newbie question about copy/paste....and more

[Anonymous]

Using 8.1 r1 and am a rank beginner

Today I opened a .DWG file (Acad 2004 creation) which had several iterations of drawings for a small 2 floor house in it - 1st/2nd floor and several different elevation options for each side of the house.

I wanted to copy one plan view drawing for each of the floors and one elevation view for each side of the house into a new file. To start I used the Marquee tool to highlight the 1st floor plan I wanted and copied it.

I then opened a new file and pasted the drawing in. To my surprise, all the wall segments and labels have white dots which seem to define the corners of each object plus either a mid-point or center white dot. How do I turn the display of these dots off?

Displaying my ignorance, how can I take this imported drawing for the 1st floor and then also import the 2nd floor and elevation drawings and have everything 'register' correctly so I can then use the 3D, fly-through, and all the other advanced end-user whizzbang viewing tools?

Like I said, total newbie....sorry. Thanks for any help.

[Anonymous]

It would really be useful to know what version of ArchiCAD you have, whether you have AutoCAD loaded on your machine as well, what color background you are set up with, etc.

Also, please notice that Architalkers usually have information about their computer and their OS in their signature (access through the Profile button near the top of this page.

There are lots of great people here who are willing to help. They can help better with more information.

Stick with it.

Woody

[Djordje]

Beginner wrote:
Today I opened a .DWG file (Acad 2004 creation) which had several iterations of drawings for a small 2 floor house in it - 1st/2nd floor and several different elevation options for each side of the house.

First: do NOT Open, Merge the DWG in. If you Open, the default ArchiCAD layers will not be present. Take care that the units assumed in AutoCAD are the same as the units defined in ArchiCAD, that the scale in ArchiCAD is the same as the intended scale in AutoCAD.

1. Define your stories - plans of the building - with their levels and height to next (usually finished floor to finished floor height)

2. After merging the DWG that has gazillion plans and what not in it, copy and paste the plans on appropriate stories (ground - 1st in your case - to the ground, 2nd to 2nd, roof to roof, etc) Align them correctly by using the Ghost storey. Don't be nervous if things do not line up - in 2D drafting they usually don't. For starters, make sure that the bottom left corner of the building is at the origin. For the options, do them in another ArchiCAD file.

3. Place elevation and section markers where they should be, open each section/elevation and paste the S/E DWGs into the still blank sections and elevations. Take care that the origin is where it should be, otherwise things will be flying off in all directions. You will use them for reference when you build the design.

Beginner wrote:
I then opened a new file and pasted the drawing in. To my surprise, all the wall segments and labels have white dots which seem to define the corners of each object plus either a mid-point or center white dot. How do I turn the display of these dots off?

Why a new file? Everything is in one file. Organize your design by storeys.

Please post a screenshot of the white dots.

Beginner wrote:
Displaying my ignorance, how can I take this imported drawing for the 1st floor and then also import the 2nd floor and elevation drawings and have everything 'register' correctly so I can then use the 3D, fly-through, and all the other advanced end-user whizzbang viewing tools?

You do NOT have any 3D info; you have to build your design from scratch. A very nasty question: did you have ANY training, is there a helpful reseller/experienced user near by? Some initial handholding will help you immensely!

Hang on!