Enhancement Extension

By Ed Goldberg
Autodesk Architectural Desktop customers can check off a number of their software wish-list items thanks to the new Productivity
Enhancement Extension. Provided exclusively for Subscription customers, the first extension for Autodesk Architectural Desktop 3.3
provides eight tools that help users speed up common design tasks, streamline the creation of designs, and reduce the risk of errors and
omissions.
Section/Elevation Batch Update
If you're bothered by having to update each section or elevation separately, try the Section/Elevation Batch Update feature in the
Extension. This feature eliminates tedious manual updates by enabling you to update one or more 2D sections and elevations with a
single command instead of evoking the Section/Elevation dialog box numerous times. Here's how to use it:
1. Using the Add Wall icon from the Walls toolbar, create an enclosure. Make the walls Standard style 6" wide, 8' high. Right-click a
wall, and choose Insert Door and Window from the shortcut menu that appears to add doors and windows (size doesn't matter) (see
Figure 1).
2. Select Documentation Content > Section Marks from the main toolbar to bring up the DesignCenter tool.
3. From the DesignCenter drag a Section Mark A1 as shown in Figure 2.
4. Enter Y at the Command line when questioned "Add AEC section object?"
5. Repeat Steps 2, 3, and 4 with Documentation > Elevation Marks, dragging Elevation Mark A1, and entering Y at the Command line
when questioned, "Add AEC section boundary object?" Enter 30' at the Command line when questioned, "Enter width of elevation" as
also shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: Create this enclosure.

Figure 2: Add two AEC section boundary objects.

6. Right-click the elevation border object (not the symbol), and select Generate Elevation from the contextual menu that appears.
Generate a 2D elevation, and place it in a convenient place on your drawing (see Figure 3).
7. Right-click the section object (not the symbol), and select Generate Section from the contextual menu that appears. Generate a 2D
section, and place it in a convenient place on your drawing (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Place the generated sections in a convenient location.

Figure 4: The new Refresh command will update several sections and
elevations at the same time.
8. Move the windows and doors, change everything.
9. Right-click one section or elevation and select Refresh from the contextual menu that appears (see Figure 4).
That's all there is to it. To update one section or elevation, or to update a hundred, just select all of them, right-click and select Refresh.
Extrude Polyline to Mass Element & Extended Massing Operations
Although often used incorrectly, the Autodesk Architectural Desktop Mass Element and Mass Groups tools are a unique design system.
Their purpose is to create massing models of buildings. They are not intended to create objects such as fireplaces, but to model building
masses. The Extrude Polyline to Mass Element and Extended Massing operations included in the Productivity Enhancing Extension take
this design paradigm to a new level.
Extrude Polyline to Mass Element
This tool allows you to convert any closed polyline to a free-form mass element without first creating a profile definition and then adding
an extruded mass element. Use this tool to further refine massing studies created either in Autodesk Architectural Desktop or Autodesk
Architectural Studio software.
Extended Massing Operations
Before the release of this extension, mass elements could only be used to "sculpt" customized mass groups through the use of Boolean
operations. With these new tools you can create free-form mass elements by attaching additional 3D objects. Customized mass elements
of any shape can be produced in a similar manner. You can attach the following to Mass Elements: Other Mass Elements, AEC objects,
and AutoCAD ACIS solids.

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Figure 5: Create a series of shapes using Rectangles, polygons and arcs.
Try the following exercise to see how these two features can be used.
1. Change to the Model Layout tab and create some shapes using rectangles, polygons, and arcs (see Figure 5).
2. Select the Trim icon from the Modify toolbar, select all the objects you've just created, and press the space bar.
3. Trim the objects to get a form that you like (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: By selecting TRIM, and selecting all the objects; you can quickly
create this shape.

4. Convert the shape into a closed polyline (Modify > Object > PolylineJoin).
5. Change to the Mass-Group Layout Tab.
6. Select Concept > Mass Elements > Extrude Polyline to Mass Element from the Main toolbar (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: The new Extrude Polyline to Mass Element command can be found on the
Concept menu.

7. Select the closed polyline, enter Y at the Command line, and press the space bar.
8. Enter 10' at the Command line, and press the space bar.
You have now created a new Mass Element (see Figure 8).

Figure 8: You can quickly create any Mass Element you choose.

9. Add an AEC stair object plus some Mass Elements until you have a design you like (see Figure 9).

Figure 9: Even an AEC stair object can now become a Mass Element.

Figure 10: Boolean commands can quickly modify Mass Elements.

10. Select one of the Mass Elements, right-click and select Mass Element Boolean from the drop-down menu that appears (see Figure
10).
11. Union (add) and Subtract (remove) Mass Elements including the stair (see Figure 11).

Figure 11: Mass Elements are the basis for building design studies.
When you are finished, you can easily convert them into Floors
and walls.

You can now use Concept > Slice Floorplates > to cut your Mass into floors. With these new Boolean and Extrude routines, and a little
practice, you will find that your design capabilities will be greatly enhanced.
Wall Fillet and Wall Chamfer
Instead of indirectly converting filleted or chamfered linework to a wall, this new tool allows you to fillet and chamfer walls of the same
style.
1. Select the Add Wall icon from the Walls toolbar to bring up the Add Walls dialog box.
2. Add a CMU-8 Rigid-1.5 Air-2 Brick-4 wall as shown in Figure 12 (any wall style will do).

Figure 12: A typical wall before using AECFILLET.

Figure 13: The same wall after using AECFILLET.

3. Enter AECFILLET (upper- or lowercase doesn't matter) in the Command line, and press the space bar.
4. Enter R for radius in the Command line and press the space bar.
5. At "Specify fillet radius" in the Command line, enter 6' and press the space bar.
6. Select the top wall, and then select the right wall (see Figure 13).
The AECFILLET and AECCHAMFER commands are identical to AutoCAD software's standard FILLET and CHAMFER commands.
Polyline to Profile Definition
Now you can create profile definitions without having to access the Style Manager dialog box, thereby reducing the number of steps. To
create a profile, simply draw a closed polyline and right-click to access the Convert To > Profile Definition option (see Figure 14).
Wall Body Convert
This tool allows you to quickly convert 3D elements to walls, enabling you to produce complex wall styles with the ability to insert
doors, openings, windows, and window assemblies.

Figure 14: Any polyline can now be quickly converted to a Profile Definition in
one step.

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Figure 15: Create this Mass Element using the Extrude Polyline to Mass Element and Extended Massing operations.
You can convert the following to walls:

AEC objects
Mass elements
AutoCAD ACIS solids
1. Using the Extrude Polyline to Mass Element and Extended Massing operations, create a Mass Element 30' long (similar to that shown
in Figure 15).

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Figure 16: Boolean subtract Mass Elements from the first Mass Element.
2. Create three new Mass Elements, and Boolean subtract them from the first Mass Element (see Figure 16).
3. Select Design > Walls > Convert Body to Wall from the Main toolbar and select the Mass Element (see Figure 17). Make the wall an
8" concrete wall, and set the baseline start and end point at the midpoints of the main Mass Element.

Figure 17: Mass Elements can now be quickly converted to walls.

4. Select the wall you have created, right-click and insert doors. You may have to adjust the doors in the Y direction after insertion (see
Figure 18).

Figure 18: Mass Elements converted to walls accept AEC doors.

5. Change to a plan view. If you do not see the shelves of the concrete wall in plan view, you will need to change the Cut Plane Height.
To do that, right-click the wall and select Edit Wall Style from the contextual menu that appears to bring up the Wall Styles Properties
Concrete8 dialog box.

Figure 19: Be sure to adjust the Cut Plane to the appropriate height.
5. Change to a plan view. If you do not see the shelves of the concrete wall in plan view, you will need to change the Cut Plane Height.
To do that, right-click the wall and select Edit Wall Style from the contextual menu that appears to bring up the Wall Styles Properties
Concrete8 dialog box.
6. In this dialog box, select the Display Props tab.
7. Set the drop-down list to Plan, and add a System Override.
8. Press the Edit Display Props... button to bring up the Entity Properties dialog box.
9. In this dialog box, select the Cut Plane tab. Set the Cut Plane Height to 3'-0" and press the OK buttons to close all the dialog boxes.
The plan view should now show the concrete wall with its shelves (see Figure 19).
Save this exercise.

Wall Body Restore

This tool allows you to restore a modified wall to its original state by removing modifiers. This command also retrieves erased body
modifiers.

Figure 20: Body Modifiers can be quickly removed.

1. Open the previous exercise.

2. From the Main toolbar, select Design > Wall Tools > Restore Body from Wall (see Figure 20).
3. Select the wall built in the previous exercise.
4. Enter Y at the Command-line question "Remove body modifiers from walls?"

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Figure 21: The wall body and wall are separated.
The wall will separate into a Mass Element and a wall (see Figure 21).
5. Select the Layers icon to open the Layer Properties Manager dialog box.
6. In this dialog box, turn off the A-Mass layer.

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Figure 22: After hiding the wall body, the typical wall is left.

The wall will appear without the body modifier created in the previous exercise (see Figure 22).
This same process will remove body modifiers made by Design > Wall Tools > Body Modifier.
Wall Auto-Endcap
This tool allows you to draw polyline(s) and convert them to an endcap simply by drawing "on top" of the wall's geometry. Wall AutoEndcap also allows you to either redefine the endcap condition for the selected wall style or simply override the instance (see Figure 23).

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Figure 23: The new AutoEndcap feature makes
creating endcaps quick and
easy.

Conclusion
Autodesk is committed to making Autodesk Architectural Desktop the best tool available for architects and designers. The first
Productivity Enhancement Extension is just another example of that commitment. Added to this already powerful program, these new
tools should make your design and documentation experience even more productive than before.