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Don't Forget Dynamic Blocks
Tip# 3597 By Andria Lynch On 13-Mar-2011
4
Rated By 1 users Downloaded : 561
Categories : Dynamic Blocks
Software type : AutoCAD 2011
Rename File To : Exit Sign.dwg
Save time by using the same linework again and again.

Tipster Andria Lynch reminds AutoCAD users about dynamic blocks and their capabilities.

"Many users will appreciate this forgotten functionality of AutoCAD blocks. While in the block editor, explore the block palette to add actions, parameters, and constraints to your block to create more functionality. This is a simple Exit Sign Block that has been given a visibility parameter to be able to change the position of the solid fill region. You can add actions such as stretch, rotate, and scale, and even parameters that can change the block's visibility state."
 
Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: Dynamic blocks are a real time-saver; they let designers reuse the same linework over and over again. If you are an architect and need to show a chair in plan view, odds are that you will need to show it more than once. That is where a block in AutoCAD comes in. Create it, insert it, and insert it again until you are finished — no need to redraw it every time!

Yes, you could always copy the linework, but a block makes things much easier. It also allows you to make universal changes to your chair very quickly. If the chair design changes, just alter the block. Everywhere it is inserted, that block will be updated. Dynamic blocks give you even more power, allowing you to change your block. You can make a chair block that has three designs in it. Insert the block, then choose which design you want. If a particular instance of the block needs a different design, simply choose the alternate design. You can also add other feature like stretch, array, and many more.
 

 

Average Rating:
4


User comments
Comment by Anil,Lewis
Posted on 2011-03-15 17:04:46
I work as an adjunct AutoCAD instructor and the current text book we have for AutoCAD 2010 states in the Blocks and Block Attribute chapter that if the student accidentally starts the Block Editor environment the should select the Close Block Editor button and return to their drawing and perhaps play with and use the sample dynamic blocks provided by AutoCAD. I have written a simple tutorial for my students to build a Detail Tag to give them a taste of block editing, but it is something that is quite advanced and quite permanent. One should always, in my opinion, edit copies of blocks so as not to modify the original. There is no going back. That said, I believe all AutoCAD users should at least hold hands with the block editor and hopefully expand into a full-blown relationship after time and practice. It is one of the most powerful tools developed in recent releases.