Helm Roberts
Architect/Planner
360 New Street
Lexington, KY 40507
Phone: 859-389-8165
Fax: 859-255-6544
E-mail Address:
hr@helmr.com
Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial
HelmCAD - AutoCAD Drawing Production System |
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| Background | Since 1987, in both architectural and planning
work, the office has used AutoCAD for design and drafting of most graphics, starting with
the design of the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a Comprehensive
Master Plan for the Air National Guard squadron in Knoxville, TN. From
these projects I learned
that the accuracy of AutoCAD drawings is, for all practical purposes....perfect.
After more than ten years of hands-on experience, a "system" for using
AutoCAD consistently and efficiently was developed. This system has been dubbed
"HelmCAD" by other users. This page will present concepts and graphic illustrations of the system at work. The aim is to provide, at a very basic level, a simple, direct approach to the use of AutoCAD in the real world of drawing production. Please feel free to use the concepts of the system in your own work. As this web page grows, I expect to be offering basic "shareware" files which implement the "HelmCAD" system, including LSP, SCR, PGP, and MNU files for those wishing an introduction to the rich programming tools available in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. |
| Concepts | • 20/80 Principal:
It is said that twenty percent of the commands do eighty percent of the work. My
experience confirms this principal. It is important to have easy access to the most used
commands. • User Learning Curve: This system concentrates on the most used commands. It is important for the beginning user to have positive feedback...to feel "in control" early in the learning process by learning the basic commands and concepts. Once these basics are mastered, additional features will come more easily. • Keyboard: HelmCAD uses shortcut keyboard entry for the most commonly used commands through the use of Command Aliases, Lisp Macros and Accelerator Keys. Less used commands can be accessed by the command line, the pull-down menus, toolbars and dialogue boxes. • Scale Sensitivity: AutoCAD drawing is always done full-size on the screen. Scale becomes relevant only when the drawing is plotted. Some drawing objects are "scale sensitive" such as Text Size, Hatching, Dimensioning and Line Weight. These objects must be adjusted to the plot scale. Other objects can be plotted at any scale. • Layers: An infinite number of layers can be created in AutoCAD. Only one layer is necessary in traditional manual drafting. Overlay drafting rarely needs more than 5 layers. To keep the drawing simple, layers should only be created as needed. |
| Internet Access Requires "AutoDesk Express" Viewer Download to View |
AutoCAD has created a special file format for
distribution of drawings over the web using the DWF (Drawing Web Format)
file format. These files can
be viewed and printed to printer or plotter, but cannot be changed by the viewer. The
attached drawings illustrate the DWF drawing format. These files can be
downloaded and viewed using the free "AutoDesk Express Viewer" plug-in software
available from AutoDesk.
Apartment
Floor Plans Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial |
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(Right Click File Name---Save Target As.... View using AutoDesk Express Viewer) |
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