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AutoCAD Architectural Desktop tightly integrates intelligent, ObjectARXbased architectural functionality with AutoCAD Release 14. Like Mechanical Desktop, this new product continues Autodesk's move toward separate, discipline-specific versions of AutoCAD based on the new 3D object technology made possible with ARX (AutoCAD Runtime Extension) programming methods.
Though the Architectural Desktop is a Release One product, with the shortcomings and incomplete feature sets that designation entails, it is truly a major step forward in architectural CAD. It contains some wonderful features and functions for 3D modeling and documenting architectural work.
AutoCAD Architectural Desktop is the successor to Softdesk's venerable Auto-Architect third-party application. It incorporates most, but not all, of the functionality that made that product an industry leader for many years. It's tempting to look at Architectural Desktop as an upgrade, but the new AEC object functionality has little to do with the old Auto-Architect. The Architectural Desktop is full of new concepts, methods, and entities that take some time to learn how to set up and use effectively. This is not your father's AutoCAD!
The Architectural Desktop integrates nicely with core AutoCAD functionality. You can use grips editing to drag and stretch AEC objects around. If you select an AEC object and then right-click the mouse, a context-sensitive cursor menu pops up to provide instant editing access to the object's dimensional, style, and display properties. You can use standard AutoCAD commands such as Stretch and Move to edit AEC objects rather than special application-specific editing commands.
3D modeler
Auto-Architect was justifiably considered weak in conceptual and preliminary design functions. Architectural Desktop addresses this area with new Modeler features. You build up a 3D model using primitive elements such as boxes, cylinders, and cones and use Boolean operations to add, subtract, and merge to create an exterior mass model of a building. The resultant model is not just a simple solid model, but consists of new ObjectARX AEC elements that contain architectural "intelligence."
You can further convert and metamorphize your model into architectural space models and traditional wall layouts useful for subsequent architectural services phases. The Modeler also lets you create 3D design objects such as columns, mullions, railings, and roofs for use in the architectural model.
Architectural space planning
Once you generate floor plates, you can export...