GETTING STARTED WITH DIALux (A Very Rough Guide) Rev. 6

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1 1. Scaling your project drawing for import into DIALux using AutoCAD 2004 OR DraftSight, (procedure is similar in AutoCAD 2014 but you will need to access the commands through the ribbon interface): a) Open a new copy of your project drawing in AutoCAD. b) The drawing MUST be scaled first so that the DIALux data can be successfully exported back to AutoCAD when you have completed your design. c) If your drawing is already scaled correctly you can skip the rest of this section and move on to section 2. d) In Model, Zoom in on a single doorway, then using Dimension, Linear, click on both sides of the doorway to measure it as shown below. e) In the example above, the door measures 17, however, assuming that the door is of standard 900mm width, the drawing must be scaled up by a factor of (900 divided by 17) so that it will actually measure 900 when we check its dimensions. f) Click Edit, Select All g) Right Click and select Scale, or click on Modify, then scale Richard Kelly November 2013

2 h) At the prompt Specify base point enter 0,0 i) At the prompt Specify scale factor or [Reference] enter the factor calculated above. In this example, it was j) To scale up the size of the dimension arrows and digits, click on Dimension, Style, Modify, Fit Richard Kelly November 2013

3 k) In Use overall scale of: type in the scale factor calculated above. In this example, Click OK l) The width of the door is now displayed as 900 (mm) 2. Opening DIALux for the first time: a) Double-click the Red/Orange DIALux icon (short-cut) on the desktop to open the program. If there is no DIALux icon on the desktop, click Start, Programs, DIALux, DIALux b) When the Welcome window pops-up, click on the New Interior Project icon c) Click on the OK button in the Room Editor window on the left of the screen d) Click on File, Settings, General Options e) Change Standards from United States to United Kingdom Richard Kelly November 2013

4 f) On the Global tab, change Dimensions from American to Metric and Lighting Engineering from American to European g) Click OK 3. The Guide window a) The Guide window on the right of the screen is a very useful tool that guides you through the design process steps in the right order b) If you accidentally close the window, it can be retrieved by clicking on Window on the top bar on the screen and then Display Guide Window 4. Importing an AutoCAD drawing into DIALux a) Click on File, Import, DWG/DXF File OR use the command in the Guide Window Laod DWG or DXF File b) The CAD Import Wizard pops-up c) Click Next, Click Browse d) From the Open window find the DXF file that you saved from AutoCAD in Section 2 above. e) Click Open, Next f) In the Specify measurement units window change the Units in the DXF file setting to millimetres if it is not already shown as millimetres. **Remember, you set your drawing to millimetres in Section 1 above** g) Click Next h) In the Defining the planning origin window do not change anything. Click Next. i) Click Finish j) The drawing is now imported. You may need to zoom out so you can see it. 5. Tips for Zooming and Scrolling a) Using a 3-button mouse you can zoom in by rolling the roller away from you and zoom out by rolling towards you. b) You can also click-and-drag the drawing using the centre button/roller 6. Inserting a Room onto the drawing a) Click on the New Room icon on the toolbar b) Right click on the drawing, select Edit Room Geometry OR click on Edit Room Geometry in the Guide window on the right of the screen c) Using the mouse, click and drag each corner of the highlighted room outline onto the corners of a room that you want to light in the CAD drawing. d) If the room is irregular in shape additional points can be added by pointing the mouse at a corner of the room, right-clicking and selecting Insert Point e) Change the height of the room in the Room Editor window if required. f) Right click on the drawing when finished and select Apply or click on the OK button in the Room Editor window on the left of the screen Richard Kelly November 2013

5 7. Selecting and installing luminaires a) If no manufacturers luminaire databases are installed on the computer you may use one of the Online Catalogs b) Under Plan Lighting in the Guide Window, click on Select Luminaires c) In the Database window on the left, click on Online Catalogs d) Lets assume that the room is a workshop and we want to light it with twin 49W IP65 fluorescent fittings from Thorlux e) Double click on Thorlux in the Database window f) You may be asked to confirm that you wish to go online. Click Yes. g) The Thorlux catalog window should open. h) Select A Line Polycarbonate in the Product Family menu, and then highlight the AL1140 A-Line-T5-Polycarbonate-2x49W in the menu on the right i) Below the Product Group menu there are two icons, click on the right hand one (looks like a flashlight shining on a cardboard box) to add the luminaire to your project database j) The luminaire is now available for use in the Project Manager window in Dialux. k) Close the Thorlux catalog page. Click here to add the selected luminaire to the project database l) Click on Insert Luminaire Field in the Guide window m) Click on the Mounting tab in the Project Manager window n) Lets say we want a target Illuminance of 300 Lux. Type 300 into the E box and click Suggestion Richard Kelly November 2013

6 o) The program suggests a number of rows of luminaires and number of luminaires per row. p) Click on Insert to accept the suggested arrangement. q) The program inserts the arrangement onto the drawing. 8. Calculating a) In the Guide window, under Evaluation, click on Start Calculation b) Select the scenes/rooms that you want to calculate c) Accept the Standard calculation option and the Automatic calculation method d) Click OK e) To see the results, click on the Single Sheet Output icon on the top toolbar. (See red arrow below) f) If the results are not satisfactory the luminaire locations and quantity can be altered manually by clicking and dragging and then recalculating. g) If you need to move the lights, you first need to split the luminaire arrangement so that you can select individual lights. Select the array of lights in plan view, right click and select Split h) If you move lights you will need to calculate the results again i) In the Project Manager window, right-clicking on the room name, Room 1 in this case gives the option to edit the luminaire arrangement and rename the room. j) In the Project Manager window, using the Room Surfaces and Maintenance Plan tabs, the reflectance values of the room surfaces and the maintenance factor can also be modified easily. k) To add subsequent rooms simply click on the New Room icon and start at step 6. b) again Single Sheet Output Richard Kelly November 2013

7 9. Printing Output for your DT010-2/DT078-3 Project a) AFTER YOU HAVE CALCULATED ALL ROOMS IN YOUR BUILDING: b) In the Guide window under EVALUATION click on OUTPUT c) This opens the Output Configuration window in the Project Manager d) In the Selected Output section tick the following boxes: Project Cover Table of Contents Luminaire Data Sheet Summary (Room) Scroll through and remove the ticks from any other boxes that may be already ticked e) Put a name on your Output Configuration such as Project Printout f) Click Save g) Click As Standard h) On the top toolbar, click FILE, then PRINT i) Print Range is ALL j) Print these pages and include them in the Appendix of your project 10. Exporting from DIALux to AutoCAD k) First you need to have carried out the calculations for the rooms, i.e. under "Start Calculation" in the Guide Window. l) Click on File, Export, Save DWG or DXF File Under the Options tab, check the following boxes: Render small luminaires as enlarged Export objects as 2D projection Use settings of an imported DXF/DWG file. Under the Object selection tab check the following boxes: Export luminaires Generate legend Under the layer tab check: Luminaires, check box and change the colour to black (easier to see and print in AutoCAD) Legend, check box and change the colour to black (easier to see and print in AutoCAD) Under the Luminaires tab: In the Options section, UNTICK the box draw CO directional light emission locations Under the General tab: Click Select All Click Search, type or click the name and location where the file is to be saved and click OK Richard Kelly November 2013

8 m) Finally, when you open the exported file in AutoCAD do "view", "zoom", "extents" to see the exported luminaires. 11. Importing the DIALux information into AutoCAD a) In AutoCAD, open the scaled version of the project drawing that you imported to Dialux in section 4 above. b) Open the file that you exported from DIALux at Section 10 above c) The error message that you get saying that the program that saved the file might not be compatible with AutoCAD is normal. d) Note that Dialux only exports the luminaires, not the building outline. You will need to copy and paste the luminaires onto the original AutoCAD drawing. e) Click Edit, Select all f) Click Edit, Copy g) Go back to the drawing that you opened at step 10.a) h) Click Edit, Paste to original co-ordinates i) The DIALux information will paste directly onto the AutoCAD drawing. If you find something wrong with this rough guide please or if you improve it please let me know or if you have any questions you can me richard.kelly@dit.ie Richard Kelly November 2013