topic Re: Custom fence in Modeling

Custom fence

Amangava — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:37:22 GMT

Greetings, I am relatively new to the Archicad software and I have a question regarding the possibility of customizing fences. Is it possible to model a complex fence that would be a combination of stone with iron bars and what would be the most efficient method to achieve that? I will attach an example of what I have in mind.
I have searched for the solution and for now the complex profile one looks like it would cover what I am looking for but maybe there are some more options. Thank you in advance!

Re: Custom fence

Djordje — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:55:21 GMT

Use wall with empty window openings for the masonry part, and custom railing components (panels would probably work best) for the wrought iron parts. The bottom stone (?) ledge on the openings can be a rail, with a custom profile.

You will learn a lot about custom profiles while working on this type of building... look also at extruding morphs along a path, morphs in general, and how to save objects and make a custom library (object maker comes to mind...)

You are at the beginning of an interesting journey... and every journey starts with a first step! 🙂

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:05:19 GMT

The wrought iron fence looks to be curved, I'm not sure you can achieve that easily with a panel in a railing (I think they will stay straight). Sometimes it is quicker to 'assemble' something out of several archicad elements, like beams and to draw the more complicated shapes in a complex profile looking straight at it and then extrude a beam or wall in the perpindicular direction (hope this makes sense).

You could maybe split the decorative wrought iron into two parts to sort of be able to 'bend' them.

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:11:03 GMT

Not completely similar, but sort of looks like what you are trying to achieve:

A lot of the more intricate trim is modelled with that method of perpindicular complex profiles.

No morphs since they are easy to draft, but a pain in the behind to manipulate afterwards, whereas editing the cross section or front 'view' in complex profile is very easy and quick and updates across all used instances instantly.

Re: Custom fence

Amangava — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:14:59 GMT

Figured the complex profile is going to be my best friend here. It offers the most versatility, I just need to figure out how to use it to the fullest.
Could you maybe point me towards some materials (tutorials, courses, forums) where I could get to know the software a tad bit better?

Thanks!

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:33:44 GMT

There are some online courses for free from Graphisoft, but they cover 'everything' very briefly.

There also some in depth videos from some of the tools such as the Morph tool and the Shell tool from back when these were introduced, show casing how they work.

I would, however, recommend getting training through your local reseller, if they offer it, as this is usually of much higher quality and catered towards your local market (drawing standards, construction methods etc).

3-5 days of good training will teach you as much, if not more as 1 year of trial and error.

Re: Custom fence

Lingwisyer — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 04:07:57 GMT

The question to ask with intricate scrollwork is whether or not it needs to be modelled, and if a texture can do. This is even more relevant when you are wanting it to curve as that increases the complexity of modelling it substantially.

Ling.

Re: Custom fence

Djordje — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 07:10:41 GMT

Quite so, @Lingwisyer

I just remembered a project in mid 1999, where we have used a texture on a wrought iron interior partitions - and the 2D symbol fill in elevations - in ArchiCAD 6.5 and ArtLantis of the time...

... today, this can also be done by a curtain wall, but, as discussed, curved panels are not on the menu yet...

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 08:13:29 GMT

I don't know about other markets, but in the Netherlands we have a company called 'Grande Forge' who make a lot of these wrought iron bits and they just have them available in DWG format. So it's a matter of magic wanding that to a fill in complex profile.

Re: Custom fence

Djordje — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 10:27:46 GMT

... today, this can also be done by a curtain wall, but, as discussed, curved panels are not on the menu yet...

... and, if you do have a DWG outline, do not MagicWand it (the curved parts will generate a million straights, a long standing bug by design), trace it, and then ... curtain wall ... you can use them as custom frames, without panels, and then THEY ROTATE... although they do not curve

Re: Custom fence

jl_lt — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 05:03:01 GMT

And if You really want them to curve, you can make a copy (to keep an intact original on hand), turn it to moprh and then you can curve it using the bounding box tool. Very nice model @Erwin Edel !

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 13:39:49 GMT

Magic wand picks up the curves fine for me. Complex profile walls / beams are simplified in terms of curve detail afterward, so polycount stays quite low.

It works fine for sections/elevations to 1:50 scale or so and artist impressions that are printed to about A4, I would say. In other words, it suits our purposes.

Re: Custom fence

Erwin Edel — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 13:42:18 GMT

@jl_lt wrote:

Ane if You really want them to curve, you can make a copy (to keep an intact original on hand), turn it to moprh and then you can curve it using the bounding box tool. Very nice model @Erwin Edel !

Thank you. The model is inspired by an existing building in such disrepair, it is basically not viable to save it. We modelled this after old photographs.

The existing building is roughly 100 years old, so it's a nice nod to the style of that era.