AC21 handrail tool

[Anonymous]

I have only just started using AC21,Is just me or is the handrail tool very complicated & difficult to use?
Surely it should be easier than it is...
I have just spent the last 2 hours trying to replicate a simple handrail on some exterior steps, giving up & going to use MEP pipes I think will be much quicker....

[Barry Kelly]

It can be frustrating, but don't give up.
Make sure you watch as many of the YouTube movies as you can.

Can you post an image of what you are after?
Someone may have some ideas to help out.

Also when you do create a railing that you are happy with, save it as a favourite so that it can be imported into other jobs (and your template).

Barry.

[Richard Morrison]

Eric Bobrow has a 4 video tutorial for stairs and railings -- overall about 8 hours of training. To me, 8 hours to explore these tools indicates that it is not very intuitive. I've started to focus more on the Cadimage stairs and railings which seem to be easier to master.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the encouraging replies, i have watched the YT videos & I have bought & watched Erics videos
But still struggling & haven't even started with the stairs!
I have always used Cadimage stairs & struggled with their handrail tool which is a bit hit & miss & limited too.
I just cant help thinking that AC have made this tool very complicated & difficult.
After going in & out of edit mode a few times, that seems to make the handrail even less controllable.
The attachment shows the handrail on the RHS returning into the building, i cannot make the top rail on the landing follow on at the same height as the rail going up the steps.

[Brad Elliott]

The first thing to look at is that the base line you draw the railing with is at the correct height. So it goes up the tip of the nosings to the top edge of the deck. I find that the line tends to drop when turning at the floor plain and moving it to the proper location cleans up a lot of problems.

[Anonymous]

I found that the toprail is way higher that the toprail going up the steps, moving the node point helps, but then the posts are placed at the node point right where I dont want a post.
I am finding that its the post positioning that is the hardest part.

[Barry Kelly]

It is not entirely impossible but I wouldn't say it was particularly easy either.
Here is my attempt - took about an hour and a half of just playing around.
I am sure it will be easier next time but one annoying thing is you can't seem to ALT+click / CTR+click to pass on all parameters - especially after you start modifying individual elements.
I wish I could give you a blow by blow description of what I did - but I don't think I can.
It really was just select something and play with the settings.
I will attach a MOD file so you can perhaps reverse engineer it a bit.
It was done using the default GS library and template so there should be no problems - but maybe merge into a blank file so you don't get stray attributes in your job file.

First I just created the basic railing - just to get the rails, balusters and ends set up.
Then I ALT+click to get it's settings (this is fine as I haven't modified individual elements at this stage).
Now I associate it to the stair and slab - offset 50mm.

Now select the railing and go into EDIT mode where you can select the individual elements and play with them.
Activating 'Segments and Nodes' and then selecting the node line is the best way to edit the node positions.
It really is a matter now of playing with individual elements.
Set a post to invisible, tweak end overhangs, adjust connections for the goosenecks.

Maybe if you get stuck on a particular part you can show me and I can explain what I did there (so long as I can remember!).

Each side of the stair is slightly different as I was just experimenting.
The railing on the right are the closest to your image I thing - still not perfect.
The railing height on the stair and the slab is the same but this could be altered giving you a different outcome again with regards to the connections.

Barry.

[Richard Morrison]

Barry,
Frankly, I find this a little scary that you had to wrestle so hard with such a "simple" railing. It will take me significant time just to get to your level of mastery and understanding of the AC railing tool, and then the time playing around to get it correct is daunting. For now, I probably would wimp out and use the morph approach to a pipe railing that Eric Bobrow uses in this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnDaOYtoGc4

It was very kind of you to take the time to help Rogerdodge, and very illuminating for the rest of us mere mortals.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Barry, very good of you to take the time & effort to do that.
I have downloaded & will have a go at it next week.
I am crossing the ditch today for much needed break, unfortunately you are on the wrong side of the country otherwise I would have liked to come take you for a beer to say thanks.