Details

[Tom Krowka]

As a new user,I have some questions about details. We have plenty of standard details we generated AutoCad. What is the best way to place them into an ArchiCad drawing. Should they go on a separate story, on a detail sheet that is the same scale that they will be plotted on? Text is coming out all kinds of screwy sizes.

Also, when I create a detail in Archicad, what is the best way to manage them to put in a library for future use. Should I save them out from the floor plan window as a .pln, .dwg or from detail window as a .mod or what. What is the best way to bring them back into the drawing. Most likely I'll want to change something on the drawing, so I don't want to Xref.

Should I put all details on a "detail story" that is set up at minus 10 feet, for example; then bring them into plotmaker? Again, I get messed up with text size unless I have a different scale detail story for each scale of detail?

I think I'm missing something here.

Thanks
Tom
version 8.1, windows xp

[Anonymous]

I recommend using the detail tool and merging or xRef-ing them in. The import is controled by the translator. You may need to customize one to get the text, pens, layers, etc. to come in right.

[Djordje]

wkarch wrote:
Also, when I create a detail in Archicad, what is the best way to manage them to put in a library for future use. Should I save them out from the floor plan window as a .pln, .dwg or from detail window as a .mod or what. What is the best way to bring them back into the drawing. Most likely I'll want to change something on the drawing, so I don't want to Xref.

In this case MOD might be the best way. The standard details thaty you already have in DWG or whatever should be kept in one place and used as needed as Xrefs or just placed in the Detail window as DWGs.

wkarch wrote:
Should I put all details on a "detail story" that is set up at minus 10 feet, for example; then bring them into plotmaker? Again, I get messed up with text size unless I have a different scale detail story for each scale of detail?

No need for this. In your Navigator, set up the Detail views and bring them into PlotMaker as any other view. Each detail window can have its own scale. If you are importing DWGs/Xreffing, the usual scale constraints apply - e.g. the DWG has to be made for the scale that the detail should be in. Don't forget that in DWG the text size is relative to the drawing, while in ArchiCAD it is goverened by the scale and defined as a printing height, that changes realtive to the drawing.

HTH,

[Richard Morrison]

Tom:

I've had good luck putting all of the office standard details in a single PLN file. Each story (can be zero height) has similar details, such as story 3 is conventional spread footings. I put all of the elements of each detail on a single layer, so each detail can be displayed easily by itself, and give each detail its own view (name/custom layer setting/etc.) so you can see a listing of all of the views in Navigator. Makes it very easy to browse through details to find the one you want.

Because I use MSA Detailer extensively and had many details already created, the 8.0 detail windows haven't worked well for me, because you can't do walls there (which are used by the Detailer for sheetrock, plywood, etc.)

[Tom Krowka]

Thanks for the feedback. A couple of questions, however.
Richard: As i understand your process, you draw everything in each detail on one layer. Do you then change lineweights on the detail by color? Doesn't the detailer bring objects in with predefined colors? It seems like you would spend a lot of time changing lineweights to get the details to look right. Or do all the objects have some type of consistency to the colors where they are cut so you could map color to lineweight for the plotter.
The single pln file concept sounds simple. Is that a single pln file for each detail, or do you put a group of details on each .pln? How do you get an individual drawing from the .pln that has many details on it into the current drawing.

Djordje: Text size question. If I set a text size of say, 7 points and draw a detail on a view that has a scale set of 3/4" to a foot, will the text point size stay the same if I change the scale in the view or in the plotmaker.

I'm trying to find the most time effective way to manage and draw details and still give them the hand drawn look, where items that are actually cut through have the widest line weight. I've tried the translator route and that seems to work pretty well, (although it is a pretty long list of pen translations ). In my previous life (so to speak) I had always drawn details at 1 to 1 scale in model space, then changed the scale in paper space and put the notes there. As a result, text and drawing were in two different places.

I had it all worked out in my other program, but am still floundering a bit in ArchiCAd.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Tom

[Djordje]

wkarch wrote:
Djordje: Text size question. If I set a text size of say, 7 points and draw a detail on a view that has a scale set of 3/4" to a foot, will the text point size stay the same if I change the scale in the view or in the plotmaker.

It always stays the same PRINTED size (please don't ask me to suppy you with an Imperial example! ) which means it is being resized relative to the drawing.

However, in PlotMaker you can resize to printing scale - which means it will resize proportionally.

Now I completely confused you, right?

[Anonymous]

I've created a Standard_Details.pln that has all of our standard detail (that never change) placed in individual Detail drawings.

In the Navigator, I have numbered the details with a prefix indicating what they are. For example, WT?? contains all wall types and UL?? contains all UL detail graphics. The view set contains a single view of every detail with the correct name for auto-titling in Plotmaker. These are grouped under folder with names like "WT - Wall Types", and "UL - UL Details"

Whatever we don't use, we just unlink from PlotMaker.

[Tom Krowka]

Jay:

Does that mean you can link multiple .pln drawings to the same plotmaker .lbk?
If however, you plot that .lbk at some future time, does that link have to exist in the same path, or is the detail self contained in the .lbk?

Tom

[Tom Krowka]

Jay:

One more question. Are all the details you create in your standard detail plan at the appropriate scale.....are they at the same scale that they will be plotted at? Do you put the notes with the detail?

My earlier text question......if I put the notes on in the standard pln at 7 points, then change the scale of the detail on plotmaker, will the text still plot at 7 points without any additional input from me.

Sorry about all the questions, still trying to get a grip conceptually. I've autocadded too long.

Tom

[Djordje]

wkarch wrote:
Does that mean you can link multiple .pln drawings to the same plotmaker .lbk?

Right.

wkarch wrote:
If however, you plot that .lbk at some future time, does that link have to exist in the same path, or is the detail self contained in the .lbk?

If you save the LBK with the drawings included, it will be. If the project is archived, then it probably is not in the same place any more - the relative paths are preserved, but the absolute is looked for and of course it is not found. You can relink. However, it is best to archive the LBK with the drawings included AND keep a PDF of the latest submitted or valid version - in that case, anybody can print it properly anywhere.