Contents:
Greetings ---- Installing eParts ---- Using eParts ---- Modifying eParts  ---- Reporting Problems

Most eParts have been created as Multi-View Blocks (MvBlocks) consisting of Model, Plan and Mask components.  Elevation Views are derived from the Model.  Masks are for Plan use only and have been created by using a custom AecPolygon Style with a masking effect that can be turned on or off at any time.  Some MvBlocks have a higher level of detail under the High Detail than the Low Detail.

Some eParts, like Street Lights, have also been configured to repeat at intervals that you can control by working with the custom Curtain Wall Styles.

The Flat Panel Television in this eParts product have been created from a single custom Curtain Wall Style that has been combined with Mass Elements.

STEP 1:
After you have downloaded the "hdtv10.0_setup.exe" file to your Desktop or other location, double pick on it, input your password and launch the setup wizard.  Go to Step 2.

Note:
This kit was designed to be installed under the "C:\Program Files" folder and will not work properly if installed under other folders (see Customizing Installation Paths for other options).  After installation, you should find that you have a New folder called "ARCHIdigm" and within this folder is the "Flat Panel Televisions 2010 eParts" folder containing all of the Style and Mvblock files that you will be able to access with your Content Browser.  There is also an "Images" folder that contains all of the Tool Icons.

Note:  The Password is located in your confirmation e-mail; sent out after purchase.  If you did not receive this e-mail, it may have been blocked by a spam filter.  Contact info@archidigm.com to get a copy.

The password for your product is located in your purchase confirmation e-mail under the heading, "keycode".  Use this password to complete the installation.

Ribbon	Home> Tools> Content Browser
Menu	Window> Content Browser
Keyboard	ContentBrowser or Ctrl + 4

STEP 2:
When you have completed the "STEP 1" as outlined above, use the Content Brower in AutoCAD Architecture to "Add an existing catalog or web site".  Use the Browse button on the Add Catalog dialog box to access the "C:\Program Files\ARCHIdigm\Flat Panel Televisions 2010 eParts" folder and look for the "Flat Panel Televisions 10.0 eParts - by ARCHIdigm.atc" file as illustrated to the right.

Once you have Opened the catalog file, you should find that you have a new Catalog Library with a Graphic Image that you can Select to access all of the Tools and Tool Palettes discussed below.

STEP 3:
Flat Panel Televisions eParts comes with a few custom Render Materials so unless you copy them to your primary render material folder, you will need to add a path to this product under "Texture Maps Search Path" under the Files tab of the Options dialog.

For Flat Panel Televisions eParts, add "C:\Program Files\ARCHIdigm\Flat Panel Televisions 2010 eParts" to the search path.

Ribbon	Home> Tools > Design Tools
Menu	Window> Tool Palettes
Keyboard	ToolPalettes, TP,  or Ctrl + 3
Links	Downloading new content from website and Adding Tools

STEP 4:
Inside the Flat Panel Televisions 10.0 eParts Catalog Library you should one Palette.  You can drag an entire Palette to your current Tool Palette or you can drag individual Tools to your own custom Tool Palette to create a unique collection.

Tip:  You can use the Ctrl+A keystroke technique to highlight all tool icons under a Catalog Category or you can Select off in a corner and use the Selection Window to highlight a group.  The Shift and Ctrl keys work to assist in Selecting items just as they do in Explorer.

The Television Objects will insert as MvBlocks.  Each MvBlock includes a Masking Block created from a custom AecPolygon Style.

Wall Mounted TV's have been set to insert at 60" (1524mm) above the finished floor.

Free Standing TV's insert at 0" above the finished floor.

Under the Alternate Screen Image section of the Tool Palette you can use the "Appliances.Television.Screen.CNN" button to import a screen capture that can be used as a Material on the surface of these televisions.  When you pick this button, you will be queried to "Select a Component or an Object"; hit the Escape Key instead.  Use the "Change Screen Image" button to assign the newly imported Material Definition Style to the television screen.  These televisions use a custom Curtain Wall Style, named "Appliance_Television_HD_Frame_Screen", for the main body and screen.  By assigning a different Material Definition Style to the Screen Component, under the Materials tab, you can change the screen image.

Labels have been included for basic tagging of these MvBlocks.  The default Style Label for these television MvBlocks has been set as, "HD TV 37" ", for example.

All ePart Objects have been optimized for work using the AutoCAD Architecture's "Aec model (imperal - ctb).dwt" and "Aec model (imperal - stb).dwt" default template files.

Illustrated to the right is an example of how the three primary Display Representations, Low, Medium and High Detail, affect ePart Objects.  Most ePart Objects include an AecPolygon Style set to Mask background information.  This mask can be turned off if desired.

Low Detail
The Low Detail Display Representation will affect the Plan and Model Display Representations.  In Plan View linework has been simplified to a little as possible while conveying the basic information of the Object.  In Model View this Detail Display Representation will show Objects in Colors you specify by direct assignment or by Layer; i.e., the Objects are set to "ByBlock".

Medium Detail
The Medium Detail Display Representation will affect the Plan and Model Display Representations.  In Plan View you will see either see the same amount of detail as under Low Detail or High Detail depending on what we considered the better choice.  In Model View Colors are determined by the Material assignment and do not use image maps.

High Detail
The High Detail Display Representation will also affect the Plan and Model Display Representations.  In Plan View all linework is displayed..  In Model View Objects will display Materials by their image map assignment ready for Rendering.

When creating a Rendering with one of our televisions, the main Material is obviously the image on the screen.  We included three Rendering Materials with matching Material Definition Styles (one Material is just clear glass).  The two sample Materials that use images have been set to use the "Self-Illumination" property, set to 50%, to produce a glow or brightness typically associated with televisions.  You can modify this value as may be required in your scene.

The other key aspect of getting a good television image has to do with the way your image is scaled to the surface object.  Un the Material Scaling & Tiling section of the Materials Palette, notice that I have it set to "Fit to Gizmo" so it stretches whatever Image I assign, under the Maps section, to the screen component.

The default product logo has been set to use ACA's default "...Stainless.Satin" Rendering Material.  Depending upon your scene configuration you may find that you will need to set this to "Metal - Polished" (under Template) or a simple "Plastic" color to get the results that you want.

Note:
When Rendering, always set your Display Configuration to High Detail.  This is the only Display Configuration that will show the Rendering Material.  You can see this Material when using a Visual Style set to show Realistic Materials (or type "Shademode", "R").

Most ePart Objects involve a complicated set of regular Blocks that have been assembled into a Multi-View Block.  The complexity varies and may never be something you will have to think about but if you ever have a need to change one of these Objects, you will need to understand how they have been assembled.

The most important thing that you need to understand about MvBlocks is that there is always a duplicate Block of the 3D Model Representation.  By looking under the Model Display Representation on the Multi-View Block Definition Properties dialog, you can find the name of this matching 3D Model Block.  By inserting this Block you can use Refedit to make changes to things like Material Assignments, Height, Width and so forth.

Multi-View Blocks also provide the option to set different Blocks for Top (Plan) Views and these may even be different for Low, Medium and High Detail Display Representations.  A feature of our eParts Objects is the use of custom AecPolygon Styles that act as Masks to hide Objects below.  If these mask blocks produce undesirable results, you can turn off the masking feature - see comments below.

Most ePart Objects include a Masking Block as part of their structure.  These Masking Blocks have been created by making a Block of an AecPolygon Object set to a custom Style where the "Use Background Mask" feature has been activated.

By typing "AecPolygonStyle" on the command line, you should see a list of Styles with the word "mask" as suffix.  By Editing any of these Styles and unchecking the "Use Background Mask" feature found under the "Other" tab you can remove the masking behavior - see illustration right.

Mask Blocks may produce undesirable results when printing from Model Space due to the Black Background but this is not a problem when printing from Paper Space Layouts.

The "DrawOrder" command can be used to move Mask Blocks up or down in the display stack.

Note:
AecPolygon Styles offer powerful presentation options under the Display Properties tab and you may want to explore things like Hatching all of your Objects or even Filling them with a solid Color.  By default, Fills only display under the Presentation Display Configuration.

Most ePart Objects incorporate Mass Elements as a means of providing a 3D Model that will accept Material Definition Assignments.  In other cases native Object Styles, such as Structural Members, Curtain Walls and Railings have been used whenever feasible and their Material Definition Assignments are managed by the Object Style.

For this product, Mass Elements have been assigned unique Mass Element Styles allowing you to change Materials and/or Display Properties through the Mass Elements Style Window; see illustration right.

Because the main television body and screen has been created with a custom Curtain Wall Style, you will need to access the Curtain Wall Style Window to access its components and Material assignments.

If you are in a hurry and don't have the patience to change Material Definition Assignments remember that you can always change the Material Definition Style itself.  For example, just because a Material Definition Style is named "Streets.Glossy.Black.Green" does not mean that you can't change the actual Rendering Material to a Glossy Red.

Let us know what you would like to see improved.

kits@archidigm.com