Details need to be processed before merging them into running projects, or into a details PLN. It is important to avoid merging unwanted attributes, especially layers. This process simplifies the layers and gets rid of all the unneeded attributes.
This method should be considered alongside A Method For Standard Details.
Standard details will be administered by one or two people at the most.
Hmm, lots of space left. We use beige because everything shows against it: White, black, gray, yellow. Then one day I noticed that our background is almost the same color as buff trace, and it's probably for the same reason. It's interesting how you can go through a completely different process and get the same conclusion as someone 100 years ago or whatever.
What else. In AC8 and before, each window had its own background color. Now there's only one, but the grid color is unique to each window. I'd like to have one detail window with a white background for making object previews.
I'm happy to announce, and I hope I don't regret it, that we can email PDFs to MBC. And they will print them, and the drawings will probably be alright. I'm sure there will be some tuning up to do, but I think we have it working.
This is the address. Put the job details (copies etc) in the message. The file size limit is 50MB.
Let me know if you have any problems.
I found this 90% finished in the Ice folder, so I wrapped it up. The main difference is that the text expansion is now handled as a real number, consistent with the expansion feature of text in AC. The default expansion factor is 2.0.
Also: All the drawing names default to Title Case instead of ALL CAPS. Listen, all caps is played. It's a holdover from the hand-lettering days, which I barely remember. Nobody else in any print, design, or writing field uses caps all the time just because. It is hard to read. It looks like shouting.
Played.
Also, in the future (I'm optimistic), we will use automatic drawing titles. (Yes, they can be automatic in 9, but they're not parametric, and they don't cut it.) The name of the SE marker will be the name of the drawing. I'm not going to look at a Navigator full of CAPS all day.
Bury all caps, not praise.
To facilitate the creation of post-project binders.
Actually, we have been phasing it out for a while. Long ago, it was the default section cut pen for Walls Int and Ext, but that was changed to 15. The same goes for the section cut pen for structural slabs and decks.
So I envision this having very little impact, but I'm giving plenty of warning anyway. I don't know how long exactly. Put it this way, in AC10 it will be official.
Why. We have used pen #1 as a section cut pen, which means it's heavy. Pen #1 turns up as the default pen in a lot of circumstances in AC, and its weight in our setup is not a good default weight in most cases. Therefore, I want to change the weight of pen #1 to something along the lines of pen #12. If you end up with pen #1 by accident, it won't be obnoxiously heavy. But if I change the weight, I need to be sure no one is using it for a section cut pen, or at least we're out of the habit.
So stop using pen #1 when you want a heavy line. Use 15, 25, 35, 45,... instead.
Competition submission materials should be kept in the project folder. This applies to current and past projects.
Under the current template folder scheme, create a folder in 2 Output called 'Competitions'. (The zTemplate folder, as of now, already has this.)
Under the old template folder scheme (01CDs, 02 Reference, etc), create a folder called 'Competitions' at the top level.
Within the Competitions folder, create a folder for each submission, giving the name of the competition. Example: 2 Output / Competitions / Remodeling 2006/.
All files pertaining to the submission should be in there: PLNs, layout books, images, PDFs, forms, etc.
You'll be glad you did!
Everything in the general framing plan discussion also applies to roof framing plans. There's a few special considerations:
• The roof framing plan should usually be generated from the top occupied story, not the roof story. For most projects, this is either the attic or the second floor. In the past, we have used the roof story, but not any more. It is very beneficial to show walls in the roof framing; in fact, we should show walls from multiple stories where applicable. By using an occupied story for the plan, it's one less story to be shown using the trick linked above.
• Show the outlines of the roofs. It is not feasible to show the roofs themselves, you must trace them or copy and paste from the 3D window in the classic style.
If you are showing the actual roofs in your architectural roof plan, put the traced/pasted roof lines on the +S Struct Note layer. If you are using the cut and paste method for the architectural roof plan, you can use the same lines for roof framing.
If you have dedicated structure roof lines (not reused in architectural), change the hips and valleys to a dashed linetype.
To put it another way.
Option 1 (preferred): Use roof elements on A Roof2 for the architectural roof plan. Use copied lines for the roof framing, on +S Struct Note. Switch the hip and valley lines to dashed.
Option 2: Use copied lines for the architectural roof plan, on +A Roof Plan Line. The same lines show in the roof framing. You can't do the dashed line thing.
• If hip and valley framing members are modeled, they require special attention to place them right. It's often OK to show these members as 2D only. There are two ways to do this: 1) The wood beam object has an option to turn the 3D off. 2) Put the beams on the S Framing layer, which is hidden in section.
For the last couple weeks, spying on people, I've noticed separator lines showing up in framing composites. I don't know how this happened, but it must be my fault, but you still have to fix it.
This is what I'm talking about:
Even worse, it seems the separators got set to pen #1, which is just extremely bad.
• Walls. Display of walls is controlled by Display Options. The 'Cut Fills' option should be set to 'Separators Only'. The walls will be clear, with lines at the separators; for example, between concrete and stone. Use the 'S' Display Option Combination.
• Bearing Walls. To show a bearing wall, draw a fill on top of it. This is a non-associated, additional element. Use the fill '*Masonry Block', with a background pen of 50. Use the layer +S Struct Note. So: Walls are clear, except bearing walls, which are shaded.
• Rafters & Joists. Fill elements of the fill 'Joists 16OC' or 'Joists 12OC'. If you need other spacings, you need to make more fills. The fills go on the layer S Framing, which only shows in the framing plans. Rafter and joist placement is diagrammatic.
• Rafter & Joist Labels. Object 'Joist Note JAM9'. With the joists shown as fills, you don't need to show the extent in the note object, although it has that option.
• Beams. Beams should generally be modeled and labeled in sections. Use the objects Wood Beam JM9 and Steel W Shape Beam JAM9, etc. Most beams should be on the layer S Beam, which shows in section. If the beam is just used as a note, place it on S Framing.
Beams can reference their calculations by use of the ID tag in the objects.
• Annotations. All annotations should go on the layer +S Struct Note, unless you want an annotation to show in the foundation plan simultaneously. In that case, use +S Note All. Use a background of pen 91 on text blocks to make them readable when placed on fills.
• Structure Notes. Loads, criteria, etc. are part of the General Notes PDF. Specific notes can be added to the plans using text blocks.
• Wall Cleanup.
Plan layer combinations should have different intersection codes for plan and 3D walls. (E.g., A WALL EXT has '1', A Wall Hi has '2'.) This eliminates gaps where visible and invisible walls meet.
Wall cleanup in plan is still tricky for complex intersections. The use of patches is encouraged.
• Display Order.
(Front, back, etc.) Use display order to to make overlapping elements stack correctly. In order for elements to mask elements behind them, they need a fill with a background pen. If you don't want a fill pattern, use 'Empty Fill'.
Generally, annotations should be all the way in front so they aren't obscured by anything. Walls should in front of everything except annotations. Beyond that, you have to pay attention. Counters in front of floor fills, soffit lines in front of counters, stair railings in front of treads, etc.
• Pens.
More on pens here. Walls are 5-weight (usually 15). Edges (Counters, stairs) are 3-weight. Dashed overhead elements are 2-weight. Appliances, plumbing fixtures, and other such objects are 2-weight. Floor finishes are 150. The background pen of walls in new construction is 50, and existing walls are 91.
A note on composites: Contour, separator, and background pens should set correctly in the composites. Walls in plan should be set to use the composites' pens. Stud wall composites should have the separator lines hidden.
• Floor Finishes. There is a steadily-expanding group of ways to show floor finishes. 1) Fills on F Floor Fin2. 2) Slabs with a cover fill on F Floor Fin2. 3) Cover fills on the zones.
• Dimensions. Here. For small rooms, consider enlarged plans and put the dimensions there.
Standard Fonts:
Notes & Labels: Lucida Sans
Dimensions: Tahoma
Drawing Title and Scale in Object: OceanSanMM_310 LT 475 NO
Drawing Number in Object: Futura
Drawing List: Lucida Sans
Room Name: Times
Sheet Number: Futura
Title Block Data (Except Firm Name): Ocean Sans Std Light
Title Block Firm Name: Times
Project Title (Cover Sheet) Client Name: Times
Project Title Other: OceanSanMM_310 LT 475 NO
• Do not use 'Ocean Sans Std Light' in dimensions. It's the one that drops through the string.
• The Ocean Sans fonts need to be in [HD]/Library/Fonts, not [home]/Library/Fonts. For some reason, OpenType fonts don't work right in ArchiCAD & PlotMaker if they're in your home fonts folder.
• In the future, it is very likely we will use fewer, and less interesting, fonts. This will be for interoperability reasons when exporting DWGs. Our consultant interactions being at a low level, this is a question we can put off. Be aware the day may come when we have to sacrifice some beauty for reliability and getting along.