I have one weekend to catch up on my course, I am STRESSED

Hey guys, just recently enrolled in an architecture autocad course and due to unfortunate circumstances I had to miss out on much of the first month and I am BEHIND!

I need to do some floor plans of Rem Koolhaas' Bordeaux maison. He gave us 3 PDF files and we have to reconstruct them in AutoCAD.

He recommended starting with the second floor which I have started here.

Now I am completely lost. I have no idea how to make this drawing accurate. I have no idea how to read my floor plan printed on paper using an architectural scale. I THINK we are in metric units and it says it is 1:200 scale on the corner of the pdf files. I just have no idea where to start. I used a school computer in which my professor tweaked the settings to start it up and now I have to use a home computer and I don't even know how to set it up with the same settings he used (does it matter; can I go back to tweak it???) I was able to put this outline together from entering the dimensions on the side of my floor plan sheet but now I am stumped. For example, I don't know what distance to measure the offset borders.

Any help would be appreciated, I am not asking for anyone to do my work because I want to learn. But I am stressed out because I need to complete at least the whole second floor by this weekend.

Stop...slow down...and take a deep breath.

Better?

Now first things first.

Are you using a metric template (versus an imperial template)?

You do not draw "to scale" like you would do on a drafting board. Draw your floor plan(s) in model space at FULL size.

I can't read the dimensions. Are they in millimeters?

Stop...slow down...and take a deep breath.

 

Better?

 

Now first things first.

 

Are you using a metric template (versus an imperial template)?

 

You do not draw "to scale" like you would do on a drafting board. Draw your floor plan(s) in model space at FULL size.

 

I can't read the dimensions. Are they in millimeters?

I am unsure which template I have to use. I think it is in metric because there is a scale on the pdf file that shows 0-2m-4m.

Is there anyway that I can get you the PDF file for you to take a closer look at? or if there is any good websites to upload it so you can see it better?

EDIT: I've tried to upload them on imgur, if you click on the image it expands a little. Maybe this helps out (Notice on the second image, the scale is shown on the bottom right hand corner.)

http://imgur.com/a/tWHvo

I was referring to the template that you use when you start a new drawing. The default template in AutoCAD will utilize imperial units. It is named acad.dwt while the template that should be used for metric drawings is named acadiso.dwt.

If you type -DWGUNITS at the command line and then press the Enter key AutoCAD will return the following:

Command: -DWGunits

Loading AEC Base...

Loading AEC Base Extended...

Loading AEC Core...

Drawing units:

1. Inches

2. Feet

3. Millimeters

4. Centimeters

5. Decimeters

6. Meters

Unit for length :

See that "3"? It means 1 unit = 1mm.

So now, going back to what I said earlier, if a dimension for the width of a room is shown as being 245mm then, in model space, you draw it 245 units long. You do NOT scale it. Scale is of no importance until we switch to our layout and create a viewport to see the floor plan we drew back in model space.

Should the PDF of the floor plan have the rooms/building dimensioned in meters then you will have to either do the math (covert meters to millimeters) or change to option "6" (meters).

Unfortunately I will be away from my computer the remainder of the night. There are other regular forum members who will certainly assist you in my absence. In the morning (I am located on the east coast of the United States) I will look for and check the progress of this thread.

folklores: What happened? Not only did you not reply but I see no follow up questions. Did you just give up?

folklores: What happened? Not only did you not reply but I see no follow up questions. Did you just give up?

Hello, I was at work last night and did not get off until very late.

Ok so I uderstand what you said in your previous post about the meters. I suppose I will now change the template to meters and we will proceed from there. Unfortunately I'm still lost as to what are my following steps.

... due to unfortunate circumstances I had to miss out on much of the first month ....

As a professor I would recommend that you drop the class and take it again when you can.

What would it say about my efforts of a professor if I couldn't progress the class in that time well beyond what anyone could catch up on their own?

Why would they even need me or a class? I would not expect anyone missing significant time to be successful. Not that it is any fault of their own, but simply because a significant amount of valuable instruction was missed.

Enough with the reality check.

OK, if you are determined to give this a go - do as much as you can (looks like you were able to at least get a start) and then attach the dwg file (rather than images) here for suggestions on next steps.

As a professor I would recommend that you drop the class and take it again when you can.

What would it say about my efforts of a professor if I couldn't progress the class in that time well beyond what anyone could catch up on their own?

Why would they even need me or a class? I would not expect anyone missing significant time to be successful. Not that it is any fault of their own, but simply because a significant amount of valuable instruction was missed.

Enough with the reality check.

 

OK, if you are determined to give this a go - do as much as you can (looks like you were able to at least get a start) and then attach the dwg file (rather than images) here for suggestions on next steps.

I respect what you're saying and I feel really embarrassed. But I won't drop the class and will continue to try to figure this out. I will upload the dwg file as soon as I get home.

Ok guys, thank you for the support thus far. I've attached some files that you can hopefully check out with more accuracy.

In my attachments I have my progress, the PDF file I am working off of, and I also converted the PDF to a DWG

(not sure if this is cheating, but the conversion seems clean but I am unsure if it is accurate. My question is will this expedite my work? Of course I want to learn and not cheat, and will use only as reference.)

Bordeaux-A2.1-KF-130312.dwg

a2.2 100223.pdf

a2.2-100223.dwg

The Bordeaux...dwg appears to have been done in "inches". I'm assuming you did this drawing.

The a2.21-.....dwg does not seem to actually scale correctly. For example, the 11 meter dimension when checked using the distance command measures 55.14 (I believe this is supposed to be millimeters). Is this the PDF that was converted to a DWG?

First step would be to get the correct units.

Either start with new iso template or with no template - metric units as shown in image.

Then type -dwgunits (exactly as shown with the preceeding dash - ) and set correct units (looks to me like Meters in your pdf).

BTW - I spend about 15 hrs going over how to set up a custom template with everything standardized for how we will work for the rest of the class. A standardized custom template is critical for productivity - especially when there are many different users in a company (or class). You might have missed this critical instruction time in your class.

I'm going to step out now as too many chiefs directing you on what to do next might only confuse. Remark will get you to the end, but you must ask questions and respond quickly to get this done in a reasonable amount of time.

I have no objection to stepping aside JDM. I'm in the midst of a very hectic weekend to begin with so I'm not sure how much time I can devote to this.

One thing I notice right away is that although there are a fair number of dimensions given they are for the main features of the house. There is quite a bit of detail that is not dimensioned at all. What happens then? I'm assuming there was a particular reason the teacher gave your class this assignment and it must have to do with the architect. Did you also either get a lot of background material on him or were you suppose to research the man as well?

....There is quite a bit of detail that is not dimensioned at all. What happens then?

I'm not an architectural person (especially architecture in metric units), but I suspect that some of the missing information is standardized stuff (wall thicknesses, door openings, stairs.....).

Probably a lot of it (that isn't specifically dimensioned or standard) only requires proportional relevance (aesthetically pleasing) as far as the instructor is concerned, but of course the OP should be checking with the instructor.

I have no objection to stepping aside JDM. I'm in the midst of a very hectic weekend to begin with so I'm not sure how much time I can devote to this.

 

One thing I notice right away is that although there are a fair number of dimensions given they are for the main features of the house. There is quite a bit of detail that is not dimensioned at all. What happens then? I'm assuming there was a particular reason the teacher gave your class this assignment and it must have to do with the architect. Did you also either get a lot of background material on him or were you suppose to research the man as well?

I have an accurate print out of the PDF file. We are supposed to use our architectural scale to measure what isn't listed. I'm unsure how to use it.

I haven't used a scale in more than 20 years, but if you compare the divisions to some of the known dimensions you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.

For now I would only worry about the stuff that is dimensioned. Get that done correctly (at 1:1) in AutoCAD and the rest will all fall into place.

Post you metric drawing when fixed.

I haven't used a scale in more than 20 years, but if you compare the divisions to some of the known dimensions you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.

For now I would only worry about the stuff that is dimensioned. Get that done correctly (at 1:1) in AutoCAD and the rest will all fall into place.

Post you metric drawing when fixed.

Thanks, I will work on it tonight and post some progress in the morning.

Is your architectural scale a metric one?

i agree with JDM regarding setting up your drawing envoironment.

you will save so much time later by first setting up your autocad before you do any drawing. how much setting up to do in your case is the problem but for example, i would say for an experienced operator with their own system, all those drawings would take between 1 and 2 hrs max.

working from a fresh autocad with no setting up, and doing no setting up before or during this drawing it would take 3 hrs? some basic setting up would take mebbe 15 mins (if you know what you're doing) and save mebbe 2hrs work.

you can

a) do it the hard way, line by line so to speak. i estimate at least 40hrs work for a novice

b) you can learn how to set up your autocad, your drawing, do some custom mods. i estimate 40 hrs work to get good enough. then learning all that will have also taught you some drawing stuff and so i estimate 3 to 4 hrs drawing (for you)

what you want to do is imo intermediate 2d level, not too difficult.

unfortunately with autocad it can be amazingly easy to do the difficult stuff and amazingly difficult to do the easy stuff.

Guys I've tried to set up the template using the acadiso and then setting it to 6 for metrics but the drawing looks but I'm still stumped.

I'm sorry but I still haven't even figured out how to get any further... I think I might bite the bullet and have a serious discussion with my professor and hopefully I'm not too behind and I can catch up during spring break. Thanks for all the help though guys.

... but the drawing looks but I'm still stumped.....

I don't know what this means. You made progress previously using wrong units.

Attach your new dwg here with same geometry drawn with correct units.

Forget about all the custom template talk - you can't do it without instruction. Creating a good template is professional use of the software and deserves (requires?) a professional level of preparation.