8 replies to this topic

[Mike Adams]

Pretty basic question...to show "options" on a plan set, what do most users do?  I save "as is" and give it a different name.  Does "layers" work better?  Never tried using them. 

 

Of course I still prefer "multi drawings" over plan sets.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Steven Kirchoff]

Mike I also show options by "save as".

I have tried layers and building options but I must be doing something wrong because I never can get it to do what I want it to do.

[Gary McKeon]

Use either Building Options or do your option in a different mode. This way you don't have to do a "save as". It's just a matter of switching either the mode or building option. I personally prefer using modes.

[Tom Rogers]

I use a little bit of both.  If it is something that I dont think the client will go back to again I will do a save as.  If there are truly options or that I want to show them the difference between A and B then I use Building options

[Keith Almond]

If you really are having trouble with BUILDING OPTIONS, then the absolute simplest way to use them is to NOT use the DEFAULT Building Option at ALL.

 

Draw the whole plan in each independent building option.

 

MOVE everything into Building Option 1 , then copy everything to Building Option 2 etc. and edit each building option to reflect your requirements, and then ONLY have one building option active at any time. A single drawing will then contain MULTIPLE complete plan OPTIONS each one of which can be turned on independently, individually. If you USE save as, you have to switch the model in and out. doing it with the building options is much simpler, sweeter, and they can all coexist together.

 

Once you get used to it, you can of course put non changing items in the default option, and only draw changed options, but that can get very confusing.

[Harlon Suttle]

Keith is spot on...Building options is a very powerful tool....does take a bit of practice to understand...but once you have that aaah ha moment....bingo...and a great feature is to un-check the default color of items and use a different color for a building option....and when viewing combined building options, you can clearly see the differences of each building option

[Steve and Carla Farnam]

It would be nice to have the option of doing a save as for the entire plan

directly to option 1,2,3 etc.

[Michael Collazo]

  i don't know what kind of options you are talking about. I will assume that the options are like big shower vs shower & tub & or bay window etc... There are times where a save as is quicker and requires much less setup on the front end. You could always keep updating a base version and if the alternate option is chosen, you could delete the area in question and paste in the option from the other drawing using "hold position".  Of course, nobody wants to update more than one version simultaneously. I don't recommend this, but it simpler in some cases. However, I would recommend learning to work with building options as much as possible since you mentioned plan sets. Its much more adaptable in plan sets.

 

You could put your option area into a selection set and assign it to an option, other than default. I would setup the option name as well. Most important part, put the area that the option will replace into a "Standard or Base option name" building option as well and take it off of default. Even the standard portion will become an option. If you wish you could put this on a radio button which is a new feature that automatically cancels out the other version, like a toggle switch. This works even better for when you have a few options or you are managing a master plan that will be built on multiple lots with clients selecting options. 

Best part is that you could show all the options on the plan set by dragging in the plan multiple times and assigning a different option each time then cropping. We were never able to do this on the same sheet with multidrawings.

 

Its not that complicated after you do it a couple times. One of the best ways to practice is to use an optional kitchen island, then a upgraded kitchen island. Attach dimension on both while in each building option to assure the notes and dims are complete.. It takes diligence. Softplan is the best program at handling options right out of the box. 

 

But if you don't want to manage options at that level because you are just going through conceptual designs, you could definitely saveas or even a layer. Always more than 1 way.

[Mike Adams]

Thanks to all for their perspective and great points.

 

Mike