Performance Enhancements in ACA
User Interface
There are several enhancements to the user interface in AutoCAD® Architecture 2017.
- Several dialog boxes are now resizable: APPLOAD, ATTEDIT, DWGPROPS, EATTEDIT, INSERT, LAYERSTATE, PAGESETUP, and VBALOAD.
- The preview areas are expanded in several dialog boxes used for attaching files and saving and opening drawings.
- You can turn on the new LTGAPSELECTION system variable to be able to select objects in the gaps of non-continuous linetypes as if they were set to a continuous linetype.
- You can choose whether to use the AutoCAD crosshairs cursor or the Windows arrow cursor in the drawing area using the CURSORTYPE system variable.
- You can specify the delay timing for basic tooltips in the Options dialog box, Display tab.
- You can easily send your 3D models from AutoCAD Architecture to Autodesk Print Studio for automatic final preparation prior to 3D printing. Print Studio support includes Ember, Autodesk's high-precision, production-quality (25-micron surface finish) manufacturing solution. This feature is available only for 64-bit AutoCAD Architecture.
Styles Browser
The Manage Content Library dialog now allows you to add a directory to the Content Library. There is also a checkbox to include all subdirectories. To add a directory of drawings to the Styles Browser content library, select “Manage Content Library…” (see Figure 1) from the Drawing File drop-down list. Select Add Folder… then browse to the directory you would like to add and click Open. If there are subfolders in the directory which you want to include, check Include Subfolders.
A360 has been added to the Select Drawings dialog for the Content Library. This allows styles to be shared among geographically dispersed teams.
You can check the status of the Styles Browser palette using the AECSTYLESBROWSERSTATE system variable. You can close the Style Browser palette using STYLESBROWSERCLOSE command.
You can change the size of the Preview Images in the Styles Browser. You can choose from four different sizes: large, medium, small, and details. There are some Object Types that do not have any Preview (Documentation Objects and some Multipurpose Objects). They will show Details view by default and for those Objects the View Direction, Color Selector, and Preview Size controls will be disabled. An informative tooltip is also provided, which includes the full name of the style, full path of the drawing file the style belongs to, and shows four views of the style. The Preview image can be viewed in 10 different View Directions. This view direction is applicable per object type and is persistent across sessions. View direction can be set when the preview size is small, medium, or large. The details view will have the View Direction control disabled.
You can select a background color to be applied to the preview image for better visibility. This background color is also applicable per object type and is persistent across sessions. You can set the background color when the preview size is small, medium, or large. The details view will have the color control disabled. The background color is very useful in case of Light theme, where the background color will enhance the preview of the styles.
After setting the Drawing Source and Drawing File, you can hide these controls to make more area available for the Style Preview images in the Styles Browser gallery by clicking on the control for Expand-Collapse. You can turn off the preview image in the Properties palette to reduce the scrolling needed. Once the Preview image is turned off, a binocular button appears, which in turn will be used to access the Styles Browser. The Styles Browser will be invoked by clicking on the Browse button of the Properties Palette to display Styles. Once in an Objectadd command, users can still change the Object type from the Styles Browser and can start the new objectadd command for a different Objecttype.
Figure 1: Manage Content Library
Roof Outline Edit
The ability to modify a roof outline using grips has now been completed. All of the previous capabilities for the edge and vertex grips are still present. When a vertex is added, both edges will have the same properties as the initial edge. When a vertex is removed, the properties of the lower numbered edge will be used on the resulting edge. The Edges/Faces worksheet, launched from the Properties palette, shows the number of each edge (see Figure 2).
Many of the slab or roof slab properties that you can edit using grips can also be edited on the Properties palette. In cases where multiple selected objects have the same value for a property, you can change the value for all the objects with a single entry on the Properties palette. This palette also provides access and enables you to attach hyperlinks, notes, or files to slabs or roof slabs.
Figure 2: Edges/Faces worksheet
Share Design Views
You can publish design views to a secure, anonymous location within Autodesk A360. You can share views of your design by forwarding a generated link to the people that you specify without releasing the DWG file itself. Access to these views is provided by any supported web browser and does not require recipients to have an Autodesk A360 account or install any additional software. Supported browsers include Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that support WebGL 3D graphics.
Edit Live Section – Xref Support
This feature has been extended to support top-level Xref attachments (see Figure 3). In addition to the right-click menu, this command now appears on the 2D Section Result contextual ribbon. When the command starts, the Live Section from the Section defining line will be displayed in the same orientation as the 2D Section Result, with the Hidden Visual Style. You can select objects in a top-level Xref for editing. The Edit Reference in Place command will run transparently. You can select multiple objects that are in the same Xref for editing. This feature now supports nested Xrefs and blocks. Once you are done with all the modifications in the section result you can click on the Exit button in the “Edit In View” panel. Whether or not you modify the Xref, dialog boxes for confirmation of the changes are displayed.
At this point, you can Cancel to return to the Edit Live Section. Selecting OK will save or discard, the changes, depending on the previous selection. If “Save,” the Xref will be saved and reloaded and the Section result refreshed. If you cancel at this point, the workflow of the command will be broken—that is, the Edit Live Session will be closed. But the Edit In Place session will be active and you will need to use the Edit Reference panel on the ribbon to exit. However, if you previously picked “save changes,” the selected Section result will be refreshed when you exit Edit Live Section, although the changes are not made in the Xref.
Grip states have been added to the Section line to allow it to be modified without having to recreate it. You can now add a vertex or a parallel jog using the midpoint grip of a segment, or remove a vertex with its endpoint grip. The start and end points can only be moved.
Figure 3: Edit Live Section Xref
“SHape” Keyword
When adding several objects, you will see a new option, “SHape.” The objects this pertains to are walls, curtain walls, railings, slabs, roof slabs, and roof (the option for Roof is “Create Type” because of the existing “Shape” option). Using “SHape” keyword you can easily create shapes such as Rectangle, Circle, Polygon, and Polyline for these objects. With this enhancement in AutoCAD Architecture 2017 you can draw regular polygon shape boundaries much faster and more accurately. With the Polyline option, you can also add curves in objects that do not support an “Arc” option in the usual Add process. In addition, it is much easier to create tangential curves for objects such as walls. When adding a Roof with this option, tracking OSNAP can be used to get precise results.
DIM Command Enhancements
The DIM command has been significantly enhanced and is now accessible from the ribbon. Options within the DIM command are now displayed at the command line and in the right-click menu, eliminating the need for you to remember which options are available and how to enter them (see Figure 4). However, even the need to specify Dimension options is significantly reduced. Now the DIM command automatically creates appropriate dimensions based on the type of objects you select. A preview as you pass the cursor over those objects enables you to see the resulting dimension before you actually create it. The DIM command further simplifies creating dimensions by eliminating prompts to modify the dimension text and angle. Instead, the default values are automatically applied. Mtext, Text, and Text Angle options are available from the command line and right-click menus if you choose to change them. When using the Baseline or Continue options, you are automatically prompted to select the first extension line origin. Regardless of which type of dimension you create, the DIM command remains active, enabling you to easily place additional dimensions until you exit the command.
Figure 4: DIM options right-click menu
PDF Support
You can now import the geometry, fills, raster images, and TrueType text from a PDF file into the current AutoCAD Architecture drawing. The PDF data can come from either an attached PDF in the current drawing or from any specified PDF file. The precision of the data is limited by the precision of the PDF file and of the supported object types. Some properties such as PDF scale, layers, lineweights, and colors can be preserved.
TrueType fonts in MText and Text with any formatting options as well as Polygonized text, SHX text, and Unicode characters are now searchable in PDF output files. PDF plotting performance for drawings that contain a large amount of text, polylines, and fill patterns is improved. The Export to DWF/PDF Options dialog box has been split into two separate dialog boxes—one for DWF and one for PDF. Both are accessible from the Output ribbon tab. PDF Options now include the PDF quality and font handling controls as well as new controls for hyperlinks and bookmarks (see Figure 5). The hyperlinks control enables you to include hyperlinks from the drawing in the PDF file. The bookmarks control exports sheets and named views as bookmarks so that you can easily navigate between them when viewing the PDF file.
When using the Plot tool to create PDF files, you can now choose from four predefined PDF presets, offering a quick way to apply different PDF output options that meet various needs. If you select any PDF pc3 from the Printer/Plotter dropdown list, a PDF Options button is displayed, providing convenient access to the PDF Options dialog. Similar PDF presets and options controls are available when creating PDF files using the Export to PDF and Batch Plot tools.
The Sheet Set Manager has also been updated to support these PDF enhancements. Layout names are automatically displayed as page labels in the PDF file, making it easy to identify sheets when viewing the PDF.
Figure 5: Export to PDF options
Other Performance Enhancements
Other performance enhancements I have noticed in AutoCAD Architecture 2017 are:
- The performance and reliability of 3DORBIT has been improved for rendered visual styles, especially for models with a large number of small blocks containing edges and facets.
- The performance of 2D panning and zooming operations has been improved.
- The visual quality for linetypes has been improved.
- The performance of object snapping has been improved by skipping geometric center (GCEN) computation for polylines with a huge number of segments.
