topic Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha in Modeling

Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this shape?

rob2218 — Tue, 23 May 2023 12:36:45 GMT

here's what I have.
A "roof" element in the design which contains a large slab. tapered in a percentage of the slab.
it also has an end taper as well.
it contains multiple openings (slits if you will) and one large opening in the flat part of the slab.

what is the best way to model this roof object?
Currently we have a designer who has modeled this as a "morph" and has placed large mass objects all around to represent the subtraction of the holes.....
Now..I don't mind doing this but...you always have to have these "boxes" in a layer that is always turned off so's as not to see it.

Any suggestions on a better way of doing this shape with slabs or shells?

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:13:49 GMT

If you want to get rid of the SEO operators you can convert to morph again (after the subtraction) and the holes will become a feature of the resulting morph. Keep in mind that this may make future adjustments more difficult.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

TMA_80 — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:15:01 GMT

This could be a solution ( using the created morph):

save the morph as an object.
place the newly created object
transform it into a morph again if you wish

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:19:16 GMT

hummm...I like the "create morph into object" idea.
Yes, I can see how if the design changes...the re-doing of the 'morph-to-object' recreation would have to occur every single time....

will look into this tactic.

I'm not that bothered by the SEO being in a frozen layer...that much but it somewhat does bug me that I have "shapes and masses" in a layer that has to be constantly hidden.

When you do a "select all layers" and unfreeze them..then is the only time you will SEE those floating large boxes which create the holes in the morph....but we'll see how it goes.

thanks guys for your advice.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:23:55 GMT

Minor point: Freeze is an AutoCAD term. In ArchiCAD it's show/hide and lock/unlock.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Erich — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:26:03 GMT

Why not just do this as a slab with holes in the slab. For the taper place a temporary roof plane matched to the desired taper and use the Trim to Roof command. You can then delete the roof if you wish.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:25:18 GMT

Humm....I'll try the slab with tapered edges as well:

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Erich — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:00:27 GMT

The tapered edges start from the top of the slab, so that will not yield the section you show.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Dwight — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:44:27 GMT

You could do two slabs - as easy as cutting with a roof, etc.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:28:18 GMT

So.. That bottom grey slab....what is that?

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Dwight — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:41:41 GMT

That is there so you can see that the solution involves two slabs. The red one only has holes in it. The green/gray one is a duplicate of the red one [with holes in it] dragged down one thickness and the edge is tapered to 5 degrees.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:40:04 GMT

thanks all....I just learned how to open holes in "morph" object.
Very much like sketchup type function.
amazing how you can "push-n-pull" planes and shapes up and down and all around a shape...wow!

here's one question:
seems that when I push a morph objects pline area (the sketch pencil that's used when touching on a plane)...if I push that plane down to the bottom of the morph object....in anticipation of making a hole....seems that it tries to heal itself in an odd manner.

I've learned how to "subtract" one morph piece from another..therefore allowing me to make "holes" in a morphed object....again..pretty slick!

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:01:43 GMT

Here's all the feature clips about the Morph:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1196509B1C879ACD

Erich wrote:
Why not just do this as a slab with holes in the slab. For the taper place a temporary roof plane matched to the desired taper and use the Trim to Roof command. You can then delete the roof if you wish.

Erich,
I checked this and it does not give me the proper result as it does not create a tapered result, it just cuts off part of the Slab vertically; only Custom Slab Edge gives a tapered result, but that starts from the upper surface of the Slab.
You could do that by SEO, but then you would have to keep the Roof used for the SEO as operator (possibly on a separate, hidden layer).

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:18:39 GMT

Here is another solution: Shell.
I created a simple Shell the Profile of which is a straight line. I then used the Create Hole in Shell command of the context menu to cut the holes. You can create one for the thin ones, select it and multiply it.
Then I used the Define Shell Contour command of the context menu to define the shape of the Shell from the side. Originally this can be defined only in the horizontal plane. So I then had to select the Shell Contour and rotate it 90 degrees in a vertical plane and move it, adjust it so it cuts the exact intended shape. Voilá.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:01:33 GMT

Las,
now...when I tried the "shell" command, it' was asking me for a "thickness"? which specific "shell" command did you use?
how did you get the profile to be "solid" like that?
I must admit, I have yet to experiment with either the "morph" nor the "shell" command but I'm convinced they are great tools....just need to work with them a bit more.....but I digress....so what was the process you did to create that exact slab-type object I'm looking for?

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:12:13 GMT

I used a simple Extruded Shell with the simple method. Then I clicked the half-circle Profile Polygon and converted it into a straight segment. You can also draw a single line segment as the Profile Polygon and extrude it. The dark thick blue lines are the Profile Polygon and the Extrusion vector.
The thickness is the thickness you set in the settings dialog. The Shell is of a constant thickness. I did not create a "shell" of this structure that is hollow inside; it is a simple extruded shell, you can see it from the Profile Polygon and Extrusion vector how simple it is.

All the Shell videos on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58

The videos needed for the steps:

Create Extruded Shell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv_2ur7GscA&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=2

Edit Profile Polygon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71nnlZSdVFQ&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=16

Define Contour Polygon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvc24yA4j5c&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=23

Define Holes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZzYj6CieKk&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=26

Edit Contour Polygon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ7Mtj8JuRg&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=24

Rotate Contour Polygon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xQm_BjJYw&list=PL1CA38C58B1DCFE58&index=25

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

rob2218 — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:25:19 GMT

thanks, I'll have to study the videos.
I tried using that "half circle" (simple shell) shape command but I'm having trouble with the "thickness" issue.

it's asking me to give it a "thickness". I don't want to give it a thickness I want the entire pline shape to 'be' the shell's profile shape...but I'll simply have to play with a bit more.

too bad the shell command doesn't have a "magic wand" option where you can select a pline profile in plan view and extrude it alone a length in 3D view.

Re: Roof Design - what's the best way to accomplish this sha

Laszlo Nagy — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:44:51 GMT

Are you sure it is thickness?
My ArchiCAD asks me for an Extrusion Length.

By the way, when you are using the Extruded Shell with the Detailed Method, when it asks you to draw the Profile Polygon you can just SPACE-click a polygonal element and it will take its shape.