By Dennis Collin
I was recently asked how an AutoCAD block could be made to automatically align itself with a wall or pipe/ductwork. This is actually very easy to do by making a regular AutoCAD block have dynamic characteristics. Dynamic blocks were introduced in 2006 and can be a valuable aid in improving productivity with any organisation using AutoCAD. Over the next few posts, we will investigate how blocks can be made to do more and make the production of consistent and quality drawings easier and faster.
Consider a sink unit, sinks normally need to be aligned to a wall or stud partition. Although elements can be manually aligned and rotated, it is possible with a little bit of extra input to enable elements to align automatically to target elements.
A similar process could be used for light fittings, junction boxes and other electrical equipment. In the example below there are 2 sets of blocks, on the left side some conventional blocks and on the right some dynamic blocks.
Dynamic blocks can be identified because when they are selected, exhibit additional control handles, typically of a cyan colour. These control handles have different shapes with the trapezoid shape indicating an alignment behaviour will apply when the block symbol is dragged to a suitable reference.
When making (or editing) a block, in the block editor reference to the parameter creation palette, click and place an Alignment parameter along a suitable edge and save and exit the block editor.
When the block needs to be placed, click and drag from the dynamic control node and note how the sink unit or any block with similar characteristics aligns to the target reference.
For reuse in other drawings, setup symbol libraries with the AutoCAD Block or Tool Palettes! Work smarter, not harder!
Creating and managing dynamic blocks is just one of several topics that we cover on the 2-day AutoCAD Intermediate Course. However, we also do focused days just on dynamic blocks. Just visit https://training.cadline.co.uk where we will be happy to help.