2008

If a live data link is not important to you, the DWG/DXF Import functionality

processes drawings, exported from Revit, in the same intelligent way as the

File Link Manager. You just don't have the benefit of the live data link.

See also:

■

Using Layers to Organize a Scene on page 7224

■ File Link on page 6772

■ Interpreting Layer Data from AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit

on page 6782

AutoCAD Geometry in 3ds Max

The basis of your model in 3ds Max is the geometry of the objects, blocks,

and other entities that are transferred through the file linking functionality.

In many cases, these objects behave just like the editable meshes and splines

you create in 3ds Max. But because the link to the source drawing plays such

a central role in your workflow, 3ds Max has special rules and tools for

handling linked AutoCAD geometry.

When you are working with linked objects and blocks from AutoCAD, you

will find that these are composed as groups of related objects in 3ds Max.

These groups are organized hierarchically below a 3ds Max VIZBlock object.

VIZBlocks are special objects created by the file linking functionality that are

used to contain other file linked objects in a group. VIZBlocks don't contain

any geometry directly, so for example it is meaningless to apply modifiers to

them. However, they do reference the components below them so that

transforms applied to a VIZBlock will be applied to all the component objects

it contains.