autocad to sheetcam problem

[_Ogre]

i have a problem file.
drawn in autocad 2017; looks good, the dxf looks good, but when i import into sheetcam i get rotated eclipses

this is a screen capture from autocad. i use trim to confirm all lines are closed
a lot of copy/paste/rotate to get the dwg to look this way

this is what the the file looks like when imported into sheetcam with the rotated eclipses

had to delete half the dxf file. my .8mb dwg file saved as a 5.4mb dxf file

[Old Iron]

It opens in Qcad just like yours does in Sheetcam.
Must be your cad program.

[Old Iron]

Try this

[Simko]

Try this...

If you save the file as an R12 DXF it will get rid of the true ellipses and replace it with a bunch of small curved line segments approximating a true ellipse.

Once you have the DXF saved as R12, open it back up in AutoCAD and do the following:

- With nothing selected type PEDIT in the Command Line
- Click on one of the non-ellipse pieces of the outline
- It will ask 'Do you want to turn it into one?'
- Enter Y and press enter
- Then type J and hit enter
- Select ALL of the objects that make up the outline
- Hit enter once they are all selected

Your outline will now be a single entity polyline.

Even as a polyline, the ellipses will still be made up of short curved lines. I would then open the file in the vector editing software of your choice (Illustrator, Inkscape) and 'Reduce Nodes' or 'Simplify' to make the 'fake' ellipses more CNC friendly.

AutoCAD ellipses are evil!

[steel 35]

I tried as is no go; then I opened it with solid edge, looked good and saved it with another # only change. Sheetcam looked good.

Thanks for the polyline lesson Simko!

[_Ogre]

sorry guy... i had a brain fart
typically when i use a lot of plines, such as a trace, experience says to explode the whole dxf before importing into sheetcam
i exploded the dxf, saved it and it imported fine into sheetcam

simko: i will save your idea for a nastier dxf file, thanks for the lesson
i've been using autocad 10 thru 2017 for 20 years, sometimes it still throws me a curve

[Simko]

I started after you with Release 12 in 1996. I still do almost everything with the command line and the space bar. It is way faster than clicking on icons.

You must have your PELLIPSE setting set to 1. Otherwise, you would not have been able to explode the ellipses.

Glad you got it working!

[tnbndr]

AutoCAD ellipses are evil!

as are splines!!!

[Simko]

AutoCAD ellipses are evil!

as are splines!!!

Agreed!