Creating zoomed in viewport

[john551]

Hi, this should be a simple question as I'm a bit new to Autocad.

 

Using AutoCAD Civil 3D I have a large drawing to 20,000 scale that I would like to create a viewport (or layout?, not sure the correct term) for so that essentially the end result is that I draw a rectangle around only a specific part of my drawing that I want to print at 10,000 scale on D-size paper with a company logo, scale, etc. on the bottom that I would have to make inside the viewport.

 

Using someone else's drawing that I am essentially trying to learn from, he has a rectangle drawn arount part of the drawing and when I click on the tab next to Model which he called "Figure", it comes up as a zoomed in view to that rectangle portion with a nice company titlebar around it. In step by step instructions please how can I duplicate creating this going from the rectangle drawn to that nice viewport/layout?

 

Thank you,

John

[ReMark]

Sounds like the person created a layout, placed his company's titleblock and border in it then he created a viewport. It's this viewport in which he zoomed into the specific area he wanted to display, then set the viewport scale and locked it. Bingo...WYSIWYG.

[rkent]

Hi, this should be a simple question as I'm a bit new to Autocad.

 

Using AutoCAD Civil 3D I have a large drawing to 20,000 scale that I would like to create a viewport (or layout?, not sure the correct term) for so that essentially the end result is that I draw a rectangle around only a specific part of my drawing that I want to print at 10,000 scale on D-size paper with a company logo, scale, etc. on the bottom that I would have to make inside the viewport.

 

Using someone else's drawing that I am essentially trying to learn from, he has a rectangle drawn arount part of the drawing and when I click on the tab next to Model which he called "Figure", it comes up as a zoomed in view to that rectangle portion with a nice company titlebar around it. In step by step instructions please how can I duplicate creating this going from the rectangle drawn to that nice viewport/layout?

 

Thank you,

John

 

Since you are in a drawing that has the title block already in it, you can first copy the layout. Depending on the AutoCAD release you can hold Ctrl and click and drag a layout tab over to copy it, or right click over the layout tab, pick move or copy, pick move to end, below that pick create a copy, pick ok.

 

Pick on that tab, you can right click to rename.

Erase the existing viewport(s), only so you can learn how to create one.

 

Create a new layer with a layer name like MVIEW and set it to not plot in the layer manager, and set it current.

Using the MVIEW command you can create a viewport, size won't necessarily matter right now just pick opposite corners across most of the drawing. Set another layer current so you don't draw anything else on that no-plot layer.

 

Pick the Paper toggle below (or double click over the viewport, not the edge but inside it) and you are now active in that viewport. Zoom / Pan to approximate the area you want to show at 10000 scale. Now use the Zoom command, and type 1/10000xp, hit enter. Now you can pan to locate your view exactly, don't use zoom as you will mess with your scale. Also, instead of typing the scale may be preset in the viewport scale pull down or the annotation scale box. If so, you simply make the viewport active and pick from the list.

 

Pick the Model toggle button below, or double click outside the viewport to get back to paperspace. Now click on the viewport and stretch it to show the area you want. Now hover over the edge of the viewport and right click. Pick the Display Locked choice and set to Yes. You can also lock the viewport by picking on it and using properties set it to be locked. You can also type MVIEW, use Lock, On, finally select the viewport boundary.

 

Edit the title block and you are ready to go.

[john551]

Thanks guys. I have read this over very carefully but still having some problems understanding the concept.

 

I'll give the actual problem I need to do: The drawing is in 20,000 scale and contains a 20,000 scale viewport with title block and can print fine (the entire drawing) on oversized E paper on our plotter.

 

I need to make a viewport also for plotting purposes but it needs to be 10,000 scale (and only a certain area of the drawing) and fit on D size paper (22"x34") and have a titleblock. As a work-around I have just been plotting a window of a rectangle I drew around the that is about 22"x34" but of course all that does is plot an area to 10,000 scale completely to the borders of the D size paper with no titleblock. Obviously the final solution to this will mean the plot with be a slightly smaller window of the drawing as there will be a titleblock, etc. on the outsides but that is totally fine. I have no clue how to do this including how you are going to get probably like 21"x33" worth of drawing onto the 22"x34" paper, with titleblock around it and still be in a 10,000 scale! I appreciate the patience.

[Danse_Macabre]

Ok, what rkent suggested is exactly what you want to do. Maybe I can try to reword it a little, but if you follow his steps it should be what you need.

 

AutoCAD is basically split up into two different working spaces. Model Space and Paper Space. Model is where you do all your work, and Paper Space is where you can set up your printing so that it looks nice. The tab beside Model called "Figure" is a layout in paper space where someone before you has basically set up a way to print the drawing with the titleblock.

 

A viewport is just a way of looking from Paper Space into Model Space. What rkent suggested, and what I would also do, is create a copy of the tab called 'figure'. Right click on it, choose 'Move or Copy', check the box labelled 'Create a Copy', and hit ok. Now you will have two layouts in Paper Space that should be exactly the same.

 

Now you need to create a new viewport so you can choose the Window of model space you want to see in your plot. Delete the viewport that the last person has made and make sure your current layer is set to the same layer the previous viewport was made on. Type in MVIEW. You will be prompted to pick the corners of your viewport. Pick the inside edges of the titleblock.

 

Now you should see the exact replication of what is in Model Space in your new layout through your viewport. Now you can double click inside the viewport to make it active. This will allow you to zoom and pan exactly like you would inside Model Space. Zoom into the approximate area that you want to show for your drawing. Then type ZOOM, then 1/10000xp. This scales your viewport to the 10,000 scale you want. Then type in PAN, this will allow you to further move your 'Window' to the exact part of Model Space you want to show in your plot. Make sure you do not ZOOM at all or else you will lose your scale.

 

When you are happy with the Window you have selected type PS to get back to Paper Space (or get out of the viewport). Then you can change your title block (if you have to) and attempt to print your drawing.

 

I know I pretty much just repeated what was already said but maybe a bit of a different explanation will help. If you follow these steps it should get you the desired result, it may take some time to get a hande on exactly what is happening but you will get it eventually. Maybe try looking through the AutoCAD help section, sometimes they have good tutorials.

[john551]

In playing around a bit I notice I can resize the viewport horizontally and the scale remains the same; all that changes is the the parts of the drawing to right and left get cut off or expanded, as expected, however, if I resize it vertically the drawing gets scaled vertically. I am resizing using the properties of the viewport and typing in different height and width values.

[john551]

All zoom 1/10000xp does is make my drawing incredibly tiny. Since the original titleblock was drawn in model space with the drawing as one single drawing if you will (as opposed to it being drawn just in the layout as probably most people do), it is not so simple to just copy that layer and use the titleblock. I am essentially taking a snapshot of the inside of this drawing and then having to add a titleblock in the layout. (which I can draw or copy or whatever, this doesn't matter to this problem). In trying to figure this out I have learned I have to go into page setup manager for the layout and select D size paper in layout mode as the 20,000 scale layout using E size in portrait mode. This would all be simple if I can just get an actual 1:10,000 scale viewport capture of what I want and have enough space around the border to add a titleblock. This should be easy!

[john551]

Strange that changing the height of the viewport scales the drawing vertically if done from within the properties and typing in height values, but expanding or shrinking the viewport with the mouse doesn't scale it and simply cuts off or includes less/more of the drawing. But horizontally it is the same effect by properties or with mouse.

[rkent]

In playing around a bit I notice I can resize the viewport horizontally and the scale remains the same; all that changes is the the parts of the drawing to right and left get cut off or expanded, as expected, however, if I resize it vertically the drawing gets scaled vertically. I am resizing using the properties of the viewport and typing in different height and width values.

 

To resize the viewport simply click on the boundary of the viewport, now use the grips in the corners, click on one of those and move the cursor to make it smaller or larger. Turn Ortho on or off to size in one direction or both at the same time.

[Danse_Macabre]

Strange that changing the height of the viewport scales the drawing vertically if done from within the properties and typing in height values, but expanding or shrinking the viewport with the mouse doesn't scale it and simply cuts off or includes less/more of the drawing. But horizontally it is the same effect by properties or with mouse.

 

That is strange, I have never had that before, and I am 100% sure it's not supposed to work that way. Maybe try closing the drawing and reopening it.