topic Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object in GDL

Text in Elevation in GDL object

dushyant — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 07:08:21 GMT

Hi all,

Is it possible to add text (text2 or alike) for the elevational/sectional view of a GDL object? The 2D script affects only the plan view.

Thanks.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

DGSketcher — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 07:29:46 GMT

@dushyant I don’t believe that is possible as the elevation & section views are derived from the 3D script. The only way to get round it is to create an associated label and add text that way. If there is another way I would be interested to know!

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

Barry Kelly — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 08:06:49 GMT

Not text that you are thinking of.

It would have to be 3D text (look at the 3D text object), which means you will see in in every 3D view, section and elevation.

It may appear side-on or back to front, as it is just another 3D object.

You can filter so it just shows in elevations, but not for a specific elevation.

As DGSketcher said, use labels.

Barry.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

dushyant — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 09:54:16 GMT

Ok, so GDL doesn't allow controlling the elevational view. Yes, labels seem to be the apt solution then, in my case.

Thanks.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

SenecaDesignLLC — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:31:42 GMT

if you use

GLOB_VIEW_TYPE

you can make it only show in sections

and you could probably use

GLOB_NORTH_DIR

to define which sections to show it in if it needed to be hidden in some.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

SenecaDesignLLC — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:33:41 GMT

Check out page 336 in the gdl reference guide (im v24 so it may be different for v25)

GLOB_VIEW_TYPE

i use it all the time to control what i see where in my 3d script and view.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

DGSketcher — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:57:43 GMT

I was trying to do something similar a while back and tried using 3DText, I can't say it went well. 3DText is great for showing commercial signage with limited usage, but to annotate an object with fabrication notes etc the poly count, coarse edges and speed hit just weren't worth it.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

SenecaDesignLLC — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 19:49:39 GMT

an option is to explode 3d text, make an object then convert the 2d lines to 3d lines to minimize polygons.

maybe ill look into writing a text block using 3d lines...

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

dushyant — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 09:51:51 GMT

3D text is not an option as the text would be dynamically generated and would keep changing with parameters. And more importantly I don't want to add extra 3D geometry in the object and increase its polyCount. As @DGSketcher mentioned, it's not worth it in this case to use 3D text for dynamic annotation.

Anyway, I have managed it by creating a custom label now.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts though. 🙂

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

A_ Smith — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 16:00:39 GMT

if 3D text has zero thickness, each letter will be count only as 1 polygon

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

DGSketcher — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:20:09 GMT

@A_ Smith I simple terms yes, BUT if you look at the polygon for a single character it has many nodes and each node will form part of a triangulated mesh to create the face. This is what is meant when people refer to poly count, it isn't just a single shape, it is all the points that require connecting to form the surface that slow things down.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

A_ Smith — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 20:21:30 GMT

Maybe you're right. But in that case countPoly has deceived me. Imo PLANE also has many nodes, though it is only 1 polygon.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

Barry Kelly — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 06:04:16 GMT

My understanding is a single plane is one polygon, regardless the shape of the perimeter.

But we are getting a bit off topic discussing this. 🙄

Barry.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

DGSketcher — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 09:58:22 GMT

I still think we are still on topic @Barry Kelly, the important bit is that a GDL shape may be correctly considered a polygon, but from the computer rendering perspective you need three nodes to create a face and in very simple conversion each additional node in the polygon creates a new triangular face. It is the process of generating all these triangles in 3D that makes using 3D Text a non-starter for general notes, even if each character was a single polygon. Obviously the 2D text generation process is very different, which is why we use labels overlaid on the 3D projections of Section/ Elevation etc.

It may be one for the wishlist or perhaps there are solutions using CALL for a label that would work. I don't know, but I would be interested to know if it was possible. @Peter Baksa ?

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

Hmooslechner — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 10:05:29 GMT

You could "fake" Text from "3D-Text-command" in the direction of the section. In 3D it's possible to turn things into the direction of the viewer. Dont know, if this would be possible for sections...

I have made something similar years ago with this - but without the turning to the viewer: https://bimcomponents.com/GSM/Details/18356

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

Peter Baksa — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 13:57:38 GMT

Hi, answering some questions from many posts:

No, it isn't possible to execute 2D commands from 3D context, we don't have such tricks.

A text with 0 height renders faster than one with some height because there are less polygons covering eachother and also less shadow casting. MODEL WIRE also saves time.

But the biggest drawback is that section/elevation gives no information about camera placement and view direction, so the text (or LIN_ 's for example) would be noise on many views, mirrored on a backwards-facing view.

Zone Labels were introduced to allow 2D documentation on 3D views, labelling is the way to go to give a consistent user experience.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

dushyant — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 14:32:52 GMT

@Peter Baksa wrote:
No, it isn't possible to execute 2D commands from 3D context, we don't have such tricks.

I was considering a section or an elevation drawing to be 2D, just like floor plans. Floor plans also show either a full projection (reflected or otherwise) or a sectional view, only the section in this case is cut horizontally. So I was considering the elevation/section views to be 2D and asked if text2 could display there. Looks like in the Archicad world the sections/elevations are treated more as 3D than 2D -- Or that GDL's 2D is only for floor plans and the rest of the views (2D/3D) are derived from the 3D geometry.

Anyways, the solution is 'labels' in this case.

Re: Text in Elevation in GDL object

Peter Baksa — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 08:37:32 GMT

That's an interesting idea, but I think it would be a challenge to handle broken sections or elements intersecting the horizontal/vertical boundary of a section.