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Autodesk Architectural Desktop: Walls and Windows

By Ed Goldberg
Well, Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004 has arrived, and I hope youll find it
as productivity enhancing as I have. For example, the new Drawing Management
system now automates your drawings by connecting all the DWGs together,
notifies you when its time to update the software, and enables you to make
universal changes across your projects. The new In place editing feature now
allows you to modify practically every AEC object right on the object itself. If you
decide you need a custom door shape, for example, you just invoke this feature
and modify the door in place. This new release has all the features of previous
releases, but these features are now much more intuitive and have been greatly
enhanced. I plan a series of tutorials that will help you more effectively implement
Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004 in your designs. In this first one, you learn
how to use some of the softwares new Wall and Window features.
Placing a Wall
1. Start a new drawing using the Architectural Building Model and View (Imperial
stb) template.
2. Open the Work Layout by selecting the Work tab at the bottom of the drawing
area.
3. Place the Properties Palette on the right side of the work area, select the palette
properties icon at the bottom of the palette to open the contextual menu, and from
this menu, select the Auto-Hide feature (see Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Auto-Hide automatically closes a tool palette when the palette is not in
use.
Auto-Hide automatically closes a palette when the palette is not in use. Yes, tool
palettes are the new way to work in Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004, and
when you get used to them, I think you will like them as much as I do. The Tool
Palettes will, by default be docked at the left side of the drawing area.
4. Select the Design Tool Palette tab to activate the Design Tool Palette. Select the
Wall icon and drag it into the Top View viewport.

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Figure 2: Select the Wall icon and drag it into the Top View viewport.
5. In the Top View viewport, click again to place the start point of the wall, and
then pick the wall tool.Click again to complete the command (see Figure 2).
6. Double-click the wall you just placed to open its Properties Tool Palette (see
Figure 3).
Note: The Properties Tool Palette contains all available design information for
the wall. In Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004, double-clicking any entity or
AEC object automatically opens its Properties Tool Palette.

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Figure 3: Double-clicking any entity or AEC object opens its Properties Tool
Palette.
7. On this palette, click Base height, which opens the adjacent field that reads 80.
8. Enter 12-0 in this field, and press the Enter key. The field changes to 12-0,
and the next field down (Length) opens.
9. Enter 12-0 in the Length field, and press the Enter key. The Length field
changes to 12-0, and the next field down (Justify) opens.
10. Perform a ZOOM EXTENTS in both viewports.
Note: You can make as many changes as you want in this way. With this new
release, you no longer have to hunt down menus for basic operations.
Placing a Window in the Wall
1. From the Design Tool Palette, click and drag a window into the drawing area,
but do not select anything yet!
2. Move the cursor over the Properties Palette to open it; no clicking is involved.
On this palette, you can see the Properties values for the window you just selected.
3. From this palette, select Position along wall > Offset/Center. The Automatic
offset field appears.
4. Enter 12 in this field, and press the Enter key.
5. Click the base of the wall near its midpoint in the left-hand (SW Isometric
View) viewport.
6. Click again and move the cursor away from the wall.

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Figure 4: The numbers that appear are interactive.
Notice the numbers that display in your drawing. In our example they are 4-6,
3-0, and 4-6. These numbers are interactive and indicate the windows location
in relation to the wall (see Figure 4).
7. Press the Tab key several times. As you pressed the Tab key, did you notice that
the instance of 4-6 on either side of 3-0 changed to the color magenta, that a
rectangle enclosed the number, and that the number cycled on and off?
This signifies that the two instances of 4-6 are associative dimensions tied to the
location of the window and that you can change them from your keyboard. And of
course changing them changes the location of the Window object. In Autodesk
Architectural Desktop 2004, you can cycle through an objects "dynamic
dimensions" whenever you move it.
By the way, the 3-0 dimension displays none of the changes just described
because it represents the width of the windowand is controlled by the windows

Properties values.
Modifying the Windows Location from the Keyboard
1. Press the Tab key until the 4-6 dimension to the right of the window turns
magenta (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Press the Tab key until the 4-6 dimension turns magenta.

2. Enter 2-6 from the keyboard, and press the Enter key. A field appears next to
the 4-6 dimension that shows your keyboard input (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: A field appears with the keyboard input.

3. Press the Enter key, and the window moves to the right, and the distance from
the right-hand edge of the wall becomes 2-6.
Dimensioning the Wall
1. Activate the Top viewport of the Work Layout.

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Figure 7: From the Walls contextual menu, select AEC Dimension.
2. Select the wall and right-click to open the walls contextual menu.
3. From the contextual menu, select AEC Dimension (see Figure 7).
4. Return to the wall, position the cursor above the wall, and click.

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Figure 8: The window is now 2-6 from the right-hand edge of the wall.
You have now dimensioned the wall and window.
The window is now 2-6 from the right-hand edge of the wall, which is the
dimension you set in Steps 2 and 3 when positioning the window in the wall (see
Figure 8).
Conclusion
You have just seen a small snippet of the power and features youll discover in
Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004. If you have not yet tried the new release,
I highly recommend that you do. If you have the new version, I am sure that you

are going to find it jammed full of new, and productivity-enhancing, features.

Return to this column in the coming months for more tips and tricks that will help
you use this software more effectively and productively.
Good Luck,
Ed Goldberg AIA