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"Hands [up] on a House"

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Message 1 of 9
Carcasonne7
541 Views, 8 Replies

"Hands [up] on a House"

I purchased Paul Jackson's Autosketch 6-9 manual on recommendations from this site [Harvey in particular] In the introduction,;I was refreshed to see him quote "Normally manuals are written by the people that produce the software and unfortunately can tend to be more about the commands rather than what to do with them. A little further on he says "please don't give up....even if things don't make sense initially"

But on p44, I have given up. Being a building professional with many years on the pencil, I would expect any good manual to start with the simplest draughting task eg drawing a straight line to a given length at a chosen scale. Thus I was a bit bemused when the author polygons, arcs and circles. I jumped this bit and went to "Draw rectangle".
Here no line lengths or scale is offered. I carried on anyway and managed the first two sides. Then at Stage 4) on page 44 it says "Select horizontal , jend point and then Pick along the first line drawn, jto the left of it's centre. As there is no glossary of terms, I can only presume [ and not having an Australian to English dictionary]that "pick" means "touch on" ? And I assumed that the "first line drawn" is the first horizontal line of the rectangle ie start point to second point ?
Now I did expect the 3rd and 4th sides of the rectangle to snap into place at this point but despite repeated attempts, nothing happened.
I can't believe that I've used all these words to describe how not to draw a rectangle !
Can anyone put me out of my misery on what I have done wrong or not done right and also point me to where in the manual I can learn the simple draw a line to a length to scale ?
8 REPLIES 8
Message 2 of 9
Anonymous
in reply to: Carcasonne7

I'm nonplussed!

Paul's manual seemed pretty good to me at least,
others have found it useful. But that's not
helping you. I wrote a rather simple-minded
"getting started" document many years ago, I don't
remember even what's in it. I've posted it here
many times, no one has complained at least, so
maybe it's useful, I dunno. I'll post it yet
again, drawing a rectangle was included. Try it
out, see if it helps. See attached.

_h

Carcasonne7 wrote:
> I purchased Paul Jackson's Autosketch 6-9 manual on recommendations from this site [Harvey in particular] In the introduction,;I was refreshed to see him quote "Normally manuals are written by the people that produce the software and unfortunately can tend to be more about the commands rather than what to do with them. A little further on he says "please don't give up....even if things don't make sense initially"
>
> But on p44, I have given up. Being a building professional with many years on the pencil, I would expect any good manual to start with the simplest draughting task eg drawing a straight line to a given length at a chosen scale. Thus I was a bit bemused when the author polygons, arcs and circles. I jumped this bit and went to "Draw rectangle".
> Here no line lengths or scale is offered. I carried on anyway and managed the first two sides. Then at Stage 4) on page 44 it says "Select horizontal , jend point and then Pick along the first line drawn, jto the left of it's centre. As there is no glossary of terms, I can only presume [ and not having an Australian to English dictionary]that "pick" means "touch on" ? And I assumed that the "first line drawn" is the first horizontal line of the rectangle ie start point to second point ?
> Now I did expect the 3rd and 4th sides of the rectangle to snap into place at this point but despite repeated attempts, nothing happened.
> I can't believe that I've used all these words to describe how not to draw a rectangle !
> Can anyone put me out of my misery on what I have done wrong or not done right and also point me to where in the manual I can learn the simple draw a line to a length to scale ?
Message 3 of 9
Fred9002
in reply to: Carcasonne7

I think that it's nice the SOMETHING (Hands on a House) is available. I think that the writer would have had to spend another $50,000 worth of time to attain perfection and comprehensivness, and charge us $2,000 per copy to recover it. 🙂

I think that you are looking for help on something in particular that you are trying to do at the moment. You might just post it as such, because as you wrote it it is about interpreting that particular book rather than how to do something. If it's just to draw a rectangle, you could just use the rectangle tool and click and hold on where you want one corner, then drag to where you want the diagonal corner and then release

.
Message 4 of 9
Anonymous
in reply to: Carcasonne7

Years ago, and maybe even today, Paul was a re-supplier (possibly an
agent for ADSK) of Autosketch in western Oz, Perth to be exact. He
taught courses for this software, had a business based on this program,
and was at one time a frequent poster here especially when I could lance
his various pseudo-sanctimonious boils. He's not around much anymore for
whatever reason. Sadness.

His book is the only thing out there that I know about for this
software. He wrote it originally for AS v6 and updated it over the years
to maybe v8 or v9, not certain about that. The book was quite good when
I was involved with this business many years ago, I often recommended it
in this newsgroup to no complaints. Breezy, cute, informative,
everything one would need to use the program to its fullest potential.

Anyone who has a problem with it should post specifics about their
problem as you suggested.

_h

Fred9002 wrote:
> I think that it's nice the SOMETHING (Hands on a House) is available. I think that the writer would have had to spend another $50,000 worth of time to attain perfection and comprehensivness, and charge us $2,000 per copy to recover it. 🙂
>
> I think that you are looking for help on something in particular that you are trying to do at the moment. You might just post it as such, because as you wrote it it is about interpreting that particular book rather than how to do something. If it's just to draw a rectangle, you could just use the rectangle tool and click and hold on where you want one corner, then drag to where you want the diagonal corner and then release
>
> .
Message 5 of 9
Carcasonne7
in reply to: Carcasonne7

Happy New Year - to Harvey inparticular - you're a hero just for bothering to respond to my cry for help ! Having got the Festive Season out of my soul, I'm starting to go through your little manual with great interest and will report back on progress shortly. As for Fred's comments, I thought I was very specific in describing the minutre details of NOT getting from begining to end of a simple draughting task ? I quoted page and verse so what more could you need to understand the problem ?
Perhaps one day I will be able to help others comprehend the mysteries of Autosketch 6-9 ?
Message 6 of 9
Fred9002
in reply to: Carcasonne7

Hello Carcasonne7,

I guess what I meant is that most respondents here (myself included) don't have that book. And so, if you wanted help specifically with the book, then the way you defined your question is fine.

But the rest of us would be happy to help you with the specific thing that you are trying to do, but then you would have to word your question in a way that does not require the book to understand your question.

Sincerely,

Fred
Message 7 of 9
shutterspeed6
in reply to: Carcasonne7

Hello Carcasonne7,

You want to know how to draw a single line to a desired length and scale. You also want to know how to draw a rectangle line by line.

First, let’s talk about scale. Your drawing is usually smaller than the object it depicts. In AS, as in manual drafting, you set the precise fractional relationship between the drawing and the actual real world object size. Then if you print the drawing at the size you have set it in AS you will be able to accurately scale distances on the print using an architect’s or engineer’s scale. Scale is discussed on Page 8 of the Getting Started hard copy manual which comes with the CD. It’s also discussed in the on board Help database in a topic called Setting the Drawing Scale.

When you open AS, you will see a dialog box called New. When you are prompted, chose Set Scale Manually. In the Type of Scale window, click Any Scale. Click the down arrow on the next window down and see a scrollable list of all available scales. Select one of these, or type your own in the Page and Actual windows below. Then click Page to open the Page Setup window. Here you can specify the size and orientation of your drawing.

When you complete this setup wizard, you will be looking at your blank drawing, ready to go. The Select Direct and Snap Off buttons are pushed. Rulers should be visible at the top and left margins. At the upper left, where the rulers intersect, a symbol will appear, either a tiny globe or a piece of paper. The globe means the rulers are showing real world measurements; the paper means scale measurements. For now, click on it to toggle it to real world.

Here is how to draw a single line. Let’s make it a horizontal line. Select Line Single on the All in One toolbar. Left click and release somewhere near the left side of the drawing sheet. Drag the cursor toward the right. A straight line will follow it. While dragging, type H or X. The line will pop to horizontal and the cursor will become a red dot. Left click anywhere to end the line. The line will be pink, indicating that it is still selected. One of the toolbars above is the Edit toolbar. It has some data windows. Hover over them and find the one called Line Length. Type in the length of your line, in real world units. For example, if the line depicts something twelve feet long, enter either 12’ or 144”. Push the enter key. The line becomes the desired length. Right click to end, then left click to deselect.
Here’s what we have done from AS’s perspective. We push Line Single. AS prompts “enter startpoint”. We left click to enter a startpoint. AS prompts “enter endpoint”. We begin dragging to form a line, and while so doing we constrain the drawing operation using a lock modifier which tells AS to draw the line only horizontally. We left click, thereby entering the endpoint. Since we are using a single line drawing command, AS is done. The act of specifying the distance is really an edit of the line. It can be done at any time on any previously drawn selectable line.

Now let’s draw a single line a different way. The Select Direct and Snap Off buttons are pushed. Select Line Single on the All in One toolbar. Left click and release somewhere near the left side of the drawing sheet. Type R. See the Enter 2D Coordinate box. Push the XY button on the left side of the second row of buttons. In the X window, type 12’. Tab to the Y window. The tab is important. In the Y window, type zero. Push Enter. The line will appear on the drawing. Push Close in the Enter 2D Coordinates box. The box will vanish. Right click to end, then left click to deselect.

In this second way of drawing a single line, rather than locking the line to horizontal and post-editing it to the desired length, we used X and Y values to tell AS the location of the endpoint. You may already know that AS regards north as toward the top of the sheet, and it regards plus X as easterly, and plus Y as northerly. Also, AS regards east as the zero reference for angular directions, and angles increase in a counterclockwise direction. The Enter 2D Coordinates box also permits entering the line endpoint by polar coordinates, that is, by a distance and an angle.

Now let’s draw a rectangle, line by line. Harvey sent me the same notes he sent you. His first exercise covered drawing a 2” x 3” box. First he showed how to do a line by using Line Single and post-editing its length. Then he went on to describe the method to continue drawing in this manner to form the rectangle. I eventually discovered that it wasn’t working because two of the operations in Step No. 5 of his instruction are reversed. This was a key step for me to solve because it gave me a way to re-occupy a previously drawn line and continue drawing from it. You can read about this in the thread called Why Can’t I Draft With AutoSketch 9.

To draw the rectangle, first draw a line of a desired length using either method above. We’ll consider this the top line of the rectangle. After ending that operation, press Line Single and End Snap. Hover over the right-hand end of the line and see the red square End Snap Auto Indicator. AS prompts “enter startpoint”. Left click on the red square. Type V or Y to constrain the line to vertical. Type S to turn off snaps. A vertical line will spring from the end of the first line to the cursor. The cursor will be a red dot. AS will prompt “enter endpoint”. At this point, you can either left click to end the line and post-edit the length as above, or type R and specify the length of the line in the Enter 2D Coordinate box. Of course, if you use the 2D coordinate box, it’s not necessary to first constrain the line direction by typing V.

Try this also: Press Line Multiple, Snap Off, click a starting point, type R, and you can draw the entire rectangle from the Enter 2D Coordinate box without closing the box between lines. Then of course there is the rectangle tool, which you learn nothing by using, and is for candy-asses.

I hope this helps. Your question has been clear from the outset.

Shuuterspeed6
Message 8 of 9
Anonymous
in reply to: Carcasonne7

Hello to all.

Unfortunately I have been hiding under a rock because of an illness and have had to restructure my
business. So, apologies for not responding.

The good (or bad) news is am am on my way back to recovery and my brain cells are reforming ??

Also if any one has placed orders for my book and not heard from me please contact me direct on this
email address. A few things went bad while I was ill.

The rectangle problem will only occour if the polyline tool is used rather than the "line/multiple".

Of course you can draw rectangles in other ways but this exercise is about snaps and locks.
Scale is not needed in that exercise as it is not important at that stage.

if you send me an e-mail use the inportant thingy so I get the hint.
my skype is paul.wacko

will try and stay in contact this time. I, back designing houses as well as running Resolve so
hopefully my sanity will be ok ( along with a couple of bottles of Margaret River wines)

cheers,
PJ

Carcasonne7 wrote:
> Happy New Year - to Harvey inparticular - you're a hero just for bothering to respond to my cry for help ! Having got the Festive Season out of my soul, I'm starting to go through your little manual with great interest and will report back on progress shortly. As for Fred's comments, I thought I was very specific in describing the minutre details of NOT getting from begining to end of a simple draughting task ? I quoted page and verse so what more could you need to understand the problem ?
> Perhaps one day I will be able to help others comprehend the mysteries of Autosketch 6-9 ?
Message 9 of 9
Anonymous
in reply to: Carcasonne7

I took a look at Paul's book (43-44) to see what you were talking about.
I believe I see the issue.

What Paul may be trying to show (he can chime in here if he wants) is
that by using the lock feature you can extend a line from any angled
entity to a new position on another part of your drawing, like an elevation.

The issue you may see is that you can't select LineSingle and snap to
the center of a rectangle, at least not one drawn with the Rectangle
tool in AS9.

I suggest you try the following:

With the layout as shown in the book, try finding the center of the
rectangle with two lines from the midpoints (M snap) drawn from the
sides. You can always delete them later. Where they intersect is of
course the "center" of the rectangle. You can use to find the point
where you should start the line.

With LineSingle tool and Nearest snap , use the Horizontal Lock. This
can be either or . (Goodness knows why they've incorporated both
H and X, either works).

Click on the angled line of the inscribed polygon, it should be exactly
horizontal. With LineSingle, click again on the rectangle's center
except this time use or . Move the cursor over to the same angled
line as before and you should see the new line drop down to be aligned
exactly with that angled side. Click it and the exercise is done.

Don't be dismayed by any strangeness in Paul's book, he's a bit
hamstrung by translating Oz-talk into English. However, he knows his stuff.

You might also want to see the Shortcut area of the on-board Help. Type
Shortcuts in the Index tab, d-click Keyboard. There are MANY of these,
you'll find the ones that are most useful for your work.

_h

Carcasonne7 wrote:
> I purchased Paul Jackson's Autosketch 6-9 manual on recommendations from this site [Harvey in particular] In the introduction,;I was refreshed to see him quote "Normally manuals are written by the people that produce the software and unfortunately can tend to be more about the commands rather than what to do with them. A little further on he says "please don't give up....even if things don't make sense initially"
>
> But on p44, I have given up. Being a building professional with many years on the pencil, I would expect any good manual to start with the simplest draughting task eg drawing a straight line to a given length at a chosen scale. Thus I was a bit bemused when the author polygons, arcs and circles. I jumped this bit and went to "Draw rectangle".
> Here no line lengths or scale is offered. I carried on anyway and managed the first two sides. Then at Stage 4) on page 44 it says "Select horizontal , jend point and then Pick along the first line drawn, jto the left of it's centre. As there is no glossary of terms, I can only presume [ and not having an Australian to English dictionary]that "pick" means "touch on" ? And I assumed that the "first line drawn" is the first horizontal line of the rectangle ie start point to second point ?
> Now I did expect the 3rd and 4th sides of the rectangle to snap into place at this point but despite repeated attempts, nothing happened.
> I can't believe that I've used all these words to describe how not to draw a rectangle !
> Can anyone put me out of my misery on what I have done wrong or not done right and also point me to where in the manual I can learn the simple draw a line to a length to scale ?

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