Dimension settings in Views

[Anonymous]

I am "converting" from Microstation to Archicad, and have a few question.
First of all it's about dimensioning.

As I have understood - when I create a view (of a floor) and open it in the Project view map, the view is suppose to store/save all the settings within that view. I create a view, set the scale and adjust the dimension settings (font size etc) to suite the scale.
Then I open my drawing in Project map, change the scale and also the dimension settings (font size etc).
After that I double-click the view I created earlier and what happens? The dimension settings within the view is NOT what I had when I saved the view, but the setting from where I came (from the Project map). The result is that the dimension (text font) is either HUGE or tiny small.....

What is happening here, this isn't what I am accustomed from when working within Microstation, where the dimension text font is always the same size no matter what scale I am using (in layouts).

Can someone explain to me that this is the case, and if so, what a "mess" it all will be if I am working on different scale at the same time.

[Anonymous]

After re-reading, I think I understand you better. Your problem is that at say 1:200 and above the dimensions are too large in comparison to the building, but you would still like to see them on plan (even though they may be unreadable when printed).

The way to get around that is to place the dimensions on a scale specific layer that gets turned off at larger scales. You can then add the simplified dimensions (I assume you'd prefer to not see every dimension) on to another layer. They will still remain associative to the wall regardless.

I hope that's a better solution for you! (Sorry for being so thick! )

[Anonymous]

In Microstation I ALWAYS draw in scale 1:1.

Then I place my drawing in layouts, and this is the result:
(the text is in norwegian and "Soverom" means "Bedroom")

Layout with scale 1:50:


Layout with scale 1:100:


Layout with scale 1:200:


As you see, the text and dimension lines and text is exactly the same size no matter the scale I make the layout with (and later print).

[Anonymous]

geircito wrote:
In Microstation I ALWAYS draw in scale 1:1

I guess this where we are having problems! In ArchiCAD you are always drawing full size, but text, linetypes, hatches, dimensions, labels, doors and windows are all sensitive to the specific outputting scale, and will adapt themselves accordingly.

What advantages does working with text at 1:1 actually give you? What happens if you have some text that displays fine at 1:100, but when you create a room layout at 1:20 surely the text would appear enormous! Do you deal with it with different sized text on different layers perhaps?

Generally our office standard is that all room names are 6mm in height when printed regardless of the scale (1:20 - 1:100) These are then turned off at 1:200 where they would become larger than the room. The standard for dim text is 3mm, regardless. 3mm for room notes, regardless. and so on. This is so any plan appears consistently and uniformly annotated when compared to any other plan in the drawing set.

If on the rare occasion we want to force the plan to appear at a larger / smaller scale, but not change the font display size we adjust the placed drawing settings as I described previously.

Try working with the new behaviour for a while, you might like it!

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Peter wrote:
What happens if you have some text that displays fine at 1:100, but when you create a room layout at 1:20 surely the text would appear enormous!

No, the text size, dimension lines & dimension text stays exactly the same, both on 1:100 and 1:20, and both displays very very fine, both onscreen and when printed (se my pictures from Microstation in my earlier post).

(and thanks alot for helping me - but I haven't "got" the solution yet...)

[Anonymous]

I thought that working using Archicad you work with a plan in Project Map, then in View Map you make som views with different scales for putting on a layout. That would be very well IF the tool settings would "stick" to the view created in the View Map (from the Project Map), BUT the tool settings I put "into" the views in View Map doesn't "stick". The scale "sticks", but NOT per example the font size in dimensions.

[Djordje]

geircito wrote:

Djordje wrote:
There is also a switch for this...

So I ask again, where is the switch in the dimension tool that I search for?
Or is it "impossible"?

The dimensions don't have that switch - I meant the text, and the zones, as you already found out.

What is the text height for your dimensions? 5 is big; usually they should be 2 or 2.5 mm. That is traditionally the best balance between the readability and the space they take.

What you set for the text is what is confusing you - it scales with the plan, instead of being the same PRINTED - or, to be precise, OUTPUT size for all the scales, as the dimensions are.

Usually, as Peter said, you should have a separate layer for the dimensions showing - and necessary - for the scales of 1:100 and larger (1:50 etc). You don't want the 1:200 and smaller plans cluttered with many dimension lines.

HTH,