This is a great challenge.
Here is what I thought up. I would not even call it a workaround, I would rather call it a hack.
So, Gravity works on only Slabs, Roofs, Shells and Meshes. So, in order to be able to dimension those points you would have to have one of these four elements.
It is not possible to convert a GDL Object to any of these elements.
So I thought you could place such elements to any point you want to dimension.
So, here is what to do:
1. Convert the GDL Object to a Morph. The reason for this is that the cursor senses any surface point of a Morph. (Actually, if the cursor senses the surface points of the GDL Object you got from the 3DS file, you don't even need to convert it to Morph).
2. In 3D, create a small Slab. We are going to drag multiple copies of this Slab in 3D to every surface point of the Object you want dimensioned.
3. In 3D, click a corner node on the top surface of the Slab you created and issue the Drag Multiple Copy command.
4. Now, place Slabs at every surface point of the Object (or Morph) you want to dimension. The dragged corner on the top surface of each Slab will be at the desired point. (You need to drag a corner on the TOP of the Slab, because the Level Dimension Tool dimensions the top of Slabs.
5. Now go to the Floor Plan, activate the Level Dimension Tool, activate Gravity to Slab and dimension those dragged Slab corner points.
6. Hide the Slabs to an auxiliary layer.
You will see that the Slabs will not need to be too large because if many Slabs are placed close to each other they will overlap each other and you will be able to dimension only the uppermost.
The attached image shows what I mean.
Here is what I thought up. I would not even call it a workaround, I would rather call it a hack.
So, Gravity works on only Slabs, Roofs, Shells and Meshes. So, in order to be able to dimension those points you would have to have one of these four elements.
It is not possible to convert a GDL Object to any of these elements.
So I thought you could place such elements to any point you want to dimension.
So, here is what to do:
1. Convert the GDL Object to a Morph. The reason for this is that the cursor senses any surface point of a Morph. (Actually, if the cursor senses the surface points of the GDL Object you got from the 3DS file, you don't even need to convert it to Morph).
2. In 3D, create a small Slab. We are going to drag multiple copies of this Slab in 3D to every surface point of the Object you want dimensioned.
3. In 3D, click a corner node on the top surface of the Slab you created and issue the Drag Multiple Copy command.
4. Now, place Slabs at every surface point of the Object (or Morph) you want to dimension. The dragged corner on the top surface of each Slab will be at the desired point. (You need to drag a corner on the TOP of the Slab, because the Level Dimension Tool dimensions the top of Slabs.
5. Now go to the Floor Plan, activate the Level Dimension Tool, activate Gravity to Slab and dimension those dragged Slab corner points.
6. Hide the Slabs to an auxiliary layer.
You will see that the Slabs will not need to be too large because if many Slabs are placed close to each other they will overlap each other and you will be able to dimension only the uppermost.
The attached image shows what I mean.
Reporting back...
Export 3DS from Rhino -> 3DS import into Archicad-> convert object to morph works fine.
IFC export from Rhino works fine -> IFC looks OK in IFC-viewer, but Archicad refuses to import objects with no dept (IE, nurbs planes) from IFC. I've tried a few IFC-translator tweaks, but every "non-solid" gets skipped.
Export 3DS from Rhino -> 3DS import into Archicad-> convert object to morph works fine.
IFC export from Rhino works fine -> IFC looks OK in IFC-viewer, but Archicad refuses to import objects with no dept (IE, nurbs planes) from IFC. I've tried a few IFC-translator tweaks, but every "non-solid" gets skipped.
Still looking?
