Altering the CAD Settings and Control Panel setting can significantly improve CET’s performance while importing large CAD files and navigating around the 3D drawing space respectively.
Optimizations in CAD Settings Dialog
You can find the CAD Settings dialogue here.
Figure 1 below shows the optimal settings for when importing a large CAD file.
Figure 1: CAD settings for Optimal import load time.
You may disable the 'Show in 3D View' & 'Import 3D entities' if the CAD file only contains a floorplan and is not needed to be visible in the 3D View.
Turn Off the Following Options
Calculate vertex normals
(Disabling this option saves 6 seconds)
Enabling this option smooths out the rough-edged appearance of a multifaceted surface.
If it's disabled, it might cause materials to display incorrectly.
Only turn it on if you need it to look good in renderings.
Figure 2: 3D differences between Optimal Settings (Left) and Optimal Settings but with Calculate Vertex enabled (Right).
Notice that the colours are more favourable, accurate and bright when enabling the Calculate Vertex Normals option on the right. They are also a bit more detailed if you can observe the lines on the lumbar support of the chair and the pedestals low storage unit.
Import CAP symbol data
(Disabling this option saves 21 seconds)
Enabling this also includes importing existing pricing and part information to the Calculation from CAP symbols that are imported as .dwg files.
Explode Solids
(Disabling this option saves 31 seconds)
Enabling this shows all lines in the 2D CAD model.
Show 2D entities in 3D View
(Disabling this option saves 2 minutes 29 seconds)
Enabling this will also place the 2D AutoCAD model under the 3D model.
Figure 3: 3D differences between Optimal Settings (Left) and Optimal Settings but with Show 2D Entities enabled (Right).
Turn On the Following Options
Show only outline of meshes
(Enabling this option saves 4 minutes 38 seconds)
Enabling this option reduces the number of lines in 2D and hides excess lines created for 3D objects.
Only enable if 2D looks acceptable and not significantly worse.
Figure 4: 2D differences between Optimal Settings (Left) and Optimal Settings but with Show only Outline meshes disabled (Right).
It is strongly advised to not disable this option as it would increase the load time significantly. CET would be heavier since it has many CAD lines to render into view. Disabling it would show all the mesh lines of the 3D model's structure as shown in Figure 5 below.
Figure 5: Visible lines for 3D model's mesh structure in the 2D View.
Load Time Statistics
Several test runs have been done to compare the total import and load time for optimal settings and the respective settings below. In conclusion, your best bet is to go with the Optimal Settings suggested earlier.
However, if appearance is of your concern, you may opt to ENABLE the Calculate Vertex Normals options since the load time gap with the optimal settings is not that significant.
| Settings | Total Load Time | Load Time added compared to fully Optimal |
| Optimal | 51 seconds | - |
| Optimal but Enabling Calculate Vertex | 57 seconds | + 6 seconds |
| Optimal but Enabling Import CAP | 1 minute 12 seconds | + 21 seconds |
| Optimal but Enabling Explode Solids | 1 minute 22 seconds | + 31 seconds |
| Optimal but Enabling Show 2D Entities | 3 minutes 20 seconds | + 2 minutes 29 seconds |
| Optimal but Disabling Show Outline | 5 minutes 29 seconds | + 4 minutes 38 seconds |
Table 1: Average Load time for test runs on each setting.
Optimizations in Control Panel
Turning off the following options in the Graphics section of the Control Panel should ensure a smoother navigation/operation in the 3D drawing view.
Figure 6: Control Panel - Graphics Settings for smoother 3D navigation.
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