OVERVIEW

Autodesk Architectural Desktop is intended to assist the designer in developing architectural working drawings as well as preliminary schematics and computer models of a building. The first release of Autodesk Architectural Desktop was based upon AutoCAD Release 14 in 1998. Autodesk Architectural Desktop Release 2007 utilizes the new features of AutoCAD 2007.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop creates components of a building as 3D objects. Objects consist of walls, doors, windows, stairs and roofs. Because 3D objects are used to develop the drawings, the drawings can be put together to create a three-dimensional model of a building. In addition, Architectural Desktop includes tools for creating schedules that allow you to extract a comprehensive list of doors, windows, furniture, rooms and wall types from the drawing and models.

OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, you will be able to

• Describe the advantages of object technology.

• Describe how to start Architectural Desktop and identify the components of the Architectural Desktop workspace.

• Identify the purpose and resources of the Content Browser, DesignCenter, Detail Component Manager, Display Manager and Style Manager.

• Identify the purpose of ADT templates and Drawing Setup.

• Identify the display options of tool palettes and the Properties palette.

• Describe how to use shortcut menus for command access.

• Describe how to use display configurations and the Object Viewer.

• Describe how to use the Project Browser and Project Navigator to create a project.

ADVANTAGES OF OBJECT TECHNOLOGY

Using Architectural Desktop requires a basic knowledge of AutoCAD because AutoCAD is...