what is the scale factor from metric to decimal feet
This article volition assist you lot gain an intuitive understanding of CAD calibration factors and all-time practices for scaling blueprint drawings. We will be using examples from AutoCAD, but the same steps can be similarly practical in most CAD software.
What is a CAD calibration factor?
The calibration of a drawing tin be described and applied in a few unlike ways. It tin exist metric or imperial, it can exist a ratio with or without units, and it can be written in the format of 1:northward or n:one.
The particular convention used will depend on the standards of your country (metric vs. regal), the profession (architecture vs. engineering), and the context of the cartoon (a detail vs. a site plan)
Despite these differences in annotation, the rules governing all scaled drawing are the aforementioned. Computer Aided Design (CAD) makes it simple and effortless to motility between scales and to produce drawings at multiple sizes with the assistance of CAD scale factors, provided you empathise how to apply them.
Blueprint work today happens at full-scale; that is, while designing in a digital space you lot are drawing life-sized objects. But a full scale cartoon is not often very useful exterior of AutoCAD, Vectorworks, or your CAD software of choice.
On newspaper and on screens, our drawings need to meaningfully represent our ideas at scales that are legible and manageable for clients, builders, and our peers.
This article will use common regal architectural scales in its examples, only y'all should be encouraged to familiarize yourself with metric and engineering scales so that you lot can intuitively movement between them with the aid of CAD scale factors- an important skill for our increasingly interdisciplinary and globalized profession.
Scale Factor vs. Scale
A scale factor is a ratio of modify from a drawing to existent life. Typically, a scale gene is unit-less; a calibration factor of 48 (or 1:48) is saying that for i unit on the folio, it represents 48 of the aforementioned units in real life.
This is a bit different than a scale; an imperial scale is described as a ratio of inches-to-the-pes. Because of convention, and considering of the nature of imperial units, it is often more than meaningful to tell the reader of the drawing that ¼ of an inch on the page represents ane human foot in real life, for example. This would be notated as (¼"=1')
While the two previous examples may look a lot different, they actually could be describing the same drawing. In our example, i:48 means that 1" is equivalent to 48" on the ground, which is another fashion to say that 1" is equivalent to 4'. Our scale of (i/4"=i') is saying the same thing, simply is displayed every bit a fraction and with incongruent units; if we multiply past 4 to reduce that fraction to a whole number, nosotros become (ane"=4').
They're ii very different ways of saying the same matter- that the drawing is 48 times smaller than life.
So why is there a distinction at all? A scale gene is more useful for calculating measurements between unlike scales- you lot don't have to worry most units, the conversions are easily inputted to a estimator, and they interface nicely with CAD software.
Conventional annotation for the royal scale, on the other paw, carries over from the days of transmission drafting and the calibration ruler.
As a convention, it has stuck around in our discipline and continues to be the almost useful notation for quickly dimensioning a printed scaled drawing.
Metric Scales and Engineering science Scales
Metric scales are a bit unlike; considering metric units are a base ten system (that is, 1 meter=10 decimeters=100 centimeters=one thousand millimeters), metric scales are able to finer do away with units entirely and all the same be hands understood.
Metric scales are represented directly equally unit-less calibration factors (such every bit 1:50) because the conversions between metric lengths are all factors of x. A metric drawing will indicate its calibration gene, and the unit information technology was drawn in.
Remember, the numbers on each side of the ratio represent the aforementioned unit of measurement.
Imperial engineering scales function the same way as purple architectural scales, but their notation standard is slightly unlike.
An technology scale would exist shown as 1"=20', or another multiple of x anxiety; this is partly due to the fact that they usually work in decimal inches rather than fractional inches. Common regal engineering scales are shown in the next section for reference.
CAD Scale Factors Chart
Within the design community, there are some loose conventions around choosing a scale for a given context.
While these standards do non apply in every state of affairs, it is agreed that a 3"=1' scale is often appropriate for construction details, while 1/16"=1' is appropriate for a site plan, and and then on.
Deviation volition e'er occur, but the following guidelines for scaling a cartoon are a good place to start. It is also recommended that you avert using a-typical scales because many designers take an intuitive understanding of what (three/4"=ane') feels similar.
If you're bringing a cartoon to a potential employer that is scaled at (7/16"=i') or at (1:325), you may introduce a moment of illegibility and confusion that could hinder communicating your design.
Imperial Scale Factor
How to convert scale in Autocad?
Generally, drawings in AutoCAD and other CAD software are drawn at ane:1 scale- that is, life size. Occasionally, we end upward with files that are out of calibration, and this should be resolved before whatever farther paper infinite scaling occurs. Incorrectly scaled drawings often happen when importing CAD files that use a different base of operations unit than you, opening scaled drawings (i.e. a PDF sent by a colleague), or simply by man mistake. Fortunately, it'southward hands resolved and is the first step to converting betwixt scales in AutoCAD. After your content is brought to full scale in the model space, you simply need to select your desired "Viewport Calibration" for each viewport in your paper space layout.
Getting to Total Scale
- In the Model Infinite, measure points and compare them to their annotations to get a sense of what is wrong.
Does the content need to compress or to be enlarged? Past how many orders of magnitude? Run the (UNITS) control- what "Insertion Scale Units" is AutoCAD telling yous information technology is in? What is your "Length Type"? Are you looking at a file that is in a highly reduced paper calibration, at total calibration in the wrong unit of measurement, or something else? Having your head around where you are, and where you want to become, will do wonders for making the scaling process uncomplicated and articulate.
Find a known measurement in the drawing using an notation or an object of standardized size, such as a 4'x8' sheet of wallboard. Once you have identified a line of known length, nosotros are going to say a door expected to be 36" wide in plan, measure the length in model space using the (DIST) command. For this case, we will say that Autocad reports back that the door is 91.44 inches wide. You lot have two easy options from here to correctly calibration your drawing:
Reference Scaling
- Select all the content of your drawing and enter the command (SCALE)
- Select a base point
- This is going to be ane edge of your known distance: the door's width
- Enter (R) to activate reference scaling
- Select two points for a reference length
- In this example, your first point volition be one edge of the door width, and the second point volition be the other border. Now the line is referenced at 91.44 inches
- Enter (36") as the new length
The entire drawing will rescale, so that the door is the correct 36" wide
Unit Conversion and Scale Factors
Before scaling the drawing, however, you may have noticed that 91.44 seems to be virtually ii.5 times larger than 36 and connected the dots that the content was probable drawn in centimeters. Checking that 36" is, in fact, 91.44 cm confirms this. At this point you could scale your drawing using a scale cistron.
- Select all the content of your drawing and enter the control (Calibration)
- Select a base betoken
- Enter the scale factor
- Rather than inbound reference way as before, y'all will simply enter the scale factor of Centimeters to Inches: 1/2.54 or 0.3937. This will re-size your unabridged drawing to be accurately scaled to inches.
Before you move on, cheque that your file is configured to go along using the units you intend with the instructions beneath.
-DWGUNITS
(-DWGUNITS) is a powerful control that is used for changing the units of an AutoCAD file. It can too be used to skip the step above and scale the drawing from one unit of measurement to another.
Using this command is a good idea, particularly when you lot are bringing in a file of dubious origin where dimensioning best-practices may not take been observed. This command allows yous to change unit settings in your file and, optionally, to calibration the file for those units
To avoid futurity scaling headaches, I always find it to exist a skilful idea to run through the (-DWGUNITS) control after I have manually re-scaled a cartoon to ensure that my units are configured correctly.
Converting From I Scale to Another with CAD Scale Factors
Typically in AutoCAD we don't demand to convert between paper scales manually, just at that place are situations where you would need to. If you are using CAD software that doesn't separate a model infinite from a paper space, or if you lot demand to quickly resize a scaled drawing for plotting, etc, you can move between scales using CAD Scale Factors.
Make up one's mind Electric current Cartoon Scale
****Let us say you have a wall annotated at 24'- you bank check the length of the wall using the (DIST) control in AutoCAD and find that it is drawn at 3". What is the current drawing calibration?
- Based on our measurements we accept a calibration of (3"=24'). To catechumen this into a typically notated scale of n"=1', carve up both sides by 24.
- 3/24" = 1'
- Reduce the fraction of three/24 to ane/8
- The new scale is (⅛"=ane')
- At present, to calculate the scale factor, you're going to invert the fraction and multiply by 12.
- (8/1) * 12 = scale gene of 96
Determine Target Drawing Calibration
One mode to option a new scale is to decide your minimum calibration factor. Let the states say y'all have 240' of site to represent, and 16" of newspaper to show it. What is the minimum scale cistron that could fit all your content on i page?
- Split up the largest length of your pattern (in feet) by the length of newspaper you have to work with (in inches) and multiply by 12.
- (240'/16") 10 12 = scale factor of 180
- You lot must utilize a scale cistron larger than 180 to fit your content on i folio- at this point, consult a chart above to selection a scale.
- In this example, nosotros'll selection 1/16"=ane'.
- Invert the fraction and multiply by twelve to get the target scale factor
- (16/1) * 12 = scale gene of 192
Calculate New Scale Factor
Our original scale factor is 96 ((ane/eight=1)) and we desire to size the drawing to a scale factor of 192 ((1/16=1)).
This one is going to be easy; we know the drawing should get smaller and so nosotros can expect a scale factor of less than 1.
- Simply dissever the ii scale factors; with the original calibration factor as the numerator and the target scale factor as the denominator.
- 96/192=scale cistron of 0.v
- Our cartoon is going to be scaled by a gene of 0.5, or zoomed to 50%
- Like before, nosotros will select all of our content. Employ the (Scale) command and enter a scale factor of 0.five, giving u.s. a cartoon scaled to (1/16"=one')
Calculating Scale Factors of Applied science Scales
To calculate the scale factor of an purple engineering science scale, only remember that you desire to calculate "how many inches of newspaper to how many inches of real life".
- Multiply the feet past 12 inches and you'll have your scale factor.
- For a scale of 1"=forty'
- 40 * 12 = scale factor of 480
History of CAD
CAD is unique from manual drafting in that it allows you to describe at full scale with precision. In fact- it was this power to draw at full scale that was part of what made CAD then revolutionary upon its adoption. Total scale cartoon has occurred since the commencement of homo construction and planning; mystics, architects, etc, often planned villages and new buildings directly on the ground by using their knowledge of the landscape and people'south needs to etch instructions for buildings right in place.
Eventually, new construction techniques required new forms of abstractly representing buildings- to communicate, instruct, and record the details of structure. As materials and building techniques demanded ever smaller tolerances, technical drawings required more precision and descriptiveness. The advances of modernistic construction in architecture, product design, aerospace, cars, and more, paced forward hand-in-hand with advances in the tools bachelor for designing and describing those objects. Whether you believe that advances in computer aided pattern occurred to keep upwards with a irresolute world, or that those advances in CAD opened the doors for advancing building engineering science, there is no uncertainty about the meaning role that digital tools and computer aided drafting accept played in transforming our discipline.
1960 - Sketchpad is developed at MIT
Sketchpad ran on one of the world's largest computers at the fourth dimension, and is considered to exist the start true interactive CAD program. Sketchpad introduced some of our most common contemporary CAD features: snapping to points, rubber-banding, instances, dynamic transformation, and more. While Sketchpad was a proof-of-concept project, it opened the door for what was to come in CAD.
https://www.designworldonline.com/50-years-of-cad/
1971 - ADAM
This interactive drafting and designing software was some of the first to be largely commercially successful and available on consumer home computers.
1972 - Synthavision by MAGI
The beginning 3D solid modeling software was intitially designed to analyze nuclear radiation exposure through solid buildings. The company's success at developing these tools led them to pivot towards 3D graphics modeling and eventually led them to produce the visuals for Tron in 1982.
1982 - AutoCAD
In 1982, AutoCAD v 1.0 was introduced into the world. It closely leaned from mitt drafting techniques of the time, replicating many industry standards into a digital platform that would change the way architecture is practiced.
1987 - Pro/Engineer
In 1989, computer aided drafting became parametric with the introduction of Pro/Engineer.
1993 - NURBS
CAS Berlin devs first interactive NURBS modeler for habitation computers, called NöRBS. NURBS are spline defined surfaces where points in a 3d model control lines that ultimately control surfaces. This is the most common culling to MESH based softwares.
Conclusion
Getting the hang of CAD scale factors tin can be a frustrating effort and doing them wrong tin can atomic number 82 to some pretty embarrassing situations. When you are rescaling drawings, just remember: don't scale recklessly, and attempt to go a good understanding of what you lot intend to do. What are your units? Should your drawing go bigger or smaller? What is the current scale cistron? If you lot tin can reply those questions, and follow the examples given in this commodity, yous'll be a scaling main in no time.
Source: https://monograph.com/reference/cad-scale-factor
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