Autodesk® Architectural Studio software is a new program developed as an easy-to-learn design tool. Think of it as an architect's or designer's desk. With Autodesk Architectural Studio you can work in both 2D and 3D as well as import animations and digital pictures. The program has an excellent export capability with which you can send your 3D designs directly to Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 3.3 as mass elements. You can also export the 2D and 3D designs as DXF files (Autodesk's web-ready drawing file format) to any program that reads this format.

In this tutorial, you will learn some basics of Autodesk Architectural Studio, and how it integrates with Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3.

Note: If you don't have Autodesk Architectural Studio software, you can download a free 30-day demo on Point A (available in the United States and Canada only).

Creating a Design in Autodesk Architectural Studio
Launch Autodesk Architectural Studio software and then:

1. Start a new workspace.

2. Using the pointer tool, select the 3D Document icon from the 3D toolbar on the right, and drag a 3D drawing space (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Select the 3D document icon and create a 3D workspace.
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3. Using the pointer tool, click the triangle at the lower left of the 3D workspace and select Show 3D Grid and Set 3D Grid Units from the drop-down menu (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Select the drop-down menu to set the 3D units.
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4. When the Grid Units dialog box appears, set it to 1-foot units, and click OK (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Set the Grid Units to foot.

5. Finally, select View from the main menu and then select Scale Ruler, and Workspace Grid. Select Edit from the main menu and then select Snap to Geometry and Snap to Grid (see Figures 4 and 5).

Figure 4: Select Scale Ruler and Workspace Grid.
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Figure 5: Select Snap to Geometry and Snap to Grid.
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6. Select the Rectangular Solid icon from the 3D toolbar on the right, and drag on the 3D grid to create a rectangular solid.

7. Using the Selector icon from the 2D toolbar on the left, select the solid to bring up its control points (see Figure 6).

8. Right-click the Width point to open the Get Input dialog box (see Figure 7).

Figure 6: Note the controls for the 3D solids.
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Figure 7: Right-clicking opens the Get Input dialog box.
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9. Input 30 in the Enter value for Width text box and press the Enter key. Repeat until you have a unit 20x30x10 high. (You do not need to put in feet or inch signs; you are in foot units.)

10. Click the OK button when you are finished.

11. Select the Cylinder icon from the Massing tools on the right side toolbar and drag it into the workspace so it resembles Figure 8.

Figure 8: Add a solid cylinder.
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12. Holding down the Shift key, select both solid objects.

13. Select Edit > Add to Model from the main menu (see Figure 9).

Figure 9: The Add to Model option joins the solid primitives into a single whole.

You have now joined two solids into one composite solid.

14. Continue to add solids until you have a form 50' high, similar to that shown in Figure 10.

15. Using the process described in Steps 12 and 13, create your final massing study.

Figure 10: The final massing study model.
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Exporting from Architectural Studio to Architectural Desktop 3.3

Note: You must open Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3 to a new drawing space and run it simultaneously with Autodesk Architectural Studio software. (This tutorial uses the Aec arch [Imperial-intl].dwt template.)

1. Using the pointer tool, click the triangle at the lower left of the 3D workspace and select Export > Architectural Desktop from the drop-down menu (see Figure 11).

Figure 11: Select Export > Architectural Desktop from the 3D workspace drop-down menu.

2. The ADT Export dialog box appears; click the Yes button to export (see Figure 12).

Figure 12: Note the ADT Export dialog box. Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3 must be running.

You have now exported your model to Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3

Using Your Autodesk Architectural Studio Model in Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3
1. Maximize Autodesk Architectural Desktop.

2. Change to the Mass-Group Layout.

3. Activate the right viewport (Concept Mass representation set).

4. Select Concept > Slice Floorplates > Generate Slice from the main menu.

5. Enter 5 at the command line for the number of slices, and press the Enter key.

6. Place a Slice rectangle (size and location doesn't matter), accept default rotation, accept default starting height of 0", enter 10' for Distance between slices, and press the Enter key to complete the command (see Figure 13).

Figure 13: Generate five slice rectangles.
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7. Select all the Slice rectangles created by the previous command, right-click, and select Attach Objects from the contextual menu.

8. Select the imported Mass Object (it should be one element because you used the Added to Model option in Autodesk Architectural Studio to make it one piece), and press the Enter key to complete the command.

9. Change to the Work-FLR layout, and set the view to SW Isometric.

10. Press the Layers icon to open the Layer Properties Manager dialog box.

11. Freeze the A-Mass and A-Mass-Grps layers (see Figure 14).

Figure 14: Freeze the A-Mass and A-Mass-Grps layers leaving the floor slices.
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12. From the main menu select Concept > Space Boundaries > Convert to Boundaries.

13. Enter SL (for SLICE) in the command line and press the Enter key.

14. Select all the slice rectangles and press the Enter key to open the Space Boundary Properties dialog box.

15. In this dialog box, clear the Automatically Determine from Spaces check box, and enter 10' in the A- Base Height input box (see Figure 15).

Figure 15: Set the space boundaries to be 10' high.
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16. Press the OK button to create the Space Boundaries.

17. Select the 3D Orbit icon from the main toolbar and right-click, which opens a contextual menu.

18. Select Projection > Perspective from that menu to place the structure in Perspective.

19. Right-click again and select Shading Mode > Flat Shaded from the contextual menu that appears.

20. Press the Enter key to exit.

You have now completed the transition from massing design in Autodesk Architectural Studio to the construction document stage in Autodesk Architectural Desktop software (see Figure 16).

Figure 16: The space boundaries are ready to be converted into walls.
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In Conclusion
The use of massing studies is unique to both Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Architectural Studio software. Used in combination, they influence and add productivity to both the design stage and the development of construction documents. The Architectural Studio model does not have to be perfect; it is only the start. In Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3 you can quickly add and/or modify all the particulars of the building.

Good Luck!