4hotshoez Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 While it is nice that I can group 2D CAD items together and preserve them, I cannot snap to or dimension to any lines within a CAD block, which is what makes them stupid. What is the alternative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzira Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Agreed. I would also be great to be able to assign a rotation axis and alignment for the cad blocks to help rotation snapping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Once I am satisfied with the placement of a CAD block I just explode it if I need to dimension the items within or use point markers. Here's another little trick if you need to have the CAD block intact after dimensioning. Explode the cad block, dimension, copy dimensions, use undo to get the CAD block back, then paste (hold position). The dimensions will show with point markers in the right location. Just did this in plan view with three cabinets, worked fine. Just make sure you keep your dimension steps so they are less than your undue limit. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2600 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great workaround. While I still have ways to go with Chief, I've become underwhelmed with cad blocks as well, so that trick might be helpful. (I sure wish they would behave more like AutoCad D-blocks.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Todd, the only thing I would do is to unblock both cad blocks. Now draw a marquee around the cad block you want to join to the other (don't block it). Once selected and with you end snap turned on, do a point to point move. The snaps should work and you can place the selected cad object to the other one with snaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickeyToo Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 ...I cannot snap to or dimension to any lines within a CAD block, which is what makes them stupid. What is the alternative? Todd, it may not be what you are looking for in terms of flexibility, but you can snap to a line in a CAD block by first placing a temporary point & insertion point along that line while the line is unblocked. You can see how that is done in this Chief video: http://video.chiefarchitect.com/?search=Placing+insertion+points+in+cAD Thanks, Graham and Tommy for those suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4hotshoez Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Thanks for the video link MickeyToo. That is not a great solution, but it could be helpful. Looks like a lot of work for something that should be a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Emery Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 MickeyToo, Thanks for the information. Controlling the insertion point is something that I learned years ago, but had forgotten about. This is quite useful to me. I primarily use cad blocks to move topographic and mapping data into my plan; and this will make indexing to the model easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickeyToo Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Agreed, Todd. Bill, it is real easy to forget even a very useful feature in what is becoming a very highly developed program, such as Chief. That, I am finding is the real challenge (remembering what I have already learned!)...but it may also be helping to ward off the early onset of dementia, so I won't complain too much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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