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Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Shell section

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hello,
I am working on a curved roof, and used an extruded shell to do it. Quite straight forward, drew the curved shape on plan extruded it with the shell tool, and then just positioned it on top of my building. But when I look at it in section (image attached) it is not a smooth curve as it should be but it appears faceted, composed of straight lines, which is also the way it appears in dwg once I save it for consultants that use AutoCAD, and, of course that is NOT the way it's supposed to be.
Is there any settings I'm missing, resolution of some sort?
Any suggestions highly appreciated, thank you.

shell section.jpg
18 REPLIES 18
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Yes, the Shell is made up of segments.
I think the default segmentation setting is 36.
If you don't mind messing with the Registry you can change it.

I see you are on the Mac.
I can show you where to change it in Windows, and hopefully you will be able to figure out how to do it on the Mac.

In the Registry, go to the following place:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GRAPHISOFT\ArchiCAD-64\ArchiCAD-64 17.0.0 INT R1\GSModeler.

Here change the value of ShellMaxSegmentationNumber from 36 to 72.
Also, change the value of ShellMinSegmentationNumber from 36 to 72.

Then Exit the Registry Editor.
Then exit ArchiCAD and restart it.
Go to your Section and regenerate it.
The Shell should now be generated with the newly specified segmentation, giving you a greater resolution.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
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Barry Kelly
Moderator
But note this registry change will affect your machine only.
Anybody else opening the same file on another machine will have the shell revert back to what you originally had unless they make the registry change as well.
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
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thank you for your replies.
I have to say that I think this is a MAJOR issue, a curved roof won't be represented as, well, curved. I honestly find it to be a huge, huge flaw. I guess I'll have to trace over the roof's cut section to be able to see it and print it the way it's meant to be.
I can already hear the client, "But, wasn't that supposed to be curved?, it looks awful this way!"
And me answering: "Yeah, no, well, the thing is, the software we use is not capable of showing the curved roof as a curve, but it will be curved in real life."

So professional.
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Try using a complex profile wall or beam.
You will have much more control over the curve.
If you use a wall you wall have to be careful about what layer it is in, the layer priority and the strength (building material) of the complex profile because although you are using it as a roof it is really a wall and will interact (trim) with your other vertical walls.

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
Anonymous
Not applicable
Barry, thank you.
Could you elaborate a bit on ur thoughts on how to accomplish this with complex profile wall? I want to give it a go...
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Use you 'Profile Manager' to create a wall and/or beam profile using a fill with the desired shape and material.
Store it as a profile that you can use with the wall and/or beam tool.

Barry.
profile_roof.jpg
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
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Then use Solid Element Operation to trim the walls below if need be.

Barry.
profile_roof_2.jpg
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
Anonymous
Not applicable
Just out of curiosity, isn't this setting also controlled by OPTIONS->MAGIC WAND SETTINGS and just adjust the segments settings accordingly?
Paul King
Advisor
zeropointreference wrote:
Just out of curiosity, isn't this setting also controlled by OPTIONS->MAGIC WAND SETTINGS and just adjust the segments settings accordingly?
Doesn't make any difference for me....
PAUL KING | https://www.prime.net.nz
ArchiCAD 8-27 | Twinmotion 2023
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