AutoCAD scaling help?

[AndyR]

Hi all!

 

Having a bit of trouble with something I thought would be basic in CAD!

 

I'm going to do some freelance visualisation work and the architects have supplied me with plans (PDF and DWG), some elevations are at a scale 1:200@A1 others are 1:100/1:75/1:50 etc.

 

How do I convert or scale these drawings back to true size 1:1 so I can take the splines over to 3DS Max to speedup my workflow?

 

Am I missing something simple here? I tried selecting and scaling up by x50/x75/x100 etc but nothing matches up with the dimensions given!

 

Fairly advanced with the workflows of Max and Maya as an animation graduate but new to AutoCAD!

 

Any help would be immensely appreciated!!!

 

Kind regards,

 

Andy

[warbirt]

when you say have been supplied with plans at a particular scale do you mean when you open the plans in model space they are at that scale? I.e. they have been drawn at 1:100/1:75 etc or are they all drawn at 1:1 and then scaled in paperspace?

 

If they drawn in model space at particular scale and you have a dimension for a particular object then just select all and type SC in your command line then type R for your first point choose one end of the known length object and for your second point the other end, when asked for new length type in the correct length.

[AndyR]

Thanks for the reply Warbirt!

 

Yeah when I open the DWG the model space is the exact same as the paper space! Which I found strange because I expected the model space to be true size and the paper space to be scaled!

 

Thanks I'll give that a try!

[AndyR]

I tried it and it scaled the object perfectly! Thanks a lot!

 

However it then brought up another issue, when I scaled everything it also changed the dimension number! Eg The window height (mm) was 1425 according to the dimension so I scaled it using that figure, the window scaled perfectly to that size but the dimension line beside the window now reads 2148?

 

I think I saw something somewhere about you can regenerate the dimension numbers automatically? or before scaling scaling you can freeze/lock the numbers?

[JD Mather]

Can you attach the *.dwg file here and end all doubt?

[AndyR]

I have a few DWG files here is an interesting one to have a look at! Front and Right elevation of the building @ 1:75 and then examples of all the windows that will be used @1:50 but when I draw a line next to the windows they measure true size, not scaled 1:50 at all?

Front & RHS Elevation.dwg

[AndyR]

I have a few DWG files here is an interesting one to have a look at! Front and Right elevation of the building @ 1:75 and then examples of all the windows that will be used @1:50 but when I draw a line next to the windows they measure true size, not scaled 1:50 at all? Front & RHS Elevation.dwg

[AndyR]

Trying to reply and add attachment but nothing coming up in thread?

[AndyR]

I have a few DWG files here is an interesting one to have a look at! Front and Right elevation of the building @ 1:75 and then examples of all the windows that will be used @1:50 but when I draw a line next to the windows they measure true size, not scaled 1:50 at all?

Front & RHS Elevation.dwg

[ReMark]

What size is the DWG file? There are different limits for different file types.

[AndyR]

File Attachment (attempt > 1million )

Front & RHS Elevation.dwg

[AndyR]

Aah for some reason it has worked now! (when I put stupid comment next to it *facepalm*) I have a few DWG files here is one to have a look at! Front and Right elevation of the building @ 1:75 and then interesting side note the examples of all the windows that will be used @1:50 but when I draw a line next to the windows they measure true size, not scaled 1:50 at all?

[ReMark]

Can I make a suggestion?

 

Why not have a separate viewport for your elevations (you could even have a viewport for each elevation) and another for your window details? Each of the viewports can have a different scale. I would also suggest that once you have assigned a scale to a viewport that you lock the display so the scale is not accidentally changed.

[AndyR]

If you think that would help I would definitely take that advice on board, I'm just not sure how I would do that?

 

My main concern is getting it to the right scale to link with 3dsmax without the dimension numbers changing when I scale it?

 

&

 

As a side concern why the window & door schedule says 1:50 but when measured they are true size? Could this just be an error on the architects side?

 

I requested the *.dwg files hoping the architects would have left the model space true size and only scaled when plotting the layout

[ReMark]

Multiple viewports would aid in the positioning of the different views and give you more flexibility as far as assigning a scale(s).

 

The drawing that you attached. Is it the original or is it one you have already done some rescaling in? I'm trying to determine if the dimensions shown on the house elevations are correct or not.

[AndyR]

The attached drawing was exactly what I was sent. Windows and doors said scaled to 1:50 but no scaling had Been done, I assume because door was 2m in actual size and dimension, pretty standard?

 

I used the technique Warbirt suggested to get the house elevations to match their dimensions, I then selected all objects and done an update in the dimension tab to get them all correct themselves.

 

Think they're everything sorted size wise ! Then I just merged some unneeded layers and tidied up the layer menu and should hopefully now be ready for 3ds max linking.

 

Thanks for everyone's help, appreciate the time you take out your own no doubt busy schedules to try help a beginner like me! Great forum!

 

Thanks again,

Andy