AutoC

CAD® Archite
A ecture Secrets
S s Expos
sed!
Jeanne Aarhus
A – Aarhus Associatess, LLC

AB118-4
4
This session offers you u to opportuniity to learn so
ome of the lesss well-known n commands and
a new featu ures
in the late
est release of Autodesk Arcchitecture. Disscover how youy can take advantage
a of the new toolss and
eliminate the time-wasting habits of doing things the “old way””. We all have e a tendency to
t embrace th he
familiar annd resist the new;
n however, some of the e best producctivity tools ha
ave been intro
oduced in recent
versions. Attend this se ession to uncover the posssibilities, and then go home e” your co-workers.
e and “dazzle
A sure fire
e way to get a ticket to atte
end next yearr!

• Take advanttage of the ne

ewest Interfacce capabilitiess

• Take real ad
dvantage of th
he latest relea
ase of AutoCA
AD Architectu
ure

• Discover som
me of the "hid
dden” comma
ands

• Learn the lattest Tool Pale

ette Secrets

• Discover som e-known commands and options

me of the little o

About the
t Speakerr:
Jeanne is known for keeping
k her trraining sessio
ons fast-movinng and fun. She is a nation nally-known
speaker and expert inn CAD and pre esents seminnars and workkshops on CA AD productivityy for manage ers
and userrs in both corp
porations andd colleges. Sh he has more than
t 20 yearss of experiencce in productio on
drafting, user support, standards co oordination, programming
p AD applications.
, and training in various CA
Jeanne is an independent consulta ant offering tra
aining and im
mplementation n services andd is certified in
n
several Autodesk
A and
d Bentley prod ducts. She haas been a poppular speaker at AU for sevveral years.

jeanne@
@aarhusassoc
ciates.com
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

AutoCAD® Architecture Secrets Exposed! 
The topics I selected for this presentation were collected from friends, co-workers, other user
groups; and of course the newsgroups.

If you have an idea or a great tip to pass along, I invite you to share your ideas with other
users. This only works when we ALL share ideas and concepts and keep the information
flowing. Many thanks to all those who have sent me their tips over the past year to help with
this collection of secrets.

About this document: 

    Secret available in ADT 2007    Secret available in ACA 2009 
 

     Secret available in ACA 2008    Secret available in ACA 2010 
      

Notes

Secret Tip

Thanks to those registrants that responded with such great ideas!

Secret to Expose!           
Tip Donated by…
Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas to this session. And remember me if you have a
clever way to use ACA or AutoCAD, send me YOUR “secrets”. We all learn through sharing!

2
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

1 Custom Display Controls         
One topic that I get a lot of questions on is display control. I could spend an entire session just
talking about this topic, in fact, there are several sessions here at AU on just this topic. For this
session I want to point out some little secrets that can be handy to know.

First, let me show you how I made a custom display control for this session. I wanted to
highlight the wall cleanup enhancements and if I use the <out-of-the-box> MEDIUM DETAIL it
displays too much to be clearly edited; while LOW DETAIL doesn’t show me enough to do the
editing I want. So how can we fix that? My solution is to make a custom “tweaked” MY LOW
DETAIL display control.

My first rule when working with display control is to work backwards in the Display Manager
dialog. Remember, this order:

1. Representations by Object

2. Sets

3. Configurations

The reason I suggest this method is that the individual parts are all related to each other. The
“representation by object” display is where the “meat” of the change takes place. The “sets” use
the “representation by object” definition, and the “configuration” use the “set” definition. You
can’t define the entire process without the “previous” object having been already defined. Let
me show you!

Representation by Object 
STEP 1: Open the DISPLAY MANAGER dialog

STEP 2: Select the REPRESENTATION BY OBJECT WALL definition

STEP 3: <Right-Click> on PLAN LOW DETAIL to access the DUPLICATE command

STEP 4: Select the new display representation and <Right-Click> to access the RENAME command

Rename the new display representation PLAN MY LOW DETAIL

STEP 5: Pick APPLY to save these changes

1
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

 Sets 
STEP 1: Select the SETS PLAN LOW DETAIL

STEP 2: <Right-Click> to access the COPY command

STEP 3: Select the NEW set and <Right-Click> to access the RENAME command

Rename the new set PLAN MY LOW DETAIL

STEP 4: Pick APPLY to save these changes

Configuration 
STEP 1: Select CONFIGURATION LOW DETAIL

STEP 2: <Right-Click> to access the COPY command

STEP 3: Select the new configuration and <Right-Click> to access the RENAME command

Rename the new configuration MY LOW DETAIL

STEP 4: Select the new configuration and select the CONFIGURATION tab.

STEP 5: Modify the TOP view direction to use the new PLAN MY LOW DETAIL set.

Now to you see why I suggest working backwards? You can’t select the new set
until it has been created.

Now that all the “parts” have been made and defined we can modify the actual display of the
wall object.

Representation by Object 
STEP 1: Select the REPRESENTATION BY OBJECT WALL definition

STEP 2: Scroll to the right and note where the “ ” is originally defined. We need to modify this to
use the new PLAN MY LOW DETAIL set.

STEP 3: Clear the current “ ” and activate the “ ” for PLAN MY LOW DETAIL set.

STEP 4: Expand the WALL object and select PLAN MY LOW DETAIL to display the property
settings for the new representation by object.

STEP 5: Select the LAYER/COLOR/LINETYPE tab and turn ON all the BOUNDARY display
components.

STEP 6: Pick APPLY and OK to save these changes.

Select your new MY LOW DETAIL display control using the tool on the status bar.

2
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

2 Better Display Control         
Let’s look at another example of display control modifications. I never really liked the <out-of-
the-box> DIAGNOSTIC display control settings. I always felt that a little more information would
be more useful. So in this example, I will modify the DIAGNOSTIC display control to give me a
little more information.

The first thing we need to do is investigate how this display control is defined.

Investigation 101 
STEP 1: Open the DISPLAY MANAGER dialog

STEP 2: Select CONFIGURATIONS DIAGNOSTIC and review the configuration settings

The only set being used is PLAN DIAGNOSTIC

STEP 3: Select SETS PLAN DIAGNOSTIC

STEP 4: Scroll down the list and select the WALL object

STEP 5: Scroll to the right and look for a “ ” in a column to determine what display representation is
used for a wall object.

The are two display representations used by default, GRAPH and SKETCH

Now we know enough to make the changes to the <out-of-the-box> display control. Let’s
change this display control so that I see the shrink wrap of the wall object.

Representation by Object 
STEP 1: Open the DISPLAY MANAGER dialog

STEP 2: Select the SETS WALL definition

STEP 3: Scroll to the right and turn on the PLAN LOW DETAIL representation set.

STEP 4: Pick APPLY to save these changes

We could have selected our new PLAN MY LOW DETAIL set if we also wanted to
see the component boundary lines.

3
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

3 On­the­Fly Display Control         
The 2008 release simplified the “tweaking” of display controls on many levels. You can modify
the display of an object, style, or drawing defaults.

There is a new DISPLAY tab on the Properties dialog

which provides easy access to the old functionality.

Display Component 
You can control the visibility of each aspect of the
display component. For example, you need to turn on
the ABOVE CUT PLANE for a single component?

In this example, I want to modify the display of a bulkhead wall in plan view. By default, nothing
over 3’6” is displayed.
STEP 1: Select the component whose display you want to modify; the bulkhead wall.

You might need to pick once in the PLAN

viewport to move the focus to the correct
direction.

STEP 2: Open the PROPERTIES dialog and select the

DISPLAY tab.

STEP 3: Modify the Display Controlled by to Wall Style so

that all bulkhead walls will be modified.

STEP 4: Modify the Display Component and TURN ON the

ABOVE CUT PLANE.

STEP 5: Modify the Above Cut Plane properties so that the

Component Visible is YES.

Level of Control 
You can modify the display of a single object, the
object style or the drawing file default which would
edit all walls – all styles.

4
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

Display Representation 
You can modify all the DISPLAY PROPERTIES previously buried in the dialogs by selecting the
ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES section and making changes similar to previous releases.

Have you ever needed to turn off the hatch of a single object? Or change its properties? It was
possible…maybe not simple…but possible…and buried deep in the dialogs right?

Check this out!

STEP 1: Select the wall to modify

STEP 2: Modify the DISPLAY CONTROLLED BY to THIS

OBJECT ONLY

STEP 3: Select the DISPLAY COMPONENT – HATCH 1

STEP 4: The Properties dialog changes to display all the

properties of the HATCH 1 display controls.

STEP 5: You can also change the hatch settings, style,

scale, etc.

STEP 6: Set the COMPONENT VISIBLE to NO and the

hatch will disappear in this object only.

It can’t get any easier can it?

On the other hand, be sure to explain to your users why some changes are not appropriate. Or
you might have to implement stricter Project Standards!

5
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

4 Using Display Themes         
Not many users are taking advantage of display themes and I don’t really understand why? So I
am going to add this one so that maybe a couple of you can find potential use within your
organization.

Display Themes allow you to re-symbolize your drawings with very little effort. In this example I
will use two delivered display themes to modify the display of my drawing for fire rated walls and
space sizes.

So put away those colored pencils and highlighters and check this out!

Fire Rated Walls 
This display theme re-symbolizes the walls and doors in your drawing based on the fire rating
data associated with those objects.

6
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

Space Sizes 
This display theme re-symbolizes the spaces in your drawing based on the space object size.

You can return to the original graphics symbolization by deleting the theme legend
from the drawing.

7
 AutoCAD Architecture
e Secrets Exp
posed!

5 Imprroved W
 Wall En
ndcapss         
2010 Only
O
Edit In Place 
There are
e a couple of
o new commmand optionss available in
n 2010 that allow
a you to FILLET and
d
CHAMFE ER while using the EDIT
T IN PLACE command.

2008-2
2009
AEC Mo
odify   Trrim 
STEP 1:
1 Select th
he horizontal wall
w and <Rig
ght-Click> to access
a the EN
NDCAP ED
DIT IN PLACE
comman nd

STEP 2:
2 Select th
he brick wall component
c an
nd <Right-Clicck> to accesss the
AEC MO ODIFY TOOLS S TRIM coommand

STEP 3:
3 OSNAP to the endpoints of the line
e, or press <E
Enter> to sele
ect the
line as th
he trimming edge.
e

STEP 4:
4 e EDIT-IN-PLACE changess and select UPDATE
Save the U THIS
STYLE to
t update the current endccap style.

You can select

s one or all of the wall
w compone
ents to trim to
t the
trimmable
e edge.

8
 AutoCAD Architecture
e Secrets Exp
posed!

AEC Mo
odify   Exxtend 
STEP 1:
1 Select th
he horizontal wall
w and <Rig
ght-Click> to access
a the
ENDCAP P EDIT IN PLACE commmand

STEP 2:
2 Select th
he brick wall component
c an
nd <Right-Clicck> to accesss the
AEC MO ODIFY TOOLS S EXTEND D command.

STEP 3:
3 Press <E ect the object to use as the
Enter> to sele e extending ed
dge.

STEP 4:
4 Save the
e Edit-In-Placce changes an
nd select SAV
VE AS A NEW
W
STYLE to
t create a ne ew endcap styyle.

AEC Mo
odify   Su
ubstract 
STEP 1:
1 Select th
he horizontal wall
w and <Rigght-Click> to access
a
the ENDDCAP EDITT IN PLACE command
c

STEP 2:
2 Select th
he CMU wall component
c and <Right-Cliick> to
access the
t AEC MOD DIFY TOOLS SUBTRAC CT
comman nd.

STEP 3:
3 Select th
he rectangle boundary
b to subtract
s from the
t CMU
wall com
mponent.

STEP 4:
4 Key in Y to erase the original recta
angle lineworkk.

STEP 5:
5 Save the
e Edit-In-Placce changes an
nd select SAV
VE AS A
NEW ST TYLE to creatte a new endccap style.

AEC Mo
odify   M
Merge 
STEP 1:
1 Select th
he horizontal wall
w and <Rig
ght-Click> to access
a the EN
NDCAP ED
DIT IN PLACE
comman nd

STEP 2:
2 Select th
he FURRING wall component and <Right-Click>
to accesss the AEC MODIFY TOOL
LS MERGE E
comman nd.

STEP 3:
3 Select th
he rectangle boundary
b to merge
m the FURRING
wall com
mponent.

STEP 4:
4 Key in Y to erase the original recta
angle lineworkk.

STEP 5:
5 Save the
e Edit-In-Placce changes an
nd select SAV
VE AS A
NEW ST TYLE to creatte a new endccap style.

9
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

6 Wall Cleanup        
Wall cleanup has always been a problem for those “strange” wall intersection conditions. And
the solutions have been even “stranger”! ACA 2010 provides some new tools that will help you
get the final result you have been looking for.

The general rules still apply to wall cleanup as defined in previous versions of ADT/ACA but the
latest releases are much more forgiving of those little mistakes.

For example, if your wall meets at a “sharp corner” in previous releases you couldn’t use wall
cleanup to solve the problem. You could use mass elements and other methods. Now I can use
wall cleanup to solve this problem.

7 Simplify Tag Placement         
Placing tags is easier with the mutiple tag placement command. Do you still place tags
manually on occasion? If so, are you tired of hitting the “OK” button after every placement?

Change this default setting and you can avoid the tag placement dialog.

Modify AEC Content Setting 
STEP 1: Select the Options command.

STEP 2: Select the AEC Content tab and turn OFF

the setting for Display Edit Property Data
Dialog During Tag Placement.

10
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

8 Endcap Eraser        
Making endcaps is easier than ever, but did you know that if you add width to your polyline
definition you can actually erase those unwanted lines?

Polylines with Width 
STEP 1: Draw a polyline adding width on the
segments that you want to use as an
“erased” edge.

STEP 2: Select the wall and <Right-Click> to

access the new Endcaps
Automatically Generate Endcap
command.

9 Smarter Spaces   
You can now divide spaces using the new AEC Modify Tools Divide.

AEC Modify   Divide 
STEP 1: Select the space object and <Right-Click> to access the AEC MODIFY TOOLS DIVIDE
command

STEP 2: Sketch a line where you need to divide the space

The is divided using your sketch line.

But what if you need to divide a space with a non-linear edge?

Space Separator   
Select the new SPACE SEPARATOR tool provided on the SPACE Tool Palette Group. This
tool will only work with spaces that are associated to objects, polylines, walls, etc.

Another new feature

in 2010 spaces is the
automatic “send to
back” for the space
hatch component.  
 

11
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

10 Tweak that Ribbon   
When you begin using the new ribbon interface you will probably find a few of your common
commands that appear to be “missing in action”. Let me show you how to modify what you
have the “right way” so you can preserve these changes during regular maintenance issues
such as installations and updates to the software.

The first button on the HOME Tab provides access to many of the tools that used to be on the
Navigation toolbar. But a couple are missing. So one of the first methods to customizing the
ribbon is to re-arrange the <out-of-the-box> organization.

I want to add a couple of buttons to the TOOLs area of the HOME Tab.
STEP 1: Key in the CUI command and select the current workspace

STEP 2: Using the COMMAND LIST pane of the dialog locate the command DETAIL COMPONENT
MANAGER.

STEP 3: <Drag-n-Drop> the command onto the PARTIAL CUSTOMIZATION FILE ACA
RIBBON PANELS BUILD – ACA ROW 1 TOOLS section.

Some others might be, DESIGN CENTER, PROJECT NAVIGATOR?

I recommend you copy the <out-of-the-box> ACA.CUI file and place it in a network
location before making any changes. That way all users see the modified version
automatically and you can keep your corporate changes on a centralized server.
Don’t forget to modify the profile to this new location.

12
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

How to Create a Custom .CUI File  
These steps will create a corporate or “enterprise” CUI file for customizations.
STEP 1: Run the command CUI using any of the following methods.
- Key-in the CUI command
- Select the MANAGE Ribbon and select the CUI tool
- Select the menu TOOLS CUSTOMIZE INTERFACE

STEP 2: Select the TRANSFER TAB from the CUI dialog

STEP 3: Using the RIGHT-TOP-PANE of the TRANSFER TAB select the <Drop-Down-List> to
access the NEW command.

You could also use the LEFT-TOP-PANE of the TRANSFER TAB to access the NEW
command. However, I recommend using the LEFT-TOP-PANE for accessing existing .CUI
files and the RIGHT-TOP-PANE for accessing NEW CUI files.

STEP 4: Navigate to the server location for your organization and name the file as needed.

I will name the file CompanyXYZ.CUI

STEP 5: Pick the OK button to close the dialog and create the new CUI file.

STEP 6: Select the <Drop-Down-List> from the RIGHT-TOP-PANE to access the OPEN command
and open the newly created CompanyXYZ.CUI file.

STEP 7: Use the LEFT-TOP-PANE to select the ACAD.CUI file

STEP 8: Select any interface items you need from the ACAD interface and transfer them to your
new CompanyXYZ.CUI file.

You can use the <Drag-n-Drop> method to transfer the items as needed.

STEP 9: Pick the APPLY and OK buttons to save and close the dialog.

I recommend keeping your CompanyXYZ.CUI file as clean as possible of <out-of-

the-box> tools. Use this file for your custom tools and interface items.

You can partial load the ACAD.CUI file to the new CompanyXYZ.CUI file so that
users can have easy access to all the AutoCAD tools.

13
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

How to Use the CompanyXYZ File 
To use your new CUI file you need to create a custom profile or modify the one you currently
use.
STEP 1: Run the OPTIONS command

STEP 2: Select the PROFILE TAB and pick the ADD TO LIST button to create a new profile named
AU09-ACA Secrets.

STEP 3: Pick OK to close the dialog.

STEP 4: Pick the SET CURRENT button to make the new AU09-ACA Secrets profile the active
profile.

STEP 5: Select the FILES TAB and expand the CUSTOMIZATION FILES search path location.

STEP 6: Expand the MAIN CUSTOMIZATION FILE search path and select the current path defined.

STEP 7: Pick the BROWSE button to navigate to your corporate support path location where you
previously created the new CUI file.

STEP 8: Select the CompanyXYZ.CUIx file and pick the OK button to close the dialog.

STEP 9: Pick the APPLY button to save this change without closing the dialog.

STEP 10: Pick the OK button to close the dialog.

The current interface will appear to lose the majority of the ACA tools. The reason the ribbon is
now empty is because we unloaded the ACA.CUI file which contained all the interface item
definitions.

Don’t panic, we will fix that in the next few steps.

The previous steps automatically loaded your new CompanyXYZ.CUI file in place of the
ACA.CUI file. To resolve this side-effect we will load the ACA.CUI file back into our custom file
as a partially loaded file.
STEP 1: Select PARTIAL CUSTOMIZATION FILES and <Right-Click> to access the LOAD
PARTIAL CUSTOMIZATION FILE command.

STEP 2: Navigate to the following location to partially load the ACA.CUI file.

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\application data\autodesk\ACA 2xxx\enu\support\

STEP 3: Pick the APPLY and OK buttons to save and close the dialog.

This profile would be your ADMIN profile for editing and customizing the
corporate interface.

The CompanyXYZ.CUI file will eventually end up as the “enterprise” CUI for the
users profile.

14
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

11 Using AutoCAD in ACA         
I know that I am not supposed to use my old AutoCAD toolbars in Autodesk Architecture; but I
can’t help it. Some of the AutoCAD tools are organized the way I want, and I haven’t been able
to give them up. For example, do you still miss the Modify and Draw toolbars from AutoCAD?
What about the Styles or Viewports toolbars?

Let’s see how you can get them into your ADT/ACA environment.

The good news is that there must be more of you out there that think like I do, because these
toolbars and pulldown menus are back in ACA 2008!

Whew…what a relief…I thought I was the only retentive one!

Loading ACAD.CUI 
STEP 1: <Right-Click> on any button and select Customize

STEP 2: Select the button and load the ACAD.CUI file into the
CURRENT interface.

If you expand the Partial CUI Files list you should see ACAD in
the list.

STEP 3: Verify that you have highlighted the CURRENT workspace, in

this case ADT_Secrets and select the Customize Workspace
button.

This will give you access to turn off the “extra” AutoCAD tools you don’t want.

STEP 4: Uncheck the Menu list under the Partial CUI files section.
We don’t want any ACAD pulldown menus

STEP 5: Uncheck the Toolbars list under the Partial CUI Files
section, and turn only the toolbars you want to use. I
selected Draw, Modify, and Styles for this example.

STEP 6: Select the DONE button to save the changes.

STEP 7: Pick the APPLY and OK buttons to save these changes.

15
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

12 More Ribbon Tweaking    
Do you have ACA commands that you use a lot? I hope that a couple of those commands
include the ISOLATE OBJECTS and UNISOLATE OBJECTS tools. I am not going to show how
to use these commands, after all, I did them last year! But I do want to show you how to get
quicker access to them using the CUI Shortcut Keys.

I am going to set up the following shortcut keys

<CTRL+I> Isolate Objects

<CTRL+U> Unisolate Objects

STEP 1: Key in the CUI command

STEP 2: Select your current workspace and navigate to the KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
SHORTCUT KEYS section of your CUI file

STEP 3: Using the COMMAND LIST pane of the dialog locate the commands ISOLATE OBJECTS
and UNISOLATE OBJECTS

STEP 4: Using <Drag-n-Drop> drop them onto

the SHORTCUT KEYS section.

STEP 5: Select the new ISOLATE OBJECTS

shortcut key and modify the properties
as shown.

STEP 6: Select the new UNISOLATE

OBJECTS shortcut key and modify
the properties as shown.

STEP 7: Pick the OK and APPLY buttons to

save and close the dialog.

Try them out!

16
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

13 Quick Palette Updates          
robiNZ CAD Blog rcd.typepad.com

Did you know that you can update all your palettes almost automatically? I say almost because
it still take a single click.

If you use tool palettes you need to be storing them in the ACA Content Browser. Tool palettes
have stayed pretty much the same for several releases now so they are a stable way to
standardize and automate many processes.

Automatic Update 
You can set tool palettes to update automatically, but if you have a lot of tools or groups it can
be sluggish at best. I recommend that you use the one-click update option since once you have
your tool palettes established they probably won’t change that often.

Manual Update 
You can use the manual process by clicking on the REFRESH ICON located on each palette.
You can even update a palette group from the tool palette titlebar. Use the <Right-Click> menu
to access the REFRESH command.command.

The first thing you need to do is create or move

your palettes into a custom catalog in the
Content Browser. Once the palettes are stored
in the browser you want to remove any
duplicates from your <out-of-the-box> tool
palettes and groups.

To associate the tool palettes to the catalog

content you just have to <Drag-n-Drop> the
catalog tool palettes onto tool palettes dialog.

You can see a REFRESH ICON on the

tool palettes just added.

You can also use the REFRESH

PALETTE SET command from the MY
TOOLS palette group titlebar.

17
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

You can even use the REFRESH PALETTE SET command from the
ALL PALETTES group which will update all tool palettes from the
catalog in a single-click.

14 Even More Ribbon Tweaking        
David Cohn, www.architects-desktop.blogspot.com

Another customization you might consider making is the addition of custom tools to load
specific tool palette groups for project based tasks.
For example, you might create tool palette groups for different departments or CAD tasks and
organize these tools into groups.
It is then easy to provide tools to toggle between groups. Anything to encourage the users to use
standardized tools and tasks right?
Let’s make a couple of these custom tools and put them on the ribbon interface. Remember,
keep all custom tools in your custom CUI file.
Use the following macros to load tool palette groups.

Load the ARCHITECTURAL Tool Palette Group 
^C^C_AecSetPaletteGroup Architectural;\

Load the FACILITY MANAGEMENT Tool Palette Group 
^C^C_AecSetPaletteGroup Facility Management;\

Load the INTERIORS Tool Palette Group 
^C^C_AecSetPaletteGroup Interiors;\

18
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

First, let’s create the custom tools for each of these macros.
STEP 1: Key in the CUI command

STEP 2: Using the COMMAND LIST pane of the dialog select the NEW COMMAND button

STEP 3: Rename the command and define the macro and icon as needed.

19
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

Next, I need to add the new commands to the TOOLs area of the HOME Tab.
STEP 1: Key in the CUI command and select the current workspace

STEP 2: Using the COMMAND LIST pane of the dialog locate the new commands above.

STEP 3: <Drag-n-Drop> the commands onto the PARTIAL CUSTOMIZATION FILE ACA
RIBBON PANELS BUILD – ACA ROW 1 TOOLS section.

STEP 4: Select an appropriate ICON if needed

STEP 5: Pick the APPLY and OK buttons to save and close the dialog.

Test out the new tools from the HOME Tab of the ribbon interface.

20
 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

15 Re­Positioning         
It is easy to center a door or window during the initial placement. But what if a wall moves and
you need to re-center the door or window? Yes, you can use OTRACK or the ‘CAL command to
accomplish this, but if you have tried this you know how difficult it can really be. Try this
command, it is much easier.

Re­Center Along Wall 
STEP 1: Select the door that needs to be
re-centered.

STEP 2: <Right-Click> to access the

AEC Modify Tools Center
command.

STEP 3: Align the axis along the edge of

the wall to re-center along.

STEP 4: Using OSNAPS, snap to two

points on the wall you want to re-
center between.

Reposition Along Wall 
STEP 1: Select the door that needs re-positioned from a specific point along a wall.

STEP 2: <Right-Click> to access the Reposition Along Wall

command.

STEP 3: Using OSNAPS select the reference point on the

door

STEP 4: Using OSNAPS select the reference point on the

wall or other object.

STEP 5: Key in the distance value

You can just hit enter if the new value is “0”

zero.

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

STEP 6: Select the door that needs re-positioned from a specific point within a wall.

STEP 7: <Right-Click> to access the Reposition Within Wall command.

STEP 8: Using OSNAPS select the reference point on the door.

STEP 9: Align the axis along the point to reposition on the door frame.

STEP 10: Using OSNAPS select the reference point on the wall or other object.

STEP 11: Key in the distance value or pick a second point.

16 Flexible MVBlocks         
Inserting MVBlocks is very flexible if you use the CTRL key option to toggle between available
insertion points.
STEP 1: Start the INSERT MVBLOCK command and use the CTRL key to toggle the insertion point
dynamically.

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

17 Automatic Floor Openings        
Do you have to figure out the openings in floor slabs for stair or ramp clearances? Do you still
do it the old way? If so, try using this tip to calculate the openings automatically.

Interference Conditions 
STEP 1: Use the Space and Stair objects to calculate the required floor or ceiling openings using
interference conditions.

STEP 2: Select the Space object and <Right-Click> to access the Interference Condition Add
command.

STEP 3: Select the Stair object as the Interference Object.

You may not see the “opening” cut in the space ceiling unless you are in a 3D view or using
the Reflected display representation.

The “secrets” don’t stop there. If you modify the stair during the design process;
the opening will automatically adjust. Pretty cool, right?

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

18 AutoCAD Only Data         
One feature in ACA that seems to be overlooked by many users is the ability to “dummy down”
your ACA file to a plain AutoCAD file. Don’t send the smart objects if the AutoCAD user doesn’t
need them and is only going to use your drawing as a background reference file anyway.

You can maintain your file integrity and simplify his life immensely.
STEP 1: Select File Export AutoCAD Drawing

STEP 2: Choose the DWG format required by the AutoCAD user, you can select any version from
R14 to 2010

STEP 3: Your drawing is saved as ACAD-DRAWING NAME.DWG

Send the new AutoCAD file to your happy and loyal AutoCAD user.

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

19 Details Secrets       
The details section of the ADT/ACA product is probably one of the best kept secrets. If you’re
not using these tools, you must take a new look and dive in.

Replace Selected 
Use this command to replace detail
components with various similar
components.
STEP 1: Select three brick components
and <Right-Click> to access the
Replace Selected command.

STEP 2: Modify the properties dialog

and select the Setting Position
Soldier brick

STEP 3: Locate the insertion point for

the new soldier brick and drag
the cursor in the desired
orientation.

Subtract 
STEP 1: Draw a polyline to identify the area to be
removed

STEP 2: Select the brick component and <Right-

Click> to access the AEC Modify Tools

Subtract command.

Obscure 
STEP 1: Select the detail objects that are
hidden.

STEP 2: <Right-Click> to access the AEC

Modify Tools Obscure command.

STEP 3: Select the boundary object that

defines the obscuring object.

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

20 ACA Classic?        
I am almost afraid to mention this one because I am afraid too many you will immediately use
this secret to get rid of the ribbon and not give this second generation ribbon a try. It really is
more efficient in many ways.

But I am unable to keep a secret when it comes to CAD. So here goes.

Yes, you can still have an ACA Classic interface in 2010 if you need it. However, I must
emphasize that this is not supported by Autodesk and in fact, they removed it from the web so
no one could download it any more. So if you use these installation resources; you are on your
own for support and interface “glitches”.

In the delivered ACA.CUI file there are no delivered toolbars or menus for ACA. There was
quite an uproar about this early in the release period; and Autodesk posted a plug-in to add
them back in. I can only assume that problems occurred and they removed it. Fortunately, I
already had it!

With that said, you can install these resources to get the “Classic” version interface back.
Enjoy? I hope not!

Try out the ribbon….Please?

Contact me via email if you want these resources.

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 AutoCAD Architecture Secrets Exposed!

Places You Need to Know 
Mike Massey www.knowingwhatyoudontknow.blogspot.com

Richard Binning “Beside the Cursor” www.integr-8.com/besidethecursor

ARCHIdigm www.archidigm.com

Tomislav Zigo bimology.blogspot.com

Erhan Toker www.dailyautocad.com

Chris Yanchar “Between the Walls” adt_blog.typepad.com

Paul Aubin www.paulaubin.com

Todd Shackelford “The Lazy Drafter” lazydrafter.blogspot.com

Avatech www.avat.com/training/elearning/techtips

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 AutoCAD Architecture
e Secrets Exp
posed!

That'ss probab bly morre than I have time

t forr….but hopefuully
not more
m thaat you wanted
w t know
to w!

Thhank you for

f r your tim
t e
Hope you
y enjjoyed th
he sessiion!

Lookiing for cusstomized Training

T annd Standardds consultinng
using yourr companyy standardss and proceedures?
Caall for affoordable andd flexible rates
r and scchedules.
C
Contact:

å
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s ASSOCIATTES, LLC
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Copyright © 2009 Aarhus Asso ociates, LLC. Aarhhus Associates andd the Aarhus Assocciates Logo are reegistered trademarrks of Aarhus Assoociates.
All other prodduct names are traademarks of their respective
r owners.. Aarhus Associattes believes the infformation in this document
d is accuraate as
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