Elevation Cross Section - switch basement off?

[Sydney23]

Appreciate it. I've said it before, at least 50% of this software is this forum - they should pay you guys!

[GordC]

Hi Sydney,
A8 is revised details from a complete set of TACBOC drawings.

Toronto Area Chief Building Officials Committee (TACBOC)

It probably took a couple of hours for each one but of course they can be used many times. Each one is only done once.

The steps for the elevations layout are as follows:

Use the Cross section/Elevation camera to create each view. Export each one to DXF.
Import each back into its corresponding view.

You will note that if you import in the same elevation camera, the software places the DXF copy right on top of the original view.

I discovered by accident that one only has to create a marquee around the original file and drag it to one side. You will now have the original and the DXF in the same view side by side.

In the DXF version, do all your dimensioning and text. Sometimes, to speed up dimensioning, draw CAD lines for measuring. You are now ready to send to layout.

Scale is determined by experimenting or by the requirements of your local building authorities. I usually use 3/16 for elevations, but sometimes the building is too big.

While in DXF, you can also “clean up” any random or unwanted lines.

That should get you on track!

[GordC]

Make sure "Edit Object Parts" is checked while editing DXF otherwise groups of items will be deleted by accident.

[Sydney23]

Thank you so much Gord, I doubt I'd ever have worked that out without your help. It means I can finish this design phase of my project (2 x apartment conversions and 2 x new builds) without having to compromise or take long-winded steps in other software. Hope it helps others too.

I'll give this a shot ASAP.

Much appreciated.

[GordC]

You are welcome. Good luck with your projects!

[Sydney23]

Tried it and it works fine. It will get me to the finish line but I can't help wondering...

It's a bit disappointing that the software can't do this itself, I would have thought it's something many people would need. It also means that the relationship between the live plan and layout is broken (I assume), which could become very tedious if ongoing changes were required to the live/master plan.

Any one know if this is something (deliberately) left out of HDP and saved for Chief or is there some technical reason more automation is impossible?

Thanks.

[GordC]

Hi Sydney,

There is no relationship between the plan and a DXF file as I have described.

The original elevation will update automatically but the DXf file will have to be done again.

I don’t think you will ever get away from unwanted lines in elevation views.

I rarely have one that doesn’t require “clean-up”.

I am very strict about changes with my clients as it takes many hours to replace some of the views.

Once you have done it a few times, you will find you get much faster at it.

I have no idea if the same problems exist with Chief.