Dimension distances

[murphj]

I have drawn a house plan with each room having rounded off dimensions, ie 1050,2080 etc, however the overall length including wall thicknesses shows an uneven dimension ie 3131
Why?
Can I set the programme to round off the figures?

[Allan Chesney]

Hi,

If you have the interior dimension exact to a rounded figure and the exterior isn't ,then the wall thickness is the problem.

If you look at the image below, the auto exterior dimensions show the interior 5000 + 100 each for the side walls = 5200 for the total exterior distance.  Obviously if the walls were 101 for example, then the total exterior would be 5202.

Again in the image you will notice I have added an interior dimension inside the room, which reads as 4997. It is not exactly on the wall line (3mm short). Zoom in really close on incorrect dimensions and drag the lower triangle so it is exactly on the line. 

Automatic dimensions will be exactly right ,so you will have to move the wall itself or alter the thickness to fix these - then select Auto Dimensions again for them to adjust. Note that you can move the walls 1mm at a time if you want by using the arrow keys on your keyboard but first set the Nudge distance to 1mm (default is 25mm). The Nudge setting is at Settings / Programme Settings / Drawing Aids - set the 'Nudge Distance' in 'Model View Editing' to 1mm. 

Any dimensions you add 'manually', need to be aligned exactly to the wall and zooming in really close is the way to do it.

Hope that helps.

Allan

[murphj]

Thanks Allan
The problem was that I was looking at dimensions from projection lines (which were the combined width of the house and an adjoining pergola) , and the pergola was of non rounded width.
Thanks for your  help
I have found the programme most useful in looking at alternative room layouts and drawing up a concept plan etc, but it was a whole new learning curve when I had to draw up a plan that I could give to builders to quote on and to submit to Council.
I think it would be most useful to have someone prepare a post on the basic settings which are needed to draw house plans in accordance with Australian standards, and are readable.
This would include dimension settings, overall, interior, end conditions, nudge distances, text settings. drawing walls to usable scale,squaring off walls(gridsnap) etc, etc.
This would save users a considerable amount of time in learning from the school of hard knocks.
I would be happy to post the steps that I have used, but others with a better knowledge of the programme may be better able to set this out more comprehensively. 

[Allan Chesney]

Hi again,  

I am glad you got the dimensions sorted.

Re setting Australian standards - I will actually be working on a project to do something similar to that this weekend - setting standards for church construction, which of course have to meet Public Building bylaws and accomodate those with dissabilities.  I will be creating walls to the specifications we use and Windows, Doors, plumbing etc, etc.  I don't know that this would be particularly useful to others though.

The theory of a set of standard settings for plans sounds good in principle but there are a couple of problems with it:  

First is that, from my experience, standards vary too much between shires and probably states too.  Some want extreme detail and others virtually none.  We tend to meet with the shire first to ascertain the degree of detail they want and produce plans to what they expect.

The Second problem is that TurboFloorPlan really only uses the Plan to produce the 3D model. It is designed from 3D visualisation not plan printing, so there are limitations in some areas as to what you can do. Taking a brick veneer wall as an example - you can can only set the Core dimension (interior wall) - there is no control over the thickness of the exterior brick, cavity or plaster lining etc.

These things are all controllable in Envisioneer, which is the parent program of TurboFloorPlan. The 3D part is the same, but Envisioneer Construction Suite (not Essentials), enables construction drawings to be produced in extreme detail, so all settings are customisable.

The standards I plan to work on this weekend will be in Envisioneer, although most, if not all, will work in TFP, as the catalogue is interchangeable.  However, even though I will be creating Australian standard elements that we use here in Perth (eg a brick veneer steel frame wall) these will not necessarily be customisable again in TFP. The veneer wall will still only have a Core setting when used in TFP.

By the way, there is an Australian version - eg: http://www.mindscape.net.au/Products/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=1864&cid=228&tm=&mid=518 or http://www.devonsoftware.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=651_653&products_id=23925 and Envisioneer also has an Australian Catalogue available. (http://www.cadsoft.com.au/products.php#addons  and http://www.cadsoft.com.au/pdf/AustralianCatalogContents.pdf). I am not sure how the two catalogues compare. I know the Envisioneer one is available separately but no idea what the cost is. I supect it is somewhat more extensive than the one provided with the TFP Australian version advertised.

Why don't you just post the settings you arrived at anyway and myself and others can add to them or clarify if necessary.

Allan

[murphj]

Thanks Allan for your tips
I think the problem is not so much a question of Council standards , rather than knowing how to set up the programme to produce plans which are easily readable in terms of having rounded room sizes that stud walls can be set out to, exterior brick walls that work to overall brick sizes and avoid cutting of bricks, drawings that dont show messy projected dimension lines etc etc
TFP is verypowefull(for a non CAD user like me)however it is like learning to fly a Jumbo aeroplane to go down to the local shop and buy a bottle of milk.
Like most programmes the help instructions give a lot of detail  however ,what is missing is a basic set of instructions (example) of how to do a simple house drawing job.(there are some practical things missing too, such as how to mirror reverse a plan, which I found by accident after spending a lot of time redrawing one of my plans).
I have started documenting a set of instructions to draw a set of house plans and will post it for comment and clarification in the near future

[Allan Chesney]

Hi again,

It is always hard picking up a new program and trying to become proficient in a short time. Help files are never enough!

I presume you found the Getting Started Guide (link in Help). Mirroring a plan is covered, although briefly, in the Help but of course you have to type in 'mirror' in the Search to find it. Problem with those type of searches is what word to use - if you do not use the exact word that is in the Help, you do not find it!!!

There are video tutorials available which are very good (http://www.imsidesign.com/Products/TurboFLOORPLAN/TurboFLOORPLANArchitecturalTraining/tabid/546/Default.aspx). The Envisioneer tutorial also applies to TFP except the sequences from Construction Documents to Insert Section. (http://www.cadsoft.com/whitesheets/Quick_Start_Video/quick_start.html).

I will be looking forward to your set of instructions. If you would feel happier for someone to have a look at it before posting it then you can email it to me first if you want - alches (AT) iinet.net.au. I think your idea about some standard settings is good. People work differently of course so I usually suggest that those not familiar with the program read through all of the standard settings in Settings / Programme Settings. Generally they are OK as they are, but it is nice to know what can be changed if the user wants to work a different way.  There are many different ways of doing the same thing too, so I think your analogy about the Jumbo is a good one!! By the way, did you get the milk?

Allan

[murphj]

Hi Allan
The first Jumbo flight was fraught with difficulties and the aircraft was grounded after a number of major mishaps. The Civil Aviation Board,after thorough investigation, detemined that the pilot was not suitably trained to operate an aircraft of this complexity, had not followed basis operational procedures and had a level of understanding more suited to flying a simpler type of aircraft, possibly a Tiger Moth or similar. The pilot has now entered into an intensive training programme under instruction from industry senior Traning Flight Personnel based in Perth, Western Australia. The pilot is currently preparing a draft manual of operation procedures to be presented to the TFP prior to being put into operational use. In the meantime daily milk deliveries have been organised.

[Allan Chesney]

I am pleased to hear that the milk is getting through - it is important to get the priorities rights! (carton or glass bottle?)

Please advise the trainee pilot to be careful of instructions from "down under" -  they tend to be upside down sometimes!! (see image!)

Allan