Nancy Fulton

To convert space plans into walls, go to the Concept menu, choose Space Boundaries, then select Convert to Boundaries. Type SP at the command line then select a space plan and press Enter. Right-click on the newly created space boundary, then choose Boundary Modify. Choose Solid Form, then OK to exit this window. Right-click on the space boundary, then choose Generate Walls. The walls will be created based on the parameters defined by the space boundary.

Multiview blocks can be baffling, especially for new Autodesk® Architectural Desktop users. Simply put: you'll see different symbols based on your layout view (display representation). In a 3D perspective view, you might see a 3D light fixture; in an elevation view, it might appear as a much simpler 2D symbol. You can create your own multiview blocks appropriate for different views. From the Design Content menu, choose Define Multiview Block, specify its name, then select Edit to specify which standard block goes with which display representation.

Use a template file to start your Autodesk® Architectural Desktop drawing with access to all the standard layers, drawing styles, display representations, plottable layouts, and more. It makes life much simpler

Use the Style options on the Autodesk® Architectural Desktop Design menu to modify the dozens of included standard symbols, such as windows, doors, and stairs, or to define new ones. Changing an existing style updates all occurrences of the objects that depend on that style in a drawing. That makes it easy to, say, replace all of a building's single-glazed windows with double-glazed ones.

From the AEC Utilities menu, select Quick Slice. Select two points to put a window around the geometry you want to section. Press Enter, then select two points to define the section line; the 2D section will be generated automatically and you can place it in your drawing. Then explode, trim, extend, and hatch entities in the section as required to create the desired section view. You can also create 3D sections of your geometry that automatically reflect changes you make to your drawing's 3D geometry.

When you create windows and doors using the window and door styles in AutoCAD Architectural Desktop™, all the elements of these objects are, by default, placed on a single layer in the same color. To specify individual colors for door and window elements, go to the Design Windows menu and choose Window Styles. Select the window style you want to edit. Choose the Edit button, then the Display Props tab. On the Display Props tab, select the Window Style entry. Then, select the Edit Display Props button and specify the desired color for each element in the window or door.

If you create dimensions in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop only to find the extension or witness lines missing, try this:

1. Select the dimension and right-click, then choose Edit AEC Dimension Style.
2. In the AEC Dimension Style Properties dialog box, set the Property Source to System Default, then choose Edit Display Props.
3. Select the Other tab.
4. In the AEC Dimension Settings area, remove the check from the Used Fixed Extension Line and click OK twice.
5. At the command prompt, enter REGEN to regenerate the drawing.

Design geometry created in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop often ends up in proposals, presentations and brochures. Creating files for use in these documents is a snap:

If you create dimensions in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop only to find the extension or witness lines missing, try this:

There is no doubt that Autodesk® Architectural Desktop creates amazing 3D models, but sometimes it's handy to be able to "dress up" or modify this geometry with elements that you do not want to create in 3D. You may want to display the desired isometric or orthogonal view, and then use the WMFOUT command to export a 2D representation of that view to a file. You can then use the WMFIN command to bring that geometry back into an AutoCAD® drawing. You can EXPLODE the imported geometry, and modify it as you would any other 2D view. This enables you add art deco molding to a building exterior, or show custom latticework and rails on a staircase.

When you insert most Autodesk® Architectural Desktop objects, their schedule data loads into the drawing as well. This isn't true for structural members. To manually load this data, follow these steps:

If you manually edit a grid line in a column grid, the labels on the grid will disappear. You must apply the labels again after you complete all your edits to the grid. To do this, select the grid, right-click and choose Labels. Select the tab associated with the axis of the grid lines you edited. Edit the properties as required to define the label values. Choose OK and the labels will be created on your grid

To create a custom door in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop, start by drawing its elevation using closed polylines that do not overlap. From the Desktop Menu choose Profiles, then Profile Definitions. Right-click and choose New to create a New Profile. Right-click on the new profile and choose Set From. Follow the prompts to select the elements of the door. Define a new door style that references the profile on the Design Rules tab. You will now be able to create a door using the new style. You can use this technique to create arched doors, and doors with glass or wood elements

Want to create a wall with a custom footing with Autodesk® Architectural Desktop? Create a copy of a wall style that has a footing. Double-click the wall style, then choose the Components tab. Choose Modify the footing component of the wall style. Modify the Top and Bottom Elevation Offset to specify the depth of the footing below the baseline. Use the Edge Offset and Width values to specify the width of the footing and its position under the wall. On the Display Props tab, select Wall Style, then Edit Display Props. Modify the footing display parameters if required

Do not try to create all the geometry for a multistory building in a single Autodesk® Architectural Desktop file. Instead, create each component (shell, interior walls, mechanical systems, electrical systems, landscaping, etc.) as a separate drawing. Create new drawings with the correct views displayed in the correct Paper Space layouts and then Xref the building geometry you created. This ensures you can plot all the sheets you need and allows multiple designers to create and maintain the Autodesk Architectural Desktop geometry over time

Draw closed polylines to represent roads, sidewalks, and driveways so you can update them as your buildings change. Be sure to place this geometry on a layer you can hide when creating working drawings. Make each element a different color, too, so you can easily assign materials. And leave the geometry in 2D: if you want 3D, import it into 3D Studio VIZ® you can change extruded objects using 3D Studio VIZ much more easily than you can change 3D objects created using the Extrude command in Autodesk®; Architectural Desktop

To label rooms in space plans with names, lengths, widths, and areas, start by defining a space plan style for each type of room you plan to create. Attach the Space Styles property set to each space plan style. Modify the display properties to make the Space Styles property set override the default property set. Create the rooms in your space plan. Go to Documentation > Schedule Tags > Room & Finish tags. Apply the Space Tag symbol to each room in the plan. Your labels will appear.

DID YOUR AEC OBJECTS GO? Want to create a new door that looks just like one already in your drawing? Just select it, right-click, then choose Add Selected. The Add Door dialog box will open and you can select the wall in which you want to insert the selected door. Use this feature to add windows and walls to your drawing too