In Advance Steel, a camera is a saved view of part of the model that a drawing process can turn into a drawing. You create one from the Advance Steel Tool Palette (Tools > Create Camera, UCS or Create Camera(s) at Node), set its Type (Anchor Plan, Node, Roof Plan and so on), and then run a drawing process from the Cameras category. A camera with the type left at None is ignored.
General arrangement drawings like anchor bolt plans, roof plans and connection details are built this way. Below are both camera tools, what each setting does, a cheat sheet, how to generate the drawings, and what to check when a camera doesn’t produce a drawing.
Where are the camera tools in Advance Steel?
First open the Advance Steel Tool Palette. It’s on the Home tab:
In the Tool Palette, go to Tools. The camera tools are in the middle of the palette (circled in red):
The tool on the left is Create Camera, UCS. The one on the right is Create Camera(s) at Node. Let’s start with cameras on the UCS (User Coordinate System).
How do I create a camera on the UCS?
This tool creates a camera that looks at the XY plane of the current UCS from the Z direction. So before you start the tool, align the X and Y axes of the UCS the way you want the drawing to read. The orientation of the drawing follows the orientation of those axes:
Using the Tool
When you start the tool, Advance Steel asks you for a Point. This is the point on the XY plane of the current UCS where the camera goes. Pick it, and the camera is created and its dialog box opens:
Properties Tab
Here you set the camera type and description. If you don’t set the right type, the drawing processes won’t use this camera.
- Type: None by default. You can set it to Anchor Plan, Intersection, Node, Overview or Roof Plan.
- Description: a description for the camera.
- Detail Styles Overrides: override the drawing style and scale used for this camera. If you’ll generate the drawings with Drawing Processes, leave this alone. The processes set the style and scale for you.
Detail Box Tab
Set the scale of the camera and how the view is clipped in each direction:
- z-Viewport: front and back clipping in the Z direction.
- xy-Viewport: clipping in the XY plane. Automatic by default.
Display Type Tab
This controls whether you see the camera in the model. Standard is the default. OFF hides the camera.
How do I create a camera at a node (connection)?
This tool creates a camera at a node, meaning a connection box:
Using the Tool
Start the tool and select the connection box, then press ENTER. Advance Steel shows several planes and arrows and asks you to select objects:
Pick the arrow for the direction you want to look at the joint from, and press ENTER. The camera is created with Node already set as the type in the Camera dialog box:
The clipping of a node camera is set automatically from the size of the connection box. To change it, double-click the camera and adjust the settings:
Step-by-step cheat sheet
Here’s a quick cheat sheet with the exact steps.
Camera on the UCS
- Align the UCS so its XY plane matches the base plates of the anchor bolts.
- Start Create Camera, UCS from the Advance Steel Tool Palette > Tools tab.
- When asked for a point, click the end point of the bottom face of the anchor bolt base plate. The camera is placed there.
- The Advance Steel Camera dialog box opens.
- In the Type list, select the type you need, such as Anchor Plan or Intersection.
- Close the dialog box.
Camera at a Node
- Turn on the visibility of the Connection Boxes layer.
- Start Create Camera(s), Node from the Advance Steel Tool Palette > Tools tab.
- When asked to select the object, select the connection box of the joint you want to detail and press ENTER.
- From the planes and arrows shown, select the arrow for the view you want and press ENTER.
- The camera is created with the Node type already selected.
How do I generate drawings from cameras?
Once the cameras are placed, here’s how to turn them into drawings.
- Open the Drawing Processes palette from the Output tab on the ribbon.
- In the toolbar on the left side of the palette, open the Cameras category and pick the drawing process you want to use.
You can create drawings from all cameras or only from selected ones. To use only some cameras, select them before you start the drawing process.
Remember: only cameras with a type set (Node, Anchor Plan and so on) are picked up by the drawing processes.
How do I add a cut view?
You can add cut views to these drawings from the Labels & Dimensions tab on the ribbon:
Here’s a drawing made from a node camera (right), with a cut view (left) added from the Labels & Dimensions tab:
What are the camera types for?
The type tells the drawing processes what kind of drawing the camera is for.
| Type | Typically used for |
|---|---|
| None | Default. Not used by drawing processes. |
| Anchor Plan | Anchor bolt / base plate plans |
| Roof Plan | Roof framing plans |
| Overview | General views of the model or part of it |
| Intersection | Views cut through the model, like elevations or sections |
| Node | Connection details at a joint |
Why doesn’t my camera make a drawing?
The camera type is None. Double-click the camera and set the type. This is the most common reason.
The drawing process is from the wrong category. Use a process from the Cameras category in the Drawing Processes palette.
Only some cameras were used. If you selected cameras before starting the process, only those are used. Clear the selection to use all of them.
The drawing shows too much or too little. Change the clipping on the Detail Box tab. For a node camera, the clipping comes from the connection box size, so adjust it there.
I can’t see the camera in the model. Check the Display Type tab. If it’s set to OFF, the camera is hidden.
I can’t select a connection box for a node camera. Turn on the Connection Boxes layer first.
The drawing reads sideways or upside down. For a UCS camera, the drawing follows the UCS X and Y axes. Rotate the UCS and place the camera again.
