Autodesk 18506-091462-9305 - Architectural Desktop 2006, ARCHITECTURAL DESKTOP 2006 Update Manual

AUTODESK

ARCHITECTURAL DESKTOP 2006

Imperial Tutorials Update

August 2005

This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

AUTODESK, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS, AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS.

IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC., BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF PURCHASE OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC., REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Autodesk, Inc., reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state cation, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.

Autodesk Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D Props, 3D Studio, 3D Studio MAX, 3D Studio VIZ, 3DSurfer, ActiveShapes, ActiveShapes (logo), Actrix, ADI, AEC Authority (logo), AEC-X, Animator Pro, Animator Studio, ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Map, Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk (logo), Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk University (logo), Autodesk View, Autodesk WalkThrough, Autodesk World, AutoLISP, AutoSketch, Biped, bringing information down to earth, CAD Overlay, Character Studio, Cinepak, Cinepak (logo), Codec Central, Combustion, Design Your World, Design Your World (logo), Discreet, EditDV, Education by Design, gmax, Heidi, HOOPS, Hyperwire, i-drop, Inside Track, Kinetix, MaterialSpec, Mechanical Desktop, NAAUG, ObjectARX, PeopleTracker, Physique, Planix, Powered with Autodesk Technology (logo), RadioRay, Revit, Softdesk, Texture Universe, The AEC Authority, The Auto Architect, VISION, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Hydro, Visual Landscape, Visual Roads, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox, Visual TugBoat, Visual LISP, Volo, WHIP!, and WHIP! (logo).

The following are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3ds max, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk Map, Autodesk Streamline, AutoSnap, AutoTrack, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, Buzzsaw.com, Cinestream, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Content Explorer, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignProf, DesignServer, Design Web Format, DWF, DWG Linking, DXF, Extending the Design Team, GDX Driver, gmax (logo), gmax ready (logo),Heads-up Design, IntroDV, jobnet, ObjectDBX, onscreen onair online, Plans & Specs, Plasma, PolarSnap, ProjectPoint, Reactor, Real-time Roto, Render Queue, Visual Bridge, Visual Syllabus, and Where Design Connects.

Autodesk Canada Inc. Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk Canada Inc. in the USA and/or Canada, and/or other countries: discreet, fire, flame, flint, flint RT, frost, glass, inferno, MountStone, riot, river, smoke, sparks, stone, stream, vapour, wire.

The following are trademarks of Autodesk Canada Inc., in the USA, Canada, and/or other countries: backburner, backdraft, Multi-Master Editing.

Third Party Trademarks

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Third Party Software Program Credits

PANTONE ® Colors displayed in the software application or in the user documentation may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color. PANTONE ® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. © Pantone, Inc., 2002

Pantone, Inc. is the copyright owner of color data and/or software which are licensed to Autodesk, Inc., to distribute for use only in combination with certain Autodesk software products. PANTONE Color Data and/or Software shall not be copied onto another disk or into memory unless as part of the execution of this Autodesk software product.

Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

RAL DESIGN © RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002

RAL CLASSIC © RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002

Representation of the RAL Colors is done with the approval of RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. (RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification, re. Assoc.), D-53757 Sankt Augustin."

GOVERNMENT USE

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights) and DFAR

227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable.

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1

Using This Tutorial .................................................................................................................................................. 2

Printing the Tutorial .......................................................................................................................................... 2

Accessing the Tutorial Files and Datasets .......................................................................................................... 2

Extracting Datasets ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Learning VIZ Render 2006 ................................................................................................................................. 3

Overview: Working in Architectural Desktop ......................................................................................................... 3

Designing with Objects ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Completing a Project ....................................................................................................................................... 10

Integrating VIZ Render in Your Project Workflow .......................................................................................... 13

Understanding the User Interface ......................................................................................................................... 15

The Workspace ................................................................................................................................................. 16

Title Bar ....................................................................................................................................................... 17

Menu Bar .................................................................................................................................................... 17

Toolbars ....................................................................................................................................................... 18

Drawing Window and Layout Tabs ............................................................................................................ 18

Context Menus ........................................................................................................................................... 18

Drawing Window Status Bar ....................................................................................................................... 19

Open Drawing Menu .................................................................................................................................. 19

Command Palette ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Application Status Bar ................................................................................................................................ 20

The Project Browser and Project Navigator Palette ......................................................................................... 20

The Project Browser .................................................................................................................................... 20

Project Navigator Palette ............................................................................................................................ 21

Tools and Tool Palettes .................................................................................................................................... 22

The Properties Palette ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Content Browser .............................................................................................................................................. 25

DesignCenter ................................................................................................................................................... 26

Detail Component Manager ............................................................................................................................ 27

Arranging Your Workspace .............................................................................................................................. 27

Chapter 2 Getting Started with Projects ................................................................................................. 29

Understanding the Tutorial Project ...................................................................................................................... 30

Lesson 1: Setting up the Small Office Building Sample Project ........................................................................... 30

Exercise 1: Exploring Project Drawings ........................................................................................................... 30

Exercise 2: Creating a Set of Project Tools ....................................................................................................... 37

Lesson 2: Setting up Your Project Template .......................................................................................................... 39

Exercise 1: Creating a Project Template ........................................................................................................... 40

Exercise 2: Adding Legacy Drawings to the Project ......................................................................................... 47

Exercise 3: Configuring Project Standards ....................................................................................................... 50

Exercise 4: Generating Project Tools from a Project Standards Drawing ........................................................ 53

Exercise 5: Defining Building Levels ................................................................................................................ 54

Exercise 6: Categorizing Portions of Your Project ........................................................................................... 56

Exercise 7: Creating a Project from a Project Template ................................................................................... 58

Exercise 8: Creating the Core and Shell from a Sketch Using Tools ............................................................... 59

Lesson 3: Managing Project Standards ................................................................................................................. 67

Contents | i

Exercise 1: Versioning, Validating, and Updating Project Styles and Definitions .......................................... 67

Exercise 2: Modifying a Standard Style and Updating the Project .................................................................. 70

Chapter 3 Developing Your Building Model Design ................................................................................. 73

Lesson 1: Designing the Building Shell ................................................................................................................ 74

Exercise 1: Adding a Curtain Wall ................................................................................................................... 74

Exercise 2: Adding an Entrance Using a Tool .................................................................................................. 76

Exercise 3: Creating an Entrance from a Sketch .............................................................................................. 78

Exercise 4: Modifying a Curtain Wall .............................................................................................................. 81

Lesson 2: Laying out the Building Core ................................................................................................................ 84

Exercise 1: Creating Floor and Roof Slabs ....................................................................................................... 84

Exercise 2: Modifying the Edge of a Slab ......................................................................................................... 88

Exercise 3: Adding Interior Partitions .............................................................................................................. 90

Exercise 4: Creating a Pilaster .......................................................................................................................... 95

Lesson 3: Refining the Building Core ................................................................................................................. 100

Exercise 1: Creating a Niche .......................................................................................................................... 100

Exercise 2: Placing Doors ............................................................................................................................... 106

Exercise 3: Changing a Door Style ................................................................................................................. 109

Exercise 4: Creating Wall Openings ............................................................................................................... 113

Exercise 5: Adding Endcaps to a Wall ............................................................................................................ 117

Lesson 4: Finishing the Building Core ................................................................................................................ 118

Exercise 1: Creating Stairs and Landings ....................................................................................................... 118

Exercise 2: Adding Railings ............................................................................................................................ 120

Exercise 3: Modifying Stairs and Creating the Stair Tower ........................................................................... 123

Exercise 4: Adding Elevators .......................................................................................................................... 129

Exercise 5: Inserting Fixture Layouts ............................................................................................................. 133

Chapter 4 Producing Construction Documents .................................................................................... 137

Lesson 1: Creating a Floor Plan, an Elevation, and a Section ............................................................................ 138

Exercise 1: Creating a View for a Floor Plan .................................................................................................. 138

Exercise 2: Using Callouts to Create a 2D Elevation View ............................................................................ 144

Exercise 3: Changing Materials Within an Elevation .................................................................................... 146

Exercise 4: Modifying and Updating a 2D Section ........................................................................................ 149

Exercise 5: Creating a 3D Section .................................................................................................................. 151

Lesson 2: Working with Details .......................................................................................................................... 155

Exercise 1: Using the Detailing Tool Palettes ................................................................................................. 155

Exercise 2: Using Detail Component Manager .............................................................................................. 159

Exercise 3: Modifying Details ........................................................................................................................ 164

Exercise 4: Adding Reference Keynotes to Details ......................................................................................... 167

Exercise 5: Adding a New Detail Component ............................................................................................... 170

Lesson 3: Scheduling Your Building Model ........................................................................................................ 172

Exercise 1: Tagging Doors for a Schedule ...................................................................................................... 173

Exercise 2: Adding a Project Schedule ........................................................................................................... 178

Exercise 3: Editing Schedule Data .................................................................................................................. 180

Exercise 4: Changing the Appearance of a Schedule ..................................................................................... 183

Lesson 4: Using Callouts ..................................................................................................................................... 186

Exercise 1: Creating a Callout for an Existing Detail .................................................................................... 186

Exercise 2: Creating a Callout and a View ..................................................................................................... 189

Exercise 3: Copying Views with Title Marks .................................................................................................. 194

Lesson 5: Annotating and Keynoting Your Project ............................................................................................ 198

Exercise 1: Assigning Sheet Keynotes to Objects ........................................................................................... 198

Exercise 2: Working with Keynote Databases and Style-based Keynotes ...................................................... 201

Exercise 3: Adding a Keynote Legend ............................................................................................................ 205

Chapter 5 Creating a Steel-Framed Residence ..................................................................................... 207

Understanding the Tutorial Project .................................................................................................................... 208

Opening and Exploring the Project ............................................................................................................... 210

Lesson 1: Developing the Steel-Framed Residence ............................................................................................. 211

Exercise 1: Creating Connected and Trimmed Structural Members ............................................................. 211

Exercise 2: Developing the Structural Frame from Linework ........................................................................ 218

ii | Contents

Exercise 3: Adding Braces to the Structural Frame ........................................................................................ 223

Exercise 4: Creating Roof, Ceiling, and Floor Slabs ....................................................................................... 228

Lesson 2: Creating a Roof Enclosure and a Screen ............................................................................................. 234

Exercise 1: Creating Structural Members from a Roof Slab .......................................................................... 234

Exercise 2: Trimming Structural Members ..................................................................................................... 237

Exercise 3: Create an Array of Structural Members for a Screen ................................................................... 239

Lesson 3: Sharing Design Data ............................................................................................................................ 242

Exercise 1: Creating a Terrain Model ............................................................................................................. 243

Exercise 2: Analyzing the Site for Flooding ................................................................................................... 251

Exercise 3: Creating Elevations for a Sheet .................................................................................................... 257

Exercise 4: Updating Elevations ..................................................................................................................... 262

Exercise 5: Creating a Section for a Sheet ...................................................................................................... 263

Exercise 6: Updating a Section ....................................................................................................................... 267

Exercise 7: Publishing Model and Detail Views to 3D DWF ......................................................................... 273

Lesson 4: Updating and Modifying Project Tools ............................................................................................... 280

Exercise 1: Updating Project-Standard Tools ................................................................................................. 280

Exercise 2: Modifying Structural Member Tools ............................................................................................ 283

Contents | iii

iv | Contents

Introduction

This tutorial shows you how you can use key features of Autodesk® Architectural Desktop to complete your

architectural projects. By completing this tutorial, you learn how to use Architectural Desktop to:

■ facilitate the design of a small office building.

■ communicate your designs to others.

■ create automated construction documents from building models that include floor plans, sections, elevations,

and annotation.

The lessons in the tutorial follow the typical workflow of an architectural project, from predesign through creation

and publication of construction documents. In the second section of the tutorial, which focuses on creating a

project, you work with a small office building dataset. In the third and fourth sections, you develop and document

the design of the small office building using the same dataset you used previously. You can follow the workflow

presented in these lessons when you start your own projects.

To demonstrate some of the structural design features of Architectural Desktop, the last section of this tutorial,

Creating a Steel-Framed Residence, uses a different dataset.

Two sections of the tutorial focus on the new features included in Architectural Desktop: Getting Started with

Projects and Creating a Steel-Framed Residence.

Using This Tutorial

In addition to this conceptual introduction, this tutorial contains two main sections that follow the workflow of an architectural project: Getting Started with Projects and Creating a Steel-Framed Residence .

Lessons in each of the tutorials contain step-by-step exercises focused on a tangible result. Project datasets that contain the exercise drawings that you work on are provided. Imperial project datasets are have an _I suffix and metric project datasets have an _M suffix. Within a project, exercise files have an X- prefix.

Depending on your level of experience with Autodesk Architectural Desktop, you may want to take a different approach to the tutorial:

■ If you are a new user, begin by reading this introduction to familiarize yourself with the concepts of working in

Architectural Desktop and the process of creating a building model. Then, complete each lesson in order.

After you complete the tutorial, you can use the online Architectural Desktop User’s Guide or the printed Architectural Desktop 2006 Concepts Guide to learn more about Architectural Desktop.

■ If you are a previous user, you may want to complete only the lessons and exercises in the new sections of this

tutorial: Getting Started with Projects and Creating a Steel-Framed Residence.

You may also want to review the new feature documentation that you can access from the New Features Topic List in the online Architectural Desktop User’s Guide.

AutoCAD Knowledge: The lessons in this tutorial are designed to build upon your knowledge of AutoCAD®. If you are not familiar with basic AutoCAD functions and commands, see the online AutoCAD® 2006 User’s Guide.

Printing the Tutorial

If you want to print all or part of this tutorial, you can access and print the tutorial PDF, adt_itut_2006.pdf, located on the product installation CD in root:\ADT\Docs.

To open, view, search, and print the PDF, you must have the free Adobe® Reader® installed on your system. You can download the Adobe Reader at http://www.adobe.com.

Accessing the Tutorial Files and Datasets

Project datasets for the tutorial are ready for installation. The datasets are located in c:\program files\autodesk architectural desktop 2006\tutorial\architectural desktop\datasets. By default, they install to my documents\autodesk\my projects. If you

are using Architectural Desktop in a network environment, the tutorial files may be in a different location. Contact your network administrator or CAD manager for the location of the tutorial files.

Each lesson is a group of related exercises focused on a tangible result, such as setting up a new project, developing a design, or sharing your design data. Most lessons have corresponding datasets that contain the project files you need to complete the exercises in the lesson. There are two project datasets: Small Office Building_I and Steel-Framed Residence_I. The tutorial exercise steps identify the specific file to use. Extract the project datasets, and begin the tutorial.

Extracting Datasets

Follow this procedure to extract a dataset.

Update project files

1 Minimize Autodesk Architectural Desktop.

2 In Windows® Explorer, browse to c:\program files\autodesk architectural desktop 2006\tutorial\architectural

desktop\datasets.

2 | Chapter 1 Introduction

If you are using Architectural Desktop in a network environment, the tutorial files may be in a different location. Contact your network administrator or CAD manager for the location of the tutorial files.

3 Double-click the dataset - for example, Small_Office_Building_I.exe.

The datasets are contained in self-extracting files. When you double-click a dataset, the extraction software opens.

4 If the correct path is not shown, in the Self-Extractor dialog box, click Browse and navigate to my

documents\autodesk\my projects.

5 Click OK.

6 Verify that Overwrite files without prompting is cleared, and click Unzip.

A message indicates the number of project files that were unzipped as part of this dataset.

7 Click OK in the message box, and click Close to close the extraction software.

8 Restore Autodesk Architectural Desktop.

9 On the File menu, click Project Browser.

NOTE: You must have a drawing open to access the Project Browser. If you do not have a drawing open, click on the Standard toolbar to create a new drawing.

10 In the Project Browser, click if necessary to locate the project folder for the tutorials. Double-click the project

folder.

NOTE: If you have been working with non-tutorial projects, you may need to browse to my documents\autodesk\my projects.

11 Double-click the project name - for example, Small Office Building_I.

12 If you installed to a location other than the default location, when prompted to re-path the project, click Yes.

13 Click Close to close the Project Browser.

14 On the Project Navigator, click the Project tab.

15 Under Current Project, verify that Name displays the correct project - for example, Small Office Building_I.

To change the current project, double-click another project name in the Project Browser, and repeat steps 13 through 16.

16 Keep the Project Navigator open, and begin the lesson.

Learning VIZ Render 2006

This tutorial incorporates the use of VIZ Render 2006, a separate visualization and rendering application that is included with Autodesk® Architectural Desktop. To learn more about VIZ Render, see the VIZ Render Help and Tutorials, accessible from the VIZ Render Help menu.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop

Autodesk® Architectural Desktop is an object-based CAD application. When you design in Architectural Desktop, you use a collection of objects that represent real-world building components, such as walls, doors, and windows. These objects are composed of lines, arcs, and circles, but also contain information that allows them to function like the real-world components that they represent, to relate intelligently to each other, and to display in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional context.

For example, instead of drawing a series of lines to represent a wall in a floor plan view, you can immediately draw a complete representation of the wall.

By simply switching the drawing view, you can display the same wall in an isometric view.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 3

If you add a door to the wall and then move the wall, the door will automatically move with the wall.

If you view the wall with the door in the previous plan view, the change in location that you made in the isometric view is automatically updated in the plan view.

Because Architectural Desktop contains these ''intelligent'' objects, it supports a drawing-based building information modeling workflow. In this workflow, you use these objects to design a 3D building model that represents the building design.

To create a building model, you first create the building geometry in multiple drawings (DWGs), based on its location in the building model. The individual drawings are referenced together using enhanced AutoCAD® external reference (xref) technology to assemble the 3D building model. The 3D model not only represents the physical building, but also stores information about the building and its components. When you have developed the building model enough to begin documenting it, you can extract drawings, such as elevations and sections, from the building model and reference them onto plotting sheets.

The benefit of this object-based design approach is that views and data are easily extracted and can remain linked to the 3D building model. You can extract views, add them to plotting sheets to create a set of construction documents, and then update the sheets if a change in the building design occurs. Because Architectural Desktop is AutoCAD-based, you have the flexibility to work in a more traditional 2D drafting environment if you prefer, but it is recommended that you use the building information modeling approach to derive the most benefit from using Architectural Desktop.

4 | Chapter 1 Introduction

At any point in your design workflow, you can use VIZ Render, a separate three-dimensional visualization application that is included with Architectural Desktop. You can export your Architectural Desktop design to VIZ Render, where you can create a variety of compelling presentations and design studies, including renderings, animated walkthroughs, and interactive panoramic renderings.

The next few topics in this overview describe some of the important concepts of working with Architectural Desktop.

Designing with Objects

Before you begin a project, it is helpful to understand some of the main features in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop that allow you to work with the architectural objects included in the application. The following example demonstrates how to draw a wall that includes a door.

To draw the wall, you select a wall tool from a tool palette.

A wall tool on a tool palette

Tools are commands that you use to draw objects. Tools take the form of icons on tabbed panels called palettes. The tool image represents the real-world object that you want to draw. Tool palettes are organized within tool palette groups, which contain tools that support a specific work task. The wall tool used in this example is from the Walls tool palette within the Design tool palette group.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 5

The wall tools on the Walls tool palette in the Design tool palette group

Before you begin to draw the wall, the properties of the wall are displayed in another palette below the Tool palette, called the Properties palette. You can change some of these properties, such as the width or base height of the wall, before you draw the wall.

The Properties Palette

Before you specify the start point of the wall, you can use the drawing aids on the application status bar to help you

control how the wall is drawn. To draw this short straight wall segment, you want to click to constrain your cursor to move only in a horizontal or vertical (orthogonal) direction after you specify the start point.

6 | Chapter 1 Introduction

Next, as you move your cursor to specify the length of the wall, the value in the Length field in the Properties palette changes. When the length field reports the desired length of the wall, you can specify the wall endpoint in the drawing.

Alternatively, you can click the dynamic input option (DYN) on the application status bar to use a direct entry method to specify the endpoint of the wall. This option provides a field that you can use to enter the desired length of the wall, instead of specifying a point in the drawing. The angle of the wall is also reported in a separate field as you move the cursor. You can press TAB to toggle between the two fields.

A number of features work together to represent the completed wall in your drawing: the layer, style, and display settings that are assigned to the wall.

The wall is automatically drawn on a named layer with predefined settings such as color, linetype, and lineweight. When you draw an object, a layer key style associated with the drawing matches the object to a defined layer in a process called layer keying. The layer name and settings are determined by a layer standard that is associated with the layer key style and the drawing. The wall is drawn on layer A-Wall, a layer which conforms to the AIA (American Institute of Architects) layer standard, but you can use any of the international and professional standards that are included in Architectural Desktop. You can also create your own office layer standard.

The style of the wall determines what type of wall is being drawn. A style is a set of parameters that you apply to an object to determine its appearance or function. For walls, styles contain components, which are the materials used to construct the wall, such as brick, CMU, concrete, studs, air gaps, and insulation. They also can contain wall modifiers, which change the shape or surface of a wall component.

Walls with different styles

Other object styles contain different parameters. For example, a door style determines the shape (rectangular, arch, half-round, and so on) and type (number of panels and opening method) of the door. In most cases, the image of the tool that you select to draw an object represents its style.

Finally, how you view the drawing in the drawing area helps to determine how the wall looks. A display system works behind the scenes in Architectural Desktop to control how objects in your drawings are represented. Each object has a number of display representations, or different ways they can be shown, depending on the type of drawing in which you need to use them. These display representations control the look of the object geometry as appropriate for different drawing types, such as high detail plans or reflected ceiling plans. You create objects one at a time in the drawing area, but you can change how they are represented, which allows you to manage plan views in low, medium, or high detail, or create reflected ceiling plans - all from the same geometry.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 7

High Detail display representation of a house

Reflected display representation of the same house

Most objects are made up of individual display components within a display representation. The properties of each component, such as visibility, layer, linetype, and lineweight, can be configured in the display representation to change how the object displays in a drawing.

Display components in the Plan display representation of a wall

8 | Chapter 1 Introduction

Different object display representations are grouped in display sets. Display sets group display representations according to the type of view the objects need to display in. For example, the Plan display set includes the Plan display representations of walls, curtain walls, doors, stairs, railings, and roofs. Display sets are then assigned to view directions in display configurations, which can be changed for the drawing area and can be attached to viewports in a sheet layout. By changing the display configuration and/or view direction in a viewport, objects in that viewport can display differently, you can ''represent'' the same objects multiple ways for use in different types of drawings.

A display configuration has representation sets assigned to view direction

The drawing is a volume (cube) with representation sets assigned to the viewing direction.

Drawing templates provided with Architectural Desktop contain display settings that you use to easily manage the display of objects in your drawings created from these templates. They also associate particular layer standards and layer key styles to drawings. Object styles are not included in the templates, but stored and managed in one or more external drawings.

Next, you want to add a door to the example wall. You select a door tool, and select the wall. You can adjust any of the properties of the door in the Properties palette before you select the wall a second time to place the door in the wall. Simply moving the cursor to either side of the wall before you place the door flips the door swing from one face of the wall to the other.

A door placed in a wall

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 9

You can edit or change the style of either the wall or door to change its appearance. Object styles are the main way to differentiate between building components. You would have, in a project, multiple styles for objects such as walls, doors, and windows. Editing any door or wall style in the current drawing will change all doors or walls of the same style. In addition to the ability to edit a style you can change object display settings for a single object (such as the wall) or for all the walls with the same style.

Display components turned off in an individual door representation

Display components turned off in a door style

You can change the properties of the individual wall or door, such as overall dimensions, by double-clicking them and changing the properties in the Properties palette, or by selecting them and grip-editing them onscreen. When you select and move a dimension grip, dynamic dimensions are displayed, allowing you to precisely move the grip. The door also has grips that enable you to flip the door swing to the other face of the wall or reverse its direction.

Grip-editing a wall and door

If you move your cursor over a grip, a grip tip displays the name and function and function of the grip. Often the grip tip lists editing options.

A door grip tip

Moving the wall with its location grip will also move the door. This inter-relationship between objects is what allows you to create 3D building models or drawings with a minimum of editing. You do not have individual linework requiring extensive editing; instead, you have associated objects.

In the next section, you learn how to create a building project. Within the project, you create a building model and extract information from it to create construction documentation. For more information on the concepts and features in this section, see the online Architectural Desktop User’s Guide.

Completing a Project

After you have created a conceptual study and have understood the design requirements of a building project, you have a good idea of your building design. You know the basic structure of the building, and how many floors or

10 | Chapter 1 Introduction

divisions, such as wings or phased expansions, it has. You can also identify the major components of the building. You may have schematic drawings or drawings from a previous project that you want to use to create parts of the building design. At this point, you are ready to start a project in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop.

A project in Architectural Desktop is not just a job name or number; it stores, organizes, and manages the drawings that make up both your building model and the plotting sheets. Within the project, drawings that contain the building model geometry are referenced together, and then views of the building model are referenced onto plotting sheets.

When you create a project, you can specify the project information, including the project name, number, description, and the templates that contain the layouts, styles, and display settings for different types of drawings in your project. You can also designate project-specific tool palettes that contain tools tailored for the building in the project.

The project file structure is created when you create a project. There is no need to set up a file structure for the project in Windows Explorer. Two UI elements within Architectural Desktop, the Project Browser and the Project Navigator palette, provide access to your projects and the drawings organized within them. The Project Browser lets you create, set up, and switch between projects.

The Project Browser

The Project Navigator palette provides the context in which you create, edit, and manage all of your project drawings.

The Project Navigator palette

The project structure contains a main project folder with a number of sub-folders to organize the different types of drawings that the project will contain. Drawings are classified within the project as constructs, elements, views, and sheets.

Two types of drawings, constructs and elements, contain the geometry that is referenced together to create the building model. Both drawing types are DWG files; there is no difference in file type or format. The only difference between them is the way that they are used and how they are referenced to create the building model.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 11

Constructs are the main building blocks of the model. They define unique portions of the building and are assigned to a location (level and division) within the building. For example, assume an existing commercial building with multiple floors and one division (the existing building or main division). The first floor of the building could consist of an exterior shell construct, a first-floor construct with lighting, and a first-floor interior partitions construct. Each of these constructs would be assigned to the first level and the main division of the project. The exterior shell construct, drawn to the full height of the building, would be assigned to all levels of the project, making it span the height of the building. This type of construct is called a spanning construct. The construct’s level and division assignments define its exact location in the building model.

A lighting construct assigned to its location in the building

A spanning construct drawn to span several floors and assigned to the floors (levels)

Elements are collections of geometry that can be referenced repeatedly within multiple constructs. You could apply a typical service core element that includes restrooms to constructs assigned to multiple floors. You would draft the core once as an element, but it would report as separate items (doors, walls, and so on), because the items are referenced to separate constructs. If you tag each service core door, the doors would report as individual items in a schedule.

12 | Chapter 1 Introduction

When you set up the basic levels and divisions of a building model, you create a matrix of locations where you can assign the building geometry that will create your building model. By default, a project has one level (that has an elevation of 0 and represents the ground floor) and one division.

When you have developed the building model enough to begin documenting it, you reference views of the building model onto plotting sheets. A view drawing references a number of constructs according to their location in the building to present a specific view of the building model. To create a view drawing, you decide what part of the building model you wish to look at and the type of view to generate. You could, for example, create a first-floor reflected ceiling plan or a second-floor framing plan. You could also create a composite view of all floors in the building.

You can create three different types of views within projects: general views, detail views, and section/elevation views. General views reference constructs to create specific views of the building model. Detail and section/elevation views contain one or more model space views that display a defined portion of the drawing. A model space view is a portion of the view drawing that may be displayed in its own viewport on a layout tab of a drawing. You can automatically create Detail and Section/Elevation views with callouts. The resulting named model space views can subsequently be annotated and placed on sheets.

A model space view for an automatically created house elevation, placed on a sheet

Sheet drawings are the DWG files that you plot or electronically publish to produce construction documents. Sheet drawings contain sheets, which are paper space layouts that provide the layout of the sheet. You reference model space views from view drawings onto sheets to create sheet views. Any changes that you make to the model can be updated in the sheets because the building model drawings are referenced into the views on the sheets.

You can add annotation like tags, dimensions, and schedule tables to a sheet, or you can add it in a view that you reference onto a sheet. Whether to create the annotation in a view or on a sheet is a decision you make based on your workflow and individual needs.

Each project contains a single sheet set, which is a named and ordered collection of all the sheets in the project. The project sheet set represents the project documentation. You can plot the sheets or electronically publish the sheet set to a DWF (Design Web Format) file that can be viewed by anyone using Autodesk® DWF Viewer or Autodesk® DWF Composer.

To establish, maintain and synchronize standards across all the different types of drawings in an Architectural Desktop project, you can set up project standards. The Project Standards feature lets you set standard styles, display settings, and AutoCAD standards that you want to use in all your project drawings. Standard styles and display settings are specified in one or more standards drawings that you associate with the project. You can then synchronize your project drawings with these standards throughout the project lifecycle, either automatically, or on demand.

Integrating VIZ Render in Your Project Workflow

VIZ Render is a separate three-dimensional visualization application that is installed with Autodesk® Architectural Desktop. You can export your Architectural Desktop designs to VIZ Render, where you can create a variety of compelling presentations and design studies, including renderings, animated walkthroughs, and interactive panoramic renderings. These studies are separate from your project drawings; they are not part of the current project.

When your design is at a point where you want to use VIZ Render to study or present it, you use the following workflow:

First, you export the geometry and materials that comprise your Architectural Desktop design to VIZ Render using a file linking command in Architectural Desktop.

Overview:Working in Architectural Desktop | 13

After you click the link, VIZ Render is opened automatically, and the geometry and materials that comprise your current Architectural Desktop model are displayed in VIZ Render in a DRF file.

A live data link between the current Architectural Desktop drawing and the VIZ Render DRF is established. This link will load any changes in the geometry or material of the Architectural Desktop model into VIZ Render for as long as you retain the file link.

Next, depending on the type of visualization you want to create with VIZ Render, you can make changes and additions to the design in VIZ Render. Although you cannot model in VIZ Render, you can rearrange objects, modify their materials, and add lighting, cameras, and additional objects (like the cars and trees in the renderings below) to create a realistic environment for your design.

14 | Chapter 1 Introduction

After you create an image or animation in VIZ Render, you may find that you need to make a change to the design geometry or material in Architectural Desktop. You can go back to Architectural Desktop, make the change, and use the live file link to load the changes in VIZ Render.

To learn more about VIZ Render, see the VIZ Render Help and Tutorials, accessible from the VIZ Render Help menu.

Understanding the User Interface

Autodesk® Architectural Desktop includes two distinct user interfaces: the workspace and the VIZ Render user interface.

The workspace is displayed when you start Architectural Desktop. The workspace and its components support you through your project workflow, allowing you to move seamlessly from creating a project and designing a building model to producing construction documents.

The Autodesk Architectural Desktop workspace

Understanding the User Interface | 15

VIZ Render, the separate 3D visualization application that is included with Architectural Desktop, has its own user interface that you can use to produce photo-realistic images and animations of your building designs. The VIZ Render user interface is displayed when you export an Architectural Desktop design to VIZ Render, or when you start VIZ Render from the VIZ Render icon on your desktop.

The VIZ Render user interface

The topics in this section describe the workspace and its components. To learn about the VIZ Render user interface, see the VIZ Render Help and Tutorials, accessible from the VIZ Render Help menu.

The Workspace

Before you begin the tutorial, it is helpful to understand the workspace and some of its main components. Use the illustration below to familiarize yourself with the workspace and its components, and then review the following topics.

16 | Chapter 1 Introduction

The Autodesk Architectural Desktop workspace

Title Bar

The title bar is located at the top of your drawing window. The product name, product version, and current drawing name are displayed in the title bar. Standard Microsoft® Windows buttons allow you to minimize and resize the workspace, as well as close Autodesk® Architectural Desktop.

Menu Bar

The menu bar contains six default pulldown menus that are organized according to your workflow: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Window, and Help.

Many of the workspace components are accessed from these menus. Where applicable, the menus show alternate ways of accessing a command, such as a toolbar button or a shortcut key.

Additional pulldown menus

You can load and use four additional pulldown menus: Design, Documentation, CAD Manager, and 3D Solids.

The Design and Documentation menus are similar to those included in releases prior to Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2004, in that they include design and documentation object commands. Use these menus as an alternative to accessing object commands from tools.

The CAD Manager menu provides access to advanced features like the VBA Editor, the LISP Editor, Project Standards, the Keynote Editor, and Tool Catalog Generator.

The 3D Solids menu provides access to the AutoCAD 3D Solids objects and commands. In Architectural Desktop, 3D solids can be converted to mass elements with material assignments that can be used in production drafting. The 3D Solids menu helps AutoCAD users make the most of their 3D drafting skills.

Understanding the User Interface | 17

To load the additional menus, on the Window menu, click Pulldowns, and click the menu you want to load. After you load these menus, you can display the equivalent Design, Documentation, CAD Manager, and Solids toolbars.

Toolbars

Toolbars, located directly under the menu bar, contain groups of commands that you access frequently in a drawing session. Objects are not accessed from the toolbars, as they are primarily accessed from tool palettes.

Four toolbars are displayed by default: Standard, Navigation, Layer Properties, and Shapes. Many of the user interface components described in this section are located on the Navigation toolbar.

Layer Properties toolbar: layer commands, layer list, and Layer Manager command

Navigation toolbar: utility, zoom, view, UCS, and shading commands

Shapes toolbar: 2D object commands, such as lines, arcs, polylines, splines

Standard toolbar: drawing, copy, paste, undo, and regenerate model commands

To display additional toolbars, right-click in the toolbar area (not on a toolbar), and click ADT. A menu lists the toolbars that you can click to display. If you load the 3D Solids, CAD Manager, Design, and Documentation pulldown menus, you can display the equivalent toolbars.

Drawing Window and Layout Tabs

The drawing window is where you design and document your building models. The drawing window contains layouts, that you can switch between by clicking the layout tabs at the bottom of the drawing window.

Context Menus

A context menu contains commands that are relevant to an object that is currently selected, providing you a convenient way to edit the objects that you draw. To display a context menu, select an object, and right-click.

18 | Chapter 1 Introduction

A general context menu is also available when you right-click in the drawing area without selecting an object. This menu contains all modify tools, viewing commands, and the Properties command.

Drawing Window Status Bar

The drawing window status bar is located under the drawing window. It reports the following information about the current project and drawing:

■ the name of the current project

■ the type (construct, element, view, or sheet) and name of the current drawing

■ the active scale for the current drawing or viewport

■ the display configuration of the current viewport or model space view

Options at the far right of the drawing window status bar provide access to the Surface Hatch Toggle, Layer Key overrides, the Isolate Objects command that hides and displays objects that you select, and access to AEC Project Standards. To

display and clear these options from the drawing window status bar, click , and click the options that you want to display or clear.

To display and hide the drawing window status bar, click on the application status bar at the bottom of your screen.

Open Drawing Menu

To display the Open Drawing menu, click on the drawing window status bar. A menu displays a number of drawing setup, plotting, and publishing commands. You can use the Drawing Setup command to change settings of your current drawing, such as the active scale, layer standard, and layer key style. Also included is the Link to VIZ Render command that you use to export building model geometry and materials from Architectural Desktop to VIZ Render.

Understanding the User Interface | 19

Command Palette

The command palette is located under the drawing window. If you prefer, you can enter all Architectural Desktop commands directly on the command line, including those used by the tools.

To display a list of Architectural Desktop commands:

■ On the command palette, enter arx.

■ Enter c.

Application Status Bar

The application status bar is located under the command palette and contains a number of drawing aids.

You can also access the Communication Center , an in-product notification system that keeps you up to date on service pack availability and provides information for Autodesk® Subscription Program members. When new updates are available, the Communication Center icon displays with a yellow exclamation mark.

The Project Browser and Project Navigator Palette

The Project Browser and Project Navigator palette are the two workspace components that you use to create and manage Architectural Desktop projects. The Project Browser provides you high-level management of your projects: you use it to create, copy, and switch between projects. After you create or select a project and close the Project Browser, the Project Navigator palette is displayed automatically. You use it to create, edit, and manage the drawings within the project.

The Project Browser

To display the Project Browser:

■ On the File menu, click Project Browser.

■ On the Navigation toolbar, click .

■ To configure the Project Browser to display when you start Architectural Desktop, click Format ➤ Options. Click

the AEC Project Defaults tab, and select Show Project Browser at startup.

In the Project Browser, you can create projects, switch from one project to another, and copy projects. You can also:

■ define or change the project settings, including the templates, standards, and tool palettes.

■ specify the detail component and keynote databases that you want project members to use to create details.

■ electronically transmit and archive projects.

The current project is displayed on the top left side of the Project Browser. You can associate a graphic to display next to the project name. Below the current project, available projects are listed under the project folder location. A Windows Explorer-like tree allows you to navigate the project directory. The right pane of the Project Browser includes an embedded Internet Explorer that allows you to link to a web page on an Internet or intranet site. You can use the linked web page as a bulletin board for communicating project information, such as photographs, meeting times, and issues, to the project team.

20 | Chapter 1 Introduction

The Project Browser

After you create a new project or set a project current and close the Project Browser, the Project Navigator palette is displayed.

Project Navigator Palette

To display the Project Navigator palette:

■ Close the Project Browser.

■ On the Window menu, click Project Navigator Palette.

■ On the Navigation toolbar, click .

■ Press CTRL + 5.

The Project Navigator palette is the context in which you create, edit, and display all of your project drawings, including elements, constructs, views, and sheets. The Project Navigator contains four fixed tabs that correspond to the main phases of a building project:

■ The Project tab contains the project information, including the levels and divisions in the building model, a Content

Browser icon that will open a project-specific library of tools, and a link to configure project standards.

■ The Constructs tab manages the construct and element drawings that create the building model.

■ The Views tab manages the drawings that contain views of the model that you reference from constructs.

■ The Sheets tab organizes all the plotting sheets that you create from referenced views into a single project sheet

set.

Understanding the User Interface | 21

The Project Navigator palette

The Constructs, Views, and Sheets tabs organize the project drawings in a tree view, the Drawing Explorer. You can organize the drawings in categories within the tabs of the Drawing Explorer and drag the drawings between the categories. You can also drag elements, constructs, views, and sheets into the drawing area, and drag objects from the drawing area into an element or construct on the Constructs tab in the Project Navigator.

You can drag drawings from previous projects, AutoCAD drawings, and Autodesk® Building Systems drawings into the Project Navigator from Windows Explorer to be added to the project as elements, constructs, views, or sheets. This allows project team members or consultants using AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT® to add their drawings to the project.

The references that create the project drawings, typically of an element to a construct, a construct to a view, and a view to a sheet, enhance drawing coordination. An update to a construct in a project, such as a floor plan, is automatically passed along to a view of an annotated floor plan and a sheet containing the scaled view. Notifications of changes are sent to project team members as the drawings change, so team members can update any of their drawings that reference the update drawings.

Tools and Tool Palettes

To display the tool palettes set:

■ On the Window menu, click Tool Palettes.

■ On the Navigation tool bar, click .

■ Press CTRL + 3.

One of the first things that you see in the Architectural Desktop workspace is that tools are organized on individual tool palettes on a larger tool palette, the tool palettes set. Tools represent the individual objects you can add to a drawing. The tool image is a preview of the tool style. When you add an object with a specific tool, the object is created with the settings defined in the tool properties.

22 | Chapter 1 Introduction

The Design tool palette

Three default tool palette groups - Design, Document, and Detailing - provide instant access to a complete inventory of Architectural Desktop tools. The three tool palette groups correspond to stages in the architectural design process and contain palettes that feature relevant tools. For example, the Design palette group contains Design, Massing, Walls, Doors, and Windows palettes. You might use the Design palette, which features objects with standard styles only, in your early design stage, and then use tools from the Walls, Doors, and Windows palettes to convert the objects to specific styles later in the project. To display all the tool palettes from the available tool palette groups, click the title bar of the tool palettes set, right-click, and click All palettes.

All Design, Document, and Detailing palettes

You can add tool palettes to tool palette groups from a tool catalog in the Content Browser, a utility where you can store, share, and exchanges tool and tool palettes.You can create custom tool palettes that address your specific design needs, like a palette that stores commonly used curtain wall, stair, and window tools. Tools can be organized on palettes with separators and text to structure large palettes.

Understanding the User Interface | 23

Tools grouped on a custom palette

New projects contain project-specific tool palette groups that have the same name as the project in which they are created. You can create project-specific tools and store them in such a palette group. If you open a project that was created in an earlier release of Architectural Desktop, no project tool palette group is displayed.

You can create projects according to building type, such as residential, commercial, or educational, and then use these projects as templates to create other projects. Creating projects from these template projects lets you create projects that have custom tools, palettes, and content ready for use at the inception of a new project.

The Properties Palette

To display the Properties palette:

■ Select a tool.

■ On the Window menu, click Properties Palette.

■ On the Navigation toolbar, click .

■ Select an object, right-click, and click Properties.

■ Press CTRL + 1.

The Properties palette provides a single location where you can enter and change the properties of both Architectural Desktop and AutoCAD objects. You can enter information about the style, dimensions, location, and other characteristics of an Architectural Desktop object.

24 | Chapter 1 Introduction

+ 260 hidden pages

Autodesk 18506-091462-9305 - Architectural Desktop 2006, ARCHITECTURAL DESKTOP 2006 Update Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual