Tutorial for open windows

In progress

This tutorial uses FreeCAD 0.18.

This tutorial shows how to have Arch Windows and Doors open in the 3D model, and to indicate this in a 2D drawing (plan and elevation projection). It uses the Draft Workbench, the Arch Workbench, and the TechDraw Workbench.

Setup
1. Open FreeCAD, create a new empty document, and switch to the Arch Workbench.

2. Make sure your units are set correctly,. For example,  is good for dealing with distances in a typical building; moreover, setting 4 decimals is good to consider even the smallest fractions of a meter.

3. Use the Draft ToggleGrid button to show a grid with enough resolution. You can change the grid properties if needed,. For example, lines at every 50 mm, with major lines every 20 lines, and 1000 lines in total.

4. Zoom out of the 3D view if you are too close to the grid.

Create a simple building with closed walls, two doors and two windows.

Placing a wall
5. Use the Draft Wire tool to create a closed wire. Go counterclockwise.
 * 5.1. First point in (0, 0, 0); in the dialog enter ,   ,
 * 5.2. Second point in (3, 0, 0). Press to constrain the movement to the X axis; enter the value
 * 5.3. Third point in (3, 4, 0). Press to constrain the movement to the Y axis; enter the value
 * 5.4. Fourth point in (0, 4, 0). Press to constrain the movement to the X axis; enter the value
 * 5.5. Press to close the Wire, and close the tool.
 * 5.6. In the number pad press to get an axonometric view of the model.
 * Note: the points can also be defined with the mouse pointer by choosing intersections on the grid, with the help of the Draft Snap toolbar and the Draft Grid method.

6. Select the  and change the property  to

7. Select the  and click the Arch Wall tool; the Wall is immediately created with a default width (thickness) of 0.2 m, and height of 3 m.
 * Note: if the property of the   is, this step would create a solid block, instead of using only the contour of the.

Placing doors and windows
8. Click the Arch Window tool; as preset select, and change the height to 2 m
 * 8.1. Change the snapping to Draft Midpoint, and try selecting the lower edge of the frontal wall; when the midpoint is active, click to place the door.
 * 8.2. Click the Arch Window tool again, and place another door, but this time in the midpoint of the back wall; rotate the standard view if necessary.

9. Click the Arch Window tool; as preset select, and change the still height to 1 m
 * 9.1. Keep the snapping to Draft Midpoint, and try selecting the lower edge of the left side wall; when the midpoint is active, click to place the window.


 * Note: the still height is the distance from the floor to the lower edge of the element; for doors the still height is usually 0 m as doors are normally touching the floor; on the other hand, windows have a usual separation of 0.5 m to 1.5 m from the floor.


 * 9.2. Click the Arch Window tool again, and place another window, but this time in the midpoint of the right wall; rotate the standard view if necessary. This time make the window's width (length) 1.5 m, and again make the still height 1 m


 * when placing a window or a door hover the element over the Arch Wall, and wait for the element to rotate so that it is parallel to that wall. Use the Draft Near method from the Draft Snap toolbar to easily select a face of the wall; aim for the lower edge of the wall, and use the still height to adjust the distance from the floor. Having many Draft Snap modes active at the same time may cause some issues with placing the element, so try with only one option at a time.


 * if the window or door was placed parallel to the Arch Wall, but not exactly in the position that you want it, you can adjust the position of the underlying Sketcher Sketch from the property view. For example, if you want to move the  a bit higher, select the underlying , and change its position to  . The entire   should move up. The wall may still show an opening in the wrong position; if this happens, right click the   element, select  , and then press + to recompute the model.

Opening the doors
10. Select  underlying , and press , or change the property  to

11. Double click  in the tree view to start editing it.


 * 11.1. Inside the  frame there are two panes,   and.
 * with a simple door preset there are two wires,  and , and two components,   and  . With a custom designed Arch Door, there may be more wires and components.
 * 11.2. Click on, and click the  button. This shows the properties of the   component like  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , and.
 * 11.3. In the 3D view, select only one vertical edge in the visible Sketch of the Door, then click the ' button. The button should change to an edge name, for example, '.
 * 11.4. Change the  to , or any other option.
 * 11.5. Click the ' button, and then ' to finish editing the door. The Sketch may become hidden again.

12. Select, and give the property  a value of 45. The solid panel of the door should open to the inside of the building.

13. Select, and change the property  to ; a wire starting from the door frame should indicate where the door opens; this is easier to see if the viewport is switched to front view. Change the property to ; a circular arc should indicate how the door opens; this is easier to see if viewport is switched to top view.

14. Repeat the steps with  and the underlying   to make the door open 75 degrees to the inside of the building. Also show the elevation and plan symbols.

Opening the windows
15. Select  underlying , and press , or change the property  to

16. Double click the  in the tree view to start editing it.


 * 16.1. Click on the  component, and click the  button.


 * 16.2. In the 3D view, select only one vertical edge of . The wires representing   and the   are very close to each other, so zoom in as close as possible to the Sketch to select the appropriate wire. Then click the ' button. The button should change to an edge name, for example, '.
 * when there are many solids on the screen that it becomes difficult to select only one edge, switch to wireframe mode to remove the solid objects, and see only the wires, edges, and contours of those solids.


 * 16.3. Change the  to , or any other option.

17. Select, and give the property  a value of 45. The inner frame containing the transparent glass should open to the inside of the building.

18. Select, and change the property  to ; a wire starting from the window frame should indicate where the inner frame opens; this is easier to see if the viewport is switched to left side view. Change the property to ; a circular arc should indicate how the inner frame opens; this is easier to see if the viewport is switched to top view.

19. Repeat the steps with  and the underlying   to make the window open 75 degrees. Also show the elevation and plan symbols. In this case, don't pick a vertical wire of the  as hinge, but pick the top horizontal wire. This means that the window will open differently from the other window. The elevation symbol will be better seen from a right side view. The plan symbol will be better seen from the front view; however, since the wall is obstructing the view, you can change its to a value such as 85 to see through it.

Making a floor plan of the building
17. In the tree view, select all components, the Arch Wall, the two Arch Windows, and the two Arch Doors, then use the Arch SectionPlane tool to create a  element.

18. Change to TechDraw Workbench and insert a new page with the TechDraw New Default tool; a new  object is created, and the view switches to this page. The page inserted is a standard A4 sheet in landscape orientation, with a basic frame around it. Use the TechDraw New Pick tool if you need to create a new page using a particular SVG template.

19. Select, and use the TechDraw NewArch tool to create an   object in the page. Most probably the new object won't be visible in the page because it has a very large scale of 1, that is, 1:1.

20. Select this  object, and change the property  to 0.02, which is equivalent to 1:50, a scale suitable for typical buildings. The object should appear in the center of the page, and can be moved to a better position on the page. The two doors should look like they are open, but only the left window looks open; the reason for this is that the Arch SectionPlane is not high enough to cut through the right window, as can be seen from the 3D view.

21. Select the  element, place it higher over the floor, by changing the property  to. Now it barely touches all elements. The updated view in the TechDraw page now shows all openings in the Arch Wall produced by the doors and windows.

Making an elevation projection of the building
22. Go back to the Arch Workbench. In the tree view, select all components, the Arch Wall, the two Arch Windows, and the two Arch Doors, then use the Arch SectionPlane tool to create a second  element.


 * 22.1. Rotate the second, so that it cuts vertically through the building. Change the properties  to  , and  to.


 * 22.2. Create one more plane, and position it vertically in front of the building. Change the properties  to  ,  to  , and  to.


 * Note: you can adjust the of the planes to 200 mm, to quickly recognize to which side the planes are pointing.

23. Go back to the TechDraw Workbench, and the Page, and use the TechDraw NewArch tool on each of the  and   planes; remember to adjust the scale to 0.02 (1:50). Change to   for both, to correct the appearance of the projections. Arrange all views in the page.


 * Note: for the TechDraw ArchView objects it's advisable to set to, so that all elements cut by the plane are visible, regardless of their state in the 3D viewport. The option  can also be set to , to shade the solid cuts.