Annotative Schmanotative

Thanks everyone. I got to go through one of the drawings and the LISP and strip out all the proprietary stuff so I'll try and post back this evening.

I've been using annotative text for quite some time now. It's been at times smooth sailing and at other times I'm pulling my hair out. For the most part I try to never place text or dims in model space. I have a bunch of blocks however that have attributes attached to them that are annotative text. For the most part I draw in 1/8th scale and have my view port scale and annotative scale equal. There are times when I have to do a drawing where my view port scale is 1/4th. If I keep my view port scale and annotative scale set to equal then my blocks with 1/8th annotative text will be to small in paper space. I thought at the time that I would have to draw a complete set of blocks that would have 1/4th annotative scales for the text. But with a little effort I found that you could in fact have a different annotative scale from your view port scale. Of course like everything else with autocad planning out how your going to draw before you draw anything is one of the most important things you can do.

Post 8 by tzframpton is excellent, my office now likes SELECTIONANNODISPLAY turned on as we have our text/dims in different locations for different scale viewports & its helps them keep track of location of said text/dims but i agree in this case.

 

1. No need for annotative text in Paper Space at all.

2. Make sure viewports have there annotative display scale set correctly (show annotation objects at current scale only & not show annotation objects always).

3. Always turn of autoscale control it yourself.

Even further, you can create quick button macros to "toggle" SelectionAnnoDisplay. You can do this very easily with Tool Palettes and use a "dummy icon" of some sort, but name it properly. Also, when annotations start going wacky while people still try to figure them out, you can always Copy/Paste into a fresh drawing, delete from the existing drawing, and paste back in after revising some settings. So, it's not like it's something that isn't repairable with some good 'ol fashioned Copy/Paste.

Even further, you can create quick button macros to "toggle" SelectionAnnoDisplay. You can do this very easily with Tool Palettes and use a "dummy icon" of some sort, but name it properly. Also, when annotations start going wacky while people still try to figure them out, you can always Copy/Paste into a fresh drawing, delete from the existing drawing, and paste back in after revising some settings. So, it's not like it's something that isn't repairable with some good 'ol fashioned Copy/Paste.

Indeed you can, i have a few buttons for my system variables including "toggle" SelectionAnnoDisplay & as you say its very handy.

I do hope all is well Bill as the thread is a little quite, i just hope you have worked it all out.

First off, F**K to those people who complained and got you fired. That really pisses me off.

 

I would say I have a pretty good understanding of annotative scales and I feel that AutoDesk did a half ass job implementing it. It causes problems with dynamic blocks and other things. It is also very easy to screw up a drawing with annotative scales. When I first started using it I thought it was awesome. However as I attempted to use it on a job I saw where it fails. This was enough for me to just trash it. This on top of the fact that I would also have to deal with people who hate change, made it not worth it.

With all the other tasks I'm bogged down with right now I'm having trouble getting back to this one. I really think the final opinion on Annotative text is that it's great if you have only a few details and a single layout page. The file I'm using has four layout tabs, all different sizes and the promise of being able to see text appear the same size on all of them using different scales just get's to complicated.

 

Now, being the belligerent SOB that I am and usually refuse to give up until I resolve a problem, I would like to ask if anyone could do a remote session via TeamViewer with me on this. There is just so much time I have each day to address this and if I could get the crash course with some experienced help that may do it. I should add that our re-seller had one of their techs do exactly that with me many months ago and he too concluded that it's probably will not achieve the desired results. I'm open to any ideas though.

First off, F**K to those people who complained and got you fired. That really pisses me off.

 

I would say I have a pretty good understanding of annotative scales and I feel that AutoDesk did a half ass job implementing it. It causes problems with dynamic blocks and other things. It is also very easy to screw up a drawing with annotative scales. When I first started using it I thought it was awesome. However as I attempted to use it on a job I saw where it fails. This was enough for me to just trash it. This on top of the fact that I would also have to deal with people who hate change, made it not worth it.

 

Yes sir, that was a really progressively forward thinking bunch of folks. They just didn't understand that I was trying to use the latest tricks with AutoCAD. It's ancient history now.

I really think the final opinion on Annotative text is that it's great if you have only a few details and a single layout page. The file I'm using has four layout tabs, all different sizes and the promise of being able to see text appear the same size on all of them using different scales just get's to complicated.

 

If that were the situation, one may want to by-pass using annotative text.

 

It sounds like you are trying to use annotative scaling exactly the way it was intended. I think this is going to come down to one of those "Ah ha" moments. That one little thing that you are missing. If you could post even a small portion of a .dwg, I'm sure someone could sort it out for you free of charge.

 

Even if the drawing has just some text in it along with the layouts and viewports, I'm sure we or someone here can sort it out. It would also make it a lot easier to agree to a live session.

I really think the final opinion on Annotative text is that it's great if you have only a few details and a single layout page. The file I'm using has four layout tabs, all different sizes and the promise of being able to see text appear the same size on all of them using different scales just get's to complicated.

 

It is certainly possible.

 

Are you setting the annotative scale of the viewport on each sheet? Does the text appear for you on each sheet?

 

The biggest issue I find with annotative scaling is getting the annotation to look 'neat'/good at different scales. A lot of this comes down to basepoints and how well the text has been setup by whoever drafted it. My issue is more with people who don't care about what they do or how it looks rather than with annotative scaling itself.

 

Getting fired a few years back over annotation scaling certainly seems overkill!

It is certainly possible.

 

Are you setting the annotative scale of the viewport on each sheet? Does the text appear for you on each sheet?

 

The biggest issue I find with annotative scaling is getting the annotation to look 'neat'/good at different scales. A lot of this comes down to basepoints and how well the text has been setup by whoever drafted it. My issue is more with people who don't care about what they do or how it looks rather than with annotative scaling itself.

 

Getting fired a few years back over annotation scaling certainly seems overkill!

ANNOALLVISIBLE = 1, change modelspace annotative scale at will, and adjust dims and stuff at that scale, rinse, repeat for other annotative scales. Then, ANNOALLVISIBLE = 0.

ANNOALLVISIBLE = 1, change modelspace annotative scale at will, and adjust dims and stuff at that scale, rinse, repeat for other annotative scales. Then, ANNOALLVISIBLE = 0.

 

That sort of defeats the point of using annotative scaling though.

That sort of defeats the point of using annotative scaling though.

Either way, there's going to be a little work involved. I understand it completely when you say "the biggest issue I find with annotative scaling is getting the annotation to look 'neat'/good at different scales". This is definitely true, but there's certain methods that can drastically mitigate the issues between scales... for starters, using Multileaders rather than Qleaders are a huge advantage. Also, in time, you understand how AutoCAD will alter the Annotative items (offset from basepoints, etc) and you'll be able to easily calculate it in advance.

 

Like Bill said earlier, he has numerous tabs at different scales, all of the same floorplan. Well, Annotative objects still is far more beneficial than maintaining different layers, etc. First off, anything annotative will anchor itself when moved, so all of them will move, and if they don't you can clean it up with AnnoReset, or something like that (going off memory). I'd just go viewport by viewport and make the final annotation adjustments before pushing out to QAQC... done and done.

 

Even with Paperspace annotation, if things drastically move, you may miss something or have to redo things entirely. In all instances, some level of "work" is necessary. Finding the quickest and most accurate is key, and that can certainly be accomplished through Annotative Objects but it takes getting used to, like with anything.

 

 

-TZ

That sort of defeats the point of using annotative scaling though.

No, it is exactly one of the key purposes of annotative scaling, to be able to adjust positions of the various items at different scales. While ANNOALLVISIBLE = 1, you can see all of them and adjust all of them. With ANNOALLVISIBLE = 0, you see and plot them only at scale.