Newbie Introduction and question

[jsdraft]

Hello All,

I am an newbie to the forum and will be asking a lot of questions of you all if you don't mind.

I have been using autocad R14 with a 2d architecture addon for the last 15yrs.

I purchased Architecture2009 and never used it because of the learning curve from R14.

Computer Crashed and forced me to update........Now What!

I am adapting very slowly and need to get up to speed soon. i have a residential design business and my clients are getting a little upset with my lack of production.

First Question.

I spend a bit of time yesterday changing door styles and want them available to all drawings not just the one they were created in. How do i migrate my style to the template and other drawings?

Thank you for your help.

Regards

JS

[pendean]

Create a TEMPLATE file out of this one file and use it as the starting point for all project files to date: you probably did the same thing in R14 with the add on.

[jsdraft]

I allready have a template file. Can i have more than one?

i think i need to load the styles to the old template don't i?

Or because the new drawing loaded the template orignally and i make the new drawing the template i can delete the old template?

Help Me......I am so confused.

[ntellery]

As to the templates you can have as many as you like but obviously you can only choose one to use.

You can also have style drawings, which contain collections of prepared styles of objects that you use. You can drag and drop each or a whole drawing to palletes which can then be applied to your drawing in different ways.  You could for instance, have a diff drawing open and right click on a special door tool on a pallete, and apply to a door in your drawing, updating it to the style drawing properties.

However, I would suggest you are about to cause yourself months of pain!!  You sound like you have no training, have not read a book or followed any online course or read much of the help file or tutorials.  I taught myself and yes had years of pain!  I recommend you maybe start with using the 3d tools for plans and then 2d the job out the door to keep yourself productive.  ie adapt slowly.

Can you can get local training.

Get hold of a good book like Mastering Autocad Architecture and work through it.

The included tutorials from the help menu are good (may have to download extra's).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=9493059&linkID=9240655

the last set is from 2010 but the basics have not changed since then.

Archidigm.com is a wealth of fantastic info.  His now free guide is simply unprecedented in breaking down the tools

http://www.archidigm.com/classroom/adt_4_development_guide/adt_5_dg_cover.htm

and he has ready to go object styles for cheap price.  By something and get access to the whole site.

http://architects-desktop.blogspot.com.au/

David Koch's site has a wealth of info.  He also part wrote the latest MAA above.  His links to scheduling tools are particularly useful.

My own focus is residential and my tips on using the roof object over roof slabs are unique.

HTH's

[jsdraft]

Ntellery,

Your are right on with your assumptions. I have no training with ACA and have only worked through a chapter or two of a book. I am not computer illiterate but am by no means a pro. I know just enough to get me by.

I draw house plans, nothing to elaborate. My contractors love how simple and clear i make my drawings. I am simply trying to replecate that with the new software. I do not plan on 3d modeling as my customer base will not want to pay for it. I only wish to use ACA 3d Tools for the walls , windows and doors at this time, all other will be 2d linework.

so my issue is (for this post at least) is.

The standard ACA tool pallete door tool has the option for 50+ standard sizes, 2-2x6-10 for example is something i will never use so i edited the style and deleted the ones i will never use, now i have 20 to choose from.

i did this edit in a drawing and that is the only place that the style change shows up. I want it to be on all drawings.

If i make a style change on a wall,window or door i want it to be for all drawings, ie: all of my 2x4 frame walls will look the same in all of my drawings from this day forward.

How do i make my edit global (not sure of the right term) and not just local to the drawing i made the edit in.

Hopefully your or someone can address my issue so i can save time on future layouts. I am extremely busy with new projects and want to move forward as quickly as i can. I will have many questions in the future i just want this one to start on a new layout.

Thank you for comments, i greatly appreciate all help.

[ntellery]

As I mentioned, you can do this via custom palletes however there are many quite technical things to understand like how to retain if reinstalling, updating or moving computers.

Probably the easiest way to start is to use THAT drawing as your template.  There is no 'global' option so to speak.  The standard pallete tools reach into style drawings included with the install.  Think of them as a link.  You can also insert a drawing into the current one to add all that content however understand that if the style of that name already exists in the drawing, it will not update.  So if you use your own names for styles rather than 'Standard', then inserting the drawing can work, but it's not the most efficient, but it might do until you learn the better methods.

I'm an aussie and most of the OOTB content is not relevant so I had to create my own content.  I mostly grab a similar drawing and start from there, having most content already present.  This is a messy way to work and files can get large but I purge once mostly completed anyway. I have also set up several style drawings and dragged content onto custom palletes.  I think it's better to edit your own templates so you can keep for reuse but this will take some learning.

BTW which drawing are you editing? Both the OutOfTheBox drawing and palletes can be lost in an update, reinstall, move to another pc etc.  Been there done that, so now I edit my own gear and leave their's alone.

FWIW I my elevations, sections are fully obtained from the model (unexploded), including interior layouts and I find it efficient but it did take me some time to get there.

So for now, just insert a similar drawing into the current one and it will be available in that drawing. Don't forget to purge at the end to tidy up and remember there are better ways >> they just take time to understand.

[jsdraft]

Thank your very much for the response, i think i got it.

Rather than change the ''standard'' palette, save it as a new one and change that one, then i can drag and drop into files as necessary and things will update because there is not and existing style of the same name.

and also keep my ''edited tools'' in a seperate file so Autocad will not upgrade and or erase and i can migrate them to new computer from a backup if i crash again, God forbid.

I will give it a try next chance i get.

Thank you again.

JSdraft

[ntellery]

One of the best tips I got from here was to create a folder called MyStuff, copy files such as Acad.pgp, your own lisp to here and make any edits here. Add it to your OPtions Files tab, search path. 

(For instance, the acad.pgp file location has to be higher in the search path (for me the top) than the OOTB paths, and it will load the first one it finds and ignores all others).

Create your own MyStuff.cuix file and make any additions to tool buttons, pulldowns, ribbons to this menu and it will be your own.  After many times loosing my customisations over the years, now setting up my custom setup is about a 20min process and I am back to where I was. 

This Folder becomes very portable.  I don't use profiles but they could be another very useful part of the equation.

Also once you have created your own pallete, there are many tweaks you can make in the tool itself.  It is only a reference to a style but as e.g. you can set floor offsets in the tool itself, or layer key overrides for using a wall object as something else -  the only place it can be set. So making lots of tweaks you don't want to loose these.  Once edited, you can drag the whole tool, or palle (via tab) back into the content browser which creates a hard copy for backup.  This process tho is technical so you want to understand what's happening.  For e.g. If you restore from the content browser, you will find your tools are now locked from editing.  My palletes are placed in a MyStuff/Palletes folder!