CAD drawings

  • Thread starter Thread starter therage!
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therage!

therage!

Wicked Machine
I've got a new house with full unfinished basement and over the hoidays I'm planning on starting some plans.

Have never done any house plans before but I do know how to use Autocad. What would any of you guys do as far as scaling your drawings? I've got a plotter at work that can print out up to "E" size plots but I'm thinking more along the lines of doing "D" size drawings, which are 22" X 34" and I can plot those out at work.

Have any of you guys done "D" size drawings for your plans?
 
1/4" = 1'-0" is a pretty standard scale for house plans.

You understand you scale it only when you plot right? You draw it "full size" in AutoCad.

At 1/4" = 1', something 30 feet long would plot about 7" long.

1"=1' might be more appropriate... just depends on the level of detail you need to show.
 
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Thanks Mike,

I do a lot of electronic CAD (Circuit Boards) and of course I always design at full scale then plot whatever I need. Wasn't exactly sure what you do with house plans but that makes sense to me in that you would draw it full scale in Autocad.

If anyone has any CAD drawings they have done I'd like to see them. I'll do a search here too as I know you guys have been really active on this forum for a long time.
 
When I permited my project, I had to submitt a Floor Plan, a Site Plan, Building Elevations, a very basic electrical layout, (they were more concerned with smoke alarm locations than anything else) and a Foundation Design.
It was a pretty simple set of plans. No real details. No typical Wall Section. Nothing like that.

When I drew my actual floor plan, I did it in 3D so I could check for framing interferences.

If you're drawing plans for a permit, I'd check with the city's criteria for plan submittal. Mine HAD to be 1/4"=1' and on "C" or "D" size paper.

I put mine on "C" size; which is what, like 18"x24"? 17"x22"?
Something like that....
 
Hello therage!. Are you familiar with paper space? All files should be drawn at full scale in Model space. Then open viewports in paperspace(layout tab in 2002 or later)
and zoom to what ever scale you want. For instance, put the curser in a viewport, hit Z(enter)1/4xp and the viewport will zoom to 3"=1foot. Hit Z(enter)1/8xp and the viewport will zoom to 1 1/2"+1'. For 1/4"=1', hit Z(enter)1/96xp and it will zoom to it.

However, setting up dimension styles for each scale can be pretty tricky. Maybe you are already familiar with this function. In that case, have fun! Its beyond the scope of this forum to go into it. Just hit F1 and help will come up.

fitZ:)
 
scale factor for 1/4" or 1/48xp. 1/8"=1'-0" is 1/96xp. (not tryin to be anal- just wanna make sure our info is all correct- for future confusion prevention:D )

I think paper space and model space is the single hardest to grasp concept in AutoCAD. Maybe one of us could provide a sheet already set up for ya so you can maybe "reverse engineer" it so to speak.:)
 
:eek:
scale factor for 1/4" or 1/48xp. 1/8"=1'-0" is 1/96xp.

OOPS.:D Been a while. I work in larger scales most of the time. Anyway, thanks.

fitZ:)

(ps. your not being anal. Scaling requires accuracy or it REALLY gets confusing.)
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Hello therage!. Are you familiar with paper space?

fitZ:)

I'm not familiar with it but I will read up on it. I've been running ACAD 14 but I can update it cause my employer owns it and I can run software on my home PC. I'll look into ACAD 2002. I guess running 14 is getting a little dated.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Hello again. Hey therage, I used and still have R14. To my way of thinking, it is difficult to even scratch the surface of what the capabilitys are in R14, let alone 2002.
I also used my boss's versions, and he upgraded ONLY to keep up with architectural offices as nobody spends money of that scale if they don't have to. At least me.:D Hell, if I had to buy it, I would still be using R14, as the depth of use is not governed by its capabilitys. Crap, I used R10, 11 and 12 too. I'd still be using 10 if I had to buy it. AND it would be plenty for my needs.

But regarding paper space. Heres the deal. Imagine this. IF, you had a paper drawing(model space) and you placed another sheet of paper over it(paper space) with a cut out that allowed you to see a portion of the drawing below it, you could EITHER, move the model space drawing, backwards or forwards(zoom) in relationship to the paper over it, the cut out(called a viewport in paperspace) would allow you to see the drawing at different SCALES. Try it with a couple of sheets of paper. You will see. Also, when you ARE in paper space you can zoom forwards or backwards also which also changes the view of the cutout. Everything you can do in model space you can do in paper space. Its like two different dimensions. One is reality. Paper space allows you to look at reality from different distances while keeping the same distance from the drawing plane in paper space OR changing it with zoom.
Therefore, here is how it is normally done in regards to my kind of drafting. We draw the objects in model space at FULL SIZE. Dimensions are placed on each object, with dimensioning schemes and configuations set up for each scale required. Dimensions can even be placed on layers that you turn of and on automatically in viewports in paperspace. Then go into paper space. Place or draw a border just like you want it printed IN PAPERSPACE. Go into viewports, and select ONE, and it will be a rectangular window just like drawing a rectangle, which when you drag the opposite corner from the select point, gives you the size of the rectangle. This outline of the rectangle, will, upon layer selection, be a printed border, or not, depending on what is required. Now, in one of the tool bars, there is a few buttons that allow you to change what you want to view. One is tiling. One is paper space. One is model space. One is VIEWPORT/curser relationship.
In otherwords, while in paper space, you select where you want the curser to RESIDE.
When you select the one that places it IN the viewport, you can then zoom, pan, modify and draw in MODEL space, while viewing it from the vantage point in paperspace. I know this is very difficult to visualize with out actually doing it, but explaining it here is even more difficult:D If I could show you in person, it would take less than 10 minutes I'm sure. I'll tell you this. Once you understand it, you won't know how you did without it before. Its a fabulous tool. Takes a while to get the dimensioning stuff down, but once you do, and get it configured, it saves tons of time.

Anyway, hope this sheds some light on the subject, and it IS a big subject. Once you start using paperspace you will see a ton of other things you can do. Hey, do a search on Yahoo or Google, and punch in Autocad paperspace or any number of things. Man, last night I downlowed over 3 meg of just texture maps for 3d stuff. I'm just now starting to learn THOSE capabilitys and it is purely MINDBOGGLEING!!:eek: You can apply wood, stone, or any number of textures to 3d objects. Then change the angle of viewing. Apply lighting. Render the thing. Then set up scenes that you can flip through as frames of a video. DAMN, I feel old, behind the times and stupid sometimes!

fitZ:rolleyes:
 
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