In this demonstration, we explore the concept of dynamic blocks in AViCAD and AutoCAD.
Since AViCAD has features you’ll find in AutoCAD, those users can also follow along.
We will learn to create dynamic blocks and use various functionalities such as grips, scaling, and toggling visibility between different views. The goal is to understand how dynamic blocks can streamline the design process and provide flexibility in managing and customizing block elements within AutoCAD.
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A brief transcript follows:
?In this video, I will briefly introduce dynamic blocks in CAD and then show you how to create one using the new AViCAD 2025.
First, let’s talk about what a dynamic block is. I’ve brought in an AutoCAD dynamic block and in AViCAD, we’ll import the same. I copied and pasted this from AutoCAD. When we click on it, you’ll notice that it has some grips – three of them, to be exact.
One is for moving the symbol around, another flips the block around, and the third allows you to rotate the shaded part while leaving the annotation in the circle untouched. This functionality is quite useful as it eliminates the need for multiple blocks to perform the same tasks.
Here is another example of how we might use a dynamic block. Creating these dynamic blocks is a new feature in AViCAD 2025. Here, I have a plan view and an elevation view of a PVC valve. I’ve already created this into a block consisting of lines and arcs.
To demonstrate, let’s save this as a block. We’ll select it by area, type ‘B’ for block, and name it ‘Valve – Side View.’ Then, we’ll choose a base point and create the block.
After creating the block, double-clicking on it activates the block editor. Here, I’ll demonstrate how to scale using grips and how to toggle the visibility between the elevation and plan views of the block.
You’ll notice new options in the ribbon. In most cases, you’ll need to start with a parameter and then assign it an action. Parameters are on the left, and actions are on the right in the Ribbon. We’ll also use visibility states to toggle between the block’s views.
Let’s start with a linear parameter and select the center of the block. Instead of a grip in the middle, we’ll have one outside the block so we select just 1 grip required.
The yellow symbol indicates that no action is assigned to this parameter. The next step is to choose an action – in this case, we want to scale it. We select the parameter and the entire block as the selection set for the action.
Once defined, we press enter and the yellow symbol disappears, indicating the action is now assigned. We can now close the block editor and go back to the block in model space.
We have assigned a grip to the block’s midpoint, allowing us to scale it in and out by dragging it. Alternatively, we can input a specific value for scaling.
To incorporate this block with another and toggle between the two states, we copy the block from a designated base point into our clipboard and then return to the block editor. Here, we assign a visibility parameter and name it “Views.”
We can then choose visibility states, rename the existing state, and add a new visibility state called “top view” for the copied block. By toggling between these states, we can hide or show specific entities of the blocks.
We then paste the copied block into the model space and move it to the desired 0,0 coordinate. After this, we need to explode the block exit and choose “views,” and see that we can easily switch between the top and side views.
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