Sorry if this is too basic, but I am trying to learn the basic concepts of CAD and HD to be specific. I am a Civil Engineer, graduating in 1974. My drafting training at University was all by hand with t-square, squares, pencils, etc. Throughout my career in the construction industry, I have always worked with drawings prepared by others - either in-house or via engineering consultants. My question is:
When starting a drawing from scratch do you start at the scale that you wish it to be printed at or do you use 1:1 and scale afterwards?
Do you start at the Origin or do you start somewhere else. If you start somewhere else, is there a way/command to move the drawing origin.
Regards,
Chuck
Starting a Drawing
Starting a Drawing
Regards,
Chuck
Chuck
Re: Starting a Drawing
Hi Chuck,
Ask all the questions you need!
Scale: I tend to base it most on the paper size I am going to use. Normally, because I work on residential, I use 1/4" (or 1:50) for plans and elevations and 1" (1:10) for details. Specifically in HD don't be afraid to use lots of sheets and layers - you can control them nicely for printing by using project views.
I tend to ignore the origin - never understood what it's for... Although I can see it's usefulness in certain circumstances (like sharing certain drawing items between files). On a recent project I used a strict grid - for which I actually used grid and grid snap for the first time. In so doing I also found that the origin can be changed very easily. It is the first construction tool (shortcut P by default).
Hope that helps. I can send you a file or two if that would help - but you may pick up some of my bad habits...
cheers,
derek
Ask all the questions you need!
Scale: I tend to base it most on the paper size I am going to use. Normally, because I work on residential, I use 1/4" (or 1:50) for plans and elevations and 1" (1:10) for details. Specifically in HD don't be afraid to use lots of sheets and layers - you can control them nicely for printing by using project views.
I tend to ignore the origin - never understood what it's for... Although I can see it's usefulness in certain circumstances (like sharing certain drawing items between files). On a recent project I used a strict grid - for which I actually used grid and grid snap for the first time. In so doing I also found that the origin can be changed very easily. It is the first construction tool (shortcut P by default).
Hope that helps. I can send you a file or two if that would help - but you may pick up some of my bad habits...
cheers,
derek
Re: Starting a Drawing
Thanks Derek
Your response to scale supports what I have been doing - base scale on paper size. I don't plan on putting any of you design guys out of work - simply looking for something to do as I approach retirement. I love the Mac and have used it at home since my first SE. I now have an iMac G5 and an Intel Macbook. Until I discovered HD I was limited to running a PC program under VirtualPC or now BootCamp or Parallels on the Macbook.
My current printer will only handle 8.5 x 14. I am thinking of buying a lower end printer that will handle 11 x 17. Don't see need for 22 x 34 or 24 x 36.
For the past 22 years I have worked for a large oil company in the marketing area. Our design guys used AutoCad and produced all of our standard drawings (convenience stores/service stations) at half size (11 x17) with the ability to plot at full size (22 x 34). We provided our design consultants with a strict set of AutoCad standards to to be used to prepare subsequent drawings. In Canada we have been seeing that there is more and more acceptance by building departments for the half size drawings. At bid stage, we would provide our contractors with a set of half size drawing and a CD with pdf files so they could plot at full size if they wished.
Your response to scale supports what I have been doing - base scale on paper size. I don't plan on putting any of you design guys out of work - simply looking for something to do as I approach retirement. I love the Mac and have used it at home since my first SE. I now have an iMac G5 and an Intel Macbook. Until I discovered HD I was limited to running a PC program under VirtualPC or now BootCamp or Parallels on the Macbook.
My current printer will only handle 8.5 x 14. I am thinking of buying a lower end printer that will handle 11 x 17. Don't see need for 22 x 34 or 24 x 36.
For the past 22 years I have worked for a large oil company in the marketing area. Our design guys used AutoCad and produced all of our standard drawings (convenience stores/service stations) at half size (11 x17) with the ability to plot at full size (22 x 34). We provided our design consultants with a strict set of AutoCad standards to to be used to prepare subsequent drawings. In Canada we have been seeing that there is more and more acceptance by building departments for the half size drawings. At bid stage, we would provide our contractors with a set of half size drawing and a CD with pdf files so they could plot at full size if they wished.
Regards,
Chuck
Chuck
Re: Starting a Drawing
Hi Chuck
I have been using an Epson 1270 for the last few years to produce 11 x 17 dwgs and it has performed flawlessly. It was about $600 when new but I believe that there is a similar model to replace this that is around $ 300 or less now.
The B size ( 11 x 17 ) dwg does seem to be used quite frequently now and is much more convenient then 22 x 34.
Don't know if you are using a grid on your page as you are starting with HD ...... I did as a matter of course because I had always used vellum with a fade out grid when drafting manually. After a while though I found I was not using it for anything so have not bothered of late. I'm sure there must be instances of use where it is valuable.
I am in the engineering field ( steel fab ) too, or rather was, until falling victim to the current economic woes and being laid of ( supposedly temporarily ) at the end of December. I do have some Imperial Measure Structural Steel Symbols that I have created that may be of use to you if you don't already have them, plus misc other symbols related to Steel Fab. Let me know if there's something that you are looking for and I'll dig around.
Good luck with your HD endeavours .... stick with it and it is well worth the effort and the people at Ilexsoft are amazingly responsive and easy to understand with their tech support.
Cheers, Peter
I have been using an Epson 1270 for the last few years to produce 11 x 17 dwgs and it has performed flawlessly. It was about $600 when new but I believe that there is a similar model to replace this that is around $ 300 or less now.
The B size ( 11 x 17 ) dwg does seem to be used quite frequently now and is much more convenient then 22 x 34.
Don't know if you are using a grid on your page as you are starting with HD ...... I did as a matter of course because I had always used vellum with a fade out grid when drafting manually. After a while though I found I was not using it for anything so have not bothered of late. I'm sure there must be instances of use where it is valuable.
I am in the engineering field ( steel fab ) too, or rather was, until falling victim to the current economic woes and being laid of ( supposedly temporarily ) at the end of December. I do have some Imperial Measure Structural Steel Symbols that I have created that may be of use to you if you don't already have them, plus misc other symbols related to Steel Fab. Let me know if there's something that you are looking for and I'll dig around.
Good luck with your HD endeavours .... stick with it and it is well worth the effort and the people at Ilexsoft are amazingly responsive and easy to understand with their tech support.
Cheers, Peter
Re: Starting a Drawing
Peter:
Thanks for the input. Are you located in Vancouver, BC or Vancouver US? I lived and worked in Vancouver, BC for 7 years. I still have a number of contacts in the engineering field there that I could share with you offline. My email is cf_cotton@shaw.ca.
Chuck
Thanks for the input. Are you located in Vancouver, BC or Vancouver US? I lived and worked in Vancouver, BC for 7 years. I still have a number of contacts in the engineering field there that I could share with you offline. My email is cf_cotton@shaw.ca.
Chuck