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 User Pages for Allplan FT Some 2D drawing techniques... |
One of the pleasures of using Allplan is the excellent range of 2D drawing tools available...
Please note Allplan 2006 only uses the Advanced Point Entry which supersedes some of the described methods below - revision to follow once 2006 released.
Introduced in Allplan 2003 the Advanced Point Entry was optional.
Trim
Lines to element - Available from 'Modify->Draft'
tools. Although fairly straightforward for single lines there is no Help guidance on how to use it with multiple lines.
The trick is to select the whole line - thus you need to use one of the multiple selection techniques available in Allplan e.g. the 'Open Brackets' feature (a shortcut is to right-click in empty workspace) or draw a selection box or 'fence' around the lines to be trimmed - or what can be very effective (if you remember to turn it off after using it!) is the filter assistant tool 'Select elements intersected by...' rather than the default setting of 'Select elements fully bounded by...' Once you have selected your multiple lines to be lengthened or shortened Allplan asks you to indicate the reference line and then asks for 'an additional point' - this seems to be the part of the lines you want to keep but I would experiment this with as I sometimes get unexpected results.
(diagram when time allows)
Update September 2004 Although this command has been improved to allow trimming to a 'virtual' line - there is a bug that causes any line trimmed to an arc to extend to meet the arc at both ends of the line. Still there in Allplan 2005.
| More uses of command interrupts - you can save a lot of time by using tools and tool assistants which 'interrupt' the main command and allow input of measurements or other operations... | ||
| Here I am drawing a window frame in 2D plan - the opening is already drawn (see note at end of example for information on orientation) and the problem is to draw a frame 100 mm thick and the front face of the frame must be 150mm (0.15m) from the outside face of the wall... | ||
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Click the 'Rectangle' tool and then the...
'Offset by Line' assistant... Click on one side of the plan opening - if the arrow indicator does not find the correct corner first time move it by snapping to the point - then enter 150 mm (0.15 m) into the Point assistant Delta offset entry that has appeared onscreen... |
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| (Above) A window opening in plan - the projecting cill shows the outside wall face | (Above) The orange indicator produced by use of the 'Offset by line' tool assistant | |
| Press 'Return' to enter the offset value and the Rectangle command reappears with a rectangle anchored to the (here) top right corner and 'rubber banding' a rectangle as you move the cursor around. If you look in the main command line (the line that gives you prompts) you will notice that Allplan is now prompting 'Place a diagonally opposite point or enter the length'. Type in -100 (or -0.1 if working in metres) and press 'Return' - it has to be negative because we want the offset to be left of the anchor point... | ||
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Now
(Right) you can see that the box is constrained in the 'x' direction
but still 'rubber bands' in the 'y' direction. Allplan now prompts you for the 'y' value with... 'Place a point or enter the width' - here the simplest way to complete the rectangle is to use a 'snap' to just connect to the other side of the window. |
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| (Above) After entering the offset the Rectangle tool becomes active again with the top right corner anchored to the position established by use of 'Offset by line' | (Above) After entering the 'x' dimension of the rectangle the box is now constrained in one direction - snap to the other side of the window to complete the rectangle | |
the 'System Angle' tool to 90 degrees for the example to work correctly.|
Using 'offset by line' as a command interrupt - this tool in the
point assistant toolbar saves a lot of time. Here is one of my favourite
uses - drawing a ridge tile in elevation - which used to require construction
lines. |
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Select
'Offset Polyline' from 'Create->Draft' - enter '1' for no. of offsets
and then an offset for the ridge tile 'thickness' (here 50 mm).
Now select
'Offset by Line' from the point assistant toolbar. Click on the line
of the roofslope as illustrated below (note that a positive offset
to the 'Offset Polyline' tool draws a line offset above the existing
line when going anti-clockwise). The orange dot shows where the line
was clicked and notice the arrow added to the nearest intersection
showing where the offset is going to be measured from. You will notice
that another dynamic 'point assistant' has opened giving the distance
from the intersection (here in mm) - replace this with the correct
value (here 150) and press 'Enter'. The point assistant now closes
and the original 'Offset Polyline' command takes over, rubber-banding
the offset line. |
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| (Above)This is the ridge tile in elevation completed. | (Above)The small orange dot shows where the line was first clicked after invoking the 'Offset by Line' tool and a faint arrow at the intersection shows where the distance is being measured from - the illustrated value is just the distance from the apex to where the line was first clicked - replace this with the desired value - here 150 mm (0.15m) | ||
| Click
the apex of the rooflines to create one side of the ridge tile,
now click
'Offset by Line' again and repeat the procedure on the left side of
the roof - note that as long as the
'Offset Polyline' command has not been exited the line drawn will
offset correctly - if you have restarted the command you will need
to enter a negative value for the offset to this tool for the ridge
tile thickness or the line will be drawn on the wrong side of the
roofline. Do not be alarmed by the rubber banded line that seems to dance about on screen when you have completed this stage - either Esc out of the tool or just select the next command which automatically ends the previous command before starting the new one... |
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| (Above)The right side completed. | (Above) Repeat for the left side and then use the 'Drop Perpendicular' tool to close the ends. | (Above) Completed using the 'Drop Perpendicular' tool. | |
A neat
way to complete the drawing is to use the 'Drop Perpendicular' tool
from 'Create->Draft'. Once invoked click on the roofline and you
will then have a rubber banded line perpendicular to the roof slope
- click on the end of the ridge tile line to snap to this point and
close one end of the shape - the tool remains active - repeat on the
other side. Esc to exit the tool.
'Offset by Line' will work as an interrupt on most commands. |
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Smartfit
Module for rendering rubble masonry in elevations |
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Even in the age of rendered models - there is still a need for 2D elevations! |
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Anyway... Click the Smartfit tool icon (as above) , select your pattern and Click the OK tick button - Allplan asks you to enter the outline of the region to be filled with the tiled pattern. You can do this manually but the 'Outline autodetect' tool is available.
This tool in Allplan is fantastic - my old CAD system was excellent at this
but Allplan is even better! - it takes endpoints and intersections in its
stride - Click within an outline or delineate one by hand - press 'Esc'
when complete - to add or subtract areas click the 'plus' or 'minus' boxes
in the dynamic toolbar and outline another area and again 'Esc'
to complete... repeat as often as necessary and then hit 'Esc'
one extra time - your pattern appears on the end of your cursor - put it
down somewhere - Allplan asks you to show how you want it tiling - I pick
the bottom left corner (I placed a point here when creating the pattern)
a copy of the pattern appears fastened to your cursor - and then I place
it a top left - Allplan asks for the tiling position the other direction
and I pick the bottom left (the pattern is now 3 patterns high for some
reason) and copy it to the bottom right - Allplan thinks for a minute and
then offers an outline of a 3 x 3 set of patterns on the end of your cursor
- now I find that it is best to 'drop' this within the area you wish to
fill - I suppose you can 'snap' to a point if you wish - it may be important
with some patterns - once dropped Allplan does quite a bit of 'thinking'
- don't panic if it looks messy! When finished the Smartfit dialogue reappears
in case you want to fill other areas. To finish off you might try...
Paint out the edge line Allplan leaves to the region boundary or use
to 'explode' the patterns (and lose the 'intelligence') and then 
to 'explode' the polylines (so that you can delete individual lines)Update 09.10.01 - see also Tips & Tricks Page 4 for a couple of issues.
Chamfer
tool and scuntions - tapered reveals to windows and doors are the bane
of every draughtsman who works on old buildings - they seldom repeat exactly
in angle and so you cannot assume that you can draw one and copy it elsewhere
- also the wall thicknesses often vary. Allplan comes to the rescue -
| In this example the left reveal has already been done - there are various ways to set this up - this method demonstrates using the measure command as an interrupt to the chamfer tool... | ||
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 click the Chamfer tool and click one of the elements to chamfer - here I have clicked the vertical element first... |
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| the chamfer tool gives guidance in the command line but also displays a dynamic tool bar as shown top right - click on 'standard' to follow this method - confusingly the toolbar now displays 'centre line' but that is just the next option... | ||
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 Allplan now asks for a reference point on the other element and rubber-bands a line from where last clicked - note the 'angle' dynamic tool bar offering yet more options for making the chamfer... |
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| now assuming - as often happens to me, that you have forgotten to set up a construction line to snap the final point to - click on the 'Measure' tool, 'length' and then click on the leftmost point of the left reveal - then using 'linear snap' obtain the horizontal dimension to the window - then click the result 'L= xxx ' in the measure tool results window that appears... | ||
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| Allplan
inserts the measurement into the waiting 'Chamfer' tool and 2 option
points appear - click on the one you want - here the right hand one... and the chamfer is made.... spot the mistake?... the chamfer is drawn in the current pen and not the pen of the 'wall' outline - something to check for! :-) |
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Most Allplan 2D drawing tools exhibit a remarkable flexibility in use which is not apparent without a bit of 'digging'. It really is a credit to the programmers the way they have anticipated what the draughtsman (or woman) is trying to achieve at a practical level. |
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Drawing up triangulated surveys - This neat tool on the point assistant
tool bar called 'offset by radius' prompts for circle centre, point or radius
and then again for a second and then offers points of intersection between
the two circles to be chosen. I use it in conjunction with the 'create point
symbol' when drawing up surveys. Much quicker than drawing regular circles
and then having to delete them after each pair of measurements.
Parallel
lines at equal centres- To subdivide a space between 2 parallel lines
(such as a stair outline in 2D plan or glazing bars to a window) draw the
2 lines, then click 'Parallel lines' tool,
click the first line, then click...
'Division
Point' tool on the Point Assistant toolbar, choose the first line
endpoint, then the second line endpoint, the 'no.
of sides' pop-up will appear and you can enter the number of subdivisions
required, press 'Enter' and temporary points will appear showing the subdivisions,
press 'Enter' to select the default position of '1' , the first parallel
line appears and the offset is entered into the command line enabling the
remaining lines to be created just by pressing 'Enter', (confirm which side
is the offset for the first line so created and thereafter just repeatedly
press 'Enter').
Modify
Offset - available from the main 'Edit'
menu or 'Shift+Ctrl+A' this tool works in 3D
as well as 2D and is just wonderful... it is hard to desribe in words but
basically operates as a stretch tool with an orthoganol lock built in -
for all those times when you need to stretch a roof slope in section for
example where you do not want the pitch to alter... if there is no reference
line handy just click the line you want to move twice and it will reference
itself. Diagram coming when time allows...
Drop
Perpendicular - this little tool is another gem on the 'Create->Draft'
menu - I use it all the time to 'freehand' draw any box shaped object or
close the ends of 2 parallel lines. Diagram coming
when time allows...
Middle
point between 2 parallel lines - need to locate the midppoint between
a pair of parallel lines - use the 'Angle Bisector'
tool from 'Create->Draft'. Diagram
coming when time allows...
Sketching
/Freehand drawing - Hold down the 'Alt' key. This creates a polyline.
The 'granularity' or segment length is set via the 'Create->Freehand
Line' tool. I usually set this to around 0.75 for units set to mm.
See also under Top Tips
page 2 here.
Change pens in the entire (or part) drawing - Useful sometimes when
you have imported a drawing with 'wrong' pens. The same technique applies
to change any pen property (group, layer etc. (see below for layers). Click 'Modify Format Properties->' then click the tick boxes for the line type or thickness you want to change TO.
In the Filter Assistant click 'Filter elements based on a pen' or use the 'double chevron' button to match an existing line on the drawing. At the command prompt it will ask you to Indicate the Elements to be modified - draw a box round all the elements required using the middle mouse button (you can further use the polygonal boundary tool here or more filter options (see Top Tips page 2).
Derive
Circle - Available from 'Create->Draft'
tools. A most impressive tool for making circles fit between other elements.
The many options available are described in an example page in the online
Help (F1) and copied here
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Transfer
measurements to command line - It is not explained anywhere as to how
the measure tool can be used to transfer a measurement to an active command
input. The simplest example is the Calculator - available under the 'Tools'
top menu bar. Activate the calculator and press the double chevron button
which brings up the measure tool dialogue. Measure some existing element.
To transfer the measurement to the input line of the calculator just click
on the measurement within the list given by the measure tool - easy when
you know how (it only took me 6 months to find this out). Drawing commands
can be 'interrupted' by clicking on the Measure Tool and the input transferred
to the command line in the same way.
Office 2D Toolset - Just in case the settings ever get wiped and for
general interest here
are my main 2D drawing toolset and the Point Assistant tools which work
in tandem. I change these about from time to time but these are the core
functions I use every day. 3D tools I bring in as required and using the
'Com' functions (double right click an existing element to create another).
2D without 3D - you can use all the time-saving 3D tools - like walls,
windows and doors just for 2D if you wish. In the 'Tools->Options->Architecture'
dialogue untick the 'Create 3D elements using 2D'.
This prevents the display of 3D attributes - if you change your mind later
on then use 'Modify->Architecture->Architecture->Restore
3D view' to show the 3D attributes - this will also re-check the
option in the 'Tools->Options->Architecture'
settings previously described.
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