Sketching Individual Beams

The Beam tool is the primary means with which you sketch individual instances of beams.

To sketch individual beams

1. Click Structure tabStructure panel Beam.
2. Load a structural beam family, if one has not been previously loaded.
3. On the Properties palette:
   • Select a beam type from the Type Selector drop-down.
   • Modify the beam parameters.
4. On the Options Bar, select a value from the Structural Usage drop-down list.
5. Sketch the beam by clicking the start point and endpoint in the drawing area.

   The cursor snaps to other structural elements, such as the centroid of a column or the centerline of a wall, when you sketch a beam. The status bar displays where the cursor is snapping.

   

   Beam start point - snap to column