Undocumented Autodesk Architectural Desktop Tips and Tricks T.J. Meehan

Transcription

1 December 2-5, 2003 MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas Undocumented Autodesk Architectural Desktop Tips and Tricks T.J. Meehan BD42-1 This class is for Autodesk Architectural Desktop users of all abilities. We'll review 25-plus tips and tricks that you won't find in the Help menu or manuals. These techniques have been compiled from actual users who rely on the product every day to efficiently create accurate construction documents About the Speaker: T.J. has worked for several years in architectural firms doing design and production work as well as CAD management. He is a certified instructor in AutoCAD and Autodesk Architectural Desktop as well as fluent in many office, graphics, and desktop publishing applications He is a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. He has been known to remodel train stations on his lunch break. He has translated ancient Sanskrit, written award-winning operas, and can manage time efficiently. He can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed and cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in only twenty minutes. He is an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. He plays bluegrass cello, was scouted by the Mets, and is the subject of numerous documentaries. Children trust him and the laws of physics do not apply to him. He balances, he weaves, he dodges, and all his bills are paid. He has played Hamlet at the Kennedy Center, performed open-heart surgery, and spoken with Elvis He also writes AutoLISP and HTML code. T.J. has a degree in Architecture and is now completing his exams for his license. tjm@caddmicro.com

2 Tip 1 Create a Standard Priority List Create a Wall Component Priority list with standard values to use for all your wall styles. The list could be based primarily on materials and broken down by status (see table). This is usually better for base buildings. Or, it could be based primarily on status (new vs. demo vs. existing). This is usually better for interiors. The priorities for the wall styles included with Architectural Desktop are primarily material based. You can download a spreadsheet with their values as well as examples of the others above from: STATUS MATERIALS NEW DEMO EXIST Concrete Poured CMU Framing Metal Stud Wood Stud Exterior Finishes Airspace Brick Stone EIFS / Stucco Siding Interior Finishes Countertop Glass Tile Paneling Gypsum Board Insulation Batt Rigid Tip 2 Use Zero Width Components Create a Hatch Line component located in the center of the wall (Edge Offset value) with either a zero or next to zero width. Then, in the Display Properties for that wall, assign the Hatch Line a color that plots thick (or place it on a layer that does the same) and give it a distinct linetype. 2

3 Tip 3 Design a Batt Insulation Wall Component Using the previous tip as an example, assign the Hatch Line component the BATTING linetype. Then, change the Lt Scale to an appropriate value based on wall width and scale (the example shows , which works well based on a 5 1/2 wall at 1/8 = 1-0 scale) Tip 4 Use Different Components for Plan View vs. Model View This allow you to use more symbolic components for the plan view (i.e. an exaggerated 2 backsplash which reads better at 1/8 scale) versus more realistic components for model view (which is better for rendering) The example is for a wall style representing casework with different components for 2D and 3D. The 3D components are turned off in 2D (Plan) view through the Display Properties, while the 2D components are turned off in 3D (Model) view. Tip 5 Create Place Holder Components Just for Sweep Profiles Create a wall component that has no width to be used as a placeholder for a sweeping profile. Examples: Countertop nosing Baseboards, chair rails (wainscot), and crown molding Brick or stone ledges (drip caps) 3

4 Tip 6 Use Add Selected Whenever Possible By using the Add Selected feature (highlight and right-click), you can add new walls that are exactly the same. This could be used by having a Legend block where users can highlight the different object types before drawing them. Matches: AutoCAD Properties (layer, color, linetype, etc.) AEC Object Properties (style, dimensions, justification, etc.) Modifiers (sweep profiles, body modifiers, entity display overrides, etc.) Tip 7 Use Mass Elements for Difficult Wall Cleanups Place mass elements on a non-plotting layer, then use interference conditions with the Shrink Wrap Plan Effect set to either Additive or Subtractive. 1) Difficult wall condition 2) Add a Mass Element 3) Subtractive Interference Condition Tip 8 Use Body Modifiers to Create a Bullnose Create a 3D Solid or Mass Element to use as with the Wall Body Modifier feature to create a bullnosed corner. You can create blocks for different corner angles and radii. 1) Walls before 2) Add a 3D Solid or Mass Element 3) Subtractive Wall Body Modifier attached to both walls 4

5 Tip 9 Create Endcaps with an Open End Any wall endcap created from a polyline with width will cause an open end when used. This can be useful when you want to draw walls for a certain area in a drawing and leave the rest as lines yet have them match up. Before After Tip 10 Use Wall Modifiers for Complex Cleanups When wall components change width, sometimes other components don t make the transition well. First, draw polylines the shape the component should be, making sure to give width to the segment that needs to connect (just like the previous tip). Then, convert those polylines into plan modifiers in place. Before After Tip 11 Take Advantage of the NODE OSnap The most effective way to get walls to cleanup correctly is to have their grip lines match up. Sometimes it is difficult to know where another wall s grip line is located. Using the NODE Object Snap (OSnap) will allow you to snap directly to the endpoint or midpoint of a wall s grip line. Tip 12 Use Layer Key Styles to Change the Status of Objects Even though AEC Objects (walls, doors, windows, etc.) are keyed to a particular layer upon insertion, they can also be re-keyed to a different layer afterwards. In other words, you can move an entire set of objects, without selecting them individually, to different layers with one command. A good example of this would be to take an existing drawing and move part or all of the objects to their corresponding demolition layers (i.e. doors would move from A-Door to A-Door-Demo ). This can be achieved by using two different Layer Key Styles one for your new work and one with the layers adding the -Demo or -D status field at the end of the layer name (and probably changing the color and linetype). Have the new work Layer Key Style set current for most of your drawings, but when you re ready to make a Demolition plan, set that Layer Key Style current. Then, use the Remap Object Layers command accessed from the Format > Layer Management pulldown. Finally, select the objects to change and use the ByObject option. 5

6 Tip 13 Work Between Different Floors in the Same Drawing When creating your Layer Standard, add a field at the beginning for Floor use values like F03 for the third floor, B01 for first basement level, R02 for second floor roof, etc. Now, layer names will resemble F02-Wall for second floor walls and M01- Glaz for mezzanine windows. You can then use Layer Filter Groups to manipulate all the layers for a particular floor. Also, similar to the previous tip, you can utilize different Layer Key Styles for different floors, setting the correct one current depending on the floor you re working on. Tip 14 Change Insertion Points on Multi-View Blocks When inserting certain Multi-View Blocks from the DesignCenter, you can change their insertion points as you add them. Double-click on the block from the DesignCenter to bring up the Add Multi-View Blocks dialog. Then, tap the CTRL key to cycle through the different insertion points. You can add extra insertion points to your own Multi-View blocks by creating POINT s on the DefPoints layer within one of the view blocks. Tip 15 Don t Use Solids for Multi-View Blocks ACES Solids, a standard AutoCAD entity, are the preferred tool for AutoCAD 3D modeling. But, there are better options to use when creating the 3D blocks for Multi-View Blocks. Instead use Mass Elements they are easier to edit (sizes can be easily adjusted with grips), have a much smaller file size, and allow the attachment of Materials through Mass Element Styles. Tip 16 Create Custom Components It is possible to add your own components to objects, such as hardware and panels to a Door or a custom mullion profile to a Curtain Wall. Here are the steps: 1. Draw your custom component use lines and polylines for 2D, Mass Elements for 3D 2. Set all the properties (layer, color, linetype, etc.) to BYBLOCK 3. Turn it into a standard AutoCAD block 4. Go to the Other tab in the Object Display Properties of the object to change (modify at the Style level or Object level, never at a Drawing Default level) 5. Attach your custom component and change the setting for where it is inserted and how it scales 6. Modify its properties on the Layer/Color/Linetype tab 6

7 Tip 17 Have Those Custom Components Automatically Resize When these custom blocks (from the previous tip) are sized to fit, Architectural Desktop uses the overall extents of the block for sizing which can lead to unwanted results (see graphic). If POINT s are added to the custom block on the DefPoints layer and placed in the correct positions, Architectural Desktop will scale the custom block using the overall extents of those points, not of all the geometry. In this example, the points allow the custom door frame to wrap around the wall. Tip 18 Center a Ceiling Grid in a Room If you already have a closed polyline created to clip the ceiling grid, you can center that ceiling grid within the polyline using the following steps: 1. Add a Ceiling Grid and size it one bay bigger than the closed polyline (i.e. the room) 2. Choose Select object from the Boundary property and select the polyline 3. Pick anywhere for the insertion point 4. When you are prompted for a rotation, slide your mouse (with ORTHO on) in the direction of the desired rotation, then type SN at the command prompt. Tip 19 Create a Background Display Configuration Design a Display Configuration that sets all object colors to one that plots out light (to use as backgrounds for engineers and consultants). The steps are as follows: 1. Create a new Display Set called Background by copying your current Plan set 2. Create a new Configuration and use the Background Display Set as default 3. Go through each Object and anywhere a Display Representation is checked, right-click on it, select Duplicate, and use that representation instead 4. Set all the components in the Default Display Properties to reside on a Background layer with color and linetype BYLAYER Tip 20 Organize Schedule Data When creating Properties in a Property Set Definition, number the Properties so they are organized based on the order the data is displayed in the Schedule Table. Otherwise, they will be alphabetized and users will have difficulty filling out the fields. 7

8 Tip 21 Create Your Own Custom Tags for Scheduling Follow these steps to create your own custom tags for scheduling AEC Objects: Step 1 Create a Block Create a standard AutoCAD block for the symbol you want (in this example, a door tag). When naming the block, try to avoid using spaces, use underscores instead. When defining the attributes, set their height to 1 unit. This will allow Architectural Desktop to automatically scale them. In order to have the attributes of the block automatically fill in schedule data (i.e. the door number), the tag of each attribute definition must be named in a certain way. The format is as follows (no spaces) Property Set Definition : Property (In this example, DOOR is the Property Set Definition and NUMBER is the property) Step 2 Create a Multi-View Block Create a new Multi-View definition and name it, again using underscores instead of spaces. From the View Blocks tab, highlight the General display representation in the left window. Click on the Add button and a dialog box will display all the blocks in the drawing. Choose the block you created in Step 1 and click OK. Finally, check only the appropriate view directions (probably just Top since it is a schedule tag). (If you are creating a tag for ceiling fixtures, choose the Reflected display representation instead of General ) Step 3 Export to the DesignCenter You can export to the DesignCenter using the following Format > AEC Content Wizard This will launch the Create AEC Content Wizard with a three step process. The first dialog lets you choose which type of content to create. Choose Custom Command and in the Current Drawing window, highlight both the block and the MvBlock from the list, then click Add >>> to place them in the content file. In the Command String field, enter the following _AecAnnoScheduleTagAdd PropertySetDefs.dwg _SYMBOL CMI_Door_Tag _LEADER none This command string is simply a script of an Architectural Desktop command with some options. After clicking Next >, make sure to keep the Attribute Text Style set to As Defined by Content, the Scale set to Annotation, and choose an appropriate Layer Key (i.e. DOORNO for door tags). In the final dialog box simply add a Detailed Description and use the Browse button to export your schedule tag to the appropriate folder. Tip 22 Use Meaningful Colors Everyone is accustomed to AutoCAD colors equating to lineweights (as well as color and screening) when plotting. These are some other ways to use color: Wrong Layer Color: Non-plotting Color: Select a color to let users know that any object with that color needs to be placed on the right layer. Use this color for layer 0 to keep users from leaving objects on that layer. Users know that whenever they see that color, it will not plot. Use this color for all non-plotting layers (DefPoints, Viewports, etc.) as well as assign it to certain ADT Object components (markers, defect warnings, subdivision lines, etc.) 8

9 Tip 23 Use RText for Plot Stamping and Titleblocks Use the Remote Text (RText) Express Tool to create visible plot stamps that can be embedded in title blocks (whether they are blocks or external references) and updates every time you regenerate the drawing (which happens automatically when you plot). For example, you can insert a piece of RText and type the following: $(edtime, 0, MON DD"," YYYY - H:MMam/pm) Will look like the following when plotted: December 5, :30am You can download a step-by-step procedure with examples from: Tip 24 Use Special Characters for Names Use the Windows Character Map to insert special characters for naming items in Architectural Desktop such as: ¼ ½ ¾ It can usually be found at: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map Tip 25 Use the Object Viewer to Zoom to a Selection Ever wish you could zoom into a selection (like in VIZ)? Follow these steps in Architectural Desktop: 1. Select objects either by highlighting them or with Quick Select 2. Right-click and choose the Object Viewer 3. Click on the Zoom Extents button 4. Click on the Set View button (looks like a crosshair) 5. Close the Object Viewer More detailed explanations as well as all the example drawings, spreadsheets, and other documents, can be found at the following web site: 9