topic Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing in Modeling

Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Mike96 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 13:50:31 GMT

OK, so I can hold down SHIFT to draw lines orthogonally.
But what if I want to constantly lock orthogonal drawing, like in AutoCAD where I can hit F8 once and I no longer have to hold anything?
Is there such an option inside ArchiCAD?

Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 17:17:57 GMT

Other than SHIFT key, you can set grids and snap to them. https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/76354/
Hope this helps.

Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Mike96 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 17:20:59 GMT

Yes but this will constrain me to specific edge lengths. I only want ortho but without being limited to certain distances.

Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Richard Morrison — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 17:32:38 GMT

That's sort of the whole point of Snap Guides. It's like Ortho Mode without ever having to press F8. Make sure they are turned on, of course. Once you get used to Snap Guides, and learn the features, you'll probably find it's faster than Ortho. Once you're on the guideline, hit Tab or D and type the distance you want.

Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Mike96 — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:13:10 GMT

Still, this does not help because:

1. If I set small size of grid, like 1 cm, it's not fast enough to get orthogonal line. This has to be like fraction of a second, you know. Thousands of lines to draw at every project.
2. If I set larger size of grid, like 50 cm and I type dimension like 45 cm, I'm already off grid, so my next line, starting from first line's end, will snap to absolute grid instead of staying orthogonal, as it would do in AutoCAD.

That's why I find it worth adding such an option like "permanent orthogonal drawing", equivalent to AutoCAD's F8 key.

Re: Constantly locking orthogonal drawing

Richard Morrison — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:41:17 GMT

What would help is to learn how to use the program settings.
1) Do NOT use the snap grid. You will not get an ortho guide with this. If you are off the grid from where you start, it will not end up as orthogonal. You want Snap GUIDES. Check out the reference manual for this.

2) You can set the response time in your Work environment to be almost instantaneous. The delay is obviously set much higher right now.