Layers of Objects in Elevation

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Bob Thomas
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Layers of Objects in Elevation

Post by Bob Thomas »

Hi Everyone,

I'm working on elevations and running into difficulty with objects that overlap, and my inability to find ways of overcoming transparency. The area I'm working on now includes exterior decking, stairs, balustrade, etc. I have layers of handrails, balusters and posts overlapping each other. I have tried using the wall tool with white fill but I can't break or trim those elements where they intersect with others. I'm also concerned about what the fill will do when printed. On an angle, the sections drawn with the wall tool won't meet posts correctly, so on and so forth. I have also made symbols of the balustrade pattern but I cannot trim them in any way.

Any suggestions? Am I trying to do something that's not possible in HD?

Thanks, Bob

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alexwhite
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Post by alexwhite »

We might need to break your problem into little bits.

Overcoming Transparency... does this mean you need to draw a porch rail, deck, etc. elevation and you want the whole kit to be painted white, to contrast the building or background behind?

If so, I would place all of the balusters and rails on one layer. If you work with symbols, you can place them, but you will need to explode them once placed in order to trim or extend or erase lines in the original symbols. Most of this work should be produced with Lines, not Walls. That way you'll be working with single lines. You'll have to use the full tool pallet of Offset, Duplicate, Transfer, Break, Extend, Trim and all to complete this part.


Now, not sure if you're looking for fills or not... if you are, read on:

Then, when done, and if you want part or all of this work Filled with a color or hatch pattern, you will use the Fill tool. Make aure snaps are turned on, then start placing your fills. For me, this is the hardest part. There is a command to Fill selected objects, but most times for me, anything over a simple rectangle will produce fills errors (the fill will triangulate, or miss a portion, or skip to another endpoint...).

Another fill technique that I do, especially on complex geometries, is create a new Fill Sheet, and place this on the top of the stack. Place the line work layer on another Sheet, and place this directly under the Fill Sheet. Since Sheets have layer over layer mechanics like Photoshop, the Fill Sheet will find the line endpoints easier... and having it on another Sheet will allow you to turn it off or lock it in the future.

If I knew how to post I would post an image of a porch I recently did.[/img]
fat guy in a little coat

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Bob Thomas
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Location: Atlanta, Georiga
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Post by Bob Thomas »

Thanks ybalx,

I hadn't uncovered the "explode" function. I'll experiment with that and see if I can accomplish what I'm trying to do. Sounds like it should work from your description. I'm not really trying to fill anything with color for color's sake it just seemed that if I could use a white fill I could mask items which l lay behind others. I'll try exploding the symbols and see if I can trim and break them.

Onward and hopefully upward.

Bob T.

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