Transparent Walls - AutoCAD MEP Forum

Originally posted by: Steven Morse
A trick seen used by some users is to use walls made of glass. To do this,
you will need to make sure that the drawing that contains your walls has the
material named "Doors & Windows.Glazing.Clear". Use this material for all
the components in your wall, including the Shrinkwrap component.

--
Steven Morse

End of Quote


Well guys, thanks for the copmliments I appreciate that.

The difference between these two methods is that I allow the Architectural designers free reign over his architectural drawings. He can assign all of his materials anyway he wants to.

When I reference his architectural Xref, the default "ABS model imperial.dwt" has a display configuration that takes almost all of the Archiectrual elements and shades them to grey without user input.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the "3DConfig" command is new for ABS . I don't think it was available prior to this release.

Pros and Cons of using this method

Pros:
&#; The Architectural elements show up transparent as defined by your assigned material from the material library.
&#; Using this method as you design your piping and HVAC will allow you to check-as-you-go for interferences.
&#; It also allows you to get an accurate representation of the physical spaces you are working with.

Cons:
&#; Because you assign a 50% Transparent Glass from your material library to color number 8, any subsequent items you draw weather intentional or not on color 8 will be transparent.
&#; As the architectural designer adds new layers throughout the design process, (you might be suprised at how often this happens,) assigned to particular color other then 8, it those new non-archtectural items will not be transparent. (stuff like new annotation and miscellaneous items)

My experience using this method has caused me to strategizing options to deal with the CONS.

My Strategy:
&#; Never draw items on color 8 unless I intentionally want them transparent.
&#; I created a lisp routine that runs evertime I open a drawing with his architectural drawing attached as an Xref that will automatically adjust the all of the layers to color 8.

In my experience, this method has greatly helped my productivity for my designs. The pros greatly outweigh the cons. Especially now that I don't have to deal with them due to my strategies.

This is a good topic, I hope it gets read by more users.
Message was edited by: jayportland

For more information, please visit our website.

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Duote.

Enter the characters you see below

Sorry, we just need to make sure you're not a robot. For best results, please make sure your browser is accepting cookies.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Translucent Background Wall - Stylish Translucent Decorative Board Solutions. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.