OK. I tried.
First, to oreopoulos - I did just that (explode). Didn't work. Then, i tried Dwight's tip. Didn't work either. Architerra refused to create "land" from the exploded mesh points. And since the original mesh was deleted (without warning) in the process, my terrain was lost. Luckily, I'm working on a copy of the orginal. I've tried to use Architerra before, and I'm prepared for trouble.
But this!!!!
I found out my version was old (2.02). After some trouble finding out. Cigraph's web site(s) is/are one of the worst I know. There are at least three main sites, and then lesser "about" ones for each plugin they produce. Extremely slow server (is it a Filemaker database in Classic??), cumbersome to navigate, with scattered and differently updated info, some of it very old. On the page where I found the current 2.05 version, the only working link to a manual is to the AT1.0 version, used with Archicad 7.
Well, i installed 2.05 and I also managed to find the 2.0 printed manual here in my chaotic office.
This time AT managed to create a "land" with the terrain tool. Se figure.
The original AC mesh below, at correct +60 meters height, the AT-created land/mesh above, all mesh heights +119 meters off, at around +179 meters above zero.
Please note that I'm working in true real-world coordinates here. The original Archicad mesh (here the backup copy on a different layer is shown) was placed about 60 m above zero (sea level). Project Zero = sea level.
But when Architerra creates its "land" it places the AT mesh relative to a "user origin" at DOUBLE the current Story 0 level of 59.5 meters to the absolute mesh z-coordinates! This is nowhere stated. I'm not sure if it's a bug. I might have moved the original Archicad mesh in z direction some time or another, i don't remember, which the AT manual warns against. It reads the "inner" values of the heights, as it states, and they are always absolute! (but nowhere to be found or edited???)
Also, some bug or other means that wherever a contour line crosses the perimeter of the mesh (the site border), the resulting point gets a z-value of 0 (relative) instead of the current contour height, This is worse, because it can't be cured by a simple z-move.
Ok. I found a statement (page 42) that says "NEVER transfer the land/mesh along the z axis until you have finished all the necessary work to obtain the final result!" (Absurd in itself, isn't it!)
So I decided to use the Architerra point tool to manually edit the height of every point that was wrong. Done after an hour and a half. New check of the 3D window. No change! Seems like AT doesn't respect it's own edits. All points, checked in the floor plan view, now display the correct values. But the 3D view is still wrong. And since the AT tools are not available in the 3d view, i cannot select and edit the points that are wrong.
Now, I've spent about four times as much time as I'd needed to edit the original mesh manually, without AT. But to no avail.
AT may be a good tool to transfer surveyor's point lists to terrain, but that is something I've never needed or tested.
I bought it to use to create and edit terrain meshes in interaction with Archicad's own tools. This is not to recommend, it seems. Actually, this is one of the most frustrating software purchases i've ever done!
First, to oreopoulos - I did just that (explode). Didn't work. Then, i tried Dwight's tip. Didn't work either. Architerra refused to create "land" from the exploded mesh points. And since the original mesh was deleted (without warning) in the process, my terrain was lost. Luckily, I'm working on a copy of the orginal. I've tried to use Architerra before, and I'm prepared for trouble.
But this!!!!
I found out my version was old (2.02). After some trouble finding out. Cigraph's web site(s) is/are one of the worst I know. There are at least three main sites, and then lesser "about" ones for each plugin they produce. Extremely slow server (is it a Filemaker database in Classic??), cumbersome to navigate, with scattered and differently updated info, some of it very old. On the page where I found the current 2.05 version, the only working link to a manual is to the AT1.0 version, used with Archicad 7.
Well, i installed 2.05 and I also managed to find the 2.0 printed manual here in my chaotic office.
This time AT managed to create a "land" with the terrain tool. Se figure.
The original AC mesh below, at correct +60 meters height, the AT-created land/mesh above, all mesh heights +119 meters off, at around +179 meters above zero.
Please note that I'm working in true real-world coordinates here. The original Archicad mesh (here the backup copy on a different layer is shown) was placed about 60 m above zero (sea level). Project Zero = sea level.
But when Architerra creates its "land" it places the AT mesh relative to a "user origin" at DOUBLE the current Story 0 level of 59.5 meters to the absolute mesh z-coordinates! This is nowhere stated. I'm not sure if it's a bug. I might have moved the original Archicad mesh in z direction some time or another, i don't remember, which the AT manual warns against. It reads the "inner" values of the heights, as it states, and they are always absolute! (but nowhere to be found or edited???)
Also, some bug or other means that wherever a contour line crosses the perimeter of the mesh (the site border), the resulting point gets a z-value of 0 (relative) instead of the current contour height, This is worse, because it can't be cured by a simple z-move.
Ok. I found a statement (page 42) that says "NEVER transfer the land/mesh along the z axis until you have finished all the necessary work to obtain the final result!" (Absurd in itself, isn't it!)
So I decided to use the Architerra point tool to manually edit the height of every point that was wrong. Done after an hour and a half. New check of the 3D window. No change! Seems like AT doesn't respect it's own edits. All points, checked in the floor plan view, now display the correct values. But the 3D view is still wrong. And since the AT tools are not available in the 3d view, i cannot select and edit the points that are wrong.
Now, I've spent about four times as much time as I'd needed to edit the original mesh manually, without AT. But to no avail.
AT may be a good tool to transfer surveyor's point lists to terrain, but that is something I've never needed or tested.
I bought it to use to create and edit terrain meshes in interaction with Archicad's own tools. This is not to recommend, it seems. Actually, this is one of the most frustrating software purchases i've ever done!
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