The whole 'trace the floor plan first' advice is holding people back

I keep seeing senior drafters tell newbies to always trace the structural grid before anything else. That works fine for a basic square building but last week I was laying out a 3-story medical office with a curved facade and odd column spacing. Tracing first just made me redo half the lines when the architect sent a revision. I think jumping straight into xrefs and layer management saves way more time in the long run. Anyone else find tracing to be a waste on complex projects?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

webb.victor4mo ago

Hold up - a medical office with a curved facade AND odd column spacing? That's NUTS. I would've told them to start from scratch on a revision that big.

4

ryanf664mo ago

Man people just copy what they were taught without thinking. It's like how everyone insists on making a grocery list before shopping even when you just need milk and bread.

2