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How to rotate vertically "parallel chord" (steel joist bar element) library object?

romanb
Contributor
Hello everyone,

I am trying to model metal roof structure in ArchiCAD 24.

I use complex profile for steel beams (which works perfect).
Then I also try to use "parallel chord" library object. However, I don't see the option to rotate it vertically.
Is it possible to do so?

I have read that library objects can't be rotated vertically (without messing with GDL). So how do you model metal roof with steel joists rotated vertically?

Thank you,

Roman
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Solution
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
romanb wrote:
No, I am just trying to rotate my steel joist object ("parallel cord") vertically, so it looks similar to the attached image.
I only need to rotate it vertically by 1/4" per foot.

As I understand, I have to create it by using TrussMaker.
So, if I understand correctly now... you are not trying to model a metal roof (your subject) - but the STRUCTURE for a roof - regardless of what is on top of your joists/girders/trusses/purlins? You can edit your first post and change the subject if that is the case so that you get the answers you're looking for.

Trussmaker is certainly one way to model things... but it will not be parametric, and if you change anything about your pitch or size, you'll have to repeat the truss generation.
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB

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10 REPLIES 10
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
Are you just trying to model a standing seam metal roof like this:
https://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=71629&p=320631#p320631

Download the Goodies package and use the Roof Accessory to apply the standing seam metal roof object. There are some tricks to aligning everything - if you search this forum, you will find many dozens of posts over the years. The methods have not changed.
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
romanb
Contributor
Karl,

Thank you for your reply.

No, I am just trying to rotate my steel joist object ("parallel cord") vertically, so it looks similar to the attached image.
I only need to rotate it vertically by 1/4" per foot.

As I understand, I have to create it by using TrussMaker.

Thanks,

Roman
vistasp
Advisor
Eric posted a tips and tricks video on YouTube a couple of days ago, in which he modelled a standing seam using the curtain wall tool. The video is long, and you'll find this particular technique towards the end, but it might be worth your while to watch it from the start.

= v i s t a s p =
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Solution
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
romanb wrote:
No, I am just trying to rotate my steel joist object ("parallel cord") vertically, so it looks similar to the attached image.
I only need to rotate it vertically by 1/4" per foot.

As I understand, I have to create it by using TrussMaker.
So, if I understand correctly now... you are not trying to model a metal roof (your subject) - but the STRUCTURE for a roof - regardless of what is on top of your joists/girders/trusses/purlins? You can edit your first post and change the subject if that is the case so that you get the answers you're looking for.

Trussmaker is certainly one way to model things... but it will not be parametric, and if you change anything about your pitch or size, you'll have to repeat the truss generation.
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Look for a object called 'Girder Vertical End'
That may be able to do what you want.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
romanb
Contributor
Karl wrote:
romanb wrote:
No, I am just trying to rotate my steel joist object ("parallel cord") vertically, so it looks similar to the attached image.
I only need to rotate it vertically by 1/4" per foot.

As I understand, I have to create it by using TrussMaker.
So, if I understand correctly now... you are not trying to model a metal roof (your subject) - but the STRUCTURE for a roof - regardless of what is on top of your joists/girders/trusses/purlins? You can edit your first post and change the subject if that is the case so that you get the answers you're looking for.

Trussmaker is certainly one way to model things... but it will not be parametric, and if you change anything about your pitch or size, you'll have to repeat the truss generation.
Thank you Karl,

You are correct. I already changed the post title.
Yes, it looks like that Trussmaker is the only solution.
romanb
Contributor
vistasp wrote:
Eric posted a tips and tricks video on YouTube a couple of days ago, in which he modelled a standing seam using the curtain wall tool. The video is long, and you'll find this particular technique towards the end, but it might be worth your while to watch it from the start.

Thank you vistasp,

This is not what I was looking for. However, it is also very interesting and I will take a look.
I actually need to model standing seams as well.
romanb
Contributor
Barry wrote:
Look for a object called 'Girder Vertical End'
That may be able to do what you want.

Barry.
Thank you Barry,

I have checked this object. But it does not have webs as "Parallel Chord" object.
As I understand, Trussmaker is the only way for now.
Barry Kelly
Moderator
romanb wrote:
I have checked this object. But it does not have webs as "Parallel Chord" object.
As I understand, Trussmaker is the only way for now.

I see what you mean about being able to change the profile of the chords and webs.
But no, this object has no option to incline it.

The object I mentioned can incline but does not have the same web/chord profiles.

So I think you are stuck with creating your own truss (Trussmaker), or editing the object to allow for rotation (which may not be as simple as it sounds.

There is a 'Rotator' object you can download from BIMComponents, that will allow you to rotate any object in any direction.
The downside it is you have no control of the original object settings (i.e. web profiles), so this will be of no use.


You would have to manipulate a horizontal 'Parallel Chord' object to be exactly the size & settings that you want.
Then save that as a new object and then you could use the 'Rotator' object on it - but you can no longer change any settings for it.


Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11