What are your prefs for wall reference lines?

[lagodue]

When I am drawing exterior walls, somehow I always try to place the reference line on the exterior side of the wall. For material selections, there is some consistency. For interior walls, anything goes.

How are others doing their reference lines, and why?

[Aaron Bourgoin]

For exterior walls I like to think of the reference line as either the face of the composite's "core" (in wood frame) or better yet the air barrier (in everything else). This helps to visualize the continuity of the air barrier and also lets me change the interior finish or the exterior with reconnecting walls, etc. Offsetting the reference line away from the outside face as soon as the exterior walls are defined as something more than a fat wall (the interior partition being a skinny wall in my preliminary design template).

In wood frame construction I use solid element operations to cut the interior finish and stud wall out of the wall itself and carry the wall down past the u/s of the floor construction. This allows me to keep my section 'live' a lot longer and solves a finishing problem on interior openings as I can define the slabs sandwich material to match the interior finish.

[Anonymous]

I have seen and used a variety of methods depending on the practice and requirements, but have found that it is generally better to place reference lines to the interior wall surfaces. The main advantage is that it eases many interior wall intersections.

There are lots of subtle reasons for doing it different ways, and different firms have different preferences. You can always try whatever seems easiest and use the Modify Wall commands to change them fairly easily.

[Link]

It's easier for magic wanding onto slabs if the reference line is on or referenced from the outside, but as Matthew said it depends on your goal.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Link wrote:
It's easier for magic wanding onto slabs if the reference line is on or referenced from the outside, but as Matthew said it depends on your goal.

Cheers,
Link.

What you say is true, but assumes the slabs extend to the exterior face. Some firms prefer to stop the slabs at interior faces, or even inside the walls and SEO the joint. Of course in either case, there is always the offset tool.

[Link]

That's what the 'wall offset value from Reference Line' setting is for right?

Personally I am strictly a reference-line-to-the-outer-edge-of-the-wall kinda guy, and simply don't use composites to show gypboard or ply. At least not until composite junction management is improved.

Cheers,
Link.

[James Murray]

For many cases it doesn't matter, but the joint pictured here will only clean up if the ref lines are inside. This was probably the determinant for us. It's been a while. Of course, both methods fail in 3D; you get a line where the stud wall meets the corner. I dream of the day that wall cleanup just works.

[James Murray]

In 3D it becomes moot. I really, strongly, dislike that line.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:

Link wrote:
It's easier for magic wanding onto slabs if the reference line is on or referenced from the outside, but as Matthew said it depends on your goal.

Cheers,
Link.

What you say is true, but assumes the slabs extend to the exterior face. Some firms prefer to stop the slabs at interior faces, or even inside the walls and SEO the joint. Of course in either case, there is always the offset tool.

Also assumes you draw your slab before you draw your wall.

[Link]

For many cases it doesn't matter, but the joint pictured here will only clean up if the ref lines are inside.

This is what Matthew was referring to right? This is where I find gyp and ply skins are better left out of composites, as they create as many problems as they solve, if not more. Conversely, the same problem would arise with external walls if your reference line is on the outside.

In 3D it becomes moot. I really, strongly, dislike that line.

Me too James - especially since the materials are the same.

Also assumes you draw your slab before you draw your wall.

Which is quite often the case in a multi story building, but I will point out, again, that all of this depends on how you model and what your final goals are.

Cheers,
Link.