Power Dimensioning in AutoCAD Mechanical: Adding Power to the Mechanical Designs

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: Good morning, everybody. My name is Sridhar. I work as a product owner and QA analyst for Autodesk. I've been working with Autodesk for the past 13 years. So I take care of AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD architectures.

So, without further ado, let's get started. So we all know about our class summary. We'll be discussing about power damage dimensioning and editing the power dimension and use our custom dimension style in the Power Dimension tool. So the key learning objectives of today's class is, how to create and edit power dimensions, how to insert fits and tolerances for the dimensions, and how to create views with our power dimensions, and, finally, how to use the custom dimension style in our company. The first topic we want to discuss is about creating different dimension types.

When you're using AutoCAD, you have to use multiple dimension tools to create dimensions using linear dimension, angular, radial, or circular dimensions, or you need to look at the object type and then choose your dimension type. Whereas using Power Dimension tool, a single tool, you can create any type of dimension, or you can automatically select the object type.

So let's see a quick demo on how that works. I'll switch to AutoCAD, open a sample drawing file. I'll zoom into this area.

From the Annotate tab, you can choose the Power Dimension tool, or you can enter the command AMPOWERDIM. So you can either choose the first and the second one, the way we create the linear dimensions, or press Enter to select target. In this case, I'll select two points.

So, as we drag the mouse, we notice, here, the color changes from green to red. That means it's exactly adjusting the baseline distance from the base object. So this is as per the industry standard. We don't need to worry about where exactly we need to place the dimension.

So I'll pick the point. So here we have a lot of options. We'll get to them in a short while. I'll press the Enter key.

So we can press the Enter key again, and we are ready to create another dimension. This time, I'm going to pick the horizontal line, here, and place the dimension. Press the Enter key again.

So, this time, I'm going to select an incline line. I'm still within the same dimension command. I haven't exited the command yet. As you see here, so the incline or dimension is automatically created. Press the Enter key.

So, now, press the Enter key again. I'll hover over on the circle. You can see a cursor glyph there saying that it's creating a diameter dimension. So this will help us in not-- it is in the existing dimension.

Probably you need a radius dimension, radial dimension. But you created a diameter dimension. What you need to do is just go exit the command, erase it, come back, and create a new diameter dimension. In this case, because of the cursor glyph, we don't have to worry about that.

So you can pick the circle. As you are placing the dimension, notice the phi symbol is automatically added to the dimension. We don't need to add the %% diameter symbol, here. So I'll pick OK.

So, in this case, I'll zoom to this area. Maybe I want to create a radius dimension. Pick the Radius option. Select the Enter key.

And now, if you notice, the cursor glyph has changed to the Radius option, here. So this will increase your productivity in not redoing the same dimensions again and again. So this will increase your productivity, as well.

I'll press the Enter key and pick this line, here. And I'm creating an incline dimension. Place the dimension.

And here you have many options, here. You can either choose maximum material condition. And there are a lot more symbols, in the dropdown. You can choose any one of them. You don't have to remember those %% keys, in order to enter these symbols into the dimension.

So maybe I can select one dimension, one symbol, here, and click the button. So, this way, using one single command, you can create any number of dimensions. Not only that, maybe I'll go ahead and create a vertical dimension-- place the dimension here.

And now I want to continue with the chain dimension order baseline dimension. I can choose the option Baseline, here, and pick the point. So another dimension is automatically added.

So all these dimensions are created using just a single tool. And I've entered the command only once. I haven't exited the command yet. So, this way, you can create any number of dimensions, and the objects are automatically selected. So this will increase your productivity.

All right? Anytime, if I'm too fast, you can stop me, ask me to slow down. Yeah. And probably, questions, can we keep it at the end? Is it OK? Thank you.

So the next topic is about creating multiple dimensions. Now we saw, using one single tool, we were able to create multiple dimensions. And we have more tools to create the automatic dimensions, like parallel dimensions. The next one is the ordinate dimensions. And symmetry dimensions on your shafts.

Let's see a quick demo how this works. I'll open a sample drawing. I'll zoom into this area, here. From the Annotate Dimension panel, I'll pick the Multiple Dimension option.

And we have three types here. Let's go over the parallel dimension. When I click on the Type dropdown, I have two types here-- whether I want to automatically create a baseline dimension or a chain dimension. In this case, I'll select a baseline dimension. What is the type of alignment that you want to select, here? And, while creating the baseline dimension, do you want to create that on both the axis-- your x- and y-axis?

Let me select Both Axis option, here, and pick OK. At the command prompt, you are prompted to select the objects. I'll drag a window, select the objects, press the Enter key.

And now we need the first extension line. I'm going to pick the bottom left-hand corner. Either you can specify the second extension line distance or you can allow software to choose.

As we move, you can notice the dimension line colors are again changing from green to red. That means, as per the industry standard, it's adjusting the distance from the base object to the dimension, and the subsequent dimensions are also based on the industry standard. You can pick the dimensions.

Now, in one shot, I was able to place two dimensions. You can select any number of objects. I'll press an Enter key, for placing the dimensions on the y-axis.

I'll pick a point, here, and press the Enter key. If you notice, here, there are a few dimensions which I don't want them here. Probably, the dimension of 0.38, I don't want that here.

I'll switch to Home tab, pick the Erase button. The Erase button, here, has been rooted to AMPOWERERASE. In AutoCAD, the same symbol will invoke ERASE command, whereas in AutoCAD Mechanical it is AMPOWERERASE command.

What it can do for us? I'll pick the ERASE command and pick the dimension, here. And, if you notice, all the dimensions shifted to the base object. This is the advantage of using Power Erase in AutoCAD Mechanical.

See, in case of AutoCAD, what we had to do was use ERASE command-- fine-- then rearrange the dimensions, all of them using your grid point reading or mouse or Draw window-- adjust them. So it takes time, in exactly placing the dimensions, whereas Power Dimension can automatically align the dimensions.

Let's see another option. Click on Multiple Dimensions again. This time, I'm going to choose Ordinate Dimension. I want to create the ordinate dimension on both axes, as well as based on the industry standard, here. I'll pick OK.

So you are prompted to select the objects, drag a window, and select the objects. I'll pick the first ordinate point and press Enter key. The ordinate dimensions are placed on the x-axis. I'll press the Enter key again. I can pick a point, to place the ordinate dimensions on the y-axis, as well. Press the Enter key, to exit.

I'll repeat the command-- Multiple Dimension option, this time. This time, I want to create shaft or symmetric dimensions. So, the type, I'm going to select the shaft, front view. This is a shaft, with a front view.

So let me click on the preview, here. If you notice, the dimensions are shifting. What is a type of dimension that you want to create while inserting the dimensions? Whether you want the dimensions to be inside the shaft, or outside the shaft, or the side view of the shaft, is what you're creating.

You can choose the different type from clicking on the preview. You don't have to go here, select the option, and then see the preview. Instead, you can click on the preview. For this demo, let's select the shaft front view and click OK.

I'm going to select the objects. Pick OK. I'm prompted to select the center line. So you can pick the center line and insert the dimensions.

Another advantage of using the Multiple Dimension option is, you can edit them at any point of time. For example, if I double-click on the dimension line or the extension line, I'm not prompted to modify the text. Instead, I am prompted to modify the dimension type.

I can choose a different dimension type, or maybe I can select the palette dimension type here. Click OK. Select the dimensions that you want to modify. Click OK. Pick the extension point, to place the dimensions.

So this will help you in modifying the existing-- instead of erasing the dimensions and recreating them, all you have to do is double-click on the Power Dimension and modify it to a different dimension type. So let me close this drawing, so that I can easily switch.

The next topic that we want to discuss is about overlapping the dimensions. When you're creating dimensions in AutoCAD, there are always chances that you might overlap a dimension on another dimension. What do you need to do is, first you need to either repair it and move it off, or erase the dimension and then insert a new dimension.

That is time-consuming. Whereas with the Power Dimension, whenever you overlap on an another dimension, you're prompted with three different options. Either do you want to replace-- that means, erase the existing one, and insert a new dimension in that place-- or break up that-- you have one dimension that you want to break it up into two linear dimensions, or move away.

The third one is move away, where you want to retain the dimensions but you want to move that dimension away from the base object and insert another one on top of that. Let's see how this works in our demo. I'll open a drawing

All right? I'll click on the Power Dimension tool. This time, I'm going to pick this endpoint of the shift and another endpoint of the shaft, here. Moreover, once you see the red line on your overlapping on another existing dimension, pick a point, and you will see this yellow box. In this case, I want to replace the dimension 2.75 with a new dimension that I'm creating now. I'll start with the Replace button and pick OK.

The existing dimension is deleted and replaced with a new dimension. So now, in this case, I'm going to pick another two endpoints. Hover over on this dimension, and say I want to break this up into two chain dimensions. Pick the Breakup option. Click OK. The existing dimension is broken into two dimensions, in a form of chain. Click Enter.

I'm going to pick this endpoint, another endpoint here, hover over on this dimension. So what I want to do is move the existing dimension away from the base object and insert the new dimension that I'm creating now. Pick a point, like I said, click on Move Away. Click OK in the dialog box.

Now, if you notice, the new dimension is created. The existing dimension is moved away. And the baseline distance between the new dimension and the existing dimension is maintained. This is the advantage of using the Power Dimension or the existing AutoCAD linear dimension.

So the next topic is on inserting the tolerance. Whenever you're creating the dimensions, and if the drawing is going to a shop floor, a dimension without any tolerance or fits probably may not have any meaning. So, for manufacturing, you need always to specify your tolerance in your dimension. Let's see how that works in Power Dimension.

In case of AutoCAD, you need to either select [INAUDIBLE], enabling the tolerance, or you need to create a different dimension style, enable the Tolerance option, and then create the tolerance. Whereas in AutoCAD Mechanical, you don't have to worry about all those things. So you can either switch on or switch off the Tolerance option. Let's see how that works.

I'll pick the Dimension tool from the ribbon, pick two endpoints of a shaft, place the dimension. In the ribbon contextual tab, you can select the Tolerance option, here. Pick the button. And the Tolerance is enabled by default.

You can select the method. So we'll come back to the method a little later. You can specify your upper deviation. Maybe I want 0.01. You can key. And the lower deviation. In this case, you should make sure that you enter the minus symbol yourself. So the software doesn't take care of the negative value. So I'll enter minus 0.02 and press Enter.

So now I can place a dimension. Now you can see the color of the tolerance is different, as of the text value. I'll pick another object, here, place the dimension. The existing tolerance will continue.

You can click on the Method dropdown. And there are a few types of methods that you can use. Depending upon your company standard or the industry standard that you're following, you can choose either you want AutoCAD limits or deviation or tolerance deviation. And you can see, there, some color codings, as well.

Whether you want the tolerance to be in green color, or you want the tolerance to follow the dimension text color. So, in this case, maybe I'll choose the same dimension text color. So what I'll do is try to modify this to one. As soon as I modify the lower deviation to 0.01, notice here the two values have been replaced as a single value and a plus or minus symbol is placed as a tolerance value. So, this way, you have the flexibility of adding tolerance, using Power Dimension.

At any point of time, you can double-click on the dimension and modify the value. Click on the dropdown on the fit and tolerance panel. You can increase or decrease the precision value. So I'll leave it as 0.02. Pick Enter.

So the next topic that we want to discuss is on the fits. This is another way of mentioning your upper deviation or lower deviation on your tolerance values. So let's see how we can insert a fit on a shaft or a hole. I'll switch to the same drawing again, zoom into this area, click on the Power Dimension tool, select the Fit button, here.

If you exactly know the symbols, you can key in, or you can click on the dropdown, select Fits dialog box, and select the type of hole you want. As soon as you select the options, here, you can see the values are getting updated in this area. So you need not refer to your standard books to see what exactly is the value for LT3 or maybe LC3, in this case.

So I'm going to select LC3, here, and pick OK. Pick the two points. Insert the dimension. So I'm going to repeat the same thing.

For the same fits, you can also select a representation that you want. Maybe I can set up a different representation, in this case, and choose a different symbol. Maybe I'll set an FN and 3. Pick OK.

So it's giving a message saying that FN3 on the inch drawing is not recommended. So you are even notified with the standard violations. I'll pick OK. Press the Enter key. All right.

Now we manage to place the fits in the drawing. But how about the values? How do we inform the shop floor what is the value of LC3NFN3? In this case, we can insert a fit list. I'll type the command and fit list. Press the Enter key.

I want to create a new fit list, in this case, because there is no existing fit list. You can pick a point on the screen and insert the fit list. And you can see the corresponding values for those fits.

So, at any point of time, you can modify the dimension and change the type of symbol. In this case, I'll set up two different values and pick OK. Press Enter key.

As soon as you exit the command, you are prompted whether you want to update the fit list now. You can either pick Yes or No, depending upon your requirement. I'll pick Yes, in this case, and the fit list is automatically updated with the new value that I selected. And you can see the corresponding values for those fit list. Switch to the PowerPoint.

So we saw a demo on fit list now. The next topic we want to discuss is creating views in a layout and dimensioning. Once we update the layout or update the view, how will my dimensions act accordingly?

I'll open a sample drawing. From the ribbon, View tab, I'm going to select scale area. This is our viewport creation using AutoCAD Mechanical.

Pick the scale area. It's prompting me to select a window for my view creation. I'll pick two points.

Now, in the scale area dialog box, I can choose the type of scale that I want. Maybe, in this case, I'm going to select 1 is to 2. And I have an option, here, whether I want to create the view in the model space or in the layout. I'll select Automatically Create a View in the Layout and pick OK.

So here you're prompted to select the objects. Since we selected 1 is 2 to scale, it's prompting you which are the objects that you want to rescale. I'll drag a window, pick the objects, press Enter. We can automatically insert a view, here.

So what I'm going to do here is I'm going to insert the dimensions. I'm going to select Power Dimension. Press Enter key.

Insert one dimension here. Maybe I'll select Chain Dimension and pick another end point. Press the key and exit.

Now, I've created one view with two dimensions. Let me switch to the model space. Double-click on the viewport here.

At any point of time, you can modify the scale of the viewport that you're creating. I'm going to pick, this time, as 1 is to 1.

Since we are changing the scale, we are prompted to select objects for rescaling. Pick the objects. And we have rescaled the objects.

When I switch to the layout and double-click on the viewport, so a prompt saying that the viewport has been modified. Do you want to update that? I want to pick Yes in the dialog box.

And, if you want to place the viewport in a different location, you can select that. Click OK. If you notice, the dimensions are still maintaining the value, as well as the location that we have inserted. So we don't have to rearrange the dimensions whenever you modify the views, in AutoCAD Mechanical.

All right? So we saw a demo. The next thing is the custom dimension style. In each company, you have your one dimension standard which defines your text color, extension line, or dimension line colors.

So, using AutoCAD Mechanical, what we have done now is we have used the standard or ANSI dimension style. But you want to switch to your custom dimension style but still use the Power Dimension command. What we can do is we can set the dimension style here. On top of this--

So, preconfiguring all the settings will help us a great deal of time. We don't have to reset everything whenever we create a new drawing file. In this area, I can select a type of base dimension that I want. I can choose my custom dimension style.

And here, under the Fits and Tolerance, when we were creating the fits and tolerance we were able to choose a method that we want to use. Here, you can select the method by default. You don't have to click on the Method option and choose the one, always. You can set it as default, so that that would be followed throughout your project. The same goes with respect to tolerance.

And we have another option, here, called-- when a fit list request updates, whether you want the fit list to be prompted for updating or you want to manually update that. We'll see that in a demo. And there's an option, here.

So what is the distance that you want to place the dimension from the base object? When you pick two points for placing the dimension, what's that distance that you want from the base object is what we can set in this area.

The last thing is [INAUDIBLE] image and text editor. When I was creating the dimensions in my first demo, only the very first time I could see the contextual ribbon tab. The rest of the dimensions, I was able to place automatically. That is controlled in this dialog box. Whether you want the ribbon tab to be seen on every dimension or is it just the first time-- that is, very first time, you select all the options that you need and then continue with the rest of the dimensions. So that is where we can control the option, here.

Let's see a quick demo how we can set up our custom dimension style. So I'll open a sample drawing. So I'm going to erase these dimensions.

I'll use the [? medium ?] command. Just click on a new option. Maybe I'll say AU2017. Continue, based on ANSI standard. In this case, I just want to change the color of lines, here, extension and dimension lines. I'm just changing the colors. Pick OK. Set this as current. Close.

So you can invoke the setting option from the Annotate tab, ribbon panel. Click on the arrow button, here. And you can see the Dimension Setting dialog box. From the dropdown, we can choose the dimension style that we created. In this case, you can choose your company custom dimension style.

For the fits and tolerance, you can choose the method that you want. And, for the display dimension type, maybe I'll select Always. Every time I create a new dimension, I want to see the ribbon contextual tab. Pick OK.

I'm going to use the Power Dimension tool, here. Pick two points. If you notice here, the dimension is coming up with the colors that I have selected for my custom dimension style.

So, in this case, you don't have to use the stock dimensions styles that are shipped with the product. You can always use your custom dimension style within Power Dimension. I am going to select another two points, here. Place the dimension.

If you notice, here, the ribbon tab comes up, because I've selected show me always the ribbon contextual tabs. So this is required whenever you want to make modifications for the subsequent dimension placement. So this is how you can use your custom dimension style. You can always copy an existing dimension style into the new drawing, using your probably AutoCAD Design Center or copy and paste.

Right. Until now, we saw how to create the dimensions, how to quickly modify them. There are a few more productivity tools that will help you in increasing the productivity. These tools are not available in AutoCAD. These are very specific to AutoCAD Mechanical.

The first option is Dimension Join. You have more than two dimensions which are in a series. Maybe you want to convert all of them into one single dimension. In AutoCAD, what you've got to do is erase all of them and then recreate the dimension. Whereas in AutoCAD Mechanical, all we need to do is pick the option and select the dimensions that you want to join. So let's see that in a demo.

The next option is Dimension Break or Insert. Let's assume you have two to three chain dimensions, or you have one dimension that you want to break that into multiple chain dimensions. So what you can do is you can insert a new dimension in a place of your choice.

And the third one, which is very useful in your detailing, is aligning the dimensions, where now you're placing the dimensions it's always difficult for you to align them in one line. Probably you'd be using the snap points or the extension line to exactly place them in one chain, whereas using this option you can quickly place the dimensions wherever you want and pick this tool and align them as a chain dimension.

And finally, the fourth one, Multi Edit or Check Dimensions. Probably some of the dimensions might get exploded, or you might have modified the value of the text. So, in this case, using this tool, we can run a check on the complete drawing and see which are those dimensions that have been modified or exploded. Let's see how this works in a demo.

I'll open a sample drawing. I have precreated all the dimensions here, in the interest of time. So, here, there are two dimensions, which they're on the drawing. I want to convert these two dimensions into one single dimension. And I want to choose a base dimension, but exactly I want to place a new dimension.

Is it the first one, or the second one? I can choose the base dimension. Let's see how that works.

From the Dimension dropdown, pick Join. I want the first dimension as the base dimension. And select the second one to join. Press the Enter key.

And, if you notice, these two dimensions are converted into one single dimension. And it has maintained the base dimension. The location of the base dimension. This is the advantage of using the joint option. In case of AutoCAD, probably you need to realign the dimensions, erase them and realign, or recreate the dimensions.

Let's switch to the breaking the dimension. I want to break these dimensions into two or more chain dimensions. From the Dimension dropdown, pick Insert Option, and pick the dimension that you want to break. And I want to insert a new dimension in this location. As soon as I pick the point, the base dimension is divided into two new chain dimensions. Enter.

So I'll switch to another area, here. This time, I want to align all these three dimensions in one line. From the Dimension dropdown, select Dim Align. And again I'm prompted to select which one should be the base dimension. I'll pick the first one. And pick the remaining dimensions, using a cross in window or Pick Object method. Press the Enter key.

As soon as press Enter key, all the dimensions are aligned in one line. This not only works with power dimensions. This also works with your existing AutoCAD dimensions that are created using linear dimensions.

So let me repeat the command. In this case, I want to select the last dimension as my base dimension. Use the Window selection to select the other two objects. Press Enter key. And you can see those dimensions are aligned, based on the base dimension that I selected.

And finally, updating the dimensions. From the Dimension dropdown, we have an option called Check the Dimensions. As soon as you click that option, you are prompted whether you want to edit them or highlight them. In this case, I'll select Highlight.

You see, in the whole drawing these two dimensions have been highlighted. This indicates either these dimensions have been exploded or modified from the default value. So what I can do is double-click on the text, hit the Backspace. As soon as I hit the Backspace-- excuse me.

As soon as I hit the Backspace, notice the actual value has been updated here. You can select I want to place this actual value as a primary text. Pick that, and click OK. So this is how you can check all the exploded dimensions in your drawing and modify them to the actual value.

And the next topic that we want to see is about breaking the extension or dimension lines. I'm going to open another drawing. This time, I'm going to insert a few dimensions, here. I use the Power Dimension.

I want to insert one dimension, here. Press the Enter key. Maybe another dimension. Press the Enter key. I'm going to insert another dimension, here.

And here, my requirement is, at times, you may need to break the extension lines wherever they're crossing. I can choose the Break Dimension option, here. You can select the breakpoints. This is a dimension, here. I'm going to pick another point on the dimension, here, so that I can break the extension line.

These dimensions are still active. These are not exploded dimensions. In case of AutoCAD, they are exploded [INAUDIBLE]. You need to explode the dimension and then break the extension line.

So let's try to modify this object, here. If you notice, it's still a live dimension. So I'm going to pick the Break option again. In this case, wherever the extension line touches the other dimensions, create a break automatically. I'll pick the object, press Enter.

You can notice, here, wherever the extension line crosses the other dimensions a breakpoint has been inserted. And again, this is an actual power dimension. If you notice, the breakpoint is getting updated as and when I am modifying the dimension using grid points. At any point of time you want to restore the breakpoints, you can pick the Restore option from the command line.

OK? I think that's all we have for today's demo. I'm open to questions. You can ask me any questions on either power dimensioning or any question within AutoCAD Mechanical.

AUDIENCE: What happens when you open the mechanical drawing in AutoCAD?

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: So we can open the mechanical drawing in AutoCAD and continue modifying the dimensions. They're acting as normal dimensions. It's just that we have the flexibility of creating the dimensions, here, multiple times, and which is having some associativity and associativity-- whereas in AutoCAD you can just normally modify your dimensions the way you do it.

AUDIENCE: I noticed that, with inserting the weld symbol into Mechanical, if you then open that into Autocad, they go away.

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: Ah. The reason is, in order to avoid the corruption of drawings, we are masking those symbols in AutoCADs. The only way you can modify them is by exploding the symbols. The moment you explode them, you have lost associativity. Once you bring those drawings back into AutoCAD Mechanical, they're just lines and dots. They don't have the associativity. That's the reason we have blocked modifying the symbols within AutoCAD.

And, in the past, we have had a few cases where customers say that the drawings have been corrupted by modifying the symbols in AutoCAD. When there's a round trip between AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD, corruption occurs. So, in order to avoid those corruptions and data loss, or visual fidelity, we have blocked the option of modifying those things.

Any questions on Power Dimensioning? I think we had a question on the end.

AUDIENCE: It was about the [INAUDIBLE]. The Power Dimension, does that allow you to modify the feature by changing the dimension? Or is that overriding the dimension itself?

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: So, it's-- if I get your question right. So you're asking whether we can modify the dimension or--

AUDIENCE: Yeah.

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: Yeah. So we can always double-click on the dimension text and modify that.

AUDIENCE: Will that modify the feature or is it just--

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

SRIDHAR SUBRAMANI: Ah. Oh, It's not [INAUDIBLE]. It just modifies the dimension. So, whenever you modify the object, the dimension gets updated. And we would like to hear your feedback, the content of the course material, so that we can probably set up the better classes for the next AU.