Assembly drawings

Program capabilities

The Assembly Drawings program  (AsmDraw command) is designed to automatically create sheets with assembly drawings, place all the necessary annotations and fill in all the data in the blocks and tables of the sheet. The program is useful primarily for designing exhibition stands, furniture and other products consisting of a large number of simple assemblies. For example, a partition wall consists of dozens of different sections, each of which has ten to 20 parts. Designing drawings for each assembly is long and tedious. The program can do the work in 1 click that would take you many hours. You will only have to arrange the views more beautifully and move some dimensions and callouts to free spaces.

• The program works only with assemblies in blocks. Blocks can contain any objects, including nested blocks. You can even try to use flat drawings in blocks.

• Viewports are used to design views on sheets, and viewports show all the objects of the drawing. Therefore, there should be empty space next to the assemblies. To freely arrange copies of assemblies, the Expose Assemblies program is called.

• Expose Assemblies can prepare exploded views of assemblies, in which internal parts are better visible (using the TNT program call).

• The program itself will create sheets (layouts) for all assemblies. Each sheet can accommodate from 1 to 9 assemblies. The sheet can be renamed using the assembly names.

• You can specify the location of future assemblies on the sheet by creating viewports in the sheet template.

• All lines, blocks, tables, tests that are in your sheet template will be cloned to each assembly sheet.

• The program can create from 1 to 10 views from different sides for each assembly - up to six orthogonal views and up to four isometric views.

• The program can arrange views according to European standards (GOST, DIN) and American (ISO) - configure the "Third view angle" switch.

• Orthogonal views are automatically aligned with each other in location and scale.

• The program adjusts the viewport size to the assembly size and enables clipping in the front and back (like the _3dClip command). This will help hide adjacent assemblies, but you still won't be able to use assemblies from the main model.

• You can set up frozen layers and thus hide unnecessary objects in assemblies. Layers are frozen only inside viewports, but not in the model.

• For each assembly, you can create a text header with any data about the assembly.

• Under each view, you can insert a block-caption with the view direction, scale and any other data. You need to create the block in advance.

• You can call the Overall Dimensions program and create 3 assembly dimensions on two orthogonal views (not on isometric views).

• You can call the Place Leaders program and mark the positions of all visible parts. Moreover, if the program cannot find visible points of parts on the specified view, it will look for this part on other views. Requires purchasing a license for Place Leaders.

• You can fill all the attributes of all the blocks of the sheet with assembly and drawing data.

• If you have tables in the sheet template, you can call the Fill in Tables command and create lists of all the parts or all the materials. Requires a license for Data Table or another AVC table command.

• The program has a lot of settings. But for different types of assemblies, you can create different styles of settings and you can quickly switch between them.

Downloading and Paying for a License

Read about downloading and installing the program here.

To run the plugin, you will have to register account and top up your account balance or receiving bonuses. 

Then you can activate one of the licenses:

• • Annual license - 20 EUR.

  • Unlimited license - 100 EUR. Free updates for 1 year.

  • The trial period is 20 days.

You may also need to pay for a license for the Place Leaders command and the Data Table command. But you do not need to install these plugins separately, just buy a license.

The AsmDraw command is also included in the A>V>C> Pro package.

Program Limitations

• The Assembly Drawings program is designed to work with small assemblies of 10-20 parts. Such as sections of exhibition stand partitions, furniture drawers. Do not try to use the command for huge assemblies and super-assemblies of the entire construction object.

• The program works only with assembly blocks. It does not work with individual solids, does not work with groups. Use AsmCreate to create assembly blocks.

• The program does not work with annotative and non-explosive blocks (they are not considered assemblies).

• Although the program adjusts the viewport sizes to the size of the assemblies, you cannot use assemblies directly from the main model. It is necessary to place copies of the assembly blocks away from the main model at such distances that they do not block each other in any angle. To do this, you can enable the option to call the Expose Assemblies command (a separate license is not required). But you must carefully configure this command for optimal distances between assemblies along all axes. And it is still possible that the assemblies will block each other in some views. Check isometric views especially carefully.

• The program cannot decide on its own how many views are needed for a simple or false assembly and from which side the parts are better visible. You set up the same views for all assemblies. It is recommended to create several styles of program settings for assemblies of different complexity. In one program call, draw up drawings for very similar assemblies. You can then add and remove views manually.

• The program selects the optimal scale of views and tries to fill all the available space. This algorithm is very complex, but far from ideal. In 90% of cases, you will be able to find an even better arrangement of views and want to move them.

• It is possible to create up to four isometries. But all these isometries are directed to the assembly from above (against the Z axis of the world coordinate system). It is impossible to create isometries with a view from below.

• You cannot change the placement of views relative to each other, they are always placed in accordance with drawing standards: according to the rules of projection from the "First" or from the "Third Angle Projection".

• The program can assign standard scales to orthogonal views according to engineering standards. But these scales are very few, the views will be very small, and there will be a lot of empty paper. You cannot edit the list of standard scales - it is built into AutoCAD.

• The program does not try to make isometric views in the same scale as orthographic views. This is done intentionally, so that the isometric views are larger.

• The program creates a viewport for each view of each assembly. AutoCAD cannot work normally with a large number of viewports on one sheet. If you try to create 25 or more viewports per sheet, you will either get a very slow sheet or a fatal failure. It is recommended to create no more than 4 views per assembly and no more than 4 assemblies per sheet.

• Viewports in AutoCAD cannot display the specified line thicknesses of three-dimensional objects with high quality.

• For printing in the Monochrome style, the program can assign the "LegacyHidden" shade plot type to the viewport (an outdated method for displaying hidden lines). But in this case, you cannot enable viewport clipping planes by view depth (as in the _3dClip command). And, if the assemblies are poorly placed in the model, the assemblies may block each other in some views.

• The program cannot create flatshots or ModelDoc views (as the _ViewBase command does). But you can use the viewports created by the program to quickly get exactly the same ModelDoc views. Just enter the model through the viewport, click on the assembly and on the _ViewBase button. AutoCAD will create exactly the same view on the same sheet without any extra questions.

• The program cannot make sections and detail views. But you can create an extra ModelDoc view outside the printable area of ​​the sheet and make sections from it.

• The program automates the placement of titles, signatures, MLeaders and dimensions. But the program is not able to ensure that no annotation dimensions intersect each other and do not interfere with views. In any case, you will have to do some manual work to optimize the placement of all these annotations. There is no magic wand yet.

• Dimensions can only be placed on orthogonal views. Dimensions cannot be placed on isometric views.

• Dimension lines of overall dimensions do not reach the assembly contours. This is not important for rectangular assemblies, so creating a complex program for determining the contours of the entire assembly is postponed for later.

• Dimensions are not associative, when changing the scale of views, you will have to redo them manually.

• An empty field for callouts is calculated very roughly and in your case may be too small. Specify a fixed field for MLeder texts in the settings. Use callouts with a minimum amount of data, preferably only with a part number (%n% substitution), without materials and dimensions (substitutions are configured in the Place Leaders command). Dimensions, materials and the number of parts should be specified in tables, not on callouts.

• Invisible parts will remain without callouts. The program will not stop working because of this, but will only write a message in the command line. Output of texts with a list of invisible partsis also disabled. You should carefully read all program messages (press F2).

• Placing part numbers directly on top of parts or on short callouts is not provided. Use the Mark command.

• It is impossible to fill several cutting tables on one sheet. The program fills all tables with all data from all viewports at once. But there can be several tables of different styles. Thus, you can have only one cutting table on a sheet, one table of materials, one specification of purchased products, etc. The data source of all tables of the sheet template will be replaced by "all views of sheet".

• Transfers of too long tables to separate sheets are disabled, since the table splitting program copies the entire sheet together with viewports and you would get several repetitions of the sheet with the same assemblies.

• A well-known AutoCAD glitch - a program-inserted block is not displayed in the model. Although the program switches to the model and calls _Regen, this does not always help and you can see empty viewports. Switch to the model and call Regen manually again.

How to use

• Make sure you have a license for the Place Leaders and one of the table creation commands. The AVC Pro collection includes all the programs at once. A separate license is not required for the Expose Assemblies, TNT and Overall Dimensions option.

• Before you start working with the Assembly Drawings program, it is recommended to create a drawing template. A template is any empty DWG or DWT file with all the necessary layers and blocks.

  • Add a View Name block with attributes for the view name, scale, etc. to the template.

  • Add one or more sheets (layouts) with a frame and a title block. Configure the sheets for your printer.

  • If you are not satisfied with the arrangement of assemblies on the sheet, which the program does itself, then you can create viewports. In each viewport, the program will place one assembly (the viewport will be cut into parts for different views of one assembly). The program will try to fit all the annotations within this viewport. With these viewports, you can use all the space on the sheet, avoiding overlapping views on blocks and tables.

  • You can place several tables on the sheet. In the first cell of the table, write the name of one of the styles of the Sawing Table or Data Table or Material Table. Then the program will be able to fill these tables with data from all viewports.

  • Specify the template in the Assembly Drawings settings or in the Common Options. If the program does not find any template anywhere, it will copy sheets from the current file.

  • Specify the name of the template sheet in the settings. In different program styles, you can specify different sheets with a different number of viewports. If the sheet is not specified, the program will copy a random sheet with viewports.

• Set up several program styles for different assemblies with different numbers of views.

• Set up auxiliary commands: Expose Assemblies (including the option to create exploded views), Place Leaders, table creation.

• Select one or more blocks in the model space. The program can extract blocks from within blocks and they will also be formatted as assemblies (except for blocks marked as non-explosive).

• Save the drawing! The command is very long and complex, fatal failures are possible.

• Call the Assembly Drawings program (AsmDraw command). The button is in the header of the settings tab in the A>V>C> Options Palette.

• Note that the program will immediately write in the command line which styles of this and other commands will be used.

• If nothing has been selected in advance, the program will ask you to select assembly blocks. The request will contain command line options for quickly switching the styles of the AsmDraw, Expose and DimDet commands; as well as the TUNE option to open the settings dialog.

• If you have already arranged the assemblies in the model in advance so that they will not block each other in the viewports, you can disable the option to create an Assembly Exhibition. But usually the program itself makes copies of the blocks in the free space of the model space. If you have not specified a drawing template, the program will use the current file as a template.

• If you have not specified a template sheet or the template drawing does not have a specified sheet, the program will search for a sheet with viewports and display a query - whether this sheet can be used as a template.

• The program will calculate how many sheets are required to accommodate all the assemblies and make copies of the template sheet. All objects are copied to the new sheets, except for ModelDoc views, leaders and dimensions.

• The program will place as many assemblies on the sheet as there are viewports in the template. But if you specified a non-zero number of assemblies per sheet in the settings, the old viewports will be ignored and the program will divide the sheet into the specified number of equal parts.

• Then the program will start creating drawings on each sheet. Old viewports will be divided into several new viewports proportionally to the size of the assembly, and each of them will contain a view of the assembly from different angles.

• Orthogonal views are adjusted to one scale and are located strictly opposite each other along the X and Y axes of the paper space. You can also set up all sheet assemblies to be printed in one scale.

• Three assembly dimensions are placed on two specified views. Dimension objects are assigned a dimension style from the settings of the Dimensions for Detailing (DimDet) program, and if the style is not specified there, the current one is taken. Insist on the dimension style with the _DimStyle command. In any case, the program will disable the creation of dimensions on an additional callout, since this always leads to the imposition of numbers on another view.

• Callouts with part numbers are placed on the specified view (usually on an isometric view). In this view, the program leaves space on the left and right for callouts.

• If some callouts could not be placed (some parts are invisible, hidden by other parts), then the program tries to place callouts on the views above or below the specified one, where there is also space left on the left and right. But if the details are not visible there either, the program will try to place callouts on all views without sorting. And in this case, the callouts will definitely be superimposed on the neighboring views.

• The settings for placing callouts and the substitution template are in the settings of the Place Leaders command. And the style of the Multi-leader itself can be adjusted using the _MLeaderStyle command. There you can also select MLeaders with blocks at the end, including "number in circle" = "bubble".

• In the Place Leaders command, you can enable the option to create text listing invisible parts (parts that couldn't be called out). There's no room for this text in the drawing, so the program will place it directly in the center of the view on a non-printing layer. Use this text only as a warning.

• The program will find all blocks in the sheet space (which are copied from the sheet template), and look for variable (not constant) attributes in them. You can configure which attributes to insert simple texts or calculated fields or substitutions of viewport and assembly properties.

• The program can fill in the sheet tables if the style of one of the AVC table commands (except for the Drilling Table) is specified in the first cell of the table.

• The program may take a long time to run. You can interrupt the work by pressing ESC.

• If the program interrupts by pressing Esc or by an error, some of the changes will remain in the drawing: copies of assembly blocks in the model, unfilled sheets... You can cancel all of this by pressing Ctrl+Z. Carefully review the program messages (the command line can be opened by pressing F2). If the program cannot make leaders from invisible parts, it will write a list of them (a separate list for each assembly).

Program settings

Assembly Title.

Create MText with a title above each assembly in the middle of the view group. The title template can contain substitutions for assembly properties, the number of assemblies. Substitutions for layout and viewport properties will not work here. You can insert formatting characters including a paragraph: \P. That is, the title can be multi-line.

Style.

The name of the text style for the assembly title. By default, the current style is used. To edit it, use the _Style command.

Height.

The height of the text in the title. By default, it is taken from the TextSize system variable. Inside the text, you can reassign the sizes and font using special AutoCAD formatting codes in the template.

Center.

Center the title above the assembly in the middle of all assembly views. Also center the block with the view name in the center of the viewport.

Frame.

Title in a frame.

Tile Space

Leave a gap between the title and the assembly views.

Views.

You can enable or hide views of the assembly from different sides. Isometries are designated here by directions like on a compass: SW is South-West, that is, +X,+Y direction of view. All isometries look at the assembly from above (-Z). You cannot swap views - they are placed according to the rules of projection from the "first angle" or "third angle". Do not make unnecessary views - each viewport creates a strong load on AutoCAD and if there are more than 25 viewports on a layout, fatal failures often occur.

Third Angle Projection.

Place views according to the projection type "third angle".

• First angle - the object is located between the observer and the projection plane (GOST, ESKD, DIN).

• Third angle - the projection plane is between the observer and the object. This is the standard for placing views in the USA and Japan: ANSI, ASME, CSA, JIS.

Place the rear view to the right.

The rear view will be placed to the right of the side view. If the option is disabled, the rear view will be placed below the front view.

Make SW view instead of any isometric view.

If only one isometry is configured, then replace it with a view from the South-West (in the +X, +Y direction), violating the rules of projection directions.

Same scale.

The same scale for all assemblies on one sheet. The option only affects the scale of orthographic views. All orthographic views of one assembly will be adjusted to the same scale in any case.

Standard scale.

Use only default scales. The list of default scales cannot be edited. The drawings will be smaller than the sheet space allows.

Gap between views.

The minimum amount of space to leave between views of one assembly. This gap is also used between assemblies.

Gap from the assembly to the viewport.

How much space to leave between the outermost assembly outlines and the viewport. If the value is zero, the assembly outlines may not be printed.

Visual style.

Assign this visual style to all orthographic views (except isometric). Empty string - keep the visual style of the old viewports from the sheet template.

Isometric

Assign this visual style to isometric views. Leave empty to use the style of the viewports of the sheet template.

Legacy Hidden.

If the visual style is 'Hidden', then assign Shade Print viewport property as 'Legacy Hidden' . This setting allows you to print a 3D model in a monochrome print style. But clipping by view depth (_3dClip) will have to be disabled.

Freeze layers.

List of layers to be frozen in all viewports. Layer names may contain masks with an asterisk. For example, the Nut* mask will work for all layers that start with the word Nut. In reality, only the layers present in the drawing will be frozen. This means freezing only inside viewports, not in the model. It is recommended to freeze the Info layer, on which the AsmCreate command places assembly marks, which are only needed for orientation in the model.

Insert view name blocks.

Place a block with the view name under each viewport. Select a block from the drawing or DWT template that has attributes for the view name and scale. Any block with one or more visible, changeable attributes will do. Inserting the view name as text is not supported, only a block.

Block clearance.

How much space to leave under the view to place the block. If 0, the program will measure the height of the block itself.

Block attributes.

List of attribute names (tags) and values. Each attribute on a new line. Write the values ​​after the '=' symbol. All viewport property substitutions can be used in the values.

Overall dimensions of the assembly.

Show overall dimensions of the assembly in two orthogonal views.

View for dimensions.

In which of the views to place two overall dimensions of the assembly. Only orthogonal views.

Third dimension.

The view in which to place the third overall dimension. The view must be in the same column or in the same row as the first view.

MLeaders from parts.

Place callouts (MLeader) from each part of the assembly in one (or two) views of the assembly.

View for MLeaders.

The view in which to place callouts (MLeader) with the positions of the parts. Do not use the same view as for overall dimensions. If it is not possible to find all the parts in this view, the program will select other views where these parts are visible.

Gap for MLeaders.

How much space to leave on the side of the view for placing callouts. If 0, the program will measure the text size in the callout template. But this is a very rough estimate, because it is unknown how long the text will be after substitutions.

Fill in Tables.

Call the Fill in Tables program for all tables in the sheet. The first cell of the tables will be searched for the style name of three table commands: Sawing Table, Data Table, and Materials Table. The Drill Table is disabled. 

Keep in mind that table commands have their own Selected Object Filter. Be sure to configure table commands to Count Assemblies throughout the entire model and Exclude Selected (the assembly copy visible in the viewport). Otherwise, the table will display an incorrect number of assemblies. Don't include the "Excluding" layer in the ignore list, or the table will be empty. 

Don't Expose Assemblies in line by X axis — all assemblies will be captured by the table command via the side view (since selecting objects by viewport is a standard  selection by frame; everything behind is also selected). Expose assemblies with an offset in both X and Y.

Fill in Block Attributes.

List of attributes to be substituted into all blocks of the sheet. Each attribute in a new line. Write the values ​​after the = symbol. In the values, you can use all substitutions of the sheet properties, its viewports, and objects in the viewports. Do not put extra spaces anywhere.