The outline of a building should be drawn with the heaviest line weight available. The default setting for the Building layer in most prototypes in DynaScape is six‐inches (6”). The problem with heavy CAD lines is that the actual length is measured from the center of the line, not the outside edge. This can become an issue in a number of instances:
1. When trying to connect lines (bed line or driveway etc.) to the building, this line will be connected to the center of the building line not the outside edge.
2. When attempting to hatch up to these heavy lines, the pattern will fill in to halfway through the building wall to center of the line.
3. When measuring areas (of patios, decks etc.) and lengths of lines, the measurement tools will measure to the center of the building line, not the outside edge.
If you were to draw your building outline with the Building layer and then measure the outside edges of your house, it will measure six inches wider than it should. Try drawing a 10’ x 10’ square using the building layer and then print it out to scale. Then measure the square on the printed sheet and you will see that the square is 10’6” x 10’6”.
To overcome these issues, the Building Outline tool was developed to draw a thin line on the outside edge (on the Base layer) and then a thicker line offset inside at half the thickness of this thicker line (on the Building layer).