Create a Reflected Ceiling Drawing

In this tutorial, we’ll create a Reflected Ceiling Plan (RCP) to communicate the lighting fixtures and electrical installation items on the ceiling of a commercial building. We’ll also look at the various 2D projection methods and how to add and remove content to and from existing sections. We’ll focus on using the ClippingSections and ClippingDrawings tools.

Create the Section

1. Download and open the model RCP Tutorial.
2. Maximize the Front | ▾ viewport, and make sure it’s in Shaded Display Mode
3. Enable Ortho constraint in the Status Bar .
4. Enable the Point Osnap
5. Run the AddGuide to create an infinite horizontal guide:
   1. At the New guide base point prompt , left-click on the Point visible to the left of the building.
   2. At the Guide direction prompt, pull the cursor right in an Ortho-constrained direction and left-click.
   3. Press Enter to end the command.
6. Create a section by running ClippingSections .
7. At the Select objects to section prompt, press Enter to select all the geometry.
8. At the Place sections prompt, choose the following options:
   • Direction = World
   • Custom Depth = No
   • Clip = No
   • Name = Plant_Room
   • Label Mode = Text
   • Saved to Named View = No
   • Flip = No
9. Place the section, snapping to the horizontal guide to constrain the height.
10. Press Enter to end the command.

Create the Drawing and Projection

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model RCP Tutorial 01.
2. Run ClippingDrawings to create a new 2D Drawing. We’ll start by creating a conventional section looking down at the floor.
3. At the Select clipping planes prompt , select the Plant_Room_00 section in the Front | ▾ viewport and press Enter .
4. In the Clipping Drawings dialog box, set the following options:
   • Auto-Update = Yes
   • Project in Place = No
   • Output to Clipping Drawings layer = Yes
   • Label = Text
   • Properties = By output layers
   • Create section hatch = Yes
   • Create section surface = No
   • Add background = Yes
   • Tangents = No
   • Hidden = No
   • Silhouette = No
   • Projection = Parallel
   • Add Annotations = Yes
     • Dimensions = Yes
     • Text = Yes
     • Leaders = Yes
     • Dots = Yes

1. Press OK to confirm these selections.

2. At the Placement point prompt, select a point in the Top | ▾ viewport . You might need to zoom out to avoid overlapping the model.

3. The drawing will now be created. This is a parallel section looking downwards, as indicated by the arrows on the Clipping Plane indicator in the Front | ▾ viewport.

   

4. In the Front | ▾ viewport, select the Clipping Plane widget and in the Properties panel select Flip Direction.

5. Run UpdateClippingDrawings .

6. At the Select clipping planes or drawings prompt, select the Clipping Plane widget and press Enter . Note that the 2D drawing updates.

7. We have now created a parallel section looking upwards at the ceiling. Note that, due to drawing conventions, the stairwell is now on the right of the 2D drawing. This makes it difficult to show, for example, the ceiling contents overlaid on the floor contents.

   

8. Flip the section again and update the drawing to return to the parallel section looking downwards.

9. Double-click on the 2D drawing and in the Edit Clipping Drawings dialog box, change the Projection from Parallel to Reflected and confirm by pressing OK. The drawing now updates, creating the Reflected Ceiling Plan that shows detail above the section plane only. Note that the stairwell is now on the left; hence, the projection is reflected.

   

10. Note also that Clipping Drawings support curves visible in the model. Layer 002-04-009-003 Tray Outline contains only a polyline. You can see the polyline in the Perspective | ▾ viewport by momentarily hiding layer 002-04-007 Roof (Simplified).

11. To overlay the ceiling details with geometry underneath the section, double-click on the 2D drawing again and in the Edit Clipping Drawings dialog box, change the Projection from Reflected to Parallel and Reflected and confirm by pressing OK. The drawing now updates, creating the Reflected Ceiling Plan overlaid over the parallel section.

Add and Remove Content

Because we used the All option when we created the Plant_Room_00 Clipping Section, we can use Layer Visibility to control what is clipped and shown on the drawing.

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model RCP Tutorial 02.
2. Maximize the Top | ▾ viewport and Zoom Extents so that the model and 2D drawing are both visible.
3. Set the Display Mode to Wireframe.
4. Turn on layer 002-04-008-004 Control Kiosk. Two purple crescent-shaped desks will become visible in the model.

1. To add these to the clipped drawing, run UpdateClippingDrawings and, at the Select clipping planes or drawings prompt , select the drawing and press Enter . The drawing will now update showing the two desks.

1. Now, hide layers :
   • 002-04-008-001 Electrical Cabinets
   • 002-04-008-003 Comms Cabinets
2. Run UpdateClippingDrawings and, at the Select clipping planes or drawings prompt, select the drawing and press Enter . The drawing will now update, removing the hidden layer content.

Now let’s remove and add objects on a per-object basis, starting with removing one of the purple crescent-shaped desks from the drawing.

1. Select the Clipping Plane widget and go to the Properties panel. On the Clipping Plane Properties page:
   1. Change Objects Clipped from All to Exclude Selected
   2. Select the Objects button. At this stage, the button will read Objects (0).
   3. At the Select objects for custom clipping prompt, select the left purple desk and press Enter . The 2D drawing will update accordingly. Note that the Objects button will now read Objects (1).

1. To add the desk back into the drawing, select the Clipping Plane widget, then on the Clipping Plane Properties page, select the cross next to the Objects button. This clears the excluded object selection, and the button now reads Objects (0). The 2D Drawing will now update accordingly.

To add objects to the Clipping Sections and Drawings on a per-object basis, do this:

1. Select the Clipping Plane widget, and in the Clipping Plane Properties page, change Objects Clipped from Exclude Selected to Include Selected. Note that now the 2D drawing disappears as it updates to show the 0 objects included.
2. Next, select the Objects button and, at the Select objects for custom clipping prompt window select the model and press Enter . The clipping drawing will update, and the Objects button will show that 240 objects are in the clipped selection.

1. Next, turn on the following layers:
   • 002-04-008-001 Electrical Cabinets
   • 002-04-008-003 Comms Cabinets
2. Return to the Clipping Plane Properties page and select the Objects button. Note that all the geometry included in the clipped section is now highlighted.
3. Select one object from each of the Electrical Cabinets and Comms Cabinets layers and press Enter . The 2D Drawing will now update accordingly, and 242 objects will be shown as clipped in Clipping Plane Properties.

Text and Annotations

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model RCP Tutorial 03.
2. Select the Clipping Plane widget and go to the Properties panel. On the Clipping Plane Properties page:
   1. Select the X next to Objects to clear the selection.
   2. Change Objects Clipped from Include Selected to All. This will clip all objects in the view.
3. Turn on layer 002-04-008-005 Annotations.
4. Run UpdateClippingDrawings and, at the Select clipping planes or drawings prompt , select the drawing and press Enter . The drawing will now update, adding the annotations.
5. Working in the Top | ▾ viewport, turn on Project in the Osnap Control .
6. Select the Electrical Cabinet PX13 in the bottom right-hand corner of the model.
7. Run SolidPtOn .
8. Window select the two upper solid points.
9. Adjust the size of the cabinet with the Gumball . Note that the dimension changes on the model, and both the drawing and the associated dimension change on the Clipping Drawing.
10. Double-click on the Clipping Drawing and in the Edit Clipping Drawings dialog box. Under Add Annotations uncheck Leaders. Note that the leader and JB14 Comms text are removed from the drawing but still visible in the model.

Deleting Clipping Drawings

Clipping Drawings are block instances. If you wish to remove them entirely from the document, you’ll need to delete them and Purge or delete them using the BlockManager .