Autodesk 24108-051400-9000 - AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite... User manual

AutoCAD Architecture 2008
Getting Started with
AutoCAD Architecture
March 2007

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Contents
Chapter 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Using this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Opening the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Managing Your Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Creating Spaces to Calculate Floor Plan Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Creating Color-Filled Presentation Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Laying Out a Floor Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Creating Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Making Floor Plan Revisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Creating a Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Detailing Your Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Contents | iii

iv | Contents

Getting Started
Welcome to AutoCAD®Architecture 2008! In this short tutorial, you learn how
to use the features of AutoCAD Architecture to design and document a small office
building. Working from a two-dimensional AutoCAD floor plan sketch, you
quickly create a presentation plan, a floor plan layout, door and window schedules,
a section, and a detail, all within a coordinated set of drawings.
You see how a more powerful AutoCAD®, with features and content specialized
for use by architects, can help you increase productivity. When you design in
AutoCAD Architecture, you use objects that represent real-world components,
such as walls, doors, and windows. These objects contain information that allows
them to function like the real-world components that they represent and to relate
intelligently to each other.
In addition to your main design tasks, many background tasks, such as layering
and scaling, are automated as you design and document your drawing set. A
simple tool, called the Project Navigator, allows you to easily work with all the
drawings in a project, eliminating the need to set up and maintain a complex file
structure.
1
1

Using this Guide
To complete the tutorial in this guide, you must have AutoCAD Architecture installed on your system. As you progress
through the tutorial exercises, you access tutorial drawings and other content from the default installation directories.
If you cannot locate a file in the location that this guide suggests, it may be installed in a different location. Contact
your CAD Manager for more information.
Imperial and Metric Convention
The exercises in this guide contain both imperial and metric values. This means that when you see an imperial value,
a metric value is displayed in square brackets next to it.
For example: Add a 6' X 6' [1800 mm X 1800 mm] window centered in the top wall of the stairway.
All audiences using imperial measurements should use the imperial values only. All audiences using metric measurements
should use the metric values in brackets only. Note that the imperial and metric values are not direct conversions, but
appropriate values for completing either the imperial or metric project.
Opening the Project
In this exercise, you start AutoCAD Architecture, learn how to access AutoCAD Architecture learning resources, and
open the project that contains the drawings you use to complete the tutorial. In AutoCAD Architecture, you use projects
to store and manage all the drawings that you create to design and document your projects.
1Start AutoCAD Architecture.
2If this is the first time you have opened AutoCAD Architecture, a Welcome screen displays.
3On the right side of the screen, under Essential Task Movies, click each title to view 2 minute long movies
that present the concepts you need to know to perform common design and documentation tasks in
AutoCAD Architecture.
The movies match the exercises in this guide, so you can benefit from both conceptual and hands-on
learning.
4On the left side of the screen, explore the additional learning resources available to you:
■Click User Interface Overview to interactively explore the AutoCAD Architecture user interface.
■Click Learning Resources to access customized learning paths for different types of users, including
new and upgrading users.
■Click New Features Workshop to view short animations that describe the new features in this, and
recent releases of AutoCAD Architecture.
■Click AutoCAD®to AutoCAD®Architecture Task Comparison to learn how to accomplish typical
design and documentation tasks using the features and workflow of AutoCAD Architecture.
5After you view the movies and other learning resources, click Next to display the Workspaces screen.
2| Chapter 1 Getting Started

On this screen, you can choose the workspace that you use to begin your project. Each AutoCAD Architecture
workspace includes the specific user interface components that you use in the appropriate phase of your
project. For example, the Design workspace contains all the basic tools that you need to create building
components in your design drawings.
After you close this screen, a Workspaces toolbar, located under the drop-down menus at the top of the
screen, lets you switch between workspaces.
6In the top box on the left side of the Workspaces screen, select Design.
7If you do not want the Welcome and Workspaces screens to display each time you start AutoCAD
Architecture, select Don’t show me this again.
8Click OK.
9Open the tutorial project:
■On the Navigation toolbar, click (Project Browser).
You use the Project Browser to create, copy, and switch between projects.
■In the left pane, click , and scroll up to view the current file path and folder.
By default, the path and folder is C:\My Documents\Autodesk\My Projects. This is where the project
file that you open and use for this tutorial is located.
■In the left pane of the Project Browser, double-click the project, Getting_Started_I [Getting_Started_M].
The project displays in bold type to indicate it is the current project. The right pane of the Project
Browser displays the project bulletin board, which can be used to communicate information about
the current project.
■Click Close.
Two important workspace features display: a Getting_Started project tool palette and the Project
Navigator.
The Getting_Started project tool palette contains all the AutoCAD Architecture tools that you need to
complete the exercises in this guide. Tools are objects that you use to draw in AutoCAD Architecture,
and they are arranged on tabbed palettes. The tool represents the real-world object that you want to
add to your drawing.
Using the Project Navigator, you create, access, and organize drawings in the current project within
the software environment.
ManagingYour Drawings
In this exercise, you learn how AutoCAD Architecture project drawings are organized and managed. The Drawing
Management feature in AutoCAD Architecture lets you distribute your building geometry amongst a number of drawing
files and manage them with the Project Navigator, where in the past, you may have used Microsoft®Windows®Explorer
and the AutoCAD Xref Manager.
To store and manage these drawings with this feature, you first create a project. In the project, you create the basic
levels (floors) and divisions (wings) of the building model to create a matrix of locations where you can assign the
drawings that contain the geometry of your model.
Using enhanced AutoCAD Xref technology, drawings that contain the building geometry can then be referenced
together, and views of the building can be created and referenced onto plotting sheets. Depending on whether they
contain building geometry, assemble views of the building, or contain plotting sheets, project drawings are classified
within projects as constructs, elements, views, and sheets.
1On the right side of the screen, view the tabs on the Project Navigator.
Managing Your Drawings | 3

The 4 tabs on the side of the Project Navigator let you create, access, and organize the drawings in the
current project.
2If it does not already display, click the Project tab.
The Project tab reports information that has already been added to the project: the project name and
number, and the levels and divisions that it contains. Levels are the floors of the building, and divisions
are wings or horizontal segments of the building. As you create your design drawings in this tutorial, you
will assign them a location on a building level. This Getting Started Project contains 5 levels and, because
it does not feature wings, a single default division.
3Click the Constructs tab.
This tab organizes the drawings that create the geometry of your building. These drawings are classified as
constructs or elements.
Constructs are the main building blocks of your design. They define unique portions of the building, and
are assigned to a location (level and division) within it.
Although this Getting Started project is unfinished, a few constructs reside in the project: 2 floor slabs, an
elevator shaft, and an 05 floor. You will create constructs for floors 1-4 of the building.
In contrast, elements contain collections of geometry that can be used repeatedly in different design
drawings, such as a drawing of a service core that would be referenced onto multiple floors of a building.
In the AutoCAD Architecture project workflow, elements are referenced into constructs.
In this project, 2 typical restroom elements are provided. You will place these layouts on floors 1-4 of the
building by referencing them into each floor construct.
4Click the Views tab.
4| Chapter 1 Getting Started

The Views tab organizes view drawings in which constructs and elements are referenced to provide specific
views of a building. Views allow you to tell AutoCAD Architecture in architectural terms what types of
drawings you want to assemble, such as first floor plans, second floor framing plans, or building sections.
Views may contain any number of constructs, which in turn, may reference elements. After you create
views, you can organize them on sheets.
No view drawings have been created in the Getting Started project.
5Click the Sheets tab.
The Sheets tab organizes a set of project drawing sheets that you can plot or electronically publish. Sheet
drawings contain paperspace layouts that comprise the sheet layout. You reference model space views from
view drawings onto sheets to create sheet views.
If you are familiar with the AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager, the Sheets tab should also look familiar.
Since sheets contain views (which reference constructs) and elements, any changes to the design in the
constructs or elements can be easily updated in the views and sheets, by reloading the externally referenced
drawings.
Now that you have an overview of how your drawings are organized and managed in AutoCAD Architecture,
proceed to the next exercise to start designing.
Managing Your Drawings | 5

Creating Spaces to Calculate Floor Plan Area
In this exercise, you use the automated space planning tools in AutoCAD Architecture to calculate area on a preliminary
floor plan. You use the linework in a 2D floor plan sketch created in AutoCAD to quickly generate 2D spaces complete
with tags that report each room area. After you create the spaces, you place a room schedule that automatically reads
the area information from the space tags, and reports it in the schedule table.
When the schedule is complete, you use the editing grips available on AutoCAD Architecture objects to change the
dimensions of a space on the floor plan. You watch how the space tag automatically reports the new room area, and
with the click of a button, you update the schedule to include the new area.
1Open an AutoCAD drawing that contains the 2D floor plan sketch:
■Click File menu ➤Open.
■Navigate to C:\My Documents\Autodesk\My Projects\Getting_Started_I [Getting_Started_M].
■Select 01 Spaces Layout.dwg, and click Open.
The sketch, complete with delineated rooms for the space plan layout, displays. Although the sketch is
located in the project, it is not a project drawing (construct, element, view, or sheet). You must save the
sketch drawing to the project as a construct before you create the space plan.
2Save the sketch to the project as a construct:
■With 01 Spaces Layout open, on the Project Navigator, click the Constructs tab.
■Right-click the Constructs folder, and click Save Current Drawing as Construct.
■On the Add Construct worksheet, click the Name field, and enter 01 Space Plan.
6| Chapter 1 Getting Started

■Under Assignments, for Level 1, select Division 1.
This setting assigns the 01 Space Plan to the first floor (level) of the building, in division 1 of the
building. By default, each building has a single division. Because this building does not have multiple
wings or other horizontal segments, it contains only the single default division.
■Click OK.
Notice the open drawing has been renamed 01 Space Plan, and displays in the Constructs folder on
the Project Navigator.
Next, access a space tool, and set the tool properties so that the spaces you create are 2D and tagged as they
are created. The tools in AutoCAD Architecture streamline object creation by allowing you to specify
common options before you create the object.
3On the Getting_Started tool palette that displays on the side of your screen, click the General Space tool.
If the tool is not visible, use the scroll bar on side of the palette to locate it.
4Specify the Space tool properties:
■On the Properties palette, under General, for Style, verify that Standard is selected.
■For Tag, select Aec7_Space_Tag [M_Aec7_Space_Tag].
■For Create type, select Generate.
■For Associative, select No.
■Under Generate Space, for Filter boundary set, select All linework.
■Under Component Dimensions, for Geometry Type, select 2D.
5Without clicking inside a room, move the cursor into each room on the plan.
As you move the cursor into a room, the space object automatically detects the linework room boundary.
The boundary of the space that you can generate from the room linework displays in red.
6Click in the large room on the bottom of the plan.
Creating Spaces to Calculate Floor Plan Area | 7

A tagged space is created.
7Autogenerate the remaining spaces on the plan:
■Right-click in the drawing, and click Generate all.
Tagged spaces are created in the remaining rooms.
■Press ESC to end the Space command.
8Reposition 1 of the tags in the upper-left space:
■Zoom to the 5 spaces in the upper-left corner of the floor plan.
■If necessary, on the application status bar, click OSNAP to turn it off, as shown.
■Select the tag that overlaps the 2 spaces on the lower-left.
8| Chapter 1 Getting Started

A light blue Location grip displays on the tag.
■Select and move the Location grip to reposition the tag centrally on the space.
■Press ESC to hide the grip.
9If necessary, reposition the tags in the other spaces on the plan.
The space tags on the floor plan report that all the rooms are the same type of space. Next, learn how to
use the different space tools to create space objects for other room types on the plan.
10 Redefine the spaces on the plan:
■On the Getting_Started tool palette, right-click the Corridor tool, and click Apply Tool Properties
to ➤Space.
■Select the 4 corridors on the floor plan, as shown.
Creating Spaces to Calculate Floor Plan Area | 9

TIP Make sure you select the space and not the tag.
■Press ENTER, and press ESC.
The space tag now identifies each selected space as a corridor, and the space displays with a colored
fill.
■Use the other space tools on the Getting_Started tool palette that correspond to the names in the plan
shown below to redefine the remaining spaces on the plan. When you finish, all spaces on the plan
will display with colored fills.
10 | Chapter 1 Getting Started

IMPORTANT Press ESC after creating each space type to end the previous space command.
11 Create a preliminary room schedule that reports the name and area of each room:
■On the Getting_Started tool palette, click the Room Area Schedule tool.
■On the command line, enter all, and press ENTER twice.
■Move the cursor to the left of the floor plan until the bottom of the schedule table aligns with the
bottom conference room wall, and click to place the upper-left corner of the schedule.
■Press ENTER to place the bottom right corner of the schedule.
The schedule uses the space tags to read the information, called property set data, that is attached to
the spaces, and reports it in the schedule table.
Creating Spaces to Calculate Floor Plan Area | 11

12 Modify the dimensions of a space on the plan, and observe changes in the schedule:
■Select the large conference room on the right side of the space plan to display editing grips.
■Press and hold SHIFT, and select the 2 round bottom conference room grips so they display as red.
■Release SHIFT, and select and drag 1 of the red grips down to enlarge the room.
The exact dimensions are not important, but ensure that the conference room is noticeably larger.
Notice the space tag reports the new area and dimensions after you resize the room.
■Press ESC to hide the space grips.
The space resizes automatically to fit the new larger boundary. The room schedule displays a diagonal line
across it, indicating that the information in the schedule is no longer current, as the conference room size
has changed.
13 Update the schedule:
■Select the schedule to display grips, right-click, and click Update Schedule Table.
■Zoom to the schedule, and view the new area that is reported for Conference_Room.
12 | Chapter 1 Getting Started

14 On the Standard toolbar, click (Undo) until the space is restored to its original dimensions.
15 Update the schedule again.
16 On the Standard toolbar, click (Save).
Creating Color-Filled Presentation Plans
In this exercise, you use a feature in AutoCAD Architecture called a display theme to rapidly create 2 different graphic
reports of the spaces on the floor plan. When you create each report, the space data is read, and the spaces fill with
color depending on the current report criteria. A legend that you place near the color-filled floor plan reports the space
data and matches it to the fill colors on the plan.
1Create a display theme that identifies the spaces on the floor plan by type (Reception, Conference, etc.):
■On the Getting_Started tool palette, click the Theme - Space Style - Commercial tool.
The display theme reads the space property set data on the objects in the drawing and prompts you
to place a legend in the drawing.
■Specify a point above the room schedule to place the upper-left corner of the legend.
■Press ENTER to place the legend at the current drawing scale.
The display theme style reports the spaces by commercial type. Color fills are automatically added to
the space plan according to rules set in the display theme style, and the legend displays the space data
that coordinates with the color fills. The color fills used by this display theme are identical to the colors
used by the space tools, but in the next step, you apply a display theme that uses different color fills.
Creating Color-Filled Presentation Plans | 13

2Create a different theme that identifies the spaces by size:
■On the Getting Started tool palette, click the Theme - Space Size tool.
■Specify a point to the left of the room schedule to place the upper-left corner of the legend.
■Press ENTER to place the legend.
Notice that the legend associated with the 1st theme displays a line across it, signalling that it is out
of date. To apply 2 themes to the same plan at the same time, or apply more than 1 theme to different
plans, you must have separate copies of the plans in separate model space viewports.
3Restore the original theme, Space Style - Commercial, and delete the Space Size legend:
■Select the Space Style (Commercial) legend, right-click, and click Apply Display Theme.
■Select the Space Size legend, and press DELETE.
4Click File menu ➤Save, and leave 01 Spaces open.
Another way you can use display themes is to create a thematic plan sheet, on which you place several
instances of the floor plan view in different paperspace viewports. You can then apply a different display
theme to each viewport, producing a comprehensive visual layout plan. The graphic representation of the
plan information is not limited to the color fills used in this exercise. You can set your display theme style
to use hatch patterns, True Color, and Pantone®and RAL colors.
Laying Out a Floor Plan
In this exercise, you develop a floor plan from a 2D linework sketch created in AutoCAD. You open the drawing in
AutoCAD Architecture, and add it to the Getting Started project as the 01 Floor plan construct. Using the purpose-built
design tools included in AutoCAD Architecture, you quickly and easily convert the linework in the sketch to interior
and exterior walls, and then add doors, windows, stairs, and spaces. Because you are working with design objects that
14 | Chapter 1 Getting Started

function like their real-world counterparts, you have complete control over your design as you define their dimensions
and placement.
1Open the AutoCAD drawing that contains a floor plan sketch:
■Click File menu ➤Open.
■Navigate to C:\My Documents\Autodesk\My Projects\Getting_Started_I [Getting_Started_M].
■Select 01 Walls Layout.dwg, and click Open.
A sketch similar to the one that you used to create the space plan displays. To use it to create a floor
plan, you need to assign it to the project as a logical piece of the building, the first floor construct.
2Save the sketch as a construct:
■With 01 Walls Layout open, on the Project Navigator, right-click the Constructs folder, and click Save
Current Dwg as Construct.
■On the Add Construct worksheet, click the Name field, and enter 01 Floor.
■Click in the Description field, enter First floor, and click OK.
■On the Add Construct worksheet, under Assignments, for Level 1, select Division 1, and click OK.
Notice the open drawing has been renamed 01 Floor, and displays in the Constructs folder on the
Project Navigator.
3Convert the exterior linework to exterior walls:
■On the Getting_Started tool palette, right-click the Exterior Wall tool, and click Apply Tool Properties
to ➤Linework.
■Select the black outer linework on the floor plan sketch, and press ENTER.
Laying Out a Floor Plan | 15

■On the command line, enter y(Yes), and press ENTER.
The exterior linework is converted to walls that display editing grips.
■Press ESC to hide the grips.
The walls clean up automatically, and the software places them on the correct layer.
Now that the exterior walls have been created, the height of the walls needs to be adjusted to accommodate
the 10' [3300 mm] floor-to-floor heights in the building. Making this change is easy - just select the walls
and change their properties.
4Change the height of the exterior walls:
■Select 1 of the exterior walls, right-click, and click Select Similar.
■If the Properties palette is not open, right-click again, and click Properties.
■On the Properties palette, under Dimensions, for Base height, enter 10' [3300 mm].
■For Justify, verify that Right is selected.
■Press ESC to hide the grips.
5Convert the interior wall linework to interior walls:
■On the Getting_Started tool palette, right-click the Interior Wall tool, and click Apply Tool Properties
to ➤Linework.
16 | Chapter 1 Getting Started