INSERTING POINTS OR BLOCKS

[ESchomberg]

HI guys, I have never really figured this one out.

If I am in a drawing and I insert a block, it always asks me to pick insertion point or gives options like base point. No matter which choice I pick(such as choose insertion point) I click on the screen and it does not appear. I zoom way out and it always inserts it miles away from my drawing, so I have to click on it, and move it to my drawing. Why can I not insert points or blocks and have them inserted into my drawing instead of inserting them in outer space?

I know the guys where I work(we always use state plane coordinates and they told me that when they insert something in the drawing they use 0,0 as a base point and then 0,0 as an insertion point. Well I normally do not draw in state plane coordinates. There is something I am not understanding about the insertion command.

I did however just create a scale bar in paper space and saved it as a block. When I typed insert and made the scale bar selection it brought up the scale bar instantly and allowed me to pick exactly where I wanted to put it. That is Golden!!!!!!! but why can I not do the same thing in model space????

[ESchomberg]

As you can see, I am totally lost in this area.

[Pointdump]

Hey Erik,

You're doing great with Screencast! I'll have to finish watching them all in the morning. Can you post your drawing with the points and legend? I'd like to nose around.

Dave

[ESchomberg]

Absolutely!! I totally meant to do that.

[ESchomberg]

Anyone of you guys are more than welcome to nose around in my drawing, you guys are better than the geek squad hehe. I understand drawing and land surveying completely, including coordinates, but this whole block insert thing has me feeling like someone exploring the Universe for the first time. I know it has to be real simple(with exception that there are normally 10 different ways to do the same thing in civil3d) It is just a matter of maybe some screen casts showing me various, and correct ways of doing what I am doing the hard way.

[doni49 · Accepted solution]

Here are a couple links you might find helpful.

http://www.archblocks.com/free-autocad-tutorials/how-to-create-blocks-in-autocad

http://www.mycadsite.com/tutorials/level_2/blocks-in-autocad-2-2.htm

[doni49]

Also go back and re-read troma's post where talks about the "little block world".

A block is basically a separate drawing within your drawing. Within that inner drawing, you have a 0,0,0 location. Whenever you insert your block (aka inner drawing) the block's insertion point will be that 0,0,0 location.

[doni49]

Here's a pretty well done video tutorial on blocks.

https://youtu.be/jzlDouas0Wc

[Pointdump]

Erik,

Here's what I see. I grabbed your "Legend" block and opened it in Block Editor:

So when you _INSERT that block, no effing wonder it ends up in Cartagena:

This whole block thing is not intuitive, and every AutoCAD user has struggled with this Base Point/Insertion concept.

Dave

[Pointdump]

Erik,

Some wierdness in your "Legends" block. When I tried to _MOVE the lower lefthand corner to 0,0,0 in the Block Editor it ended up somewhere other than 0,0,0. So I made a basepoint at 0,0,0 and moved the legend to the basepoint and saved the block. If you do this to any of your rebel blocks they will behave better.

Dave

[ESchomberg]

I did re read Don's post. I just couldn't quite figure out exactly what to do.

[ESchomberg]

I hope you screen casted it for me Dave, lol. I need lots of help with this one. It is sooooo confusing to me. I'm on my phone so I can't really see your whole reply.

[doni49]

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@ESchomberg wrote:
I did re read Don's post. I just couldn't quite figure out exactly what to do.

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Let's try this from a different angle then.  Type in WBLOCK.

In the resulting dialog, choose one of your problem blocks from the list (it should look similar to the following image), choose a "Destination" at the bottom of the dialog.  This will create a separate dwg file out of your block.

Now open the dwg file.  Where are the elements relative to 0,0,0?  See how far away it is? 

[doni49]

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@ESchomberg wrote:
I hope you screen casted it for me Dave, lol. I need lots of help with this one. It is sooooo confusing to me. I'm on my phone so I can't really see your whole reply.

---

Take look at the youtube video link above -- it does an excellent job of explaining how they work.

[ESchomberg]

Will try... If there is more than one way to do this, I am all ears.

[doni49]

I can't install the screencast software but I do have access to screencapture software.  I was able to reproduce what you're experiencing and I think when you watch the attached video, you might be able to understand what's going on.

I started out with nothing but a circle along with an arrow pointing to the center pt of the circle.  Then I created a block called __Test with it's Base Point at the center of the circle -- the block contains the circle as it's only element.  Then placed two instances of the block.

Next I started redefining the __Test block by selecting the same circle as its only element but with varying Base Points (I've kept them NEAR the center point).  Notice how the blocks appear to be moving?  That's only because the Base Point within the block is at varying locations -- the blocks themselves haven't moved.

Also -- here's a copy of the dwg file I used in this example.

[Pointdump]

Don,

What is the "AVI" file? What opens it?

Dave

[ESchomberg]

OMG Dave, I'm gonna have to watch that again!

[ESchomberg]

OMG, Dave. It took me a long time to figure out what you were doing and how you were doing it. I finally figured it out, but wow what a pain in the ankle!! I Also think it must be template sensitive because If I set the block to zero and open one of my earlier drawings from another template I have to re do the process. And then If I go back to my current template, I have to redo it again. So I am definitely thinking this is a process that I need to be familiar with enough to re define where 0,0,0 is in different drawings or templates. I might be wrong about what I am saying, but you definately  gave me a great starting point. It was exhausting and I did not even get to watch the you tube videos or study the other options from the other contributors yet.

I hope you guys bare with me on this one, this has been one of my most confusing things to understand. Drawing is really pretty simple, understanding how this program works is what is difficult. I would like to keep this post open until I fully understand most aspects of creating and inserting blocks. I say that because If I am having this much trouble understanding it, then chances are lots of other people are as well.

[doni49]

Avi file = a movie file that Windows Media Player can play.