By Gary Mann
The best method of setting up a model in any program is in Landscape format so that it fills our landscape monitors fully, exciting the most pixels and resulting in less zoom actions and fewer pan movements. It is not always possible to achieve this, for example if you import a gbXML from elsewhere you have to work with what you receive, or if the building is not rectangular in shape, see below a building which consists of rooms on more than one axis:
The building has been well presented, filling the screen in “Home View”, but 30% of the rooms are not “Orthogonal” e.g. having all horizonal or vertical faces when viewed on plan. The short cut to switching Ortho, O, off & on (Blue is On) is located at the bottom right hand side of the screen. MEPworx defaults to Ortho-On which is good for the rooms on the right-hand side of the screenshot” but less helpful for the left-hand side rooms.
When Defining Rooms, the Ortho Option is of limited help as the “X” or “Snap to DXF” will ensure best room definition, but it is when Inserting Pipe or Duct that the Ortho feature ensures parallel alignment and prevents “dog-leg” definitions in the non-ortho rooms.
The “Short-cut method” of activating this setting is to simply click onto the North Arrow displayed on the “Display>Info Box”.
This will ask you (in the bottom left-hand corner) to “Click on start point” and then; “Click on end point”.
This can also be set in motion via “Display>Options>General>, ticking the “Orthogonal Lines” box and entering the angle via the keyboard numbers.
The drawing Angle is not always known, and it is much easier to define by simply clicking on any two points on a line, as shown below by points 1 & 2.
The summary below shows the Hot & Cold-water services drawn parallel to the DXF, due to the “Ortho Angle” feature that you are now familiar with!
The Ortho Angle option can also be used to align ceiling tiles, Public Health appliances, ventilation grilles and diffusers and Light Fittings etc. In a future blog, I will describe another use for this command, if you haven’t thought of it by then😊.
Please send any feedback or suggestions to gary.mann@cadline.co.uk