Autodesk DirectConnect for DWG/DXF

Autodesk DirectConnect lets you import Autodesk AutoCAD® drawing files (DWG) and Drawing interchange format (DXF) files into supporting Autodesk products.

For information on the Autodesk products that support these formats, go to the topic Summary of supported formats.

Software Prerequisites

Install the Autodesk product where you will be importing files using this format. (The Autodesk DirectConnect software is installed at the same time.)
No license is required to import this file format.
For Maya, you must load a plug-in to use Autodesk DirectConnect translators. See Additional software setup, Autodesk Maya.

To import DWG/DXF files

1. If you are importing a DWG file, make sure that file is closed in AutoCAD.

(You cannot use Autodesk DirectConnect to import a DWG file when that file is being edited in AutoCAD.)

In your Autodesk software, choose the appropriate menu. For example,

To import a CAD file into...	Choose...
Autodesk StudioTools	File > Open or File > Import > File
Autodesk Maya	File > Open Scene or File > Import

Browse and select a DWG (.dwg) or DXF (.dxf) file.
Click OK.

The translator automatically launches and the file is imported.

Types of data imported

The following types of DWG and DXF data are supported:

lines
arcs
splines
layers
meshes
surfaces
text
3D solids

There are several known problems when importing 3D solid shapes; namely, elliptical cylinders and elliptical cones will not be imported (that is, shapes using an ellipse at their base).

For information on locating this data in your Autodesk software, see Where to find imported data.