When an Autodesk DWF Composer user received an AutoCAD drawing (DWG file), he had to fire up the Autodesk DWG viewer, publish the DWG as a DWF file, and then load the DWF file into Autodesk DWF Composer to perform markup and measurement. Now Autodesk Design Review 2007 (new name for Autodesk DWF Composer) allows a user to import a DWG. Autodesk Design Review 2007 converts the DWG to DWF on the fly by invoking Autodesk DWG TrueView 2007 on behalf of the user. The resulting DWF file is automatically loaded into Autodesk Design Review 2007 for markup and/or measurement.
When a user imports a 3D DWG or drags and drops a 3D DWG into Autodesk Design Review 2007, the file is converted to a 2D DWF on the fly. This is contrary to some customers' expectations. American TV viewers may recall the lady's watch commercial with the line "I was hoping for a Longines." "I was hoping for a 3D DWF."
Senior Product Manager, Diane Li, notes that when Autodesk Design Review 2007 invokes Autodesk DWG TrueView 2007 and requests that it publish a DWF, the default settings are used. For all AutoCAD OEM products, such as Autodesk DWG TrueView, the default is 2D DWF.
Under many circumstances, the publishing of a 2D DWF is not a bad thing.
It is common for an Autodesk Design Review user to immediately proceed with markup upon loading the converted DWG. A 2D DWF file is well suited to this process. Although this approach does not let the user orbit the design before commencing markup, it does save the step of using the snapshot tool. Automatic conversion from 3D DWG to 3D DWF has been added to the wish list for an upcoming release. A work around for now is to load the 3D DWG into Autodesk DWG TrueView 2007 and specifically publish a 3D DWF.
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