CAD Standards

CAD standards set the benchmark as well as guiding directives for producing consistent, SMART and valuable drawings that would facilitate the analysis, development, visualization, execution, modification and maintenance of the product / structure.

Objective

The information conveyed to any individual or agency by designer with the means of drawing / graphics should be very clear, transparent and consistent. This should be achieved by the mandatory deployment of job-oriented, specific and strict CAD Standards

Purpose

CAD Standards would ensure:
 Organized and branded look
 Consistent and unambiguous 2D drawings
 A precise source of graphical/attribute data for BOQ
 Presentable and resourceful drawings for design development
 Standardized requirements for workshop/site design deliverables

Moreover, the CAD standards would support the design activity by providing:
 Accurate space assignment and BOQ data
 Data Maintenance and data analysis with improved workflow
 A valuable resource for the anticipated technologies like BIM
 Record drawings for management and future renovations of works
 Drawings suitable for client agency use (such as, space planning and furniture layout)

Therefore CAD Standards set mandatory procedures for the creation and delivery of all 2D and/or 3D design, construction, and engineering drawings, including assignment drawings. CAD Standards comprise of 6 important chapters –

1. Accuracy
2. Drawing Organization and Assembly
3. Layer Naming Format
4. Other Drawing Requirements
5. Typical Directory Structure for a Project
6. Supplemental Tables

We will deal with each chapter in detail from tomorrow onwards.
Stay tuned…!

Setup

Optimizing AutoCAD for Networks

Before getting into CAD Standards let us learn about Hardware Setup for CAD in a network environment. "Should we run AutoCAD from a network or from stand-alone computers?" is a very common question. Let’s take a look at a hybrid installation in which most of the AutoCAD program is installed on the local machine while the network servers are used to control the installation. The idea behind this hybrid approach is to use the local machine to handle the large disk I/O requirements of AutoCAD while putting the support files in a central location to lower management overhead.

What the Network Should Do?

We will try to achieve a standard environment for our CAD users. By making all CAD machines run the same way, we gain not only the efficiencies of standardization, but you also cut support time substantially. The network is the key tool for achieving this standard configuration because it enables us to share the following file types with all CAD users:

• Template drawings, Xrefs, and details
• Block libraries and DesignCenter files
• CAD standards (DWS) files
• Custom fonts, linetypes, and hatch patterns
• Plotter configuration files
• Custom scripts and AutoLISP routines
• License management files (for server license management)

To configure AutoCAD software to look for these files in a network location, we have to:

• Establish a shared folder on a server to hold the various support files.
• Map the shared folder to a common drive name.
• Set permissions for the folders so that CAD users can read the files but not change them.
• Use AutoCAD parameters in the Options command to point to the newly mapped drive and files.

Setting up the Network

We need to create a shared folder for CAD users with sufficient disk space to store all the file types just identified. Once we've got that top-level shared folder, we will create subfolders within it that contain the various file types. The subfolder names would be short and descriptive like STANDARDS, BLOCKS, FONTS, LISP, and so on. We need all these subfolders under the top-level folder to make user permissions easier to set.

Next, make sure that all CAD users are placed in a network login group with READ and EXECUTE privileges to the shared folders we've added on the network. IT manager can set up the permissions. The CAD manager should have FULL CONTROL permissions on the top-level folder and all subfolders so that he/she can update and delete files as needed. This scheme of network permissions gives us all the control we need while stopping CAD users from deleting or editing the standardized environment we've created.

Last, map the shared folder to a drive name so that all CAD users will see a standard network drive letter. Network administrator should ensure that everyone in the CAD user network group should be able to view and read from the newly mapped drive. Network administrator should then be able to add the network drive mapping information to the user login scripts so that users connect to the new drive automatically.

Point AutoCAD Properly

Once we have located all the AutoCAD support files on the network and set user permissions, we must tell AutoCAD how to access these files. We'll use the OPTIONS command from the Tools pull down menu to perform this operation. Below is a brief summary of the more commonly customized variables on the Files tab of the Options dialog box (see Figure 1) along with the types of files AutoCAD will find in the specified directories.

Use the: Support File Search Path variable to specify the directories in which AutoCAD should search for support files to insert custom blocks, resolve Xref files, load AutoLISP routines, load script files, and any other files that all CAD users need access to. Device Driver File Search Path variable to specify the driver files AutoCAD is to use to configure hardware or software drivers, most notably for plotting support. Putting these files in a shared location eliminates the possibility of users downloading different versions of driver files.

Menu, Help, and Miscellaneous File Names variable to specify customized file locations so that we can easily locate and update these files from a central location.

Figure 1: On the Files tab in the Options dialog box, we can specify the various paths AutoCAD must use to access the network folders containing AutoCAD support files.

Printer Support File Path variable to locate the control parameters for plotted files, autospool outputs, and the PC3 configuration files, which are derived from the driver files referenced in the Device Driver File Search Path referenced above.

Drawing Template File Location variable to locate the files that allow users to start drawings based on template files, which should be standardized across the entire AutoCAD installation. By placing these files in a network directory, we prevent unapproved template files from coming into use.

Figure 2: On the Profiles tab in the Options dialog box, we can store profiles, which means we can then start AutoCAD using the /p startup argument.

Closing a Breech

To prevent users from adding their own support or font path locations to circumvent our standardization efforts, we can place a stored profile in the shared network directory as well. About how to save a profile from the Profiles tab of the OPTIONS command (shown in Figure 2), reference the AutoCAD Help system for instructions. By starting AutoCAD from a stored profile, we achieve full control of the AutoCAD configuration, right down to the last variable setting.

Approach

• Computer Aided Design and Drafting
• Adopting Computer Tools and Techniques throughout the process of Virtual to Real
• Platform for evolving ideas and visualizations
• Bridge between Designer and Craftsmen
• One point management of Design Data
• Computer Aided Designing and Drafting

What is CADD?

The concept CADD has two distinct faculties incorporated within itself. It is Computer Aided Designing and Drafting. Therefore there are TWO discrete types of CAD.
Computer Aided Designing and
Computer Aided Drafting

This eventually leads to TWO types of CAD Studios.
1. Studio Design Support. Part time CAD Operators, who are designers by default, supporting the Principal Design in the first type of CAD which includes conceptualization, design development and finalization.

2. Professional CAD Studio. Professional CAD Operators generating standard, accurate and precise Product Information (Drawings) from the finalized sketches, views, drawings and instructions provided by the Designers.

Why use CADD?

So why do we use CAD, precisely? What are the main benefits to the Process?

• More efficient tool
• Collaborative working
• Exchange of information
• Shorter time from design to construction phase
• Archiving and storage of project data
• Improved standards
• Ability to produce better designs
• Save time Save money

IT and CADD

• Since 1987 we have experienced huge changes in the IT and CAD scene
• Most design offices now have PC’s and Internet access
• However, this has not automatically led to better production information
• Necessary changes to management of the design process have not been made
• CAD has not delivered fully on predicted efficiency
• Consequently, CAD systems are not being used to their full potential – there is room for improvement!

Tomorrow we will see what it takes to set CAD Standards, stay tuned…!

Objective

As discussed yesterday, let’s first define our objective before starting our voyage through AutoCAD. It is obvious that what we do with AutoCAD is drawing / drafting / digitizing / modeling. There should not be any disagreement about it. But what could be the possible collective term for all types of this data and what would be the purpose of creating those? In the next paragraph we will discuss the same.

Production Information

• Production information can be defined as –
  ‘the information prepared by designers and facilitated by the CAD TEAM, which is passed to a construction team to enable a project to be formulated’
• Evidence shows improvements in quality of production information:

1. Reduces the incidence of execution quality problems, and
2. Lead to significant savings in the cost of execution work

• In simple words Production Information is a ‘Working Drawing’
  
  All right! Now we understood that what we are going to document is ‘Product Information’ in form of various drawings and graphics. This product could be a piece of furniture, a mechanical assembly, a building or an infrastructural element like road, bridge or a flyover. No matter what your product is, the basics of drawing apply to all of them all the same.
  
  What do you mean by Drawing?
• An idea represented in a sketch form
• Communicating visual ideas
• Expression of thought in a bare form
• Use of colors and textures to differentiate elements
• Outflow of concepts
  
  Okay, now we have an idea of what a drawing literally means. But it still doesn’t say anything about drafting. Is drawing and drafting one and the same? And if not, what is that sets both apart?
  
  What is the significance of Drafting?
  
  Difference between Drawing & Drafting
• Drafting is a sketch presented in a structured form
• Drafting gives Technical Dimension to the Visual
• Drafting is a Process of converting thought to reality
• Drafting incorporates Symbols and Annotations to make the idea UNIVERSAL
• Drafting facilitates Practical Birth of a concept to take Real FORM
  

Today we learnt three basic concepts –
1. Production Information
2. Drawings
3. Difference between Drawing and Drafting

Tomorrow we will try to understand the concept of CADD, stay tuned…!

Prologue

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the journey of thousand miles that begins with a single step…!

Before starting off let’s get a preview of what this venture provides and what it does not!

This endeavor to learn AutoCAD application is neither the manual of AutoCAD nor the do-it-yourself guide to exploit AutoCAD abilities. However philosophical it may sound, this is an effort to unleash and explore the immense and incredible power of AutoCAD, in the simplest possible discourse, backboned by experience of experimenting with AutoCAD for almost 15 years in form of digitizing, designing, modeling, standardizing, teaching, management and facilitation.

When we finish this book, with all the topics learned, all the tutorials attempted and all the tips and tricks mastered, we will be in a position to –
1. Apply AutoCAD tools and techniques for Designing and Drafting
2. Bring into play AutoCAD to facilitate the design process workflow
3. Conduct Digitizing sessions for proper integrity and better productivity
4. Document and record the journey of an idea from concept to realization
5. Evaluate and extract information from the drawing for execution and analysis

Although, it’s imperative to master AutoCAD for above objectives, it would not –
1. Automate digitizing process without adequate human interaction
2. Replace the cognitive and perceptive abilities of Human senses
3. Offer desired results without standardization or management
4. Produce photorealistic renderings or visualizations
5. Take decisions or make amendments all by itself

The bottom line is AutoCAD is nothing but a digital tool that empowers the drawing and drafting process depending upon the set of conditions it’s been applied in and can never ever replace or even compare to the effort of a human brain to cognize, envisage, develop and manage concepts or ideas.

Simply put it is nothing more than a Pencil as far as drafting process is concerned, not more than a calculator where calculations are concerned, hardly better than a camera in view of capturing the scene and as good as a car for an anticipated journey.

Assuming AutoCAD, or computer for that matter, as a magic lamp that offers the desired results in blink of eye, without effort, would be as childish as sitting in a car and waiting to reach the destination without starting the engine. To make the journey possible you need three basic things apart from a vehicle –
1. The road map to follow in order to reach the destination – Where to go - Objective
2. The driving skills to steer and control the vehicle and – How to reach - Process
3. The fuel to keep the engine running – What is the input – Data

This is our FIRST step towards a long journey which might extend to 300-400 pages. But don’t get worried about its volume, think of the value it will put to your routine work. Besides we will never exceed 3 Pages at a single session making it baby steps, easy to ingest and digest…!

Tomorrow we will start with studying the road map to our journey, stay tuned…!