Coordinating autocad drawings with consultants can be a hassle. File sizes can sometimes get large, making the file hard to email. Design firms are starting to invest in FTP websites and with the recent boom in 'cloud technology,' this problem will soon be a thought of the past. For those of you who are still looking for the quick fix to this problem, fear not. Autocad has the solution!
To easily send an autocad file the command is ETRANSMIT (you can also find this under File --> etransmit). This command will bind all of the x-refs, blocks, and lines in the drawing and compress the file into a smaller, email-able file. When the command is run it will bring up a new box. Clik OK and the a new file will be saved to your folder!
Dimensions: exploring landscape paradigms
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
rethinking waste
These images are from a project looking at the potential for adaptively reusing a landfill site in Leonia, New Jersey. The rendering illustrates the overall concept of challenging the typical notion of waste as ugly and discarded. We designed multiple voids in the landscape that revealed the infrastructure of waste which supported the program of the park. These voids were termed scars, acting as a reminder that the waste we produce does not disappear. We wanted to construct compositions of physical, non-toxic decay that would change the way people interact with and understand waste. The plan called for a series of scars, each addressing a different component of the landfill system and the decomposition of waste products.The design created a vision for a 21st century park; one that interacted with multiple urban systems and provided people with valuable open space and an educational tool for all age groups and demographics.
Sustainability: Who is LEEDing the nation?
LEED is a product of the United States Green Building Council (along with various other organizations), and is an internationally known method for rating sustainable design. The USGBC has developed numerous variations of the LEED rating system for different project types, but has offered a comprehensive list of every certified project in the United States. Here is how the States compare to one another.
LEED-Certified Projects by State
Top 10
1. California (977)
2. Texas (366)
3. Illinois (324)
4. Florida (308)
5. Washington (304)
6. New York (280)
7. Pennsylvania (277)
8. Colorado (247)
9. Massachusetts (235)
10. Georgia (230)
Bottom 10
50. North Dakota (3)
49. West Virginia (8)
48. Delaware (10)
47. Wyoming (12)
46. Alaska (15)
45. Louisiana (16)
44. South Dakota (17)
43. Rhode Island (18)
43. Mississippi (18)
41. Oklahoma (20)
Anything look surprising? More on this to come…
3D as process communication
Lately, the trend of 3D modeling has been embraced by designers and we are delving into programs such as Rhino or 3Ds Max to develop beautifully rendered images that capture our design intent. However, when we think about the value of 3D modeling, the conversation generally leans towards final renderings and sharp graphic composition. What about 3D as an extremely effective design tool? We have the ability to model with exact dimensions and directly understand relationships between design elements. The idea of modeling as final product seems to overshadow the ability to use models as a way to communicate design process to clients and team members.
What about when we begin to cross platforms and utilize programs such as ACAD Civil 3D and 3Ds Max simultaneously? When we can apply materials and textures in ACAD and shorten our time making a product more elegant in Max we are effectively bettering our overall utilization. This is strong evidence that the future of design communication and construction documentation will begin to stray away from conventional 2 dimensional drawings and standard construction methods. Further, when we think about implementing 3D technologies into the construction process we can effectively impact how things are made. This makes me wonder, what will students be learning in construction courses 5 or 10 years from now and how will professional design and construction process shift?
What about when we begin to cross platforms and utilize programs such as ACAD Civil 3D and 3Ds Max simultaneously? When we can apply materials and textures in ACAD and shorten our time making a product more elegant in Max we are effectively bettering our overall utilization. This is strong evidence that the future of design communication and construction documentation will begin to stray away from conventional 2 dimensional drawings and standard construction methods. Further, when we think about implementing 3D technologies into the construction process we can effectively impact how things are made. This makes me wonder, what will students be learning in construction courses 5 or 10 years from now and how will professional design and construction process shift?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
taught to think
Many students are taught specific facts pertaining to their chosen major or memorize countless facts to pass tests. The beauty of going to design school is you leave having learned how to think. We are armed with more than just a database of information, we are taught how to access, utilize and manipulate that database in order to solve a multitude of unique problems. This also sets us up to be successful leaders when working across a wide range of professions. To this end we can imagine a future where designers are making big differences in the world because we aren't simply affecting change in one arena, we are working to engage and design for a variety of systems at local and global scales.
tech tip : aec objects/proxy graphics/xrefs
Design programs are constantly changing and can be difficult to keep up with. The Dimensions Team will be posting a weekly tech tip to help our followers keep up with these programs. Feel free to leave comments and ask any computer questions you may have!
Have you ever opened up a consultant's autocad file and seen a message about proxygraphics or aecobjects. Simply put, this message is alerting you that the file you opened was produced by a different version of autocad. This may not seem like a big issue, however, if you look closely you will find that these aecobjects are autocad blocks that may actually vanish from your drawing when try to x-ref the drawing into your own file!
To fix this problem, we suggest handling all consultant's autocad files the following way:
1. Save a copy of the orignal autocad file. Incase something goes wrong, it's always good to have an original copy of your consultants file archived away.
2. Open the file and type AECTOACAD or EXPORTTOAUTOCAD. These commands will ask you to create a new file which will contain the flattened proxygraphics.
3. Close the file you are currently in and open the new file which you just created from step 2.
4. Select all of the objects/lines in the drawing and make sure that the linetype and lineweight is set to BY LAYER. This will make things much easier when you go to change layer colors in your drawing.
5. Check all of the blocks in the consultants drawing, and make sure they were drawn on the 0 layer. Similar to step 4, this ensures that you can change a block's color in your drawing.
6. X-Ref the new consultant's drawing into your own drawing.
While it may seem a bit tedious, we have found that using this process before x-refing a new drawing into your file will save you lots of time!
Have you ever opened up a consultant's autocad file and seen a message about proxygraphics or aecobjects. Simply put, this message is alerting you that the file you opened was produced by a different version of autocad. This may not seem like a big issue, however, if you look closely you will find that these aecobjects are autocad blocks that may actually vanish from your drawing when try to x-ref the drawing into your own file!
To fix this problem, we suggest handling all consultant's autocad files the following way:
1. Save a copy of the orignal autocad file. Incase something goes wrong, it's always good to have an original copy of your consultants file archived away.
2. Open the file and type AECTOACAD or EXPORTTOAUTOCAD. These commands will ask you to create a new file which will contain the flattened proxygraphics.
3. Close the file you are currently in and open the new file which you just created from step 2.
4. Select all of the objects/lines in the drawing and make sure that the linetype and lineweight is set to BY LAYER. This will make things much easier when you go to change layer colors in your drawing.
5. Check all of the blocks in the consultants drawing, and make sure they were drawn on the 0 layer. Similar to step 4, this ensures that you can change a block's color in your drawing.
6. X-Ref the new consultant's drawing into your own drawing.
While it may seem a bit tedious, we have found that using this process before x-refing a new drawing into your file will save you lots of time!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)