Help with dimensioning and measuring

[KSV]

Hello,

I have been experimenting with TFP and TurboCAD15 for over a month now, in preparation for  putting an addition on our house.  I have been impressed with some things and utterly frustrated with others.

Primary question right now is how to get dimensions to display.  Clicking on any of the dimension pull-downs allows me to draw a line between two points, but when I click 'finish' the line goes away.  Sometimes I get actual measurements that change as I move the cursor, sometimes I just get a line.  I read the previous post suggesting turning off hardware accelearation (HA) but that didn't work.

I am using the grid to position elements, and clicking on walls to display dimensions, then editing those when I can, but I can not always get those dimensions to appear (didn't work with a wall in a dormer that had a window in it), so this is not satisfactory.

I have read posts suggested using the measuring tool, however that does not work in all views.  So,

Second question is:  Is there any way to get dimensions to display on elevations and sections?

Thanks for your help in this matter.

Kathy

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Kathy,

Welcome to the Forum!
First I must mention that TFP is designed mainly for 3D visualisation rather than drawing plans. The plan view is mainly with the end of creating the 3D view.  In 3D view the exact dimensions are really not that important because there is no way you could tell whether a wall was a few mm out of place.  However, having said that, it will do the accuracy to a 10th of a MM if you really need it. (Settings/Program Settings/Units of Measure)

You should be able to turn Auto Dimensions on under Tools/Dimensions (see image) and this will apply automatic exterior dimensions which will automatically adjust if you change the wall positions. Do it again if you add to the exterior. You can add Auto Interior Dimensions wherever you want with 2 clicks (one each end of course) and these will auto adjust also. Similarly you can add Linear Dimensions and Aligned Dimensions - click at both ends, move it to where you want it and click again (no need to select Finish).  These will not auto adjust if you move the walls but can be repositioned and they will recalculate automatically. The Tape Measure only works in the plan and there is not a way that I know of to do measurements on the elevation unless you export the elevation and add them in a "Paint" or similar program.

Under Settings you can also change the Dimension Settings appearance and you can right click a dimension line and change its Style, colours, shape of the arrows etc. etc. or change it globally.

Hope that helps and removes some of the frustrations.

Allan

[KSV]

Thanks for your detailed note.  I apologize for the delay in reply - life gets in the way sometimes!

It seems that there are some elements that will be accepted as anchor points for dimensioning and some that won't.  Haven't figured this rhyme or reason out, other than the auto interior dimension won't anchor on an exterior wall (as in trying to insert the interior distance between two dormer windows).  The linear dimensioning will work for that, now that I know I have to put in a 3rd click!

Thanks again.

Kathy

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Kathy,

I haven't tried the auto interior dimension on dormer windows but I would suspect that this may work differently as dormers are different. The wall of the dormer below the roof does not exist it effect so since the dimensions are between walls in the plan it may see dormers as part of the roof. If the dormer walls were visible at floor level the auto dimension would probably have worked.

Allan

[Doug.S]

My solution, since I cannot get TFP, nor its predecessor FPxx, to provide dimensions the way I want them, is to export views from TFP and use another program such as Visio or Illustrator to manually insert dimensions.  The slight advantage of working this way is that TFP dimensioning exactness not required as small errors such as less than 1" are not important enough to beat TFP to death getting exactness just for 3D views....as dimensioning is more user controlled.

That said, I still make TFP as exact as possible to avoid dimensioning problems later and as a "self" check.  Of course its more work this way.

Other alternative is to buy a much more expensive program such as TFP "parent": Envisioneer that is meant to produce dimensioned prints for production and gov't submittal uses.