In the Spring of 1997,Heath Beres and Jeff Mattingly of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Tech developed guidelines for converting AutoCAD .DXF files into formats that can be read by the CAVE as their class project for ESM4714.   This page is the summary of their work. 

Computer models in DXF (Drawing Interchange File) format (may not be created by AutoCAD) can be converted into Open Inventor (tm) format, (.iv), and Performer Binary format (.pfb) by following the steps shown below.   

[Learn more about DXF Files Format]

Conversion Procedure

Figure 4: Procedure to convert DXF file format to .iv and .pfb format

Note that DXF models that can be used in this procedures must be compatible with AutoCAD Release 12 (R12) format.  DXF models that are not in AutoCAD R12 format need to  be converted into R12 before following this procedure.

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Procedure

Option 1: Follow 5 steps below. These steps are corresponding to Figure 1.

Step 1:    Download conversion utility programs and put them in a directory

                 pfnav.c++, pfbounds.c++, pftransform.c++, ScaleBounds.c++, DxfToIv, IvToVRML, DXFconvert

                Also download associated Makefiles for compiling purposes.

                 [Please Click here to download from Beres and  Mattingly's  project page]

Step 2:     Compile them under Unix C-shell

Step 3:     Convert a R-12 compatible DXF model into a Open Inventor file

                 Supposed that I want to convert a  house.dxf  to house.iv.

                 Type

                    You should now see a house.iv file in your directory.

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Step 4:     Check the boundary of your Inventor file

            This will give you a range of your model in X, Y, and Z axis.

Step 5:      Convert the Inventor file into a Performer Binary file

where:

x-angle
          - number of degrees about x-axis to rotate the image

y-angle
          - number of degrees about y-axis to rotate the image

z-angle
          - number of degrees about z-axis to rotate the image

scale-factor
          - factor to scale the image

Input.iv                                                                                                                                                                            Output.pfb
          -input Inventor .iv file to be converted into a  Performer file                            

Output.pfb              

         -specify an output filename with the Performer .pfb extension

You should now see a house.pfb file in your directory.

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Option 2: Use an Automated Conversion Shell Script written by Heath Beres

    This Shell -Script enables users to convert DXF file into .iv and pfb in one step by  supplying variables used in option 1 into one command-line.   This option is very useful when you need to convert many .DXF files.

All parameters are similar to those used in option 1. The benefit of using this script is that the command-line parameters are all optional (except the input file) and are configurable. The default script values are:

X-rotation angle = 0
Y-rotation angle = 0
Z-rotation angle = 0
Scale-Factor = 0             

DXFconvert outputs the following files:

house.iv - the Inventor .iv file
house.wrl - the VRML .wrl file
house.pfb - the Performer .pfb file
house.bounds - the Pfbounds .bounds file            

[See the complete project and examples  by Heath Beres and Jeff Mattingly]

Lessons Learned

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Last updated: 05/09/99
Phuwanai Wanamakok: [best@vt.edu]   
CE&M/CEE Virginia Tech