Stacked plans Vs side by side plans

[stevo99]

Hi There,

 

I have worked for a company for several years as a structural draughtsman. As this was my first job in the industry I had no point of reference to know whether the way we do things is common or not.

 

Anyway, We had a discussion recently about layers and we began talking about the fact that we don't really use layers as some others do. My drawings have several plans, foundation, ground floor, first floor .... roof etc all drawn side by side, this seemed normal to me.

A colleague recently said He's used to drawing all plans on top of each other on different layers and turning layers on or off with filters depending on the plan you are working on at the time. This seemed like a really good idea to me as you can clearly see that your foundations line up with the floors etc....

 

I was wondering what others thought.

 

Thanks.

[Dana W]

The stack technique is pretty common in architecture.

 

I am dealing with a set of client architectural drawings now of a large building with as many as 20 layers just for ceiling materials, GWB, wood paneling, lighting, alarm sensors, grid pattern, etc., etc. Same for the walls and floor systems. The layers repeat for each of six levels.

 

Funny thing is, each floor is a separate drawing, xref-ed together, yet not on top of each other. Then, within each level, all the systems, from floor to ceiling, are drawn on top of each other, including furniture and potted plants.

 

It is rather easy, although tedious, to eliminate the layers not needed for reference at any given time because the layers have good naming discipline. I wish I could say the same for the architect's little helper that named the layer states in this thing. I may as well be reading runes on a standing stone. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to click on the separate layers so often.

 

Yeah, I could make my own layer states, but there isn't enough time to get that far into it.

[Organic]

Layouts side by side annoy me extremely. Good layers on only ONE model is the way to go. With viewports you can then turn off what layers aren't needed in that viewport.

[ReMark]

I cringe every time I get a drawing where someone has drawn everything on layer "0" then overridden the color choice making one believe he/she used multiple layers. To compound the error they then also override the layer linetype. Personally I'd like to beat the person with a flexible curve and/or throw gum erasers at them at high velocity. A drawing template with a good (i.e. - logical) layer set up is worth its weight in gold. It makes working with the drawing much easier.

 

Drawing the various building floors on top of each other (using a different layer for each floor) sounds like a good way to make sure everything lines up the way it should.

Edited February 5, 2013 by ReMark

[CheSyn]

Where I work, everything is drawn side-by-side. But my personal drawings all drawn on top of each other.

 

Personally, I am used to both. I think one on top of another is much cleaner, but if someone doesn't know how to properly use layers it becomes a huge fuster cluck.

[stevo99]

Thanks guys,

Organic and CheSyn, I'm with you. Even though I've only drawn side by side, I feel the stacked method is better for finding errors. I have had a few moments where I have changed a foundation beam size for example and then got distracted and forgot to check the slab edges, or portal post locations etc only to find the problem later during my checking process when I see a post bolted into fresh air, which is rather hard to bolt to.....

 

ReMark, I hear you.... get yourself a NERF gun and open fire on your screen (or your juniors if you catch them doing it...), It's very therapeutic for situations like that.....

 

I guess neither way is right or wrong, just different. It comes down to the systems employed in individual offices.

 

Cheers

[snakebite729]

I work in a structural engineering office and we arrange our plans side by side, but use blocks for the walls.

So on a 2 storey house, you will have a block for lower walls and a block for upper walls. Then when you change it on one plan, it changes on all plans.

We also utilize saved views within the same dwg for when you have two plans that require the same two blocks with the same clipped areas, but only a few common layers (eg, suspended slab bottom reo and top reo layouts).

Also means i can keep the layering system very simple, so it is easier to train juniors.

[Organic]

Also means i can keep the layering system very simple, so it is easier to train juniors.

 

How frequent is your staff turnover that you need to keep layers simple?

[snakebite729]

Not frequent at all. Just a rapidly expanding company.