M2P and MTP get you right in the middle of things
Posted By Mike Williams on February 2, 2009
M2P and MTP get you right in the middle of thingsHere’s an OSNAP tip that some of you may not know. If you usually select your OSNAP setting in the “Object Snap” tab of the “Drafting Settings” dialogue box (if you right click on the OSNAP toggle button in the status bar), you may not even know this option exist. Or, if you got used to all the OSNAP functions somewhere before release 2005. It’s the M2P / MTP / “Mid Between 2 Points” OSNAP setting.
Have you ever wanted to draw something between two points? Like a circle inside a box. There are several ways to accomplish this. You can use point filters (old school) or Object Snap Tracking (OTRACK) or you could just draw a diagonal line from one corner to the next and select the midpoint. All these would work. But here’s a better idea.
Use the “Mid Between 2 Points” OSNAP setting. You can pick it from your OSNAP list when you Shift+Rt Click, or you can type M2P or MTP at the command line. You are prompted for the “First point of mid: ” followed by (you guessed it) the “Second point of mid: ” and you point is defined. It sure beats having to go erase temporary construction lines.
For those of you that were unaware of this option, consider yourself enlightened. Go forth and find midpoints.
Please leave a comment on this tip below.
Mike
About the author
Mike Williams
Michael E. Williams has been using AutoCAD since Release 2.1. He's been providing AutoCAD drafting, training and consulting to the Architectural, Industrial, and Engineering communities for over 20 years. Mike has trained entire drafting departments of a Fortune 500 companies and held classes and seminars for Architects, Engineers and Contractors. He's taken people with zero experience, training or knowledge of drafting, architecture or CAD and turned them into highly productive and knowledgeable drafting professionals. As owner and operator of Michael E. Williams Computer Graphics, he has personally drafted on thousands of projects for hundreds of clients. The tips and tricks he teaches come from personal experience and a pursuit of efficiency and productivity in a production environment. Mike lives in Lake Charles, Louisiana with his wife Tanya and their three girls (Alex, Kate and Eden).Comments
10 Responses to “M2P and MTP get you right in the middle of things”
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Mike,
I’m running AutoCad ARchitect 2008. No “Mid Between 2 Points” is on Osnap. Am I missing something, or is there another option for 2008?
Jack
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autocadtipoftheday Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Jack,
In my version of AutoCAD Architecture 2008 it’s there. Are you able to type M2P or MTP from the command line where you would normally pick an osnap? Please note this only works on OSNAP overrides that occur while in the command.
Mike
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I have been using this for years. It get for lineing up a centerline of a bolt to the center of hole that has no centerline . This on a side view. I also use it when I line up a center of a window to a window opening in a elev. view. I use it with the move command, the copy command. Plus I know it could be used with other commands.
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autocadtipoftheday Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Kenneth,
Thanks for sharing ways to use this option.
Mike
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Thanks Mike!
I am now happily finding the middle. It works like a charm.
Kay
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Mike Williams Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Kay,
I’m so happy that helped,
Mike
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I’ve known about this one, but never really got the hang of it. Using Architecture 2009 I use hot keys for LINEWORKSPACEEVENLY OR LINEWORKCENTER. Looks like I’ll have to practice with this one. Thanks
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Love it. Have been using it for quite some time
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Hey Mike
This tip is really cool and you are right that I will be smiling after testing this cool command. Now I don’t have to draw a reference line to get midpoints then erase them later. This might be simple command but it’s really useful and helps speed up my work. Thank you again Mike.
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Another awesome timesaver…thank you thank you thank you!!!
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