topic Re: practice makes perfect? in Modeling

practice makes perfect?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:07:26 GMT

i am not even sure if anyone can provide direction on this.

problem i am having as a new AC user is that i lack in the modeling area. so what ends up happening is, for example. to cut a section or pull an elevation, i use the tools as normal. but since the model is not where it needs to be i have been using a work around to finish up the drawing. once i have the section/elevation open, i copy paste the entire model to get a line, 2d version of it, then start drafting away. wrong wrong wrong. first and foremost AC is a BIM software and my current procedure does not take advantage of this. 2nd is that AC is a horribly slow drafting software...i feel.

and i am still using AC 10.

Re: practice makes perfect?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:10:55 GMT

It is difficult from your description to understand how you are working but it sounds like you really need some basic instruction. You can build your model story by story in plan view and in parts or whole in 3D. You can edit the model (within limits) in section and elevation. Worksheets and details are 2D views of the model.

I find 2D drafting in ArchiCAD to be superior to any other program I have used including AutoCAD (though I have only used the standard packages without customization).

You might want to check out some tutorials or find someone who can give you a bit of in person assistance.

Re: practice makes perfect?

Arcadia — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:42:12 GMT

You don't need to convert entire sections or elevations to 2D linework. Just add any lines and text you need to the 2D view of the model. Sections straight off the model will be fairly basic (unless you are including quite detailed modelling elements which will come with experience and some 3rd party software from places like cadimagetools). I use rapid details from cadimagetools to 'dress up' and finish off sections and these elements are just added straight over the basic raw section. Is this what you meant?

Re: practice makes perfect?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:57:27 GMT

Ah, I see. Arcadia seems to have understood your problem better than I.

If the quality of your automatic sections requires that you do extensive editing of the resulting line work then you may indeed want to work on a copy as you describe. The old method, used more commonly when ArchiCAD's modeling tools were not as good as they are now, was to drag a copy of the automatic drawing some even number of tens of feet or meters to one side and edit the copy. When the model changes it is then relatively easy to copy just the changed bits.

Of course this is gets a bit tedious and isn't making full use of BIM but it's a start and as you get more skilled you will be able to start working directly with the automatic drawing.

A trick for when the automatic drawing is close to what you want but needs some minor editing is to use blank white fills to just cover up the bad parts and draw what you want on top of the fills. If your working background color is not white then these patch fills will stand out for easy review. Otherwise you can set the fill pen to a highlight color (like pale yellow) in the working views and set it to white on the layouts for proper output.

Re: practice makes perfect?

David Maudlin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:42:08 GMT

Matthew wrote:
A trick for when the automatic drawing is close to what you want but needs some minor editing is to use blank white fills to just cover up the bad parts and draw what you want on top of the fills. If your working background color is not white then these patch fills will stand out for easy review. Otherwise you can set the fill pen to a highlight color (like pale yellow) in the working views and set it to white on the layouts for proper output.

Or you can use a white fill on a white background, but also check Work Environment > User Preference Schemes > On Screen Options > Automatic Pen Color Visibility Adjustment for Model Views, this will make the white fills slightly off white. (For AC 10 it is at Work Environment > User Preference Schemes > More Options > Automatic Pen Color Visibility Adjustment for Model Views)

Rather than using fills to cover unwanted extra lines (from model elements in the section/elevation), I have modified my standard pen set so there are 5 pens set to white that are slightly wider than the 5 standard pen weights I use. So when I need to cover a #2 pen line (1.00 pt) I use #102 pen (1.10 pt) with the Polyline Tool to draw over the unwanted lines. I have found this faster than using white fills.

knosaj:
You should add a Signature to your Profile (click the Profile button near the top of this page) with your ArchiCAD version and operating system (see mine for an example) for more accurate help in this forum. Especially as you are using a much older version with fewer options.

David

Re: practice makes perfect?

Steve Jepson — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:15:15 GMT

knosaj wrote:
i am not even sure if anyone can provide direction on this...

Hiiuh ? I don't think you can get there from here.