Double sloped ceiling dimensioning

[ahawes22]

Hi all, thanks in advance for your help. This is an interesting problem, that I can't quite seem to figure out! I'm attaching images that will hopefully clear up any confusion my description may cause.

I have a ceiling plan that shows ceiling panels radiating from front (east) to back (west). The middle panels gradually slope from front (low elevation) to back (high elevation) - the furthest back panels are actually flat. The front elevation image shows that the side panels also slope from front to back, but have an additional slope to their sides (north and south). I then drew reference planes along the north-south slopes and east-west slopes and aligned sections to them to get plans for dimensioning. This is where I started to have issues!

The plans are just slightly off, so that angled dimensions for the corners have added decimals to them. The final dimension plan image shows the process I took to get these plans, and the bottom boxed plan is what I would like it to to look like. I get nice clean angled dimensions, but got that from linework, rather than one of the plans. 

Is there a way to "flatten" out the panels in order to dimension everything in one plan, or what would be the best method to achieve this? We're planning on using double sloped ceilings in other projects, so if there's a way to do this without using linework, that would be great! Thanks!

[ToanDN]

I would dimension them in a 3D view, or a 3D Assembly view if you want a clean looking view.  Set work plane for each ceiling panel before you place the dimensions.  Repeat.

[barthbradley]

Good suggestion, @ToanDN.  This is all about the Work Plane.

[ahawes22]

Thanks for your quick response! I haven't used 3D Assemblies before, but it appears if I just do a top view of a 3D view, I get those clean angles. If I try dimensioning a 3D view using a work plane I still end up with decimal point angles, but if I select the ceiling panel in plan then go to View-Selection Box, that 3D view allows me to dimension correctly. I'm glad to have a quick solution, but curious why that is - any ideas? Thanks again!

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@ToanDN wrote:

I would dimension them in a 3D view, or a 3D Assembly view if you want a clean looking view.  Set work plane for each ceiling panel before you place the dimensions.  Repeat.

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[barthbradley]

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@ahawes22 wrote:

Thanks for your quick response! I haven't used 3D Assemblies before, but it appears if I just do a top view of a 3D view, I get those clean angles. If I try dimensioning a 3D view using a work plane I still end up with decimal point angles, but if I select the ceiling panel in plan then go to View-Selection Box, that 3D view allows me to dimension correctly. I'm glad to have a quick solution, but curious why that is - any ideas? Thanks again!

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It all about the Work Plane the dimensions are placed on. If you look at the screenshot I posted, you'll see 2 dimensions at each corner; one drawn on Level 1 Work Plane, and the other drawn on a picked Work Plane -- that Work Plane being the face of the slewed element. 

[ToanDN]

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@ahawes22 wrote:

Thanks for your quick response! I haven't used 3D Assemblies before, but it appears if I just do a top view of a 3D view, I get those clean angles. If I try dimensioning a 3D view using a work plane I still end up with decimal point angles, but if I select the ceiling panel in plan then go to View-Selection Box, that 3D view allows me to dimension correctly. I'm glad to have a quick solution, but curious why that is - any ideas? Thanks again!

---

@ToanDN wrote:

I would dimension them in a 3D view, or a 3D Assembly view if you want a clean looking view.  Set work plane for each ceiling panel before you place the dimensions.  Repeat.

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If you look at and dimension a top view of a sloped element without setting the work plane to the sloped surface then you end up with incorrect results, projected dimensions versus true dimensions.  See screencast (in a few minutes) for a demonstration on creating an assembly and assembly view from a panel, then dimensioning them.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/7e56058d-885c-4d10-b367-8ade32f7d7fe

Screencast will be displayed here after you click Post.

7e56058d-885c-4d10-b367-8ade32f7d7fe