Align Dimensions

[Anonymous]

I have searched for the command to align dimensions, but unable to find, can anyone help?

Many thanks

Kind regards,
Lucia Siciliano

[Aussie John]

You need to use an addon such as the free "Orbit Accesories"

Click on Products in http://www.orbitsolutions.com.au/

[Djordje]

Lucia wrote:
I have searched for the command to align dimensions, but unable to find, can anyone help?

Align, how?

[Link]

I have searched for the command to align dimensions, but unable to find, can anyone help?

Kind vague mate

If you want to join two strings together, you simply select one and ctrl/cmd click the other, while in the Dimension tool.

If you want to simply align to individual dimension strings, simply start dragging one and click on the other.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your replies.

In AutoCAD there is a command called "Align Dimension". You choose two points and the dimension will be perpendicular to these points. They are not attached to the items as they are in ArchiCAD.

I have attached a part site plan, there is a 4.5m setback, as the frontage is not 90 degrees, I have drawn a construction line perpendicular to the site to achieve the 4.5m setback dimension. When I delete the construction line the dimension disappears also, I'm sure there is another way to align dims.

All suggestions are most welcome to an ArchiCAD beginner!

Lucia

[Aussie John]

You need to be creative in this instance. Yes, the dimension will disappear when you delete the line as the dimension is associative. You can make a static dimension but to keep it associative you can draw your line but make it only short and make sure it stops short of the house and the boundary and do an angled dimension to the ends of the line.

Now your dimension has the correct orientation. Select the dimension and command click (mac) the end of the site boundary and then command click on the point of the house. The dimension should extend to the new points. Even though the points are not in the same alignment as the original line, the dimension will maintain its original orientation. Delete the line and the dimension will remain and will be associative and to the boundary.

Hope that is clear

[Anonymous]

Hot spots can also be quite useful for placing dimension to elements that "don't exist". Hot spots don't print but can be snapped to.

[Link]

Once you understand how the 'aligned' dimension works, you'll see it's really quite easy to achieve without any short lines, hotspots or static dimensions.

The aligned dimension determines it's angle with the first two elements it dimensions to. Those first two elements set the vector for the angle and everything after that is simply placed into the angled dimension chain.

Having said that, all you need to do is continue your construction line past your boundary and then dimension in this order:

1. To the corner of the building. (Keep in mind that ArchiCAD will highlight what you have dimensioned to, so if the construction line or slab appears selected instead of the wall, keep clicking in the same spot until the element you want to dimension to appears selected.)

2. Dimension to the end of the construction line. (That will set the angle of the dimension to the angle of the construction line.)

3. Dimension to a node of the boundary. This node can be an endpoint, midpoint, or special snap point. Just make sure it is not the intersection point between it and the construction line. (Keep in mind that this dimensioned point will be associative (ie. non-static) if the placed dimension node apears as a circle. If it appars as a square, it will be static (not associated to anything), and that's not usually a good thing. If you see a square, just click on the square again and dimension elsewhere.)

Now all you need to do is delete your construction line. The unwanted part of the dimension chain disappears leaving you with not only the correct angle on your dimension, but a dimension that is associative and doesn't require extraneous 2D elements to continue to get in your way. It's clean.

Of course there are many different ways to accomplish this (for example, you could have simply used the midpoint of your construction line to set the angle vector), but I just wanted to make this easy to grasp. Keep in mind that a lateral thinking user will use this method for all horizontal and vertical dimensions to avoid the merciless horizontal/vertical dim switch!

Hope that was clear - it is much easier to show in person and if GS let us upload animations, I would have demonstrated it that way, but until then an image will have to suffice. Feel free tell me if you didn't 'get it'.

Cheers,
Link.

[Jefferson]

Picked this up at my local user group. [talking Jim] Set your dimension points, vertical horizontal, doesn't matter, to the two points you want then select it and rotate it to parallel or perpendicular with a construction line, property boundary, wall, etc.

Who knew dimensions rotated? Simple and fast.

[Anonymous]

Great tip, Jefferson!

Funny how when I knew I couldn't do something in previous versions I don't try to do it in the new ones too! Sometimes routine is bad!