These tutorials walk through a process for creating the AutoCAD linework for the framing plan of wooden deck. The first video discusses strategies for drafting the linework, adjusting the lineweights, and strategically copying repeating elements throughout the plan. The final design demonstrated in this video includes the framing components (post, beam, joist, blocking, and hardware)…
This tutorial walks through the steps for quickly creating the linework for shrub masses in AutoCAD site plans. It introduces the Boundary Creation Tool (BO), and uses the Revision Cloud Tool (RevCloud) to create outlines for shrub masses. It also demonstrates how to add hatches and adjust those hatches to an appropriate scale.
This tutorial demonstrates how to verify that you have correctly scaled an AutoCAD drawing in paperspace. It uses the distance command to measure both the actual distance in your drawing and the distance on the page in paperspace to confirm that they are in unison, based on the desired scale.
This tutorial demonstrates an approach to creating a bold outline around clusters on trees in your AutoCAD Base Maps and Site Plans. The tutorial mimics the analog approach of using a bold linetype around the outside of a cluster of trees. The Boundary Creation Tool (BO) and Layer Isolation Tools (LAYISO and LAYUNISO) are utilized for…
This tutorial will discuss a method to rotate the crosshairs in AutoCAD using UCS. It will also discuss how to rotate the compass of the drawing based on the UCS.
There are several reasons to customize your AutoCAD interface. One reason might be to add certain toolbars for the project or type of work you are performing. Another reason would be to remove certain toolbars to maximize your view of model space while working. This tutorial will explore some of the basic strategies for customizing…
This tutorial will discuss a strategy for creating a section from a site plan. It begins with creating the desired section line in the site plan. The first video below will highlight how you can rotate your drawing to make the section line horizontal in your view. This will be important for projecting the geometry…
This tutorial discusses using the align tool (ALIGN) to align an image with existing linework in a drawing. This alignment process becomes especially helpful when sketching design ideas by hand, scanning that sketch and then inserting it into AutoCAD as a guide for digital drafting.
This tutorial will discuss the steps for creating and editing layers in AutoCAD. It will highlight the Layer Manager (LA) to create and edit layers as well as highlight helpful tools like Match Properties (MA), Layer Off (LAYOFF), and Layer ISO (LAYISO). The tutorial will also discuss the role of layers in conjunction with pen…
The following tutorial will introduce the concept of pen settings (or Plot Style Tables) in AutoCAD. It will discuss creating new pen settings, installing existing pen settings, and using them in your plots. The pen settings demonstrated in this tutorial can be downloaded here and a cheat sheet showing the lineweights for each color can be…
This tutorial reviews the basics of paper space in AutoCAD. It discusses creating viewports, page setup manager, and printing.
This tutorial demonstrates a specific technique for creating roads in AutoCAD. It begins creating a road centerline and offsetting that centerline to create the face of curb (FOC), back of curb (BOC), and edge of pavement (EOP). The road centerlines utilize the fillet command to create arcs at known radius and tangent to the straight…
This tutorial demonstrates basic commands to generate linework in AutoCAD. Specifically, it uses the Line Command (L), Distance Command (DIST), Offset Command (O), Object Snaps (F3), Mirror Command (MI), Trim Command (TR), and Fillet Command (F). These tools are utilized in the creation of an existing building for a base map.
The Area Command is the easiest way to determine the area of a particular space (often times this area is in the form of square footage for landscape architects). The AREA command in AutoCAD, however, is made to only determine one objects square footage at a time. The lisp Command POLYAREA, however, allows you to…
The precision of AutoCAD provides an opportunity to determine accurate square footage calculations from an AutoCAD Site Plan drawing. This is typically conducted using the Area command (AREA), however, using the Boundary Creation command (BO) first can make this process more precise and efficient. The following tutorial walks through using both the Boundary Creation command…
In practice, it is typical for a landscape architect or land planner to begin the design process without a formal survey of the site. Instead, a simple base map is built from aerial photography and onsite measurements. In this scenario, one can use Google Earth Pro to export a high-resolution aerial of the site and…
This Tutorial will demonstrate how to rotate an object to the same angle of another object.. The tutorial will showcase two options to reach the same result, by using the align and Rotate by Reference commands in AutoCad. Option 1 First, make sure both the reference object and the object that you need to rotate…
This Tutorial will explain the steps needed to scale an image in AutoCad. After the desired images have been inserted, whether it is a plan or an Arial, search for a known distance or length on the image. The distance for example can be a length of a building, a door, or a pathway. Draw…
Layer properties such as color, layer name, line type can be easily replicated or changed to match existing elements or objects in the drawing by matching properties. In order to match properties input command MA, then press Enter or Space Bar. Dialogue box displaying Select Source Object will display. Click on the object with the desired…
This Tutorial will showcase the steps to trim or extend a line in AutoCad. Trimming: In order to trim a line in AutoCAD input the command TR The dialogue box SELECT OBJECT will display. Select the lines or objects that would serve as a trimming limit and press enter or space bar. Select the lines that…
There are multiple types of images that you might want to insert into a CAD drawing, whether a site aerial, a design sketch, or even a logo sketch. There are also multiple techniques for inserting those images. This tutorial will highlight three options to insert jpeg images in AutoCad. Option 1: If you are using the classic…
Well-crafted construction documents are critical for articulating that design intent in nearly all major projects in professional practice. This tutorial will provide an overview on using detail template and additional files as a resource in the development of a construction document set. The files provided include an AutoCAD Detail Template, a .CTB file (or Plot…