Do you type MOVE every time, or do you grab and drag objects?

[rmc9WR3X]

Coming from Revit I always try to grab and drag objects quickly. This does not work in AutoCad. The object must be highlighted first, then grabbed at a specific area. If the grabbable area is misclicked then the cursor drags a selection box instead. Is there a hotkey or something to tell AutoCad what I am trying to do (e.g., hold Ctrl before grabbing)?

[paullimapa]

Select object and grips appear

Click on grip

Press spacebar till command line turn to move command

then you can move object

[Kent1Cooper]

One thing I really don't like about that method of moving things in Revit is its amorphousness.  If there isn't something that it can lock onto in the right way for where I want it to go, it's just drifting aimlessly -- there's no "there" there.  If I want to move it a specific distance in a specific direction, I need to select it first anyway, and then start the move operation, where I can type in the distance.  But that's only if I want to go in a direction it will lock onto.  If I want to go 2'-9" to the right and 3'-4 1/2" up, I'm not sure there's any way to do that [as I can easily and directly do in AutoCAD], except to move it twice, once for each direction.  [But I'm a comparative newcomer to Revit -- maybe there are methods I don't know about.]

Anyway, apart from grip-editing [when a grip location will work for the start point of the displacement], you can at least make it easier on yourself by using the command alias.  There's no need to "type MOVE every time" when a simple M will do [that is, if you haven't changed that as the default alias].

[pendean]

@rmc9WR3X AutoCAD does not work like REVIT. Nothing to turn on sadly. Sorry.

[imadHabash]

Hi,

If you set Pickfirst to 1 you will be able to select objects before starting a command.

[rmc9WR3X]

Revit is tight and predictable if you train to increase your speed. The cursor auto-aims on targets in a way that becomes instinctual, and even the need to Tab through to get at sub-elements is very predictable except in busy areas with overlapping objects. In that case you can zoom deep while moving the mouse to hunt, and the left pinky should be very active on the Tab key. The status bar will give immediate descriptions of each object via Tab, with Shift-Tab in case you pass by the one you want.

To move 2'-9" to the right:

highlight the object

type: MV

click anywhere and move your cursor to the right any amount, verifying with your eyes that the ghost of the object is going in the intended straight line, then click again (anywhere)

type:  2, SPACEBAR, 9, ENTER

This can be performed very quickly.

[rmc9WR3X]

I already have Pickfirst set to 1.

The problem for a Revit user is that once an object is selected AutoCAD begins processing options and generating pop-ups. This halts interactivity via mouse. It was built for the command line with segmented cursor usage, but since I am not a poweruser I would like to disable all pop-ups and make "first touch" drag simply drag that object immediately, not merely highlight it.

[Kent1Cooper]

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@rmc9WR3X wrote:

.... once an object is selected AutoCAD begins processing options and generating pop-ups. ....

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Set the QPMODE System Variable to 0 to eliminate the pop-up on selection.

I don't understand what you mean by "processing options" in this context.

[rmc9WR3X]

@Kent1Cooper wrote:

I don't understand what you mean by "processing options" in this context.

In Revit your first touch is always interpreted as a highly-responsive grab if you keep the mouse button held down.

In AutoCAD if you keep the mouse button held down it either draws a selection box (i.e., you microscopically missed the target),

or it processes it as a Selection:

The Properties panel is also busy processing its details as the primary goal of the system, which makes cursor interactions secondary.

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[jreidKVSUZ]

Mr. RMC,

In AutoCAD... I'm a "typer" vs a pick the move then do the command. But you can choose how you want to enact the command.

So, I type M or MM (bad habit from old school AutoCAD) to get into the MOVE command.  I then Pick all my objects I want to move. You can type C for Crossing or W for Window or let your mouse do it by picking and moving to the left and down for Window or right and up for Crossing. 

Once you have your selection, you can either pick a point and then type a number and return and it goes that way. Or, you can do the X, Y that you said you have to do two moves for. Select your objects, put in the amounts you want moved:  10',20'.... then hit enter two times.  By hitting two times, AutoCAD automatically puts the first enter like itis 0,0 and the 2nd enter it puts your 10',20' in and moves it that far.

Some great commands to use for most of your commands is WPolygon or CPolygon. This allows your to cross over and through things vs straight selections like W and C do.

To find these commands, type in M and then type gibberish like sdsf then hit enter, it errors out the command and the commands below show up. Test them all out.

(Expects a point or Window/Last/Crossing/BOX/ALL/Fence/WPolygon/CPolygon/Group/Add/Remove/Multiple/Previous/Undo/AUto/SIngle/SUbobject/Object)

Hope this helps!!

Thanks, JRR!

[rmc9WR3X]

Thank you for analyzing your workflow. I appreciate what AutoCad users are capable of, but I do not spend enough time in the software to justify practicing unintuitive routes. I am in need of a Casual Mode to quickly modify parametric drawings a few times a week using the mouse and shortcuts (Revit's first-touch mouse behavior and its key-pair shortcuts would be a godsend, but it seems no other software on Earth has ever implemented Revit's input system). Until they add this mode I will slog through using the workflow I already know. I just wanted to be sure I was not overlooking some hidden feature.