Building Blocks Are Not Just for Kids: Improved Productivity with AutoCAD Dynamic Blocks

RENU MUTHOO: Welcome to Autodesk University 2024. And welcome to my class, Improved Productivity with AutoCAD Dynamic Blocks. The class number is EDU3021. And my name is Renu Muthoo. I'm a Learning Content Developer for Ascent, and I'm based out of Canada. Before I begin, I want to give you a briefing about the safe harbor statement, which is kind of a legal document which basically states that, please do not make any buying decisions based on the content of this class.

As I mentioned earlier, my name is Renu Muthoo, and I'm a Learning Content Developer with Ascent, which is a division of Rand Worldwide company. The company provides technology solutions, training, and other professional services to the engineering community. But Ascent focuses on the training and curriculum development of Autodesk software products.

Personally, I have over long 25 years of experience in various Autodesk products, such as AutoCAD and other AutoCAD toolsets that include AutoCAD Electrical and AutoCAD Mechanical. I'm also experienced in Autodesk Visualization Software products, and that includes Autodesk 3ds Max and VRED Professional.

Now, as a learning content developer, my everyday work involves creating the courseware and training materials for the Autodesk products. Of course, in my field of experience, and I also provide support for these products. I'm an Autodesk Certified Professional in AutoCAD, and I have co-authored books on AutoCAD and 3ds Max.

I've spoken at Autodesk University a few times in the past, and I'm returning with this class for AU 2024. I write blog posts and also create webcast sessions which can be found at the Ascent website. And if you want to check it out, I have provided the link here.

Now, before we start with the actual concept of this class, I'll just take a couple of minutes of your time and give you a little backdrop of this conference and what a great opportunity of learning it gives us. As you must have noticed, that the AU 2024 is labeled as the Design and Make Conference. So there is a Design and Make report that came out.

In this year's State of Design and Make report, some of the top insights are business resilience, talent, and sustainability. So for business to become resilient in this day and age, in addition to other factors, they need to become digitally mature, and they have to be open to embrace AI. Digital maturity means to be able to adapt to this ever-changing world of technology. That is why this conference becomes important.

And two things that stand out for me are, number one, is that the new technological changes, which includes the Autodesk software new features, these are being showcased here. And number two, we, as learners, get a chance to learn new skills and make use of them to improve our overall working and designing using the relevant software. And that is what covers upskilling and training.

Now, let's get started with this class, which is all about dynamic blocks in AutoCAD. Now, let's go over the objectives of this class and see what all we will accomplish by the end of this class. You will notice the bold words in each objective. And these are the action items for this class today.

So the first objective is to add parameters to convert to geometry. The converted geometry here means the geometry that has been converted into a standard block. Then the second objective is to associate some actions to the added parameter.

Both of these things together make the blocks dynamic. Remember, both parameters and actions together convert the standard block into a dynamic block. The third objective is to use the cloud environment to store and retrieve the blocks. And although it's not about dynamic blocks per se, but it is about how to access your blocks, which can be dynamic or otherwise, using the cloud environment. This means reliable access of blocks anywhere and from any internet-connected device, which can be a tablet or a mobile device.

Before we dive deep into each objective, let's first try to understand what dynamic blocks are and how are they different from regular blocks. To explain that, I will share a small story with you. A long, long time ago-- all stories start like that. Anyways, I was working for a company that would make assets for different other companies that were our clients. By assets, what I mean is that we would create AutoCAD drawings of their objects.

One such client we had was a playground company. And actually, that's where the name of the title for this class came from. Building blocks is not just for kids. So we had to make drawings of various playground equipment. And what we realized was that each equipment-- for example, a slide-- the same slide came in four different sizes. So instead of making four separate blocks of four different sizes of slides, we started by creating a single block of the slide, and then we would incorporate all the four sizes within that same block.

That is what a dynamic block is. And that's where the difference between a standard block and a dynamic block lies. A standard block is a single instance of a block, whereas, in dynamic block, we define one instance of the block, but different actions and parameters are added such that you can have the same block in different sizes, as you saw for the slide, different orientations, like you could have a flipping action defined in them. You could also incorporate different visibility states and many other configurations as well.

Therefore, these dynamic blocks, in a way, become resilient and become intelligent objects, which can change as per the parameters and actions that are defined for them. What it does is that it reduces rework because we're not building for different objects from scratch, which, in turn, helps to increase productivity as well.

Now, how do we add variations to a standard block? That is done by adding actions and parameters. Or in other words, the parameters and actions convert a standard block into a dynamic one. So the next logical question is, where and how do we add those parameters and actions? That's where the Block Editor comes into picture, as we add the parameters and actions to a standard block in the Block Editor.

Now, I will explain the Block Editor and the tools available there in the next slide. But first, let's see how to get to the Block Editor. Although, I think most of you must know how to get to the Block Editor. But I will quickly show you the different methods.

One is through the Block Definition dialog box. Again, most of that we use the Block Definition dialog box to create a standard block. And in this dialog box, in addition to different block creation options, you have the Open in Block Editor checkbox. You can see in the slide the arrow is pointing towards it. So checking this option opens the newly created block directly in the Block Editor.

Now, if you have a standard block already created, in that case, you have to get to the Edit Block Definition dialog box. So if you haven't already created block, double-click it to open it in the Edit Block Definition dialog box. Select it there, like select the block. And then when you say, OK, it opens the block in the Block Editor.

Now, this Edit Block Definition dialog box can also be opened using the Block Editor tool, which is in the Insert tab of the ribbon. So you need not necessarily only double-click, but you can also open it up from using the Block Editor tool.

We have opened the block in the Block Editor environment. So here you will notice that the block is displayed on a grayish background, which is the default color of the Block Editor environment. This gives you an indication that you are working in a different environment than that of a drawing window.

It also opens the Block Editor contextual tab in the ribbon, which has all the tools that are used for creation of dynamic blocks. Along with the contextual tab, the Block Authoring palettes are also opened. I will talk about the palettes in a second, but let's get back to the contextual tab for now.

So this contextual tab contains all the actions and parameters that are required for creation of the dynamic block. And Additionally, you also have specific tools-- for example, for testing the dynamic block and saving it. As I mentioned earlier, along with the contextual tab, the Block Authoring palettes are also displayed, and which contains the actions and parameters that are logically bunched together in the respective tabs.

You can see that on the slide there. So the Authoring tools are located in both the contextual tab and the block authoring palettes. But personally, I find the palettes easier to use because they bunch together all the tools in their respective tabs.

Now, let's see the Authoring tools that are available. I'll give you an overview of the Block Authoring tools. And then we will subsequently go deeper into the parameter and actions that are the first and the second objective for today's class.

There are four tabs in the Block Authoring palette. And they are Parameters, Actions, Parameter Sets, and Constraints. So parameters are aspects of geometry that are controlled by actions. And actions are-- needs to be done with the geometry. Parameter Sets lets you define parameters and actions together in a single tool. It basically provides you some standard parameters and actions, action combinations. And finally, constraints are meant to retain correct shape and correct geometry.

Today, I will demonstrate some of the parameter tools and some of the action tools to create a dynamic block. Dynamic blocks are really vast, and you can do some awesome stuff with it. And I know that many of you must have had extensive experience with dynamic blocks. But those of you who have not used dynamic blocks as much, I'm hoping that this class will be the starting point and will urge you to dive deep into it and use it in your everyday work.

Now, before going further with the creation of dynamic blocks, let me first demonstrate how to get to the Block Editor. Although this is not an objective, but it's a necessary step in the creation of a dynamic block. Now, here you see the geometry of a desk and a chair unit. And it is open in the Drawing window. Now, we will start by creating a block of this desk unit.

In the Block Definition dialog box, we'll enter the name. And then we'll pick its base point. And now we have to select the objects, which includes both the desk and the chair together. Note that the Open in Block Editor is checked, which will open the standard block directly in the Block Editor environment.

You notice that the Block Editor environment has a gray background. And it indicates that it's different from the drawing environment. There are the Block Authoring palettes. And then the palettes are the Parameters, Actions, Parameter Sets, and Constraints. And all the relevant tools are available in their respective tabs.

The Block Editor contextual tab is also opened. And it has the tools to Save and Test the block. Now, if, for some reason, the Authoring palette is not displayed, you can click on the button in the contextual tab to open it. And then, as mentioned, all the parameters and all the action tools are also available here as well. Once we are done creating the dynamic block, there is also the Close Block Editor tool that is available in the contextual tab.

Now, let's discuss the parameters and actions which are the first two objectives of today's class. Both of these need to be discussed together. So let's start with parameters first. Now, parameters are generally the first item to be added to create a dynamic block. They define aspects of geometry that are needed to be controlled by action. In other words, we need to define the geometry that we want to manipulate and how we want to manipulate.

On most parameters, you need to apply actions for them to work-- for example, linear, polar, rotation. All these parameters work in a two-step process. First, you apply the parameter, and then you add the associated action with it. For example, if you want the block to be able to hold different sizes, then we use the linear parameter and then associate a stretch or a scale action with it.

Now, having said that, there are certain parameters that are completely independent and don't need actions to be associated-- for example, the alignment and the visibility parameter. They do not need actions to be applied to them. They work independently, and they are complete in itself.

When you apply a parameter, you need to define the geometry and certain other specifications. It is different for different parameters. For example, for a linear parameter, you need to specify the start and the endpoint for the distance. You can see that on the screen. But in case of a rotation parameter, you need to specify the base point, the radius, and the angle.

As with regular AutoCAD commands, you get the prompts. And you get those prompts here as well. So these are pretty straightforward, and you just have to follow those prompts to specify what the parameter needs. When the parameter is placed, specific grip points are also displayed-- for example, the right and left-pointing arrows for the linear parameter on the top image on the screen and a round grip for the rotation parameter, which is the lower image on the slide.

After the parameter has been set, actions need to be added to it to work properly. Now, in most cases, both parameter and action work in partnership. Now, let's define action. The word "action" means the process of doing something to achieve a certain goal. This is the dictionary meaning of the word "action."

Now, that is exactly what it does in dynamic blocks as well. It defines what you're going to do to the associated geometry. As I said before, without an action, the parameter is incomplete-- although, not all, but most of them. So an action is required to be associated with a parameter. You need to remember that.

Now that the parameter has been set, an action is required. What all is required for adding the action? So when associating an action, you first need to select the parameter to which you want to associate the action to. That's obvious. And then, as with parameters, the next steps are action specific.

For example, for a stretch action, after selecting the parameter, which, in this case, is the linear parameter, then you are required to specify the point of action. It can be the right or left points because it's the point in which direction you want to stretch. After this, you are prompted to define the area, which is called the frame. You can see it on the top image on the slide.

And then, finally, you specify the objects. Again, on the slide, you can see the green arrow, the green square that has all that is all the objects in it, selected the objects in it. Once you complete the process of associating an action, the icon for that action is displayed along with the parameter grip.

Now, let's see how the parameter and actions are applied in the Block Editor. Now, we want to stretch the desk horizontally. So in the Block Authoring palette, in the Parameters tab, select the Linear parameter. It prompts for two points for the distance. Now, after giving the points, we place the parameter. Now it displays the parameter and two linear grips and an exclamation mark, which indicates that no action is associated with the parameter.

Now, in the Actions tab, select the Stretch action. We will follow the prompts. And following the prompts, the first is to select the parameter you want to associate the action with, which is the Linear parameter. Then select the point of action, which is the right grip point, then the frame of action, which is the right side.

And finally, we'll select the geometry for the action to work on. And that is the right side. So we select the two horizontal edges and the right vertical edge. This is because we want to stretch on the right side. You will notice that the Action icon is associated with the right grip point.

Now, note that the left grip point has an exclamation mark, which indicates that it does not have an action associated with it. But we do not want to stretch on the left side grip. So what we do is we will select the grip, like so, and then delete this left grip point.

Now, let's apply another parameter, but this time it's an independent parameter. So select the Alignment parameter. Apply the left point as the base point. And then select the horizontal edge of the desk as the edge that will align. Now we have the alignment grip on the left point, and we have the linear grip at the right point, which is pointing towards the right side. And the stretch action is associated with it.

Now let's talk about the Properties palette. Although it is not one of the objectives, but it is associated with parameters and can be extremely useful. There can be multiple dynamic blocks in a drawing. And it is-- it can get really complicated. So it's a good practice to label your parameters by assigning a name and description.

This is where the Properties palette comes in handy. As the various properties of any regular object are listed in the Properties palette, it is very similar for the parameter as well. So when you select a parameter, all its properties are listed in the Properties palette. And you can manipulate the properties here.

For example, on the slide, you can see the properties of the linear parameter. In the Property labels, the Distance1 is the name given by default. And you can change it to something else that is more appropriate and also give a description. This will help you in identifying this parameter at a later time.

There are additional properties as well. And these properties are, again, parameter-dependent, which means that they differ for each parameter. In case of a linear parameter, you can set the value set options. You can see on the left image on the screen, and these value set options, these allow you to set certain restrictions for manipulation.

You can select the distance type, where you can include built-in length sizes. Or you can either increase the sizes in increments or in the form of a list. So you can choose those in the Value Set here.

Let's go back to the Block Editor contextual tab and, for a minute, talk about some of the tools, additional tools, therein. There is the Test Block tool, which, as you must have gathered, is used to test the block. Once you select this Test Block tool, it opens the dynamic block in a separate test window. Now, whatever you do or whatever changes you make here, they do not affect the actual dynamic block. It's simply the testing environment. And once you're done testing, close the test window, and you're back in the Block Editor.

Once the dynamic block is working properly, and then you can save the block. You obviously do not want to lose all the work. And so saving becomes-- saving the block becomes very, very important. And then, finally, you can use the Close Block Editor tool in the contextual tab to revert back to the regular drawing environment.

Now that we have a dynamic block created, we have given its parameters, we have added the actions to it, we also have seen the properties. But how would you be able to tell that how you can manipulate it and what all is built into it? So to know what kind of variation is built into a dynamic block, we need to first select it with displays the grips on it. And each shape of the grip indicates the action or variation that has been incorporated into that block.

The available block grips are Lengthen/Shorten grip. They are the right-pointing arrows or the left-pointing arrows. So all these are displayed in the-- on the screen in the slide. Then there is also the List grip, which looks like a downward-pointing arrow. Then the Move grip, which is a square grip, Flip grip, Align grip, and Rotate grip.

Again, as I mentioned earlier, these modification features can differ from one block to another. For example, one dynamic block might only have the Lengten/Shorten grip, while another might have the Flip, List, and Rotate grips. So all of the actions are rarely available in one block, but blocks usually have more than one action.

Some of the special grips also display a tooltip when you hover your cursor over them. And you can see that on the bolt block. When we hover the cursor on the right square grip, it gives you a tooltip. And these tooltips, what they do is they explain its use and indicates the action that is required.

Now, this demonstration is to add some restrictions to the dynamic block using the Properties palette because we have already applied-- we have already given the parameters and the actions associated with that parameters. So now we will start by testing the block. And note, once we start testing-- so once we start testing the block, then once we click on it, we are in a separate test window. Now select the block, and use the right stretch arrow to stretch the desk.

Note that you can stretch it as far as you want. Although this is the correct result, but it should not stretch infinitely. We need to fix this. So for-- to do that, we'll close the Test window, and we're back in the Block Editor. Now, stretching the desk infinitely does not make any sense. And therefore, we do not need to put some restrictions-- we do need to put some restrictions.

But first, let's start by labeling the parameter. And that can be done in the Property Label rollout. Now, to add restrictions in the Value Set rollout, select the distance type, where you can control the stretch either in increments or in the form of a list. We will stretch the desk in increments of 1 feet. So it will only stretch at a time in 1 feet-- by 1 feet.

So we-- now, you can note that the increments start from the left of the horizontal edge of the desk and continues infinitely. So we need to put some minimum and maximum restrictions. So let's assume, or let's think that the smallest desk cannot be less than 6 feet, which is defined by the dist minimum. We will enter 6 feet there. And then we can go up to a maximum of 12 feet, which is controlled by the dist maximum.

Here you can see that five increment marks are added, indicating that the restrictions are set. Now let's test the block. You can see there are only six variations of the desk, starting from 6 feet, 6 inches to 11 feet, 6 inches, which is less than 12 feet, under 12 feet, because that's the maximum we gave it. Now that the desk variations are set properly, close the Test window, save the block, and then close the Block Editor.

Now that we have created the dynamic block and then saved it as well, so we can insert it in the drawing and use its variations wherever required. Now, this can be done by using the Blocks palette. When you open the Blocks palette, you will see that the newly created dynamic block is available in the current drawing tab and in the recent tab. Also note that there is a lightning bolt symbol that displays with the block. It indicates that the block is a dynamic block.

Now, for the accessibility over the cloud, which is our third objective, so we can do that in the blocks palette. So the Blocks palette, it also allows you to store all the blocks that are located in the Recent and the Favorites tab into a cloud location with a supported cloud storage provider. Now, the different cloud storage provider for Autodesk are Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. By storing the blocks on the cloud, you can access and use them with internet-enabled devices anytime and from anywhere. You're just required to be signed into your Autodesk account to allow the application to access your blocks.

Now, in the Options area, use the Settings icon. On the slide, the top-most image shows the Settings icon in the Options area of the Block palette. Clicking it opens the Block Sync Settings dialog box. And in that dialog box, you can select the location on the cloud and manage your Sync Settings as well.

Once you save the blocks on the cloud, the Settings icon is replaced by a cloud icon. It automatically gets replaced. And that is shown in the lower-- the lowest-most image on the slide. This indicates-- once you get this cloud icon, it indicates that the Recent tab-- the blocks in the Recent tab and the Favorite tab are now available on the cloud and can be accessed on devices anytime and from anywhere. That's what it means, the cloud icon.

Now, let's see how we can access the blocks on the cloud on devices from any location. Now that the dynamic block is saved already, you will find it in the Blocks palette. Note that the new dynamic block is listed in the Current Drawing tab and the Recent tab. Note that the block has the lightning bolt symbol, which indicates that this block is a dynamic block, and variations have been applied to it.

Now, let's insert the block to the upper-left corner of the room. Move the block closer to the slanting wall. And notice how the block automatically snaps into place with its horizontal edge, which gets flushed with the wall. This is because of the alignment parameter.

Now select the desk unit to display its grips. So it has the alignment grip and the stretch arrow grip. Select the stretch grip and check the size variations of the desk. We will extend it to its maximum size of 11 feet and 6 inches, which is the maximum limit and is under 12 feet because that was the maximum limit we had given.

Now, in the Options area, right there, off the Block palette, note that there is the Settings icon. This indicates that the blocks are not accessible on the cloud, and they cannot be accessed on other devices. So to change that, click on the Settings icon to open the Block Sync Settings dialog box.

Select the Folder Selection button here. And then you need to set the path location to supported cloud storage provider. We will choose the Dropbox, which is one of the Autodesk-supported cloud storage providers.

Now, once we have selected the path, in the Block Sync Settings dialog box, note that the-- note the new path to the Dropbox. And here you have the storage permission as well. Now select OK, and note that the Settings icon is now changed to the cloud icon. And what does that indicate? It indicates that the blocks that are in the Recent tab and in the Favorites tab of the Block palette are now available on the cloud and can be accessed on multiple internet-enabled devices from any location.

Finally, now, let's take a recap and the recap of how to create dynamic blocks and how to store and retrieve them using the cloud environment. Now, the first objective was to apply the parameters to the converted geometry, which here means a standard block. So use-- what we did was use the Block Editor to apply the parameter and specify the geometry to manipulate.

Then, remember that the parameters alone cannot create a dynamic block. So you need to associate actions with it. Although, this is not the case for all the parameters. But in most cases, an action needs to be associated with the parameter for it to work properly.

That brings in the second objective for today. So for the action, the first and foremost step is to identify the parameter to associate it with. Then you have to define the frame and geometry and, finally, the point of action.

Although this completed the creation of the dynamic block, but as you saw, most of the times, we need to put some restrictions and add some control. Therefore, for the parameter and action to work optimally, we saw how important the Properties palette was. Not only do we use the Properties palette to put restrictions, but we also use it to label the parameter, which becomes important for bigger blocks that can have multiple parameters and actions.

And finally, the third objective was about using the cloud environment and how to make use of the cloud storage providers to store and retrieve blocks on multiple devices anytime and from anywhere. This feature is useful for those of you who might be going on the site or might be on the go and want to have the blocks available to you anywhere.

So as we saw, this can be done through the Blocks palette, where the Settings icon changes to the cloud icon, indicating that the accessibility of the blocks over the cloud. Using the cloud storage providers' specific cloud collaboration features, you can also share the blocks with your team members such that there is no duplication of fact. There's-- sorry, there's no duplication of work.

Now, that ends this class today. And I'm giving you my contact information. I have provided you with my email address here. I'm on LinkedIn, as most of us are nowadays. I do also write blogs and create webcasts as well. And these can be found on the Ascent website. You can check out my blog posts and webcasts at the link provided. And I'm hoping you might be able to find something useful and of interest to you.

And finally, thank you all for joining this presentation. I really enjoyed speaking with you and hope this session has been useful. So thank you again.