Tutorials

Learning-oriented — guided lessons that teach one feature at a time by doing.

Tip

Looking for a feature and cannot find it in the menu? ConstructiVision often names things its own way — a corbel is a Lintel, a reveal is a Feature Strip, a beam pocket is a Recess with Z Offset 0. Look it up by the word you actually use.

Each tutorial is a complete, start-to-finish lesson that ends with a correct result. Lesson 0 is the prerequisite — signing AutoCAD in — and takes about ten minutes. The core and AutoCAD advanced lessons (1–21) you follow along in AutoCAD; the CV-WEB lessons (22–28) you follow along in the browser at simplestruct.com. Tutorials build on each other in the order below, so the recording always shows the feature in its stabilized state. A companion video accompanies each written tutorial, except lesson 0 — filming it would mean putting an account sign-in on screen. Each video records a specific build; Companion video versions lists which ConstructiVision and AutoCAD version every video was recorded against, so you can tell a version gap from a mistake.

Companion videos are in production

The thirteen core lessons (1–13) and the AutoCAD advanced track (14–21) are complete and followable today, and the CV-WEB browser track (22–27) covers the building model, plans, and the AI & simulation suite — with preview features clearly marked. Videos are recorded in sequence and appear on the lesson page itself, under Watch this lesson, as each one ships; Companion video versions lists every video published so far and the build it shows. A lesson without that section has not been recorded yet — its written steps are complete and current regardless.

Curriculum

Before you begin (Lesson 0)

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
0	Tutorial 0: Signing In and Switching Users	Sign in to AutoCAD with your Autodesk ID, understand the one-device-at-a-time licence rule, and switch the signed-in user on a shared or second workstation.

Core curriculum (Lessons 1–13)

The core lessons run in build order, the order the work is done on a real job: the project, then the site grid, walls and slab, then the panel from its main dimensions and expansion gaps through the openings, the chamfer, the embeds, the ledger and top plate and the roof line to the brace points, and last the panels attached to the site. Each lesson keeps its number, so the list below is not in numeric order. Work it top to bottom.

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
1	Tutorial 1: Getting Started with ConstructiVision	Load ConstructiVision, open a project, edit project details, and save.
10	Tutorial 10: Site Drawing	Create the site drawing, define the grid, and draw the wall and slab lines the panels will stand on.
2	Tutorial 2: Panel Options	Set the master panel dimensions and the expansion gaps, and toggle the features a panel carries.
6	Tutorial 6: Standard Opening	Cut a standard opening (window / generic) and dimension it.
5	Tutorial 5: Door	Place a man door and set its size and trim.
4	Tutorial 4: Chamfer	Apply chamfers and edge profiles to a panel.
7	Tutorial 7: Weld Connections	Add weld-plate connections to a panel.
8	Tutorial 8: Ledger & Top Plate	Add a ledger bar and top plate with their anchor hardware.
3	Tutorial 3: Panel Lines	Add and control panel lines.
9	Tutorial 9: Brace Points & Expansion Gaps	Place brace points, the last step on the panel, and see how they measure against the expansion gaps.
11	Tutorial 11: Attach Panels	Attach the finished panel set to the site plan, proof it, print the site plan, handle missing panels, and stand the set on its wall lines with Tilt-up Panels.
12	Tutorial 12: Construction Layout	Tip the panel set down into its construction (casting) layout, arrange and record the casting positions, and move the set between its saved arrangements.
13	Tutorial 13: Materials List & the Panel Book	Generate the materials-list quantity take-off for the finished panel, print a panel sheet, and batch-print the project’s panel book.

Advanced — AutoCAD (Lessons 14–21)

The core curriculum closes with the panel book out the door. The advanced lessons pick the finished project back up, one power feature at a time — each stands alone on top of the completed panel thread, and you follow along in AutoCAD.

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
14	Tutorial 14: Linked Panels	Link an opposite-hand copy to the finished panel and keep the pair in sync from one origin panel.
15	Tutorial 15: Revision Tracking	Record why a released panel changed — reason, stamp, and printed history — and step backward and forward through its saved revisions.
16	Tutorial 16: From CAD to cv-web	Hand the finished panel’s exported data to cv-web — sign in at simplestruct.com, upload the set to Panel Set Analytics, and read the results.
17	Tutorial 17: Full-height Radius (Curved) Panels	Give a full-height panel a curved (arched) top with the Top Arch Radius field, and learn the radius-clears-half-the-width rule.
18	Tutorial 18: The Drawing Pipeline	Slow the redraw down into its stages — generate, weigh, dimension, title and finalize — and re-run the whole pipeline deliberately from one edit.
19	Tutorial 19: The 3D Solid Model	Rotate the finished panel into a 3D view, see its openings as true voids, and read the mass properties the title-block weight came from.
20	Tutorial 20: Perimeter Inventory Layout	Lay every panel out as a tidy rectangle around the building — one row per side, at true size and numbered — for a visual takeoff of the whole set.
21	Tutorial 21: Auto Drawing Update	Make a change that touches many panels, then bring the whole set current in one pass with the Batch Utilities hub’s Update Drawings.

CV-WEB lessons — browser app (Lessons 22–28)

These lessons run in cv-web, the browser app at simplestruct.com — no AutoCAD required. They open a saved project in the browser and explore the building model, the plans, and the AI & simulation suite. Several cover preview features that work today behind a pilot or membership gate; each lesson says so plainly.

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
22	Tutorial 22: Interactive 3D Building & Panel Visualization	Open a saved project in cv-web and orbit the building in 3D, then drop into any panel as a live concrete solid — all in the browser.
23	Tutorial 23: Building Elevations with Corner Intelligence	Switch to the Elevations view and set each wall-end’s corner condition from the seven types ConstructiVision resolves, then read the closed corner chain.
24	Tutorial 24: Plans & Sheets Model	Open the Building (Plans) workspace and read the auto-derived floor, roof, and foundation plans with their wall/footing sections and door/window schedules.
25	Tutorial 25: AI Takeoff	(Preview) Upload a scanned blueprint set to AI Takeoff and review the structured panel project the engine derives.
26	Tutorial 26: Crane Pick & Brace Simulation	(Preview) Rehearse the crane lift in 3D — run the pick simulation and read per-pick metrics and critical-pick flags before mobilizing.
27	Tutorial 27: Monte-Carlo Pick-Sequence Analysis	(Preview) Run a Monte-Carlo pick-sequence analysis — simulate hundreds of pick orders and read the statistically most robust lift ordering.
28	Tutorial 28: Casting Orientation & Yard Layout	Choose how each panel is cast — Face Down (OUT) or Face Up (IN) — and follow that choice into the drawing label, the crew instruction sheet and the casting-yard layout.

Panel Feature Catalog — AutoCAD (Lessons 29+)

The lessons above teach the workflow. These teach the panel features themselves, working through the Tilt-Up Concrete Association’s catalog of what can be cast into a tilt-up panel, so the curriculum covers the industry’s inventory rather than only the parts our tooling reached first.

Some features in the catalog are not modeled by ConstructiVision yet. Those lessons are written anyway, marking the not-yet-built steps (planned) — the lesson records the intended design, and a ticket carries that design into development.

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
29	Tutorial 29: Feature Strips & Reveals	Cast horizontal and vertical feature strips and reveals into the panel face, dimensioned so the form crew can build them — and say why a reveal without a depth is not a reveal.
30	Tutorial 30: Blockouts Beyond the Rectangle	Place a non-rectangular blockout, and tell a through-opening from a recess — plus the intended handling of beam pockets, insulation blocks and form-lined finishes.
31	Tutorial 31: Openings That Are Not Rectangles	Round openings, arched heads, louver rough openings and weep holes — why each one is dimensioned differently from the standard rectangular opening.
32	Tutorial 32: Reglets, Brick Ledges & the Masonry Interface	Read the brick-veneer assembly as one detail — ledge, flashing reglet, weeps and tie reglets — and say why a reglet is not a reveal.
33	Tutorial 33: Bearing Seats & Embedded Angles	Tell a connection from a bearing by the direction the load goes, and place bearing pads, stub-beam pockets, construction seats, embedded angles and pilaster caps.
34	Tutorial 34: Parapets, Control Joints & Pour Strips	Extend a panel above the roof line, place the joint that decides where the concrete cracks, and close the gap between standing panels with a pour strip.
35	Tutorial 35: The Insert Family	Coil and slotted inserts, bridging anchors, shear connectors and bent bars — the cast-in items something else attaches to later.
36	Tutorial 36: Reinforcement & Panel Dowels	Welded-wire mats and their cover, and why the slab-dowel row is the panel’s permanent base connection rather than a slab-edge detail.
37	Tutorial 37: Bond Breaker & Panel Finish	The bond breaker that lets a panel release from the bed, and the finish the bed leaves behind — Casting Face Down on the panel, Liner Aggr on the recess.
38	Tutorial 38: Corbels, Haunches & Spandrel Seats	Three thickened projections that let a panel carry something — and why the standards treat a corbel as distinct from the lintel it resembles.
39	Tutorial 39: Dock Details — Leveler Pits & Door Guards	The leveler pit that notches the panel’s bearing edge and the guards that armour a dock opening — the two features that turn a dock door into a working dock.

Toolbar lessons — AutoCAD (Lessons 118–142)

Every button on the three ConstructiVision toolbars has a lesson. Lessons 100–117 cover most of the panel feature buttons; these cover the rest. The Command & Toolbar Reference lists every button with the lesson that teaches it.

	Tutorial	You will learn to…
118	118 — The Crane toolbar	Choose the crane for a job, draw it at a position you type, score one pick or every panel from it, and plan every pick on the site — and check each station against the slab edge yourself.
119	119 — Build-phase views	Show a panel one build stage at a time — form, face, down face, up face, pick and brace — with the five phase buttons.
120	120 — The Project Browser	List every project ConstructiVision can find, with its drawings, and open a panel without hunting through Windows folders.
121	121 — The Tracker	See what to do next on a drawing and how far along the job is, from one window.
122	122 — Change Project Folder Location	What the Change Project Folder Location button opens today, and how to rename or move a project folder safely in the meantime.
123	123 — Sandwich Panel	Record an insulated sandwich panel: the exterior wythe, the insulation and the structural wythe.
124	124 — Top Step	Drop the top of a panel to a lower height over part of its width, at one end.
125	125 — Footing Step	Cut a step into the bottom of a panel where the footing steps up or down.
126	126 — Lintel Details	Place a lintel or corbel band that stands proud of the panel face.
127	127 — Exterior Face	Record form liners and face materials area by area, so the sheet hatches each one.
128	128 — Draw Site Plan	Draw the site plan from the grid, wall line and slab record in one click.
129	129 — Construction Layout IN and OUT	Lay the panels out for casting inside the building or around it with one button each.
130	130 — Cast Layout Draw	Turn the site into a casting-layout sheet in one click and store the cast record.
131	131 — Autosite	Build a site drawing from the panel drawings alone.
132	132 — Pick Wall Lines	Pick the building corners on the drawing and let ConstructiVision work out the wall lines and which panels stand on each.
133	133 — Interference Check and QA Findings	Check that every attached panel fits its wall, and read the findings.
134	134 — Views and layers	Show all layers or only the trades you need, save a named panel layout, and zoom to the whole drawing.
135	135 — Print Setup and Print Select Layouts	Print a panel sheet or the site plan, and read what the command line says about the plot.
136	136 — Space Census	Count what is in model space and on each layout, and recover a panel drawn straight onto a layout.
137	137 — Up-Convert Panel	Write an older panel’s data again in the current storage format.
138	138 — The Tutorial button	Open the Interactive Tutorial: fourteen cards that walk the whole job.
139	139 — Color Theme	See the colors ConstructiVision draws with, switch themes, and save your own.
140	140 — The Slope Calculator in AutoCAD	Work out the elevation at any point along a sloped run.
141	141 — Your account in AutoCAD	See your SimpleStruct account, tokens and pairing without leaving AutoCAD.
142	142 — Program Options in AutoCAD	Use Program Options for the jobs above a single panel: drawings, projects, batches, layers and reports.

The lessons come with automated checking: type CV-CHECK-LESSON at the AutoCAD command line and ConstructiVision grades your drawing against the lesson’s expected result, field by field. Tutorials 1–3 and 5–12 grade your work, tutorial 4 prints a guided review checklist for its dialog-kept chamfer settings, and tutorial 13’s results — a data file and printed sheets — live outside the drawing, so that closing lesson is checked against its own output list. The AutoCAD advanced lessons (14–21) each verify against their own written checklist rather than a CV-CHECK-LESSON grade — their results span multiple drawings, disk files, batches, or read-only inspections the single-drawing checker cannot score, so each lesson lists the outcomes to confirm by eye. The CV-WEB lessons (22–28) run in the browser and are likewise checked against what you should see on screen. The Panel Feature Catalog lessons (29+) are reference-and-practice lessons with their own written checklists. The lessons also provide starter and solution drawings for download — the panel lessons’ TP08-12 thread (which tutorial 13 resumes) and the site lessons’ Riverside site thread (which ships with the two panel drawings its xrefs reference) — so you can join the sequence at any lesson or compare your finished work against ours.