Setting Up CAD Standards for a New Office

[nbrotherhood]

Hi,

This is my first post, sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum.

I work in a small office that is finally biting the bullet and starting to use AutoCAD for the first time (I know, I know). I'm trying to set up conventions for the office to use and was hoping I could get some ideas as to how other people do things. I've searched in the forums but haven't seen anything that really helped. I've read the AIA guidelines and found them useful in some things but since, as I said, we are a very small firm doing almost exclusively small scale residential work (historical restorations, apt. renovations, and some new houses) the AIA guidelines seem cumbersome. It seems like a lot of other people feel the same way since few drawings I've seen from other firms use the AIA standards to the letter.
Anyway, right now I'm trying to determine the best way to handle paper and model space and file naming. Here's how I've been doing it: I have a 24x36 layout setup with an attribute titleblock and viewport on it, I have a number of blocks that are different sized rectangles with the same proportions as the viewport, I insert one of these blocks into the model space on a non-plotting layer to act as a frame for the drawing, in the paperspace I then go to the viewport and zoom window on the rectangle which zooms the drawing to the appropriate scale depending on the size of the block.
I have different layouts in the same drawing for electrical, structural, reflected ceiling, etc. named mby their sheet number and the information for these sheets is all in the same drawing in the model space, I freeze the layers I don't need in each layouts viewport. I've noticed that some people have only one sheet per drawing and then x-ref the drawing and add the specific layers in each new file, are there any major advantages to this method.
I ususally name the files with the first three letters of the clients name and a floor number.
I'm sorry this is so long and rambling, and I know that most of these things are just matters of preference and there aren't any definitive answers but i'm just interested in finding out how and why people prefer different ways of using the program so that I can set up a flexible, simple standard that will work for me. Thanks in advance for any responses.

[Opie]

Hi,

This is my first post, sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum.


Welcome to AUGI!


I work in a small office that is finally biting the bullet and starting to use AutoCAD for the first time (I know, I know). I'm trying to set up conventions for the office to use and was hoping I could get some ideas as to how other people do things. I've searched in the forums but haven't seen anything that really helped. I've read the AIA guidelines and found them useful in some things but since, as I said, we are a very small firm doing almost exclusively small scale residential work (historical restorations, apt. renovations, and some new houses) the AIA guidelines seem cumbersome. It seems like a lot of other people feel the same way since few drawings I've seen from other firms use the AIA standards to the letter.

The layering is a company preference. I use the format of the AIA guidelines, just not the AIA standard layers. Each company has there own preferences. I have yet to get a drawing from an Architectural firm that was strictly using that standard.

Anyway, right now I'm trying to determine the best way to handle paper and model space and file naming. Here's how I've been doing it: I have a 24x36 layout setup with an attribute titleblock and viewport on it, I have a number of blocks that are different sized rectangles with the same proportions as the viewport, I insert one of these blocks into the model space on a non-plotting layer to act as a frame for the drawing, in the paperspace I then go to the viewport and zoom window on the rectangle which zooms the drawing to the appropriate scale depending on the size of the block.

I used to do the same thing, until I automated it through programming. You can also use the Viewport Toolbar to set the viewport to a desired scale.

I have different layouts in the same drawing for electrical, structural, reflected ceiling, etc. named mby their sheet number and the information for these sheets is all in the same drawing in the model space, I freeze the layers I don't need in each layouts viewport. I've noticed that some people have only one sheet per drawing and then x-ref the drawing and add the specific layers in each new file, are there any major advantages to this method.

I have also done the one drawing per sheet or all sheets in one drawing. This will depend on how many users you plan on working with the same project at the same time. If you need multiple users on the same project, I would recommend one sheet per drawing with an XREF of the base model drawing.

I ususally name the files with the first three letters of the clients name and a floor number.

Again, this is a company preference. What will make relocating that file at a later date faster?

I'm sorry this is so long and rambling, and I know that most of these things are just matters of preference and there aren't any definitive answers but i'm just interested in finding out how and why people prefer different ways of using the program so that I can set up a flexible, simple standard that will work for me. Thanks in advance for any responses.
I would also consider your other users and get there input on setting up a standard.

[nbrotherhood]

Thanks for such a quick and helpful response.

Some other things I just thought of:

-Dimensioning in paperspace or model space?
-Should the template contain all of the layers regularly used or is it better to add them as needed?
-Besides what I've already mentioned what else should be included in the CAD standard?

[Opie]

All of these items can be found in the forums. Have you tried our search (http://forums.augi.com/search.php?) utility?

You may also want to look at out CAD Standards (http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=264) forum for additional information.

[nbrotherhood]

I had tried searching, but only in the design forum. Didn't realize that CAD management referred to these topics. Thanks again.

I've looked around in the CAD management area and found answers to most of my questions. Sorry about the redundant post.

[aaronrumple]

Hi,

This is my first post, sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum.

I work in a small office that is finally biting the bullet and starting to use AutoCAD for the first time (I know, I know).
You need to just skip the headaches 1980's, 1990's and at lest get in the right century. I strongly suggest you look at Revit since you've never had a CAD system.

[Opie]

You need to just skip the headaches 1980's, 1990's and at lest get in the right century. I strongly suggest you look at Revit since you've never had a CAD system.
I would also agree with Aaron on this one. Revit may provide you with the tools to produce your plans quicker than manually drafting it through AutoCAD.

[Wanderer]

Hi,

This is my first post, sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum.Congrats on making your first post!
No worries on the forum, I can move that to the appropriate place for you easily enough.

[Wanderer]

Well, I see you've perused this forum, where I've shared my opinion (probably too) many times... I hope you've found some things to get you going in the right direction. augi started this forum a few months ago so we could have a central repository for such an important topic, and I know I appreciate that.

Here, I use AIA short-format layer standards, but, to quote a Revit Guru I know ;) , 'Layers are Evil and they must die!' which I sometimes agree with since that seems to be the biggest head butting with my contractors.

creating cad standards is quite a bit just figuring out what is important in your office for your uses.
Good luck.
I had tried searching, but only in the design forum. Didn't realize that CAD management referred to these topics. Thanks again.

I've looked around in the CAD management area and found answers to most of my questions. Sorry about the redundant post.

[LarryG]

Yep, I'm with Aaron and Opie on this. I just hopped into this forum to see if anyone was discussing Revit. This is the first mention I have found - and Revit is the solution, not the problem. Revit is not perfect, just ask Aaron. But if you are producing Architecture, wouldn't you rather talk about doors, walls, windows, rooms and roofs rather than layer names and line colors and all the other junk I worried about since AutoCAD 9 before switching to Revit 5?


If you are starting from ZERO, you are a step ahead. Download or order the Revit 30 day demo, take a look at the built in tutorials, and let us know what you think.

[hughrjt]

The AIA layer guidelines are; as mentioned; a good place to start. The Revit building software was an option mentioned, but equally consider ADT - you can set the AIA layering as a default scheme in ADT and walls, doors, windows etc will automatically be placed as you develop your model on the correct AIA corresponding layer.

Xrefs are a good way to work - they give you the opportunity to share data with colleagues to work consecutively on the same floor. You should restrict annotations in the xref to an absolute minimum as your colleague may be working to different scales.

ADT also provides ready made symbols for sections and elevation and a whole plethora of other stuff that you might find useful. I guess Revit may also have something similar, but as I am not familiar with this software I cannot really comment.

Be consistent with your text styles, dimension styles and plot configurations. With regards to the latter you may find that you may benefit from having a plot configuration file for A1 size drawings and adjusted one step down for plotting at A3.

With regards to drawing numbering - you may also consider a character designation for purpose i.e. building, HVAC, electrical, equipment etc also if you tend to use different sized drawing sheets then perhaps an identifier for that too.

[Jordan Truesdell]

The A1/A3 suggestion is a good one depending on the size of your office and the cost of large plotted drawings (and the workspace available to use them). I still don't run into many (okay, any) AE firms using the ISO paper sizes, so I went with ANSI sizes - D (22x34) for finals, B for check sets (11x17). I like 24x36 - you know, nice round numbers and all - but you can't print a 1:2 check print on a cheap 11x17 laserjet. When I'm rich and famous and shred all the $100 bills I accidentally wrinkle, I'll probably switch to 24x36 and never plot 1/2 size/.

I set of sheets this way:

A border drawing, at 1:1 in model space with all the static project data (title, logos, disclaimers, number of sheets in the set, border lines). This gets xrefed into a paperspace plot sheet template which has the drawing specific data asa text fields in the correct spots to line up in the border (drawing title, sheet number, sheet number in set). This PS plot sheet has a dynamic block which is my detail border, and has title, scale, and number as attributes. The template has an equal grid of 12 of these blocks to start with, and I delete and stretch the blocks as necessary.

Detail templates are made for the various scales, and are set up to make check plots quick. They have a block which shows the extent of a single plot sheet detail space (6.75" square, in my case). I should make the block dynamic so that I can do 1.5, double and triple size details more quickly, but I don't (yet).

Details - which almost never have extraneous linework outside of their active area - are xrefed into paperspace at the proper scale. Plans, which can often end up with trash outside the margins of the printed area, are xreffed into model space and given a viewport in the paperspace layout. I'm not going to suggest that this is a good way to do it, but it's the way I'm used to.

FWIW, I saw an interesting note that I've added to my border that goes somehting like this: If this line is not exactly 1" long, this drawing has not been reproduced at full scale." and it has a nice, wide bar that is 1" long and about 1/8" high. Since I do a lot of plots at half scale, and some of my drawings get faxed, this is more useful than a "not plotted at full scale" note I have to freeze or thaw at plot time.

[nbrotherhood]

I've used ADT a few times before but I know next to nothing about Revit, I actually never thought it was applicable to the kind of work we do. I wasn't really considering them because what I've always been told is the major advantage of ADT and Revit are the documentation aspects of the programs which always seemed significantly less useful for working on old houses or small new houses then for large projects where coordination between different disciplines is necessary. But as I said, I don't really know anything about either of them so I'm willing to correct my ignorance before I invest $4000 in software.

[nbrotherhood]

What are the advantages/differences between x-reffing drawings into paper space and using a viewport to bring them in?

[Jordan Truesdell]

xrefing into PS means no messing with different base points for details/plans of various scales. If you put 12 details on a sheet, and have three different scales (say 3", 1.5", .75"), you either need a preset place to put your details so they won't overlap in modelspace, which means presetting to the largest likely scale you'll ever use, or multiple virtual-scaled grids for each scale. (Sorry, it's hard to describe).

For me, xrefing into PS means that as long as I have a consistent basepoint in the drawing and I know the scale, I can place a detail with a single click.