Help! Are there recognized lineweight-color standards for ADT?

[Steve_Bennett]

I'm sorry if I'm venting and frustrated, but I find this all so complicated and not user-friendly. Customizing a multi-view block, finding 3-d objects to finish a model, etc. is so difficult and even when I'm trying to 'go with the flow', no one seems to be able to answer my basic questions.
How do I draw Schematically?? Everything seems to be geared to knowing exactly what the final project will look like and be built with. Who works like that? Did I miss that knowledge somewhere?

Thank you everybody for your help. I appreciate your patience.

Don't be sorry for venting! It's always good to get that stuff off ones chest. This is a good place to do just that!

Keep in mind that all AEC objects can be generated from standard acad linework. Walls, column grids, etc. can all be created from standard linework. Simply right click a tool such as a wall on a palette & choose "Apply tool properties to..., Linework".

Also, alot of the commands for modifying objects are built around the premise that the building design will change as you go through the project cycle. Using grips to modify objects, smart nodes & other things will speed up modification for when things do change. Attaching Structural Coloumns to Column grids will allow you to modify the grid & the columns will change with it.

There are lots of tips that take a while to arm your toolbelt with. Give yourself time. What you are doing is huge! Trying to learn this massive program at the same time as producing an entire project is not what I would recommend by any means, but since it is what you are stuck with, we will try to help you as best as we can.

I hate to ask this, but would you mind defining what you refer to as drawing "schematically"?

[jastect]

Thanks Steve,
I do understand the beauty of change in ADT and I know this is a steep learning curve. I have set-up columns and column bubbles attached to grids, and edited the grids and column bubbles to look how I want. I have customized wall types and structural beams, door window assemblies, door schedules. But these are just small pieces of a much larger puzzle.
By schematically, I mean developing a design when it is still evolving. I need elevations before the plan is all drawn out or even completely understood. We need to show clients or officials sketches of a project that is still being worked out. I guess I'm doing on a computer what should be done on paper with a pencil. If I just start drawing elevations in AutoCAD with my ten lineweights, what colors and layers am I supposed to use?
I tried using the colors that are in the AIA Standards and they didn't have enough range and the colors are difficult to see. I set-up a range of colors using the AIA Standards and added some more lineweights, along with adjusting the sizes to be much thinner. I felt if I stuck closer to the Standards, ADT objects should still look right when they come in.
I really don't understand the objects drawn ByBlock. If I use the ADT objects and don't change anything accept the size of the lineweight they come in, the way they look in plan always looks too dark and strange. I still end up shutting off layers and changing sizes to make it look correct in plan.
Anyway, I'm rambling again. Thanks,
Jill

[dkoch]

The attributes of object or object components can be assigned in three ways:

1. Directly: The color, linetype, lineweight and/or plot style are assigned directly to the object or component.
2. ByLayer: The color, linetype, lineweight and/or plot style are inherited from the settings on layer of the object or component. A special case exists for nested AutoCAD objects [such as the objects that make up a block definition. If these objects are placed on Layer 0 and given a "ByLayer" attribute, the objects will inherit the attribute of the parent object's layer.
3. ByBlock: This setting only makes sense for a nested AutoCAD object or a component in an ADT style. The color, linetype, lineweight and/or plot style are inherited from those assigned to the parent object.

ByBlock differs from ByLayer when used on a nested object on Layer 0 in this way - a ByLayer setting will always use the value set on the parent object's Layer, even if the parent object is not ByLayer. ByBlock will always inherit the value set on the parent object, even if the component is on a different layer than the parent but not on Layer 0; if the parent object is ByLayer, then the component will get its value from the parent's layer, but if the parent has an explicit setting, the component will inherit that.

For example, the out-of-the-box wall styles typically have the Shrink Wrap component set to be on Layer 0 and color ByBlock. This means that it will inherit the color of the parent wall object. If the wall object's color is ByLayer, then the Shrink Wrap will use the color of the wall's layer. If the has an explicit color [say, red], then the Shrink Wrap will be red.

[Chuckyd67]

Autodesk is definitely moving away from plot-by-color in favor of plot by display. If I understand one of the posters correctly, he intends to create plans by using "dumb" lines, arcs, and circles. Then, he would need to convert these "dumb" elements to walls, doors, and windows. To me, this seems counter-productive, but you do it as you see fit.

While Autodesk does not support the "squiggly" lines that some people like, there is a display setting for presentation. This setting turns all walls to solid lines, looking like a p-line with width. This setting works very well for presentation, making the walls stand out for those presentations in a room full of people.

It is quite a paradigm shift for long time CAD users to forget about layers, colors, and line weights, but that is how Autodesk is re-inventing their product. The software is actually becoming the means to an end, rather than the end, itself.

[tsigler]

Just the point! Why should a software company be dictating how and what I draw? I have 23 years of experience hand drawing and 19 years on 3 different CAD systems, I"ll admit it....I'm a bit set in my ways. I'm willing to adjust to the "latest and greatest" ideas on-screen but I've been plotting by color for almost 20 years with very good results. Now all of a sudden I have to switch my entire way of doing things because Autodesk wants to keep everything in a state of flux so they can sell more software? Doesn't seem like a good idea to me!

[dkoch]

No one is forcing you to do anything. You can certainly use one of the out-of-the-box color-dependent plot styles and the out-of-the-box content if you do not wish to give up the comfort of color-dependent plotting.

If you do not like the results you get, you are certainly welcome to create your own plot style and content/display settings that coordinate with it. That is the beauty of ADT - you have all the customization options available in AutoCAD.

But you can hardly expect Autodesk to use your standard for the out-of-the-box content any more than I would have expected them to use my office's old standard.

I, for one, have better things to do with my time that recreate tons of content so that the color of my walls is the same as it was eighteen years ago when I had to draw each segment of the plan view of the wall individually. And for those items that do not plot the way my office prefers, I find it far easier to tweak a few items when using named plot styles and assigning lineweights in the drawing than it is to manage 255 color-dependent plot styles.

[Chuckyd67]

"Just the point! Why should a software company be dictating how and what I draw? I have 23 years of experience hand drawing and 19 years on 3 different CAD systems, I"ll admit it....I'm a bit set in my ways. I'm willing to adjust to the "latest and greatest" ideas on-screen but I've been plotting by color for almost 20 years with very good results. Now all of a sudden I have to switch my entire way of doing things because Autodesk wants to keep everything in a state of flux so they can sell more software? Doesn't seem like a good idea to me!"

Autocad does no more to dictate how you draw than Ford dictates how you drive. Oh, sure, in the USA you must sit on the left side of the car, face forward, accelerate and brake with your feet and steer and shift with your hands. You are even limited as to how fast you can go and how fast you can stop. However, you can override anything on your car, just as you can with Autocad. But just like Ford, once you pull out the engine, bore the cylinders, and blow the engine you have voided the warranty. You can't expect it to perform as the manufacturer intended.

The recent changes in ACAD's color system has greatly improved presentation appearances, with the inclusions of graduated colors, and millions of them. Also, there is third party software to get that retro "squiggly" look.