What's New in AutoCAD MEP 2014: Off the Scale! - Annotation Scaling and Unit Scaling Enhancements

AutoCAD MEP 2014 has some solid enhancements, one of them that will give companies and users flexibility is the ability to easily move from one unit to another which will more accurately represent annotation when scaled and get expected appearance and size relative to other objects.

AutoCAD Architecture and MEP have had real-world units since the original releases, along with a method for displaying annotation at different sizes for various drawing scales. When AutoCAD introduced Annotation Scaling, there were some very low level conflicts between the two systems. These resulted in rather unfortunate problems with the relative size of annotation.

When Drawing Units are changed, between units like meters and millimeters for example, you don’t want the content that is annotation scaled to become too large or small.

With the enhancements to the annotation and unit scaling, drawing units are changed, object tags, text and other annotation scaled objects now have the expected appearance and size relative to other objects.

In addition, many AutoCAD settings, such as linetype scale, are now properly modified when units are changed.

 
The bottom line is firms will be able to create more accurate construction documents with properly scaled tags, text and other annotation.

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

What's New in AutoCAD MEP 2014: Saved by Zero! - Set to layer zero feature

AutoCAD MEP 2014 has some solid enhancements, one of them that will give companies and users additional control over consultant files is the ability to Set to layer zero command which modifies the definition of a selected block so all content objects are set to Layer 0.

Have you ever gotten a drawing from a consultant and wondered why the color of a block does not change as you expect it to? Most likely, the reason is that the components of the block are not on Layer 0. Layers that cannot be deleted, but are not apparently used, may also be due to this setting. MoveBlockToLayer0 will correct the definition of a block by changing all components with one click.

This new, timesaving command allows you to change the layer of all drawing entities to layer zero in a single click. You can also clean up drawings with objects on  unused layers by moving them to layer zero.

What is now done with a single click would previously require several actions: edit block reference > select all objects > set to Layer 0 > save changes.
This new enhanced Set by Zero drawing feature will:

• Improve block CAD standards
• Minimize errors resulting in objects on wrong layers
• Modify the definition of a selected block to layer zero
• Save time changing entities to layer zero

The bottom line is firms will be able to increase productivity and set drawing entities to layer zero in a single click.

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

Get it. Know it. Use it.