& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Apply the plan underlay feature to a project.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
6 min.
Transcript
00:04
So to do this, I'll open the roof floor plan view from the project browser.
00:09
The skylights need to be aligned with a corridor that's
00:12
between the apartments on the level below the roof.
00:16
So to help us do this, we'll use the underlay feature
00:19
which allows us to see the plan of a different level within this view.
00:24
So let's go to the properties palette
00:26
and on the underlay panel here,
00:28
you can see we have the range base level parameter
00:31
and we'll set this to level three.
00:37
And now this is applied in the view.
00:39
We can see the layout of the walls in the level three plan view
00:43
as we zoom in.
00:44
We can see that they're grayed out slightly as the underlay is set to be in half tone.
00:49
And we can't actually select the objects in the underlay.
00:52
Although this is because we have the underlay selection toggled off.
00:57
So we'll go down to the status bar in the corner here
01:00
and we can see here the select underlay elements toggle
01:04
and I'll click on it to switch it on.
01:06
And now we can see that we can select those
01:08
objects that are in the underlay on level three.
01:11
Although to prevent any accidental editing of those objects,
01:14
I'll go back to the status bar and we'll
01:17
toggle this so that we cannot select them anymore.
01:20
So now to place the skylights above the corridor here,
01:23
we'll go to the architecture ribbon tab
01:26
and from the build panel or click on the window tool
01:29
as the skylights belong to the window category.
01:32
From the type selector, we can see we have the skylight pyramid family selected
01:37
and we'll change it to be the 36 by 84 inch type.
01:41
And now we can come over to the view and at the bottom of the corridor here,
01:45
we can just click to place one approximately in the center.
01:49
So now we have the first one placed, I'll click modify to finish the window tool.
01:54
And now we'll go to the annotate ribbon tab
01:57
from the dimensions panel. Here we'll click align dimension.
02:03
So to begin, I'll pick the vertical center of the skylight
02:07
and then we can pick the wall on either side of the corridor here.
02:11
And now we'll place this dimension down above the skylight.
02:14
And then I'll pick on the equality toggle here
02:17
to set those dimensions equal which will then position
02:20
the skylight in the middle of that corridor.
02:23
Now we'll place a second dimension so
02:25
we'll get the horizontal center of the skylight
02:28
and then we'll pick the reference of the curtain wall below
02:32
and then we can place this dimension on the right hand side.
02:35
So now I'll click, modify to finish placing dimensions
02:38
and I'll pick on the skylight
02:41
and now we can edit the dimension that we just placed on the side here
02:44
and we'll change its value to be 6 ft.
02:49
So now that we have that in the correct location,
02:52
I'll select the two dimensions
02:55
and from the modify ribbon tab,
02:56
we'll click on the delete tool
02:58
to clear those dimensions from the view.
03:01
Now, in the warning, which is letting us know that we had a EQ constraint,
03:05
we'll click unconstrained
03:07
so that the skylight is no longer constrained to the walls.
03:12
Now, we need to copy the skylight along the corridor. So I'll select it.
03:17
And from the modify windows ribbon tab here on the modify panel,
03:20
we'll click the array tool
03:25
and now looking at the options bar,
03:28
we can see that the group and associate is unselected
03:31
and the number is currently two. So we'll change this to four
03:37
and we have it set to move to second.
03:40
So now I'll pick a start point in the view
03:42
and start to move it vertically upwards.
03:45
We'll type in a distance of 12 ft.
03:47
And once we've entered that,
03:49
we can see those four skylights arrayed along the length of that corridor.
03:55
So now having placed those skylights,
03:56
we'll go back to the properties palette and from the underlay panel here,
03:60
we'll change the range base level back to none.
04:04
And now we can see that we have just the roof plan
04:07
with the skylights in the correct location.
04:10
So now I'll go to the project browser
04:12
and I'll open up the street floor plan view.
04:16
This floor plan is obviously lower down at street level.
04:19
However, when designing at this level, we may need to place
04:22
water pipes or design landscaping that takes account
04:25
of objects that are higher up the building.
04:28
So we'll go to the properties pallet and in the underlay panel,
04:31
we'll change the range base level to be the roof level.
04:37
And then we can see now that that brings in our roof and we can see the skylights here.
04:42
However, looking a little bit closer,
04:44
there is a roof over the stairs in this corner here
04:47
and that's actually associated with level three.
04:50
So in the properties pallet, we'll change the range base level to be level three.
04:56
And we can see that the top level beneath this is set to be unbounded. So it will,
04:60
so it will still look at the roof level too.
05:03
And when we apply this,
05:04
we can now see that we have the roof over the
05:07
stairs as well as the skylights and the main roof above.
05:10
And that makes it easier.
05:11
Now for us to accurately consider these objects
05:14
when we're working down at the street level.
Video transcript
00:04
So to do this, I'll open the roof floor plan view from the project browser.
00:09
The skylights need to be aligned with a corridor that's
00:12
between the apartments on the level below the roof.
00:16
So to help us do this, we'll use the underlay feature
00:19
which allows us to see the plan of a different level within this view.
00:24
So let's go to the properties palette
00:26
and on the underlay panel here,
00:28
you can see we have the range base level parameter
00:31
and we'll set this to level three.
00:37
And now this is applied in the view.
00:39
We can see the layout of the walls in the level three plan view
00:43
as we zoom in.
00:44
We can see that they're grayed out slightly as the underlay is set to be in half tone.
00:49
And we can't actually select the objects in the underlay.
00:52
Although this is because we have the underlay selection toggled off.
00:57
So we'll go down to the status bar in the corner here
01:00
and we can see here the select underlay elements toggle
01:04
and I'll click on it to switch it on.
01:06
And now we can see that we can select those
01:08
objects that are in the underlay on level three.
01:11
Although to prevent any accidental editing of those objects,
01:14
I'll go back to the status bar and we'll
01:17
toggle this so that we cannot select them anymore.
01:20
So now to place the skylights above the corridor here,
01:23
we'll go to the architecture ribbon tab
01:26
and from the build panel or click on the window tool
01:29
as the skylights belong to the window category.
01:32
From the type selector, we can see we have the skylight pyramid family selected
01:37
and we'll change it to be the 36 by 84 inch type.
01:41
And now we can come over to the view and at the bottom of the corridor here,
01:45
we can just click to place one approximately in the center.
01:49
So now we have the first one placed, I'll click modify to finish the window tool.
01:54
And now we'll go to the annotate ribbon tab
01:57
from the dimensions panel. Here we'll click align dimension.
02:03
So to begin, I'll pick the vertical center of the skylight
02:07
and then we can pick the wall on either side of the corridor here.
02:11
And now we'll place this dimension down above the skylight.
02:14
And then I'll pick on the equality toggle here
02:17
to set those dimensions equal which will then position
02:20
the skylight in the middle of that corridor.
02:23
Now we'll place a second dimension so
02:25
we'll get the horizontal center of the skylight
02:28
and then we'll pick the reference of the curtain wall below
02:32
and then we can place this dimension on the right hand side.
02:35
So now I'll click, modify to finish placing dimensions
02:38
and I'll pick on the skylight
02:41
and now we can edit the dimension that we just placed on the side here
02:44
and we'll change its value to be 6 ft.
02:49
So now that we have that in the correct location,
02:52
I'll select the two dimensions
02:55
and from the modify ribbon tab,
02:56
we'll click on the delete tool
02:58
to clear those dimensions from the view.
03:01
Now, in the warning, which is letting us know that we had a EQ constraint,
03:05
we'll click unconstrained
03:07
so that the skylight is no longer constrained to the walls.
03:12
Now, we need to copy the skylight along the corridor. So I'll select it.
03:17
And from the modify windows ribbon tab here on the modify panel,
03:20
we'll click the array tool
03:25
and now looking at the options bar,
03:28
we can see that the group and associate is unselected
03:31
and the number is currently two. So we'll change this to four
03:37
and we have it set to move to second.
03:40
So now I'll pick a start point in the view
03:42
and start to move it vertically upwards.
03:45
We'll type in a distance of 12 ft.
03:47
And once we've entered that,
03:49
we can see those four skylights arrayed along the length of that corridor.
03:55
So now having placed those skylights,
03:56
we'll go back to the properties palette and from the underlay panel here,
03:60
we'll change the range base level back to none.
04:04
And now we can see that we have just the roof plan
04:07
with the skylights in the correct location.
04:10
So now I'll go to the project browser
04:12
and I'll open up the street floor plan view.
04:16
This floor plan is obviously lower down at street level.
04:19
However, when designing at this level, we may need to place
04:22
water pipes or design landscaping that takes account
04:25
of objects that are higher up the building.
04:28
So we'll go to the properties pallet and in the underlay panel,
04:31
we'll change the range base level to be the roof level.
04:37
And then we can see now that that brings in our roof and we can see the skylights here.
04:42
However, looking a little bit closer,
04:44
there is a roof over the stairs in this corner here
04:47
and that's actually associated with level three.
04:50
So in the properties pallet, we'll change the range base level to be level three.
04:56
And we can see that the top level beneath this is set to be unbounded. So it will,
04:60
so it will still look at the roof level too.
05:03
And when we apply this,
05:04
we can now see that we have the roof over the
05:07
stairs as well as the skylights and the main roof above.
05:10
And that makes it easier.
05:11
Now for us to accurately consider these objects
05:14
when we're working down at the street level.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved
Sign in for the best experience
Save your progress
Get access to courses
Receive personalized recommendations
May we collect and use your data?
Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?
Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.