Auto Alignment for Ordinate Dimensions

[O.Tan]

Right now, we have to align our ordinate dimension every single time, this is just time consuming and inefficient. The better way would be for once the origin has been set, subsequent dimensions will be based reference from the origin so if example the origin line length is 5cm from the model, subsequent dimensions will be 5cm as well instead of now where we have to manually align it with the origin.

For situations where the user doesn't want it to be aligned, the user can just click on the dimension and then reposition it to their liking.

[Anonymous]

Also would be nice to have different layers for Dims, annotations, notes, etc.... Or atleast be able to change the color of text/dims to differentiate them from each other (instead of having everything black and white).

[O.Tan]

@Anonymous good idea! Create an idea station about changing colors of text/dims based on user-defined layers and I'll give my vote for it!

[Anonymous]

@O.Tan Thanks! I didn't even think about that, Here you go! https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-ideastation-request-a/idb-p/125/tab/most-recent

[O.Tan]

Got it, kudoed and you posted the wrong link, guess you actually wanted to post this one 🙂

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-ideastation-request-a/creating-drawings-different-layers-o...

[Anonymous]

lol, thanks @O.Tan. #n00bproblems  😛

[TimeraAutodesk]

Hey @O.Tan, nice feedback! You can actually do this today using the Smart Dimension tool... it's a tip/trick that comes in really handy. After placing your ordinate dimension origin, activate the smart dimension tool and select that origin dimension as your base/reference. You can now start placing all your additional ordinate dims and they will align with the first. Here's a quick screen capture showing how it works: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6h4kb13798ia7ht/alignordinatedims.mp4?dl=0

[Anonymous]

@TimeraAutodesk yes! thank you! I just used that it work like a dream! #awesomesauce

[Anonymous]

@TimeraAutodesk

I like the functionality of using the Smart Dimension tool to be be able to align to my ordinate dimension origin point. However I think it's inefficient to have to place the origin dimension, close out of the ordinate dimension tool, open the smart dimension tool, and then place the remaining ordinate dimensions for the part. Are there any plans to have the ordinate dimension tool automatically align to the ordinate origin dimension without having to switch tools?