VoloView Replacement

[high0nfire]

The Mfg. Co I work at has the latest version of Mechanical Desktop but we are stuck using 2006 because the VoloView3 program that everyone else uses doesn't open DWG files made with anything later than MD2006. Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap/free DWG viewer that can display DWGs made with the latest MD versions in black and white? We'd use eDrawings but it displays the DWGs with the black background and full color lines (like the drafters/engineers have it set for). For some reason the production floor refuses to deal with anything but white paperspace and black lines. It seems ridiculous to me that we are paying for each MD release but not using them... so if anyone knows of another viewer that forces the DWG to black/white I'd really appreciate it.

 

[DonPhillips]

Autodesk has a replacement product, Trueview, that is awesome. It even converts files to older versions. I used it to get around an Architectural Desktop 2007 problem when using the older 2004 version. I am pretty sure it uses the same pen setting as your CAD program so you can take a color entities and plot them monchrome. Worked for me, anyway.

Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com

 

[chicopee]

With your latest version of Mechanical Desktop, see if you can save that file with an earlier edition. You can save ACAD drawing with earlier ACAD version and if I remember mechanical desktop, I believe that is is just an extended ACAD program which in itself has under the TOOL pull down menu the OPTION selection from which you can save drawings with earlier versions of ACAD programs.

 

[high0nfire]

Apparently there are features of the latest autocad DWG file version that don't translate if you save it as an ACAD 2004 DWG (which is what MD2006 uses). I was TOLD this, but I'm not sure it's true (or if we would really use those awesome features). Our drawings aren't THAT complex, 95% of them anyway. It would just be nice to take advantage of the new features/tools/bells/whistles of the latest programs (making drawing creation faster/easier) that we have already paid for.

I appreciate your responses very much!

 

[dik]

I've been using TrueView for the last couple of months... handy for converting files from one release to another... my registered copy of AutoCAD is limited to 2002LT...

Dik

 

[civeng80]

Don

Is Trueview like express viewer? Or is it better??

 

[DonPhillips]

I do not remember using express viewer. I remember using Voloview a few years ago and TrueView is better.


Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com