Recommended test
Create a temporary model and identify the three areas you will use most: the viewport, top toolbar and model controls.
- Open Autostrek and choose Manual construction or a small starter project.
- Orbit or pan the view, then use Fit model to return the whole structure to view.
- Open one top-toolbar tool, close it without committing, and locate the Object Groups or model list.
- Save the temporary project as a .strek file before clearing it.
Know the working areas
Below the four building presets, two cards offer Custom Solid and Manual construction. Each has an icon, a short description and a button that closes the startup screen and opens that tool. The cards sit side by side on desktop and stack on smaller screens. English/Norwegian follows the startup language choice.
Use Custom Solid to sketch and shape individual 3D parts. Use Manual construction to place members with chosen profiles and spacing along lines, rectangles or curves, or to sweep a profile along a path. The Manual construction card replaces the former Build from scratch header button. Tool entry buttons are disabled while a preset is building.
The white main toolbar starts with Save, Custom Solid, Manual construction, then Build. The dark Control Center header has been removed. Signed in as is now at the bottom right; hover it to see the full name and build label. Planner and quote controls remain at the bottom left. Build Timeline uses the middle of the bottom bar, or its own row on narrower screens.
Truss, Opening Framer and Dormer sit directly after Build. Truss stays available for designing standalone trusses and saving library definitions. Opening Framer requires a compatible wall; Dormer requires a supported gable roof. Unavailable buttons stay visible and dimmed. Hover or focus them for an explanation. Availability follows the model, including loaded projects, deletion and undo. Changing settings in Build without generating a model does not enable tools.
Build uses a beige house with a pale blue roof and indigo adjustment sliders. Hover for its translated description. Custom Solid, Manual construction and Build have larger icons, making the main toolbar about 10 px taller on desktop.
Truss is icon-only, with a larger black roof-truss outline matching the adjacent O-framer icon’s height. A steeper roof angle keeps the button compact. Hover for its translated tool name.
Dormer also uses an icon-only button: a compact grey house with a raised dormer on its roof. Hover for its translated name, then click to open the Dormer tool. O-framer is icon-only too, using the existing window drawing and translated Opening Framer tooltip. Person is also icon-only, with a black head-and-shoulders outline and the translated Add scale person tooltip. Render uses an enlarged image icon without visible text, with its translated name available on hover.
The viewport is the center of Autostrek: it shows the current model and receives selections, measurements and placement clicks. The top toolbar starts the major tools. View controls around the viewport change projection, direction and fit. Side panels expose object groups, measurements, project information and tool-specific settings.
Most modelling tools are intentionally exclusive. Starting Move, Rotate, Hide, Tape Measure, Custom Solid, Opening Framer, Dormer Framer or Truss Builder can switch off another interactive tool. Finish or cancel the active operation before starting a different one.
Use a safe first workflow
Start with a small generated building. Inspect it in 3D, switch to a 2D elevation, select a member, and open its context menu. Then measure one known span and save the project. This short loop exercises navigation, selection, units and persistence without risking a real job.
Autostrek stores canonical model dimensions in millimetres even when another display unit is selected.
What to confirm before real work
Check the active unit, grid spacing, projection and camera direction. If you intend to use Build Timeline, enable recording before generating. If you are opening an existing .strek, wait for loading to complete before editing. Finally, verify a known dimension with Tape Measure; it is the quickest way to catch a unit or scale misunderstanding.
Language and tool help
Choose English or Norwegian in the startup language control. The Custom Solid workspace, its tool panels and the supporting workspace dialogs now follow that choice. These English guides use the English labels; saved object names and user-entered text retain their own wording.
Hover or focus the ? beside a heading or label for detailed tool help. In compact panels, guidance lives in those tooltips rather than a permanent paragraph.
Where to go next
Use Starter projects for a fast structural baseline, Build Generator for a controlled building, or Custom Solid for individual geometry. The Knowledge Base follows that same progression and calls out experimental or plan-dependent features where they occur.
Keep keyboard shortcuts and undo nearby while learning the tools. Before relying on saved measurements, presets or quote work, read what saves with your project; these workflows do not all share the same storage or recovery behavior.