Layout Updating Question

[Nicinus]

About a month ago I was at a point where I needed to print some of my drawings for review, and generated about 10-15 sheets via Layout.

 

Now, a month later, I've continued to work on the design and made massive changes all over and are again at a point where I need to print. Needless to say my layout file is now out of date and needs to be updated. Two questions:

 

1) Besides elevations and cross sections, is there anything else that doesn't auto update? I've created a number of details but am not sure which ones I changed, do they need to be refreshed?

 

2) Most important question, is there a way to update everything needed at once? I have tons of interior elevations.

 

I must say I find it very troublesome that there doesn't seem to be a way to tell whether or not a view is up to date or not. Sometimes I find myself wondering whether I updated an elevation or not and then have to go back and compare or do it all over.

[DavidJPotter]

CAD Details are dynamically connected to the layout view where they were sent. any changes to that exact instance of the detail will update (it has to be the original instance and not a copy for this to be true).

 

 

 

2) Most important question, is there a way to update everything needed at once? I have tons of interior elevations.

No, each elevation would need to be manually opened and then closed to update them, one at a time. Render views would need to be edited or redone per instance.

 

 

 

I must say I find it very troublesome...

That is why it is often called "work".

 

DJP

[Gawdzira]

Anyone remember when a full update meant praying that you did not erase all the top layer off the Mylar pages or tear the Vellum?

[rlackore]

Anyone remember when a full update meant praying that you did not erase all the top layer off the Mylar pages or tear the Vellum?

 

Remember when printing meant rolling the diazo exposure into a cardboard tube and splashing in a little ammonia - then waiting ten minutes?

[Gawdzira]

That was the best. My dads printer was placed in a windowless room. I can still smell it.

[Nicinus]

Wow, hopefully I will in X7 be able to say 'Remember in X6 when you had no clue whether an elevation in your print set was up to date or not?' 

 

Do you guys manually compare all views for changes, or never start with Layout until you're sure all work is done?

[Nicinus]

Remember when printing meant rolling the diazo exposure into a cardboard tube and splashing in a little ammonia - then waiting ten minutes?

 

Why did they do that?

[OldCKD]

I loved that ammonia smell

[HumbleChief]

X6 will still miss a Layout update now and again and I almost never catch it until it's been printed wrong. Elevations, as mentioned need to be opened and closed and updated and if you have a stubborn plan view that hasn't updated click on the Layout Box Layers dbx and cancel out - it will update the view.

[tommy1]

Keep in mind that if you sent a plan view or an elevation to a cad detail first (to clean up or whatever), then sent it to the layout that if you change the live elevation or plan view, it does not update the cad detail with that plan view or elevation.

[lbuttery]

That is why it is often called "work"

 

It can also be "troublesome" if you miss something

 

Lew

[ragetoca]

This is probably the #1 reason why I have not purchased Chief, but Archicad and Revit do a MUCH better job of sheet management and updating. If CA was a $200 software I might understand, but when you pay $2500 per seat I would expect a lot more, especially with sheets and layouts

[tommy1]

This is probably the #1 reason why I have not purchased Chief, but Archicad and Revit do a MUCH better job of sheet management and updating. If CA was a $200 software I might understand, but when you pay $2500 per seat I would expect a lot more, especially with sheets and layouts

I would think you're wasting your time here. It sounds like you're better off spending your money on the other programs. I personally don't have any problems with CA and its layouts, file management or updating BUT, I know what I'm doing with the program.

[ragetoca]

Tommy - I am not wasting my time here, I am trying to make a good decision before I spend 7k on 3 licenses - Raul

[ebdesign]

ragetoca,

You're mixing two different things.

"Sheet management" in Chief works just fine- the layout. Chief has made numerous significant improvements w/ that over the last several releases. Unlimited pages, unlimited sheet sizes, live sheet index, multiple plan references, "connectivity" w/ the referenced plans, auto labeling, etc.

Optional auto-updated elevations are coming & sooner than later, I'm guessing.

New users should be careful what they wish for though. When an elevation or a section is updated to layout, you lose the line "corrections" that have been made to the view in layout. (Edit Layout tool)  Experienced users "build" accurate models that don't need those corrections. Newer, less experienced users need to make those line corrections every time the view is updated because their model is flawed somehow. Those "corrections" can be time consuming.  Being able to choose when the update takes place has its advantages.

The Edit Layout tool has been w/ Chief as long as I can remember. Back then, it was Chief's limitations more than user skill or anything else that made it necessary to have a tool to clean up the views. Now, if there's BS linework in the layout views, it's almost always model related. (not always; there still some areas that Chief can clean up too.)

[ragetoca]

Thanks Ebdesign for that explanation. Is hard to undo 15 years of Autodesk's way of doing cad

[Joe_Carrick]

One thing that I adhere to religiously is to make all my CAD work in the Elevation Camera View.  That includes Text and and extra line work such as the Line under the Title, etc.  Any succh CAD done that way is automatically reflected in the Layout.  I avoid using the "Edit Layout Tool" like the plague - I don't see any reason to use it at all.

[Fun2Learn]

Anyone remember when a full update meant praying that you did not erase all the top layer off the Mylar pages or tear the Vellum?

I do!    I hated all the eraser crumbs everywhere and the gray smudge of lead all over my hands, and shirt and desk (not to mention the page you were working on as well!)--and staying up to the wee hours of the morning before a project was going to the printers, checking and double checking that the current revisions got updated on all pages and all dimensions strings were accurate, etc., etc.  Yeah, I guess we have it easier nowadays....

  Of course, the upside was that I could ALWAYS get my pencil to easily draw whatever I wanted it to--unlike this computer, that I haven't totally figured out yet--but hope springs eternal and I keep trying, LOL!!! Of course, the instant 3-D I can get with Chief, in living color with shadows, too, is something I never really could not do very well with a pencil--that makes it all worth while...

[RodCole]

I for one have been very pleased with the Layout features introduced in X6.  As mentioned before, producing  a clean elevation is more often related to the model and the users experience with CA than any fault with the program.

 

That is not to say that there could and should be improvments to be sure.  An auto update feature to Layout Views as a preference would be very desireable IMO.

 

If you are serious about CA and need to know whether the layout capabilities will meet your needs then I would suggest that you start a thread on that subject and ask away.  Should be an interesting topic, fire away.

[Electromen]

Anyone remember when a full update meant praying that you did not erase all the top layer off the Mylar pages or tear the Vellum?

Remember when Blueprints were Blue?  When had one of the original Blueprint machines in college.

[tommy1]

Tommy - I am not wasting my time here, I am trying to make a good decision before I spend 7k on 3 licenses - Raul

I was responding to your comment "If CA was a $200 software I might understand". That is a ridiculous statement. Look at consumer products and see what you get for $200.00.

[Gawdzira]

I am a sloppy modeler. I had primarily worked on my own projects (house flips) that didn't require perfect rendered views as I am using the 3d model for my own visual study. In the past few years I have worked for more clients where I did need to render for their viewing. The vector view is where the most imperfections in the modeling will show and the changes that were made from V3 to V6 have been stellar. I believe in V5 I almost completely stopped the need for clean ups in Layout view. V7 is just around the corner (see the post for Beta testers which means we are likely less than 90 days away) and there has been so much flack about the need for the option to auto update elevations that I am hoping that this is on the list of changes.

 

Bottom line, if you do exclusively residential and some light commercial with standard type construction CA is a great tool. It is not a tool for a 50 person Arch firm and it is not a solid modeling tool like Rhino. It does not have the camera tools of Maya or Max. It is what it is, like Popeye.

[ragetoca]

I was responding to your comment "If CA was a $200 software I might understand". That is a ridiculous statement. Look at consumer products and see what you get for $200.00.

EXACTLY MY POINT!  Have a warm weekend

[Cheryl_C_Crane]

Layout Sheets have come a very long way. I love the Template that has a Details Template and Elevation Template built within. The ability to manipulate pages is an important improvement, too. I also try to stay away from Edit Layout as any changes are wiped out with a revision that modifies the Elevation.

 

I also had an electric eraser that I loved because I used it and the shield so much. Hmmm, wonder where that is now?