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Tutorials DetailCraft

DetailCraft help

Steel & rebar detailing. Start at the top if you are new; jump to a walkthrough if you know what you need.

Written for DetailCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1. Open DetailCraft

Getting started

  • What's new in 0.3

    A view cube in the 3D view with a corner indicator setting, and side panels you can move to another side or a second monitor.

  • Getting started with DetailCraft

    What DetailCraft does today, how to open it, and a first model from grids to a shop drawing in ten minutes.

  • A tour of the screen

    Every bar, panel and tab in DetailCraft by its on-screen name, and what each one is for.

  • Open, save and export files

    The DetailCraft model file, every export it writes, where the files go, and what differs by browser and connection.

Walkthroughs

  • Move around the 3D view

    Turn, pan and zoom with a mouse, a trackpad or a touch screen, and when to use Plan and Elevation instead.

  • The view cube

    Click a face, edge or corner of the cube in the corner of the view to look from there, drag it to orbit, turn the compass ring, step around a face-on view, and go home.

  • Explore the sample frame

    Open the built-in two-bay frame and use it to learn what DetailCraft makes, from marks to NC files.

  • Set up grids and levels

    Type the grid lines, their spacings and the levels that every member is placed on.

  • Place columns, beams and braces

    Pick a profile, material and position, then click grid intersections or type them in to place steel members.

  • Copy, paste and duplicate

    Select several parts, copy them with their holes, copes and connections, and paste them on a grid intersection, at an offset, in place, or in another tab. Cut, duplicate, delete and select all.

  • Place plates and add custom profiles

    Place loose plates by thickness and width, and define your own I, channel, angle, tube or flat bar sections.

  • Connect beams to columns with end plates

    Add bolted end plates where a beam meets a column flange, set the plate, bolts and weld, and copy the connection to every similar joint.

  • Add base plates and anchor rods

    Put a welded base plate with four anchor rods under a column, set its sizes, and copy it to every similar column.

  • Add holes and copes

    Type holes into webs, flanges and plates, and cope the flanges at a beam end, measured from the part's cut end.

  • Place footings with rebar

    Place rectangular pad footings with a bottom mat and starter bars, check them, and download the bending schedule.

  • Check marks and the bill of materials

    Read the part and assembly marks DetailCraft gives every piece, check the bill of materials, and download it as CSV.

  • Make a shop drawing

    Preview and download an A3 shop drawing PDF of one beam, column or plate, with its holes, copes, dimensions and title block.

  • Send NC files to the shop

    Export DSTV NC files for every I-shape and plate part mark, zipped, and check them before they reach a machine.

  • Export IFC for coordination

    Write an IFC4 file of the whole model, steel, bolts, footings and rebar, to share with architects, engineers and other software.

Coming from other software

Reference

  • DetailCraft settings

    Start new members as US or European shapes, set how far Duplicate moves a copy, choose whether copies bring their connections, and show or hide bolts in the 3D view.

  • Keys and mouse actions

    Every keyboard shortcut and mouse, trackpad and touch action in DetailCraft, from the code.

  • Profile catalog

    Every built-in steel size, how profile names are written, where the dimensions come from, and how plates and custom sections are named.

  • Mark rules

    Exactly when two parts or two assemblies share a mark, how marks are numbered, and how footing and bar marks work.

  • NC file fields

    What DetailCraft writes in each DSTV NC file, field by field, and how faces and coordinates are measured.

  • Rebar reference

    Bar sizes, hook dimensions, shape codes, cut lengths and the bending schedule columns DetailCraft uses.

Troubleshooting and limits

  • Troubleshooting

    What DetailCraft's messages mean and what to do, from a missing 3D view to connections that will not build.

  • What is not built yet

    What this early DetailCraft build cannot do, and what to do instead today.

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