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layering floors

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Message 1 of 16
pogocomrules
1356 Views, 15 Replies

layering floors

in autocad architecture 2005 you could layer floors one on top of the other. however now in autocad arctiture 2012 i can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. any help would be greatly accecpted.

 

Thanks,

    Kris

15 REPLIES 15
Message 2 of 16
ntellery
in reply to: pogocomrules

By floors do you mean Levels?

I believe it was in 2005 that the Project Naviagator was introduced, a tool that organises different levels and building components thru x-ref's.  It has some sweet movements and will allow more than 1 to work on the project and coordinates that.  I think it's overkill for small projects (residential) but it's still there in 12.  Look up help as when I went thru the tutorials in help (are they still an extra download?) it gave a good understanding of the PN.  Because the interface has changed so much you prob can't find it.  Is it under the Manage tab? No??

Both PN and The PBrowser are in the Quick Access Toolbar along the top Left if it's open.

www.ausaca.blogspot.com
Do you know all about the Roof Object? Learn it's secrets
http://ausaca.blogspot.com.au/p/roof-object-video-links.html
Message 3 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: ntellery

yes im am fimiliar with PN not to much. but it dosen't tell you how to convert your files to the file format it requires. cause its not .dwg and that's where i think im going wrong

 

 

thanks again,

 Kris

Message 4 of 16
KathyMoffa
in reply to: pogocomrules

Project Navigator is a file management system.  You use the Project Browser to create new projects and open existing ones.   The Project Navigator palette contains  4 tabs:  Project, Constructs, Views and Sheets.    The Project tab is your manager, and where you define your levels. Your drawings are all contained in the Constructs, Views and Sheets tabs.  You can also view and open the project as well as individual drawing folders in Windows Explorers (with some caveats).   

 

In the Levels section of the Project Navigator, you enter the floor elevation and the floor-to -floor height of each level in your project.   You do not do any dimensioning or documentation in your Construct drawings.    Construct drawings are for drawing, View drawings are for documenting and viewing, and Sheets are for printing. 

 

Since each floor contains it's own drawing(s), when you use PN, you will have a lot more drawings than if you are using Layers and the Display Configuration to control your elevations, but your individual drawings will be smaller and nimbler, and PN controls their organzation, a positive or negative depending on whom you ask  ( I wear the "I love PN" button).   

 

The User Guide (the 4,000 plus page one) does have a thorough explanation of the Project Navigator, and Paul Aubin's Mastering ACA series contains a  great overview (I have the 2010 book--I don't know what the latest one is). 

Message 5 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: KathyMoffa

so the files that i already have need to be redone? i cant export them in to the PN file format?

 

if that's the case than that's a huge flaw in autocad design.

 

 

thanks for the help.

kris

 

p.s. if that is the case then autodesk needs to write a piece of code quick.

Message 6 of 16
KathyMoffa
in reply to: pogocomrules

No, it's easily done.  First, you have to create a new project and set up your levels.  Then, with your new project open, open a drawing you want to include in the Project, click on the Constructs tab, right-click at the top (on the word Constructs), and you will see the option to Save current drawing as construct.   The same option is available in the Elements sub-folder under Contructs and also on the View tab.    If you already have multiple levels created in a single drawing, you will want to create your new construct drawings first, i.e, First Floor, Second Floor, Roof.  Then you can use a number of techniques to copy just those objects into the new construct  drawing, i.e,. cut & paste to original coordinates.       Since the elevations are set in the Project levels, when working with any individual construct drawing, you are always working at elevation 0.  I believe that you may have to adjust your elevation  for the copied objects, so you would want to make certain to have a known elevation on at least one object being copied to each new construct drawing so that you can move them up or down as needed.     It's easy to adjust the elevation if you get it wrong by creating a View drawings with each of the Construct drawing.  If the levels don't match up, first verify that they are correctly set in the Project/Levels tab, then measure the amount off and modify the Construct drawing that is incorrect.   PN is really very simple and fun to use.    Another nice feature is that when you need to replicate exact floors, there is an option to copy the exising drawing to a new level.  And from the PN palette, you can drag and drop drawings into each other (an Overlay Xref function) to verify how things look,  then detach when you're done--a feature I probably overuse.

Message 7 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: KathyMoffa

ok so i got to through allof the insturctions that you layed out. however when i try to view the project in 3d the floors aren't above each other they are just inside one another. what am i doing wrong?

 

please help.

 

thanks ever so much,

   Kris

Message 8 of 16
David_W_Koch
in reply to: pogocomrules

 When you set up the levels in your project, did you assign a the correct floor heights?  When you imported your drawings as Constructs, did you assign each to the correct level?


David Koch
AutoCAD Architecture and Revit User
Blog | LinkedIn
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Message 9 of 16
KathyMoffa
in reply to: pogocomrules

To verify that your drawing(s) is assigned to the correct level, select the Constructs tab, hover over the drawing name, right-click and select Properties.    To verify that your level names and elevations are correct, select the Project tab and click the edit levels icon on the upper right.

 

You can also view the Commercial Template Project provided with the product by going to Program Data/Autodesk/ACA2012/Template/Commercial Template Project.  Double click on the apj file to open it.    You can also create a new project using this template if the settings work for you. 

Message 10 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: KathyMoffa

to reply in to both of you. yes i am sure that the elevations are correct i never changed them from the standard. i did finally get it to work after i went in to each indivdual drawing and changed the elevation manually. but i dont think you should have to do that. it should be done automaticaly if thats what the software is designed for/ to do.

 

 

thanks for all of the info and help.

 

Kris

Message 11 of 16
ntellery
in reply to: pogocomrules

you are correct - you shouldn't do that!

Get into the help tutorials for the PN and work thru it methodically.

As it sets everything up it's worth the time to understand it correctly.

I also used PaulAubin's Mastering Architectural Desktop 2005 book and recommend it.

 

Once understood as said it is a great organisational tool.  Not sure if it was mentioned but I liked that I could, select some entities and drag and drop to the PN to create a new construct or element. 

www.ausaca.blogspot.com
Do you know all about the Roof Object? Learn it's secrets
http://ausaca.blogspot.com.au/p/roof-object-video-links.html
Message 12 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: ntellery

Ok so igot that issue figured out. but now i have run into another issue.

 

i have furniture in my building but i don't want to see it all of the time so im trying to set up differant layers to have items on when i want and off when i dont but i cant figure out how to move those items into a layer i allready created.

 

 

 if this has been answered befor please point me in the right direction. or give me a keyword to find it in help. thank you

 

 

Kris

Message 13 of 16
KathyMoffa
in reply to: pogocomrules

I put all furniture in either a construct or element drawing and drag it into a View drawing (along with the other construct drawing(s) when I need to see it.

Message 14 of 16
pogocomrules
in reply to: KathyMoffa

thank you was a huge Help.

 

Can't express my thanks enough,

 

Kris

Message 15 of 16
mortiz4214
in reply to: pogocomrules

Sice your answers touch on the use of PN, my question is " Is it too much to use PN for a residential design" In my case everything is in one level, except that the garage is 3 feet lower than  the rest of the house.

 

 

Manny

Message 16 of 16
KathyMoffa
in reply to: ntellery

Read the discussion from 12/01/2011, ACA 2011-levels and cut planes, and in particular the last two postings by ntellery, one of which is a link to his video.  Kudos to Nathan for the way he has simplified the way he works and the results he gets.    I don't have Nathan's experience and knowledge of ACA and ACAD, so I like PN, even for single level residential, because for me it's simple,  I like its organization and like being able to work in small manageable, uncluttered drawings.

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