topic Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors in Modeling

Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2023 16:11:56 GMT

Hi.
I did a search and combed for related subjects (I.E. chamfering reveals, etc.), but nothing helps so far.

Yesterday I stumbled across, somehow, rotating a door or opening in a thick wall. One point was anchored, and I was able to grab and rotate the opening, to cut through the wall at different angles vs. the normal stock 90 degrees.

Anyone know how to do this a SHORT and EASY way to do the below?

1) Anchor Node 1
2) Move node 2 to arbitrary point to change door/window/opening angle in wall

Clicking any of the nodes on any of the objects I've tried (I've worked through half the international library in the last 2 hours) does nothing except FLIP the window or door opening. I've delved deep in the reveals, but usually there's no options for angles there (despite threads on the subjects-is this a library issue?)...
HOW do we anchor a side and then rotate the opening in a wall (for windows and doors as well if possible)...??? Is it possible to anchor a note on a x,y,z axis and drag the angle by grabbing another node? I don't need to resize the door/window/opening, just angle it at the base, either in 2D or 3D- wherever it is currently (or if it is) possible.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. I think how I did it was somehow the original wall was gone (deleted? Deleted in 3D window?) but the door was there when I made a new wall at a different angle; I was able to resize the door and it "cut through" the wall in 3D at a non-90 angle. I even had a tracker showing me the angle and planes as I rotated...Maybe because the door/window/opening was no longer "part" or tied into a wall anymore? Hmmm....

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Laura Yanoviak — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:50:08 GMT

TangoGrandma wrote:
p.s. I think how I did it was somehow the original wall was gone (deleted? Deleted in 3D window?) but the door was there when I made a new wall at a different angle; I was able to resize the door and it "cut through" the wall in 3D at a non-90 angle. I even had a tracker showing me the angle and planes as I rotated...Maybe because the door/window/opening was no longer "part" or tied into a wall anymore? Hmmm....

If I'm understanding you... openings are associated to walls -- they will be inserted "parallel" to the wall's reference line, they cannot be rotated. I'm guessing you had an "original wall" in which the door was inserted, and you rotated the wall, not the door. To accomplish what you're (I think) describing, you'll need an "extra wall" for the door. You cannot have a door without a wall.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:57:37 GMT

Hmmm...
I did it again but I didn't realize until too late- and my PC crashed (some unrelated instability problems with other software I've running in the background)...

So what I did this time, was make a wall at an angle, put a door in it, then DRAG the size of the wall until the door was larger than the wall, (I think I dragged it to nothing? It was an accident). Then, since I couldn't get the handle to drag back (I selected everything but the node, and for the life of me I could not get it to select JUST the wall node- arghhh- which is another question, short of using the shift and selecting everything and hopefully de-selecting everything at a crossover point of nodes...which didn't work either)...
so I made a new wall where the old one was, and the door was free to move and be changed into an opening or window or different kind of door, and I could drag it past the wall boundaries, rotate the OPENING and the whole thing again.

I didn't experiment with casings or any details.
but still haven't found an easier method to make a rotating opening or door within the origional wall.

But obviously it CAN be done.
But is there a way WITHOUT all these long, cumbersome "tricks" (mistakes)????

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:02:14 GMT

Make the wall exactly the same size as the door (and frame). Rotate the wall. A door must have a wall to exist, although as you found the door can go beyond the door. But why?

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Laura Yanoviak — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:05:09 GMT

TangoGrandma wrote:
but still haven't found an easier method to make a rotating opening or door within the origional wall

Just out of curiosity -- why are you trying to do this? What's the application?

TangoGrandma wrote:
life of me I could not get it to select JUST the wall node- arghhh- which is another question, short of using the shift and selecting everything and hopefully de-selecting everything at a crossover point of nodes...which didn't work either)...

With the Wall Tool active, Shift + Select the desired node -- this should default to the Wall's node -- you can also Tab through the elements sharing that node in space.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Link — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:06:03 GMT

Sorry mate, but you're only making mistakes. It can't be done and as Laura says, you're rotating the wall, not the door. Next time you rotate it, check the info box, I guarantee it will show the wall tool, not the door tool.

Sounds like you need some training. How long have you been using ArchiCAD and whereabouts in the US are you?

Cheers,
Link.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:01:17 GMT

Naw it's rotating the door- as the wall supposedly no longer exists- there are no nodes for the wall anymore- I deleted everything and all I have is the door now, no wall.

The reason I'm doing it I've got a project with giant custom hand-made stonework base walls, and inexperienced teams working with things, and I need to exaggerate the way they need to open up the sunlight in the foundation of these old stones with the client's wishes. If I don't indicate it on the plans, they'll do what they usually do and square it with the wall, making the whole point for naught.

I've only been using ArchiCAD for about 4 months- grew up on AutoCAD and 3d programs for rendering and design (Autodesk) as well as some chiefarchitect on the side. I've DL the tutorial modules and am working my way through them for now.

I was based out of Seattle USA but I travel a lot. I'm currently abroad in the UK and Italy and meeting with clients in France this week, so I do this stuff on my laptop a lot. I'm all over the world. I need accurate drawing I can print and leave with builders, so such things as the correct angle on a window or door opening can be critical to my clients needs- and not having this option or some work around can mean using other software that does this- which I'd rather not, as ArchiCAD has so many nice features for designing- I'd rather just use it if possible.

Thanks again.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Link — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:45:56 GMT

TangoGrandma wrote:
Naw it's rotating the door- as the wall supposedly no longer exists- there are no nodes for the wall anymore- I deleted everything and all I have is the door now, no wall.

Well unless you are using a door object in your worldly travels, you may have stumbled across a small miracle.

I'd really love to see this wallless door. Maybe you could upload a module of it, so that we could help you further?

Cheers,
Link.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Djordje — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:33:08 GMT

TangoGrandma wrote:
which I'd rather not, as ArchiCAD has so many nice features for designing- I'd rather just use it if possible.

Your sentence should have said:

"I'd rather learn how to do it if possible"

Even if your wall is very, very small, it is still there - put a thin marquee over the door, careful not to touch other walls, activate the wall tool, CTRL A - and the wall will be selected. Now you can edit it ...

Stretch it to the ends of the door, and the door will be free floating in space.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Barry Kelly — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:39:21 GMT

I agree with the others that you must be actually rotating the wall so the door looks like it is rotating.
That's the only way I can get it to work in a normal wall.

How ever if you draw the wall as a polygon wall you can place any door or window and then rotate just the window or door to your heart's content.
The only problem with this is you can't use the composite fills if that is important to you.
But you can use any vectorial or symbold fill pattern.

Barry.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Link — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:00:43 GMT

That's a really good point Barry, windows and doors can be rotated in polygonal walls. Maybe granny did in fact use a polygonal wall.

Otherwise, if a straight wall was used, keep in mind that the door doesn't have to be inside the wall as such, it can be well outside the physical bounds of the wall. The best way to see it with your own eyes is to select the door, show the selection in 3D, then in the arrow tool, hit ctrl/cmd+A. The info box should show 1 wall selected.

Cheers,
Link.

Re: Rotating Wall Openings, Windows, Doors

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:35:10 GMT

I'm still digging for the file, but I remember in a moment of frustration (remember I'm quite new) converting the wall to a poly so I could edit the corners (I didn't know how to clean the corners yet) and suddenly I had a bunch of options with the door at one point. I did accidentally resize it to "nothing" (still getting used to selecting nodes and was working faster than I am actually able, or rather, using key combos that don't quite work the way I thought they would- custom shortcuts from other apps I created for AC- *chuckle*) and I had just this door standing there when I checked it in 3d, with no wall anywhere "in sight" on either side no matter how much I zoomed down (like I said, I dragged it smaller than the door, so maybe it still existed on another part of the drawing as a "sliver" or something- but it wasn't there on either side of the door, even in 3d and certainly not in 2d)...so I made another wall and I was able to convert the door to an opening and rotate the way it "cut through" the new wall...

Yeah. Polywall gives more options with the openings, and harder to "clean the edges" (another issues I had in another post- looks like that was where I began to mess things up with cleaning junctions)....

So the code for openings and objects in walls requires an existing wall object it sounds like. That's good to know. Too soon for me to start GDL programming but that's in the future to customize my library...

Thanks for the input and help. I'll definitely post the wall file if I find it again... I'm praying I didn't delete the mess and move on just recreating things cleaner which is usually what I do if too many issues...

As I work and have issues or questions, I usually write them down for future research and education, and then find temp fixes as I can and continue on (I'm not used to such fast responses in software forums, or quick support and sharing of information). I am very impressed with the peer support on here and with the program. Thanks again for the help!

Doors and windows independent of walls

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:35:28 GMT

Yeah.
Either I've got some GDL issues with custom doors and windows I DL off the internet, that rotate or don't or are seemingly independent of walls, or something is messed up. Perhaps they are attached to a HLM or something... who knows.

I'm editing a pln I have where the doors and windows can be rotated, even independently of the openings. It's kinda nice for angled polywalls.
someone wanted to see this stuff- as they said it wasn't possible.

Anyway, soon as I have time I'll edit this post with an attachment for the pln file. If I can find this thread again- (is there an easy way to find the threads we've made without doing a bunch of steps like 10 reloading the indexes plus searching our user names, AND not adding a shortcut to our favorites? Usually this type of forum has a setting where we can see the posts we're "contributing" on with one click at the main page... am I missing something? The fasted way to find "my" threads/posts is looking up my user name via the index; reloading until I get to the T's, scrolling a bunch, finding my name and then info and "find all posts by *****" and then I can find all my posts, but not all the threads I'm WATCHING... grrr)

Re: Doors and windows independent of walls

Laura Yanoviak — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:27:24 GMT

TangoGrandma wrote:
If I can find this thread again- (is there an easy way to find the threads we've made without doing a bunch of steps like 10 reloading the indexes plus searching our user names, AND not adding a shortcut to our favorites? Usually this type of forum has a setting where we can see the posts we're "contributing" on with one click at the main page... am I missing something? The fasted way to find "my" threads/posts is looking up my user name via the index; reloading until I get to the T's, scrolling a bunch, finding my name and then info and "find all posts by *****" and then I can find all my posts, but not all the threads I'm WATCHING... grrr)

How about the "View your posts" link at the bottom of the home page. There's also "View posts since last visit" that I use all of the time...