AUGIWorld Magazine - September/October 2008 - (Page 16)

ent block of your choice. You don’t have to delete a block and insert a new one, just select and switch. Multiblocks 20 instances of Shrub1 and insert the new shrub, or use the Block Substitution Map. It’s up to you. In this case, the client wants it done five minutes ago, so you have to do this fast. In the Substitution Map, click the circle with the plus sign in it to add a substitution to the file. (Clicking the circle with the minus sign will remove a substitution.) In the boxes in the bottom of the window, select the original block (the block to be changed) and select the substitution block (its replacement). Here is where it gets hairy. Every instance of the original block will keep that block’s name but will display the new block, so be careful when substituting. Also, if you insert the original block again somewhere else in the drawing, it will Figure 3: Multiblocks add a sense of realism to a drawing by offering alternate versions of the same block. automatically be substituted accordingly! I recommend doing this only in multiblock. One could be slightly smaller, a a pinch. little bit darker in color, rotated, and so on. This way, those looking at the drawing will Editing blocks Just like in AutoCAD, Impression has understand that these blocks represent the same type of shrub, yet each looks different, a block editor. On the canvas, select the block you want to edit. Double-click the giving the drawing a realistic feel. block to open the editor, or right-click the Block Substitution Map block and select the edit block option. This The Block Substitution Map is where editor acts like a drawing all by itself. You users can substitute blocks with other can change anything about the block’s linblocks. This function will replace every ework, shading, etc. as if you were workinstance of a block with a different block. ing in an Impression drawing. When you Let’s say that we inserted the block Shrub1 are finished, click on the icon that looks 20 times. Now the client wants us to use like a computer disk to save the changes. Shrub 15 instead. You can either delete all To close the editor, click the Close Block 16 I mentioned Multiblocks earlier. Multiblocks are sets of blocks used to achieve variation in your illustration. When you insert a multiblock, Impression places an instance of the multiblock set at the insertion point. This feature keeps your renderings from looking like one shrub (or tree, or car, or dog, or anything) just copied over and over again. A multiblock is made up of two or more blocks, each one slightly (or very) different. When you insert the block, one of these options is inserted, making the drawing different; you choose which version to insert. Look at the Multiblock figure shown below. When I insert Multiblock 1, one of the four shrub blocks shown below it will be inserted in my drawing. This enables me to insert one block but still have a randomness or more natural look to the drawing. The multiblock example shown has four very different blocks in it, but you can create a multiblock that has the same shrub block with four slight variations of it within the Figure 4: The Block Substitution Map displays replacement blocks. Delete the substitution to revert the block to its original form. Figure 5: The Block Editor looks like the canvas. Make your changes and click the close button. Editor button. If you haven’t saved your changes yet, Impression will prompt you to do so. Conclusion Impression has block functionality that is very similar to that of AutoCAD. Users can import, create, and edit blocks using a variety of methods. These blocks allow users to create details and information within their drawings in a very efficient manner. Multiple instances of blocks can all be altered instantly enabling users to make large changes to their drawings quickly. Block editing existing is also relatively easy and quick. Impression Users taking advantage of blocks and their functionality will find that creating and editing drawings is much easier to do. Brian C. Benton is senior engineering CAD technician/designer for Heidt & Associates, Inc, Fort Myers, Florida. Brian has been working with AutoCAD since release 10 in the mechanical, structural, and civil engineering fields. He has been a detailer, drafter, designer, IT assistant, CAD software manager, protector of standards, and proverbial “Help Desk.” He can be reached at benton. brian@gmail.com. w w w. A U G I . c o m http://www.augi.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AUGIWorld Magazine - September/October 2008

AUGIWorld Magazine - September/October 2008 Contents The CAD Manager 2008 Salary Survey Save Time with Impression Blocks In the Family Way Structural Stairs Autodesk University 2008 Preview Action Recorder How to Embrace Third-Party Data On the Back Page

AUGIWorld Magazine - September/October 2008

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