Sorry if this is a stupid question but I graduated my BA architecture recently and moved to the US shortly after. I just wanted to ask do architects in here use inches or metric system when using CAD? Thanks
accesskb
Jul 11, 13 9:56 pm
xD you need to know both. Depending on the firm, you could use either metric or imperial, although it seems like most firms are doing work in metric these day. However, you'll almost always have to deal with both because different trades and suppliers manufacture or work according to how they've done it in the past
ziazia
Jul 11, 13 11:45 pm
I think it also depends a lot of what systems you have on the specific project and what the modular dimensions are. I have been trying to work with american standard sizes for metal studs (3 5/8 inches, etc). in meters... it is horrible.
boy in a well
Jul 12, 13 7:48 am
regarding cad: just know how to scale/convert your files depending on where you're working or where your project is. In short - be flexible. Inches for a stateside project, metric otherwise.
most of my recent projects have in in Europe, but im in the states. Every sub is different as to what the base unit is (cm or mm, etc) - makes coordination a slight pain. but if its expected........its fine.
gruen
Jul 13, 13 8:25 am
Everything in the US is feet + inches.
Thecyclist
Jul 13, 13 12:16 pm
Uh, I tend to measure mine in inches
boy in a well
Jul 13, 13 1:00 pm
using centimeters is better than shaving your pubes.
MikeJarosz
Jul 19, 13 5:38 pm
When you say inches, do you mean "English Imperial weights and measures"? In the US, feet and inches are the standard for projects built in the US. If you are in a US firm doing work outside the US, you will use metric. They are not interchangeable. Thinking in metric on a US project will get you into trouble. Standards are different. A 3'-0" door is a US standard. In metric it would be 900mm. 3 feet does not convert to 900mm. I have worked around the US and the World. I understand both systems. People from other countries can't understand why we have this system. People from the US wonder why you speak a different language. The answer to both questions is the same: it's part of our heritage. I will use metric when France speaks English.
Regarding units in AutoCAD: the way they implemented units is the craziest mixed-up mess conceivable. Do not learn ANYTHING about units from ACAD. Revit does units right. Learn from them. An object does not change size when measured in different units. Are you taller in metric than inches?
midlander
Jul 21, 20 9:44 am
i've started working in inchimeters. 10 inchimeters = 1 foot. makes everything easier.
Non Sequitur
Jul 21, 20 9:50 am
as yes, decimal inches. a fair compromise.
Chad Miller
Jul 21, 20 10:16 am
I use furlongs for measurements in all my projects.
Non Sequitur
Jul 21, 20 10:29 am
chains also work. 10 chains to a furlong is what I always say.
citizen
Jul 21, 20 12:16 pm
I like dimensioning in cubits. (And nautical miles for large site plans.)
MikeJarosz
Jul 21, 20 10:52 am
The US officially uses feet and inches for linear measurements. Metric measurements are not an option. If you design in metric and dimension with metric, most US contractors will throw your drawings back at you or at least refuse to to bid on them. You drew all your doors at 900mm. The contractor says "Where do you expect me to get 900mm doors?" The US standard is 36 inches, which is 914mm. Your question is the equivalent of visiting France and complaining that everybody there speaks French. Your argument completely ignores the fact that the construction industry uses manufactured products like doors, windows, bricks, 2x4s, ceiling tiles, etc etc. All are manufactured in US units. They can be expressed in metric units, but they do not convert to round numbers like 2x4.or 4x8. Of course, you could avoid the problem completely by making 914.4mm doors. They will work perfectly in the US.
Isn't that just the reverse of what you are asking us to do?
Non Sequitur
Jul 21, 20 10:58 am
Grampa, join the current century will ya? Most of the world has converter to metric because of obvious reasons and plenty in the US will draft, and build, to either format. Also, no one would spec a 900mm door and expect it to be standard.
JLC-1
Jul 21, 20 11:07 am
I did this for a brazilian client some years back, it's not that hard to setup
Chad Miller
Jul 21, 20 11:56 am
Ewwww, AutoCAD. ;)
JLC-1
Jul 21, 20 12:25 pm
yes son, autocad, since 1991.
Chad Miller
Jul 21, 20 3:26 pm
Ewwww, you're a gross old man! 8-)
Almosthip
Jul 21, 20 12:03 pm
So true
Almosthip
Jul 21, 20 12:06 pm
or there is this
gwharton
Jul 21, 20 12:33 pm
Are you dimensioning your drawings in 1/63,360ths of a mile? Seems weird, but okay.
Non Sequitur
Jul 21, 20 12:48 pm
gwarton, some in my office seem to think 3/64th is an ok dim... so why not?
SneakyPete
Jul 21, 20 6:19 pm
I've seen manually entered dimensions to the 256th. It's awesome. Especially when it's ground-up new construction.
randomised
Jul 21, 20 3:16 pm
Already the comparison inches or millimeters is off and shows the epic failure that is the imperial system, as an inch is over 25 times the size of a millimeter, not very precise and it shows...
SneakyPete
Jul 21, 20 3:19 pm
*looks at tolerances possible in (current) construction methods*
randomised
Jul 21, 20 3:45 pm
it's much more precise and less likely to screw up if you can simply put your dimensions in normal mm instead of 1/xx part of an inch, an inch of which twelve go in one foot. Twelve, like wtf? You not only need to read the measurement but are forced to do calculus too, just for looking at a drawing!!1!
SneakyPete
Jul 21, 20 4:11 pm
I'm not pushing an agenda, just suggesting that precision below an inch is stretching it in most trades regardless of the unit.
randomised
Jul 21, 20 4:37 pm
That's probably true
Non Sequitur
Jul 21, 20 4:09 pm
Obligatory:
from the oatmeal
citizen
Jul 21, 20 5:08 pm
Seems sound... but rather patriarchical-ish, no?
Everyday Architect
Jul 21, 20 5:58 pm
I will always thumbs up a The Oatmeal comic
Chad Miller
Jul 21, 20 6:35 pm
Never knew that's where an inch came from . . .
spickney2000
Jul 22, 20 11:20 am
I´ve been lucky to visit the US on many occasions and haven´t found it too problamatic as I never worked there. It´s easier being a Brit as although everything is metric, being part of Europe (for a little longer), there are still imperial units used by the older generation in the UK, for example traffic distances are in both imperial and metric...
Personally I prefer to use metric, I find it is more precise.
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 1:09 pm
Precision is useful when measuring. Less useful when you have full control over the design from the start. If your design needs decimals beyond a centimeter and is also new construction, you might be doing something questionable. Also interesting note, chrome feels that the word centimeter is spelled wrong. Suggestions include centimetre, centime, and cementer.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 1:13 pm
only americans spell it centimeter. The correct way is centimetre.
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 1:17 pm
Correct outside of the US, you mean, right? Being such a lover of precision.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 1:22 pm
When it comes to English spelling, the US is never on the right side of the debate. 8-)
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 1:25 pm
Countries get to set their own languages and spelling. There is no debate.
Almosthip
Jul 22, 20 1:32 pm
Merica always has to be different....centimetre (international spelling) or centimeter (American spelling)
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 1:34 pm
Wasn't my decision, but the least you can do is respect it, eh?
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 1:45 pm
Pete, do you start adding extra Us when you travel to your northern neighbour?
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 1:50 pm
No, but I also don't expect you to spell things differently on this forum. Just respect the fact that there are multiple ways to spell centimeter.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 2:21 pm
but but... I want conflict. can we at least agree that night is better than nite (and all other variations of this)?
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:28 pm
Yes.
atelier nobody
Jul 22, 20 1:13 pm
Well, d'uh! Inches are obviously more better because an inch is way bigger than a millimetre. Sheesh, do I really have to explain this stuff?
tduds
Jul 22, 20 1:18 pm
I've always wondered, why millimetres & not centimetres?
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 2:20 pm
because mm avoids the use of punctuation which could be overlooked or confused for something else. Using cm will often get you 0.5mm. So either have your dims round up/down (roundin' dims bad m'kay... ) or use mm and show the full length.
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:21 pm
I did not follow that at all. Can you rewrite it?
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:29 pm
Serious request, not snark or a trap
.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 2:31 pm
Pete, if you use cm, then you have dims like 210.5
The decimal separator (period or comma) is something that can easily disappear during photocopying or site markups. Using mm prevents this.
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:36 pm
That makes sense.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 2:40 pm
Pete, sometimes I make sense. I typically try not to make sense too often tho...
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:42 pm
I assume you'd prefer Loonies?
atelier nobody
Jul 22, 20 2:48 pm
Vis-a-vis the separator, there is also the problem that North Americans use dots and commas exactly opposite the way the rest of the world does.
SneakyPete
Jul 22, 20 2:49 pm
*looks at the end of your sentence*
tduds
Jul 22, 20 3:30 pm
That's a benefit of fractions.
tduds
Jul 22, 20 3:32 pm
the "whole number" justification makes sense though. Thanks. That said, I'd assume your mm dimensions always end in 0 or 5. Anything more precise than that as laughable as tossing a 5/64" on a plan.
Non Sequitur
Jul 22, 20 3:41 pm
^ all my dims end in 0 or 5 unless it's material thickness as shown in the 1:5 or 1:2 scale drawings or if it's a hard imp to met conversion like 5' mullion c/l is 1524mm.
Almosthip
Jul 22, 20 5:24 pm
I actually prefer twoonies as they are twice as colourful
Hi,
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I graduated my BA architecture recently and moved to the US shortly after. I just wanted to ask do architects in here use inches or metric system when using CAD? Thanks
xD you need to know both. Depending on the firm, you could use either metric or imperial, although it seems like most firms are doing work in metric these day. However, you'll almost always have to deal with both because different trades and suppliers manufacture or work according to how they've done it in the past
I think it also depends a lot of what systems you have on the specific project and what the modular dimensions are. I have been trying to work with american standard sizes for metal studs (3 5/8 inches, etc). in meters... it is horrible.
regarding cad: just know how to scale/convert your files depending on where you're working or where your project is. In short - be flexible. Inches for a stateside project, metric otherwise.
most of my recent projects have in in Europe, but im in the states. Every sub is different as to what the base unit is (cm or mm, etc) - makes coordination a slight pain. but if its expected........its fine.
Everything in the US is feet + inches.
Uh, I tend to measure mine in inches
using centimeters is better than shaving your pubes.
When you say inches, do you mean "English Imperial weights and measures"? In the US, feet and inches are the standard for projects built in the US. If you are in a US firm doing work outside the US, you will use metric. They are not interchangeable. Thinking in metric on a US project will get you into trouble. Standards are different. A 3'-0" door is a US standard. In metric it would be 900mm. 3 feet does not convert to 900mm. I have worked around the US and the World. I understand both systems. People from other countries can't understand why we have this system. People from the US wonder why you speak a different language. The answer to both questions is the same: it's part of our heritage. I will use metric when France speaks English.
Regarding units in AutoCAD: the way they implemented units is the craziest mixed-up mess conceivable. Do not learn ANYTHING about units from ACAD. Revit does units right. Learn from them. An object does not change size when measured in different units. Are you taller in metric than inches?
i've started working in inchimeters. 10 inchimeters = 1 foot. makes everything easier.
as yes, decimal inches. a fair compromise.
I use furlongs for measurements in all my projects.
chains also work. 10 chains to a furlong is what I always say.
I like dimensioning in cubits. (And nautical miles for large site plans.)
The US officially uses feet and inches for linear measurements. Metric measurements are not an option. If you design in metric and dimension with metric, most US contractors will throw your drawings back at you or at least refuse to to bid on them. You drew all your doors at 900mm. The contractor says "Where do you expect me to get 900mm doors?" The US standard is 36 inches, which is 914mm. Your question is the equivalent of visiting France and complaining that everybody there speaks French. Your argument completely ignores the fact that the construction industry uses manufactured products like doors, windows, bricks, 2x4s, ceiling tiles, etc etc. All are manufactured in US units. They can be expressed in metric units, but they do not convert to round numbers like 2x4.or 4x8. Of course, you could avoid the problem completely by making 914.4mm doors. They will work perfectly in the US.
Isn't that just the reverse of what you are asking us to do?
Grampa, join the current century will ya? Most of the world has converter to metric because of obvious reasons and plenty in the US will draft, and build, to either format. Also, no one would spec a 900mm door and expect it to be standard.
I did this for a brazilian client some years back, it's not that hard to setup
Ewwww, AutoCAD. ;)
yes son, autocad, since 1991.
Ewwww, you're a gross old man! 8-)
So true
or there is this
Are you dimensioning your drawings in 1/63,360ths of a mile? Seems weird, but okay.
gwarton, some in my office seem to think 3/64th is an ok dim... so why not?
I've seen manually entered dimensions to the 256th. It's awesome. Especially when it's ground-up new construction.
Already the comparison inches or millimeters is off and shows the epic failure that is the imperial system, as an inch is over 25 times the size of a millimeter, not very precise and it shows...
*looks at tolerances possible in (current) construction methods*
it's much more precise and less likely to screw up if you can simply put your dimensions in normal mm instead of 1/xx part of an inch, an inch of which twelve go in one foot. Twelve, like wtf? You not only need to read the measurement but are forced to do calculus too, just for looking at a drawing!!1!
I'm not pushing an agenda, just suggesting that precision below an inch is stretching it in most trades regardless of the unit.
That's probably true
Obligatory:
Seems sound... but rather patriarchical-ish, no?
I will always thumbs up a The Oatmeal comic
Never knew that's where an inch came from . . .
I´ve been lucky to visit the US on many occasions and haven´t found it too problamatic as I never worked there. It´s easier being a Brit as although everything is metric, being part of Europe (for a little longer), there are still imperial units used by the older generation in the UK, for example traffic distances are in both imperial and metric...
Personally I prefer to use metric, I find it is more precise.
Precision is useful when measuring. Less useful when you have full control over the design from the start. If your design needs decimals beyond a centimeter and is also new construction, you might be doing something questionable. Also interesting note, chrome feels that the word centimeter is spelled wrong. Suggestions include centimetre, centime, and cementer.
only americans spell it centimeter. The correct way is centimetre.
Correct outside of the US, you mean, right? Being such a lover of precision.
When it comes to English spelling, the US is never on the right side of the debate. 8-)
Countries get to set their own languages and spelling. There is no debate.
Merica always has to be different....centimetre (international spelling) or centimeter (American spelling)
Wasn't my decision, but the least you can do is respect it, eh?
Pete, do you start adding extra Us when you travel to your northern neighbour?
No, but I also don't expect you to spell things differently on this forum. Just respect the fact that there are multiple ways to spell centimeter.
but but... I want conflict. can we at least agree that night is better than nite (and all other variations of this)?
Yes.
Well, d'uh! Inches are obviously more better because an inch is way bigger than a millimetre. Sheesh, do I really have to explain this stuff?
I've always wondered, why millimetres & not centimetres?
because mm avoids the use of punctuation which could be overlooked or confused for something else. Using cm will often get you 0.5mm. So either have your dims round up/down (roundin' dims bad m'kay... ) or use mm and show the full length.
I did not follow that at all. Can you rewrite it?
Serious request, not snark or a trap .
Pete, if you use cm, then you have dims like 210.5
The decimal separator (period or comma) is something that can easily disappear during photocopying or site markups. Using mm prevents this.
That makes sense.
Pete, sometimes I make sense. I typically try not to make sense too often tho...
I assume you'd prefer Loonies?
Vis-a-vis the separator, there is also the problem that North Americans use dots and commas exactly opposite the way the rest of the world does.
*looks at the end of your sentence*
That's a benefit of fractions.
the "whole number" justification makes sense though. Thanks. That said, I'd assume your mm dimensions always end in 0 or 5. Anything more precise than that as laughable as tossing a 5/64" on a plan.
^ all my dims end in 0 or 5 unless it's material thickness as shown in the 1:5 or 1:2 scale drawings or if it's a hard imp to met conversion like 5' mullion c/l is 1524mm.
I actually prefer twoonies as they are twice as colourful
whole numbers
but then metres for site plans
all units matter