Use framing references and setback controls to adjust views for structural documentation.
This video demonstrates the following:
Cutback defines the space between the end of a beam and the element to which it is joined. Steel beams and precast beams cutback at a join depending on several default properties.
In this video, we will explore how cutback works by default and how you can specify a geometry reference from which the beam will cutback. In this view, three steel beams share a common join. 2 of the beams are framed into the third and cutback. Cutback is the distance between the geometry of the beams and the element into which it is framed. When joined to a column, a beam is cutback to the bounding box of a column by default. You can adjust the beam to extend closer to the column web. Select the beam and then click Change Reference. Tab select the face of the web to which the beam is to be adjusted. Use the Cutback parameter in the Properties palette to specify an exact cutback distance from the web. This also works with non-perpendicular geometry such as that of a slanted column.
Precast concrete framing elements are often in need of fine cutback specifications for documentation purposes. In this instance of a precast rectangular beam resting on two column corbels, the beam cuts back from the extents of the column geometry which includes the corbels. This can be resolved in the same manner you referenced a steel beam to the column web. Sometimes the precast beam geometry may be problematic as in this example. When the I-beam family type changes, the cutback between the 2 beams increases. This change occurs because the geometry of the supporting I-beam forces the connected beams apart. For each end-cut beam, use the Change Reference tool to specify the centerline of the I-beam as the common reference to which beam end geometry will align. You will adjust the overlapping geometry in the next step. Adjust the Extension and Cutback instance properties to specify the cutback for both cut-end beams. In this example, the Extension 1 and Start Join Cutback parameters are changed for each cut-end beam. You can use the shape handles of the beams to adjust the beam geometry as well.