How to Create an Elevation Using Architect 3D©

Architect 3D Tutorials

Draw and annotate the elevations from every angle of your project!

An elevation is a drawing intended to show the finished appearance of the sides of a building. Usually, a set of Permit Plans requires four elevations (one for each side of the building), however, sometimes, if the structure includes non-perpendicular façades, additional elevations may be required.

The elevations include different type of information, depending on the permit requirements and the location of your property.

Once your project is complete, including Floor Plans, Roof Plans, etc. you can develop the elevations.

Step 1: your Architect 3D program includes several 3D navigation modes.

For the current work, we will use Elevation Mode View (outlined in red in the image below).

By default, the image will show the Front elevation (facing the south side of the lot), however, you can choose another elevation such as Back, Left or Right (outlined in blue in the image below).
In addition, you can create a custom not-perpendicular façade using the rotating hand tool (outlined in green in the image below). This tool will rotate the building, allowing the visualization of any side of the structure.

Step 2: once you define the elevation, proceed to add the necessary information using these eight tools:

  • Text boxes and labels can be created using the Rich Text tool (outlined in magenta in the image below).
  • You can indicate any type of dimension using the three dimensions tools (outlined in cyan in the image below).
  • Using the Leader Dimension tool, you can point to an element and add a text (pointed with a blue arrow in the image below).
  • The Callout tool (pointed with a green arrow in the image below).is used to show crossed sections or lot levels.
  • With the Note tool you can create different notes featuring different information, shapes, etc (pointed with a brown arrow in the image below).
  • The Marker tool is commonly used to indicate the different levels, heights and building elevations (pointed with a red arrow in the image below).

Note that any of lines, texts, etc. developed with these tools can be customized by selecting them and changing the properties (pointed in red in the image below) using the Draw Style tab (outlined in blue in the image below).

Notice that each annotation is part of that particular elevation view. If you change to a different view, you need to add new annotations.

The image below shows the finished elevation.

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