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A method for importing DWG into FormIt 360

by FormIt team, 24 September 2015

A common question we receive is "Can I import a DWG file into FormIt 360?" While we do not yet have a DWG import feature, I thought of a bit of a workaround: fill regions of your DWG so that they can be exported as surfaces. This method will work well for site plans where you want to extrude areas of the site. There are two ways, depending on your approach and which platform you prefer to use (tablet or web.)

  1. 2D Surfaces

This method requires use of the iPad version

  1. Open your DWG in AutoCAD

  2. Select a portion or the entire drawing

  3. Run the REGION command - which will fill in all enclosed regions

  4. Save as > Other CAD Formats > SAT

  5. Upload the SAT file to your A360 Drive

  6. open FormIt on your iPad and import the SAT file. Boom! you have a site plan with all of the filled regions as 2D Surfaces[gallery link="none" ids="1986,1977,1980"]

  7. 3D extrusions

Assuming this is a site plan where you will want the regions to be slightly extruded anyway, you could replace step 3 above with the EXTRUDE command, give a specified thickness, and then export a portion of, or the entire, drawing to STL. STL files can be drag n' dropped right onto the Web app to import them. Extrusions imported as STL Give this method a try and let us know on our forum how it works for you.