Drape Command

[claud_w]

I have downloaded a course from the archives ATP194 Earth Working In ADT2007 with drape command. I need to know this as I have to work out volumes between Contour Lines for filling purposes

The company I do work for have 2008 ACAD and when I type drape in the commnd line it says unkown command Drape. Has 2008 acad got another command that does the same tasks.

[irneb]

Definitely not the standard (Vanilla) AutoCAD 2008. You need an add-on (or vertical like ADT) for that purpose. Or you can get similar results in Revit's Site Grading.

Otherwise you'll have to make the contoured site & final landscaped area into solids - this can be VERY difficult without an add-on. Then Intersect & Subtract to create the in-fill and cut-out. From this you could list the volumes for grading.

[claud_w]

Thanks, I am a beginner, how do get an add - on. What is the term "ADT" 2007 is it differant to standard autocad programme,

[scott.wilcox]

ADT is a vertical, that is, it's a program that runs on top of AutoCAD.

There is no feature in vanilla 2008 AutoCAD that will perform volume calculations like you are attempting. You will need LDT or Civil 3D, or another 3rd party application (Eagle Point, Surfer, etc.) to create surface models and calculate volumes.

[irneb]

You can purchase an add-on (or vertical) from whatever 3rd party company creates it. ADT stands for Architectural Desk Top, from AutoDesk themselves. As Scott's explained there's some others which are maybe more specific to what you wanted.

Add-on and Vertical are nearly interchangeable words, it's more about semantics:
An add-on (as opposed to a vertical) is usually a set of customization files which loads with AutoCAD. Something like some LSP (AutoLISP) files - this could simply add a few new commands. An example of add-ons would be Express Tools.

A vertical, is very similar, but usually used to describe a customization when it changes nearly the entire AutoCAD package. This would usually make AutoCAD work in a totally different way. An example of a vertical would be ADT, or LDT, etc.

When we talk about Vanilla, we're referring to normal AutoCAD without any custom add-ons / verticals. Except maybe the Express Tools which come standard with AutoCAD.

[claud_w]

Thanks for the help. Will speak to them about add - on's etc.