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Microstation Part 1

The document discusses several ways to precisely create circles and arcs in Microstation, including using the center point and radius, edge points, or diameter points. It also describes how to precisely place arcs using center point and radius or three edge points. Additionally, it discusses how to precisely set working units, use grids for visual reference, and toggle grid lock for snapping to grid points.

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Krishna K
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75 views6 pages

Microstation Part 1

The document discusses several ways to precisely create circles and arcs in Microstation, including using the center point and radius, edge points, or diameter points. It also describes how to precisely place arcs using center point and radius or three edge points. Additionally, it discusses how to precisely set working units, use grids for visual reference, and toggle grid lock for snapping to grid points.

Uploaded by

Krishna K
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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 You can use the Length or Angle options to create the shape

segments, but not both together.

 You can choose the Close Element button or pick near the start
point of the shape to close it. You do not need to use a tentative
point to snap to the endpoint of the first line.

Drawing Precise Circles and Arcs

The two main circular elements are circles and arcs. Each command
offers a variety of options for creating the elements. Circles are often
easier to create than arcs, and you can draw a circle and trim it (as
we’ll see later) to create the desired arc.

Place Circle

Because there are many different situations where you will use circles,
MicroStation provides three different ways to create them. You may
not know the radius or diameter of the circle, but need to have it
touching the endpoints of two lines. Or you may want to draw a circle
based on a diameter value rather than a radius.
Center Choose the center point and the radius of circle
if you pick a point. You can also type in the
radius or diameter by checking the box at the
bottom of the tool settings, picking Radius or
diameter, and filling in the size.

Edge Pick two or three points on the circle. If you


have not chosen a radius Or diameter, you
must pick three points. If you specify a radius
or Diameter, you choose two points.

Diameter Pick two points that define the diameter of the


circle.

Place Arc

The essential thing to remember about arcs is that they are created
counter-clockwise, so the order in which you pick points is crucial.
There are two methods for creating arcs, Center and By Edge, with
three options in each.

Center When you start this command you create a


temporary full circle of the radius you specify
by typing a value or by picking on screen. The
first Point you pick then becomes your start
point of the arc. The second Point you pick is
the endpoint.
Edge Pick three points on the edge to define the arc.
This method is best used if you do not need
precision.

Options

Radius The distance from the center to the edge.

Start Angle The angle from the x-axis to where the arc
starts.

Sweep Angle The angle from the start angle to where the
arc ends.

Undo and Redo

The Undo command is an easy way to correct a mistake; it reverses


the effects of the last command. If the user draws a circle, for
example, and then issues the Undo command, the circle will be
“undone” and the drawing will be just as it was before the circle was
drawn.

The Redo command reverses whatever the Undo command did. It


only works after an Undo command.

 There are several ways to issue Undo and Redo: from the Standard
tool bar, from the Edit pull-down menu, and with the quick key-ins
<ctrl>+Z (Undo) and <ctrl>+R(Redo).

 Edit>Undo Other from the pull-down also allows you to undo


everything you have drawn back to the very beginning or undo to a
mark that you have placed in the design file. The Set Mark
command is also located under the Edit pull-down.

 The number of times you can undo and redo depends on the
amount of memory your machine has in its undo buffer.

 Once you close or compress a file, you can no longer use the Undo
command until you do something else to the design file.
Drawing Precision

Setting Working Units

Pull-Down: Settings>Design File> Working Units

Each design file you create will use units of some kind so that you can
know the size of the elements you are drawing. These units may be
metric (meters and millimeters) or Imperial or English (feet and
inches). Within these main types, there are many variation.
Architects work in millimeters or feet and inches; mechanical designers
in millimeters or inches and tenths of an inch; and civil engineers in
meters or feet. Any of these variations can be set up in MicroStation’s
Working Units.

We saw earlier that MicroStation uses Cartesian (x,y) coordinates to


indicate locations in a drawing. The smallest coordinate unit in
MicroStation space is the Positional Unit. There are 4.2 billion
positional units available in both the x and y directions. Every object
must touch a positional unit at its endpoints. But you do not draw to
the positional units. MicroStation has created Working Units that you
will set up and use instead.
Working Units are made up of Master Units (MU), Sub Units (SU) and
Positional Units (PU). In MicroStation this is written as MU: SU: PU.
The Master Units are made up of Sub Units, which in turn are made up
of Positional Units. You can use any mixture of Master Units to Sub
Units to Positional Units.

Examples of working Units

M (Meters): CM (Centimeters)

MU = M (Meters)
SU = CM (Centimeters)
CM to M = 100
PU = 1000

M (Meters): MM (Millimeters)

MU = M (Meters)
SU = MM (Millimeters)
MM to M = 1000
PU = 1000

FT (Feet): IN (Inches)

MU = FT (Feet)
SU = IN (Inches)
FT to IN = 12
PU = 8000

Using the Grid

Once you have the Working Units set up, you may also want to set up
a grid as a visual reference in the view window. The grid is not
associated directly with the Working Units, but you should know what
the working units are before you set the grid.

The grid is made up of a Grid Master of dots and a Grid Reference of


crosses. The Grid Master is smaller and set by a distance in MU: SU
format. The Grid Reference is made up of a desired number of Grid
Master units. For example, you may set the Grid Master to 0:1 (1 sub
unit) and the Grid Reference to 5. In this case, every fifth grid point in
the x and y directions will be a cross.

Grid Lock

The GridLock, if turned on, will force the cursor to the points of the
grid. The GridLock is set under Settings>Design File>Grid, or by
picking on the “Lock” icon on the status bar and checking the Grid box.
This feature is most useful for schematic drawings, because it will give
some precision without requiring the user to calculate distances.

Notes:

 The grid is most useful when you are drawing a schematic design
rather than a dimensioned design.

 In a large drawing, the Grid Master should be set to a large


distance for it to display when you are viewing the entire drawing.

 To control whether the grid appears in a view window, choose


Settings>View Attributes, where you can toggle the grid on and off.

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