Creating your Grid at 100'-0" (or other)

Creating your Grid at 100'-0" (or other)

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In this article, we will talk about creating grids and views at higher elevations to match your contract drawings. It is important to note that modifying the grid to be at a different elevation will cause the model to move in the Z axis if you have modeled parts already this would cause an issue. Your parts can move with the grid but please note that components may not always update correctly when you move the model. Also, any general arrangement drawings that are created would lose the model when it is moved, so this needs to be done at the beginning if at all possible.

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Modifying the existing grid

In a new model double click on your grid and that will open the grid properties. See below

Next, we will modify the properties of the Z axis, when we do this we want to be sure and leave the "0" elevation. The reason for this is if the 3D view is ever deleted you will always have a grid if you create a new view. It is easy to forget the grid is up at a high elevation, the 0 elevation doesn't cause an issue so leaving it is best. Go ahead and modify the Z Coordinates to have 0" 100'-0" 110'-0" 120'-0" and also modify the Labels for the Z elevation to have the same information. 



Now hit modify and you will be prompted to modify the grid, go ahead and say yes and continue to the next step.



The grid has now been modified, there are still a few more steps before we are done but first, let's talk about some model discipline. Grids can easily be moved by a user on accident, so let us take some precautions and modify the grid so that it is locked. While in the Grid Properties dialog after you have modified the grid click on the "User Defined Attributes" button. In the User Defined Attributes dialog switch the "locked" User Defined Attribute to "Yes" and hit modify. See below:



Now if someone attempts to modify the grid they will be prompted that it is locked. In order to "unlock" the grid simply open the User Defined Attributes again and change the "locked" User Defined Attribute to "No" and hit modify.

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Creating your Views for the Updated Grid

Now that you have your grid modified you will need views to go along with that grid. What I suggest doing is right-clicking on the grid and then go to Create Views > Along grid lines. This will open a new dialog and here you can name the views that are going to be created for you elevations and plans. Go ahead and click Create in the new dialog after making your changes and the View List will appear with all the created views. See below:



Now the 3D view will be created at "0" and you will notice you also have a Plan @ 0 in your list. You will need to create a new 3D view, so you can go ahead and delete the Plan @ 0. We have to create a new 3D view because the view plane for this 3D view is at 0 and we need one at 100'. To create a new 3D view go to View > Create View of Model > Basic View, from here a new dialog will appear and you will need to enter the coordinate for the grid. In this example that will be 100'-0. After that, hit Create and the view will appear.



That's it you are done!