How to RESET dimensions for CAD Drawings? - SOLVED

[DeltaHome]

OK, I have my visor down, flame retardant suit on.

So here comes a stupid question, one of many to come.  I drew the following on grid using the CAD function in CA.

I just drew it over the grid, keeping 1/4" = 2" but I did not set or customize by Edit > Default or anywhere else any setting that 1/4" = 2"

So for instance if I use Tape Measure, the measurement it reports has no relation to the measurement I have drawn.

If you please, what should I do to be able to use Dimensions and how do I do it?

 

 

[Kiwideziner]

Should draw to 1: 1 scale.

to fix scale what you have so it is back to 1 to 1 then dimensions all work.

scale when sending to lauyout

[DeltaHome]

Graeme conceptually I understand what you are saying.  Is there anyway I can take what I have already drawn (the above is just one drawing of many) and somehow in settings, default, preferences or elsewhere change it so that 1/4" on the grid = 1/4" for what I have drawn?

[Gawdzira]

1. What in the flip is 1/4"=2"? That is making my head bleed. So 1"=8" or 2/3" = 1'-0" My professor would not have failed you but he would have hung you in effigy until your bones were plucked clean by Ravens.

2. Hopefully this is the only detail you have done this for. If so, just fake your dimensions with cad lines/arrows and numbers as text. I constantly draw centerline notes for a widow location and use EQ. for my information rather than describing a number.

3. in the future, draw to scale and choose a scale that won't hurt me so much. 1"=1'-0" (basic information detail) 3" = 1'-0" (critical detail with a lot of information and layers of materials overlapping)

[Kiwideziner]

I was trying to infer that with the one you already have use transform/replicate and scale it back to 1 to 1 scale.

[Gawdzira]

One other thing (and I promise to be nice), when drawing your detail keep in mind the readability when sending to layout. I want all my text (that are not titles) to appear at approx. 1/8" tall actual when printed (1/4" scale drawings for Arial means 5" tall text). Bigger if it is something I want to call a lot of attention to. Therefore, when looking at that detail, it appears you would need to have that print at almost 18" tall for the text to maintain that 1/8" actual rule. If you make text smaller than 1/8" tall, it will likely not be read since people will need to struggle to read it. Most plan checkers would reject sub 1/8" text if they are handed a hard copy.

 

[rgardner]

23 minutes ago, Gawdzira said:

What in the flip is 1/4"=2"?

1/8” = 1” or 1 1/2” = 1’-0”   Either way pretty big...

[DeltaHome]

OK, I've raised my visor, and I am looking around, but I am still keeping my flame retardant suit on...

 

32 minutes ago, Kiwideziner said:

I was trying to infer that with the one you already have use transform/replicate and scale it back to 1 to 1 scale.

I marquee'd the entire CAD drawing above and right clicked Transform/Replicate and chose Resize,  and just went with what was there which was "1"

 

But when I run the Tape measure down the 24" H footing/grade beam it still reads 12'

I get 24" = 3' when I resize to 0.25

 

 

[Alaskan_Son]

You need to resize by a factor of 8.0

[DeltaHome]

Hmmm.  Resize Factor: 8.0, I believe is 93' but the font is too small to read. 

 

[Alaskan_Son]

58 minutes ago, DeltaHome said:

Hmmm.  Resize Factor: 8.0, I believe is 93' but the font is too small to read. 

 

I must be missing something.  I don’t understand how you were able to draw that entire detail at such an odd scale but you’re unable to do the math to size it back up to full scale.  1/4”=2”  means that you drew a 1/4” line to represent a 2” line right?  Your line is 1/4” long but needs to be upsized to 2”.  2.00 inches divided by 0.25 inches = 8.00.  Either the initial information you gave us was wrong or you have already changed your scale to something else.  If you were working off the 24”=3’ version then you would need to use a resize factor of 1.5 (1.5x24” = 3’).

[DeltaHome]

I don't know how to attach so I exported to dwg will that work?DELTAHOME.dwg

[Alaskan_Son]

17 minutes ago, DeltaHome said:

 

I don't know how to attach....

 

You just did.  You attached a DWG.  Do the same thing with the Plan file.

[DeltaHome]

Will do.

[GeneDavis]

The file can't attach unless you close it firtst.

[DeltaHome]

1 file was larger than 14M and was skipped.

I will make a stripped down duplicate of the plan to attach.

Carry on.

I will be back later today.

Thank you all for sharing for your knowledge and experience.

Brilliance shared is appreciated. 

 

 

[rlackore]

I opened and examined the CAD file. The drawing is very imprecise: most objects are drawn slightly "off"; for instance, the footing depth is 143.5135 inches, or approximately 11' 11-1/2". Most other objects are similarly imprecise, and not uniformly so. If you use the footing as your baseline, and scale the entire drawing by 24/143.5135=0.167232, the footing depth will be correct (or close enough), but most of the other objects will remain imprecise. You can set up a dimension default to round off to whatever precision is acceptable, but some dimensions may still need their values altered manually. Also, the CAD work is very sloppy (or, at least, the resulting dwg export is sloppy); I suggest you turn off your Grid snaps, and learn how to use Object snaps. And as everyone else has mentioned, draw at a 1:1 scale.

[Alaskan_Son]

The DWG file you attached appears to have been drawn at a roughly 6:1 scale which is quite different than the 1:8 scale you initially described.  As Robert already pointed out, the scale isn't consistent and varies a bit depending on the object, and your various CAD items are out of alignment. You also have a whole bunch of overlapping CAD, segmented lines, and partitioned fills.  I'm really pretty curious how you even got this drawing to the current state.  It looks like a combination of imported CAD, CAD Detail From Views, and manual drafting.  

[DeltaHome]

For those of you who are instructors, just in case you come across someone like me in the future, here is my progression:

 

1.  Dining room table with No. 2 pencil and grid paper;

2.  Erasures, erasures, and more erasures...

3.  Thought:  There must be an electronic form of grid paper...

4.  Chief Home Designer.

5.  Start drawing with electronic grid paper, but in the same way I was drawing with the No. 2 pencil.

5.  Ok, but I need to draw a foundation, time to upgrade.

6.  Hmmm...  My drawings are "detailed" but imprecise, and seem to have no relation to the dimension tools in CA. 

7.  Time to expose my ignorance to the forum and ask for Help.

 

Alaskan_Son, so, yes, it is all manual drafting.

 

rlackore,  what exactly would I do to draw CAD at a 1:1 scale?  I assume that I would have to start from scratch, then anything CAD I draw would be 1:1 by default?  Or is there a default or preference I must select to draw CAD Details at 1:1 scale?

 

I certainly can turn off grid snaps and go with object snaps.

 

I am sorry for my misrepresentation of the scale. 

Is there a way to convert what I have to 1:1 scale and then go through and clean it up?

 

 

This quote may apply here:

"Anyone who thinks that they have designed something that is "idiot proof" does not truly appreciate the ingenuity of idiots..."

 

 

 

[DeltaHome]

Eric thank you.  Last night when I watched the video you linked and then again this morning, "He says in all cases we are drawing in actual size."  at 0:39.

 

So, it appears that if I start from scratch, with a blank CAD Detail screen, I would by default be drawing in actual size.

 

But what to do now?

 

To All:  Will it be helpful to post up a stripped version of the plan, or merely invite more distractions and derision.  (I was hoping to feed you the morsels of my ignorance a little bit at a time.) 

 

And solving the issue of this thread by converting the existing drawing to 1:1 scale prior to cleanup would help me move the entire project further.

[DeltaHome]

@Alaskan_Son  Holy crap!  If I do the marquee and Transform/Replicate > Resize to 0.166 I get pretty darn close to 2' for my 24" H footing height!

 

Thank you for the nugget!

 

@Kiwideziner thank you for suggesting the Transform/Replicate > Resize tool!

 

Any suggestions for changing the expression of feet to inches for my CAD Detail drawings?  I changed it to Inch under Default CAD line but it still changes to ft/inches after 12 inches.

 

Also @Solver do you have a video that explains how to draw lines while showing the line length increasing or decreasing in real time while drawing the line?

 

 

[GeneDavis]

Is the scope to provide construction docs for constructing a building?

 

Because the way that is done using Chief Architect is to "draw" the building, get everything about it exactly the way it is to be built, and then, and only then, to do the layout.  Only when going to layout (the term we use for creating the documents) do we concern ourselves with using CAD details.  

 

Take a look at all the sample plans shown on Chief's website.  

[DeltaHome]

Eric:   Thank you for taking the time to make the video!

 

You just exposed another thing I didn't know.  I had previously changed Default>CAD>General to " but double clicking on the ruler icon was better.

 

I activated the Second Format as in your video.  Now when I get the blue box with white numbers I do see that my measurement, for instance is actually 23 7/8" not 24".  When I try to change the length to 24" via the blue box, it still is not a true 24" in the Second Format.   I have angle snaps and grid snaps off.  This is frustrating because I am prepared to remove and redraw features in my CAD Detail drawings but I would like the features to be extremely accurate if I am going to go through the process.

[Joe_Carrick]

 

DeltaHome,

 

You obviously don't understand that this software is not 2D CAD.  Chief is designed as 3D design software where you just enter the "REAL WORLD" dimensions of everything.  You can set the "Drawing Scale" to whatever you want while working on a design - but it's really irrelevant because the objects represent their size in reality.

 

Forget about drawing at scale.  Start thinking about the size of things as if you were working with the real objects.

• a 2x4 is 1.5" x 3.5" regardless of what scale you think you want.  On paper you would have drawn it 1/4 that size if you were working at a scale of 3"=1'-0".  That's not what you do in Chief.  In Chief you set the drawing scale of the CAD Detail to 3"=1'-0" but you still draw the 2x4 as 1.5"x3.5" (Real World Size)
• IOW, think like the builder, not like a draftsman.

 

 

This quote may apply here:

"Anyone who thinks that they have designed something that is "idiot proof" does not truly appreciate the ingenuity of idiots..."

 

You are not an idiot ..... but you need to quit thinking like a draftsman using paper and a scale.  You now work with a tape measure at real size.

[DeltaHome]

Eric I am re-watching the CAD training videos.  A fundamental deficiency in my drawing is my failure to use the point to point move tool.  This causes my alignments to be imprecise as stated by @rlackore.  However, now that I have correct dimensions for my objects, I should be able to correctly align them once I learn how to use the alignment tools.

 

It is my responsibility to do the tedious work to learn the tools before I ask questions here.  I am on my way to doing so.  Will be back with more drawings when I have more knowledge.  Thank you to all.  Carry on and have a Blessed Day!