing file in an AutoCAD R12 DXF format. Please contact EDC Technical Support for assistance.