Why?

[Anonymous]

I'm running AC13

Why does it change the 3D appearance of my custom profiles just like that? I checked the custom profile to set it back to look ok, but the parameters where all correct. So, I checked the custom material to set it straight, but it was all ok too. So, why, all of a sudden, did AC change the appearance, it's been ok since I made it 2 days ago. Even restarting AC didn't help.

Why does AC spontaneously change the layer combinations every now and then, it is extremely frustrating when things keep disappearing. And yes, it does happen, the last time I noticed exactly when AC all of a sudden removed my roof layer from the layer combination as I switched view.

Why does AC make hip roofs of different thicknesses in north-south and east-west directions respectively? I made a hip roof with 17 degree angles on north/south facing roof sections and 36 degree angles on east/west facing sections. At the base of the roof the east/west sections are thicker than the north/south ones. It does not look pretty in 3D and on elevations/drawings. I have not been able to come up with a way to fix it. Also, when connecting the top angle of the east/west roofs to the north/south ones, there's an offset in 3D even though they've been connected in the 2D drafting.

I'm sorry guys, I'm probably in the grey zone of the netiquette here, or way out. But up until now I have invested more than a full week into AC trying to accomplish a very small and simple project, and AC just seems to pose one obstacle after another requiring workarounds after workarounds just to accomplish the simplest things. Like a custom wall with vertical board panels, a hip roof with different angels on orthogonal facing roof sections, or just something as simple as a true black and white outline drawing, which I would have expected to be 1 or 2 clicks away, not 1,5 days of unsuccessful trialnerrorerrorrerror.

I'm beginning to realize why it was so hard (impossible actually) to find a good simple tutorial to get started and going with AC - even the simplest project gets extremely complicated in AC, and Graphisofts own are based on tons of presets, not a good way to make a tutorial, it's pretty much like giving a six piece mona-lisa puzzle to art students.... Sorry guys, but unless someone reveal the secret to me about AC, I'm through investing time in it, and certainly won't any money, and it is out the window in this office.

And yes, I am frustrated! With more than 30 years computer/cad experience, I know I have the right to be... 😉

[Anonymous]

ArchiCAD is a complex program that takes more than a week to master. I suspect you would be no less frustrated starting out in Revit, Allplan or any other BIM program.

It would be easier to respond if you were to post pictures of the problems and perhaps take a little more humble approach. You seem to assume that any problem is ArchiCAD's fault and not due to your unfamiliarity with the program.

The fact is that many of us use ArchiCAD to produce extraordinarily detailed and accurate models and drawings with far less effort than the same designs would require in 2D CAD or manual methods. Yes there are the occasional (sometimes frequent) workarounds but mostly the program works as intended (and frankly I am glad for the workarounds - it's better than not having them).

I'm sure your roof issues can be sorted out easily but your tone leaves me disinclined to try.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:

It would be easier to respond if you were to post pictures of the problems

Here's a picture of the roof issue regarding different thickness at the base.
The picture also show part of the wall issue, where the lower section of the wall used to have vertical boards, similar to the horizontal ones above, but as you can see, now it is only a solid surface. In 3D view they appear with double spacing and in layout drawing just like on this elevation. When this problem suddenly occured getting the drawings in b&w became secondary.

I have in no way expected to master AC in a week, but I would have expected to be able to finish off a very simple project of a building with a slab, four walls, a roof and some doors and windows.

[Anonymous]

Thomas,

Have you gone through the Interactive Training Guides (ITGs) yet? While they will take several days to go through, they do a good job of teaching you the basics of ArchiCAD, and help clarify the logic behind the process which is substantially different to other 'CAD' programs.

http://www.graphisoft.com/education/training_guides/

Are there any experienced users nearby to you? Sitting down with them for a few hours will teach you more than you would ever learn by trial and error in a month! Have a word with your reseller to see if there are any user groups you could go to.

All the problems you describe are really simple to sort out, so stop panicking!

I suspect the roofs appear different heights because the roof pivot lines are currently set at a different heights. They are measured to the top surface of the roof - the roof 'hangs' below. Once you have lowered the roof, re-adjust the angle so it meets at the top. You may find you will have to reduce the thickness to match the other as it will hang slightly lower due to the difference in angle.

When you say the lower wall 'used' to have vertical boards, how did you do them before? If they were a vertical fill associated with the material used on the surface, just apply the same material in the profile manager again. If you used Solid Element Operations to cut vertical grooves out of the wall, then just redo the SEO. I can't give a definitive answer on this until we have more info.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Hi Peter

Yes, I've gone through the essential and modeling guides. Most of the things I learnt from those I already had figured out, but there where a few good things to learn. However, they did use a lot of presets, which makes a newbie completely clueless on what is actually going on. I've also gone through quite a few different sites with 3rd party tutorials and found a few goodies.

Double checked to roof pivot lines, they all start out at the same height, strangely enough, so what see should be impossible. Now after your post I lowered the sides by 32mm to account for the difference, which aligned the roofs top surface, of course the come out at the bottom instead. Perhaps this can be fixed by decreasing the thickness. There will be an inconsistency at the top then, but it'll be on the inside so not noticeable, kind of like how it can look IRL 😉
The thickness parameter however is greyed, and can't be changed, so I cant seem to adjust it. Any ideas why?
Well, I just realized that with the wall lowered I can workaround this by using a surface to cover the differences. Funny though how the problem occurd on the top surface when all roofs where on the same height. (There we go again with the workarounds... 😉

The wall is made as a complex profile where the problematic part is a surface with custom material based on a standard one with some adjustments, I did try to reapply it, but it didn't seem to make any differences. Neither did restarting the whole computer, and I haven't saved the project in a long time, so I know the saved copy is/was ok.
I'll try to reapply once again.

Thanx Thomas

Peter wrote:
Thomas,

Have you gone through the Interactive Training Guides (ITGs) yet? While they will take several days to go through, they do a good job of teaching you the basics of ArchiCAD, and help clarify the logic behind the process which is substantially different to other 'CAD' programs.

http://www.graphisoft.com/education/training_guides/

Are there any experienced users nearby to you? Sitting down with them for a few hours will teach you more than you would ever learn by trial and error in a month! Have a word with your reseller to see if there are any user groups you could go to.

All the problems you describe are really simple to sort out, so stop panicking!

I suspect the roofs appear different heights because the roof pivot lines are currently set at a different heights. They are measured to the top surface of the roof - the roof 'hangs' below. Once you have lowered the roof, re-adjust the angle so it meets at the top. You may find you will have to reduce the thickness to match the other as it will hang slightly lower due to the difference in angle.

When you say the lower wall 'used' to have vertical boards, how did you do them before? If they were a vertical fill associated with the material used on the surface, just apply the same material in the profile manager again. If you used Solid Element Operations to cut vertical grooves out of the wall, then just redo the SEO. I can't give a definitive answer on this until we have more info.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

The thickness parameter however is greyed, and can't be changed, so I cant seem to adjust it. Any ideas why?

You have a composite set as the cutfill in the roof settings, which have their thickness predefined. Either modify the composite to be the correct thickness, or use a simple single fill instead and the thickness parameter will become ungreyed.

Regarding the wall, have you checked the fill assigned to the new material you defined? Check in the material settings - you may have turned off the fill by accident perhaps.

You should also check that 'Vectoral 3D Hatching' is ticked in the elevations 'model display' settings in order to be able to see any fills on the materials in elevation.

[Anonymous]

Woohaa, look at that. Now we are really starting to get somewhere. Thanx Peter!

The roof looks like new, the composite structure was the whole problem. I can also notice that the roof height reference is to the lower side of the roof. Which figures as it connects to the top of the wall, which end where the roof starts off 😉

Also the vectorial 3D hatching did the job, or at least half of it. As you say I must have accidentally turned it off in my frustrated attempts to get the drawings right. However, the surface now show the material with double spacing. The matieral I use is the tile15x15 rotated 90 degrees and adjusted in width. This material consist of two straight black lines on a white surface. My guess is that the black lines for some reason don't show, while the "start" of each new "part" of the material is what shows. hence the appearance of the double spacing.

On top of this while checking the vectorial 3d hatching I also found the uniform pen, so now everything is outlined in black, not half in black and half in white. Which was further down the list, great!

Any suggestions in my material issue? What puzzles me the most though is that I haven't saved any of these changes I've made during the day, so why a restart of AC didn't help is a big mystery to me.

[Anonymous]

I can also notice that the roof height reference is to the lower side of the roof. Which figures as it connects to the top of the wall, which end where the roof starts off

Well spotted! I introduced a deliberate mistake to see if you were paying attention!!

(Sorry, my mistake )

[Anonymous]

Peter wrote:

I can also notice that the roof height reference is to the lower side of the roof. Which figures as it connects to the top of the wall, which end where the roof starts off

Well spotted! I introduced a deliberate mistake to see if you were paying attention!!

(Sorry, my mistake )

That's ok, made no difference the roof looks great now, soon enough I'll apply a complex profile to it, or I would like to anyway if possible, since it's an old style standing seam tin sheet metal roof, and I'd live for the seams to show 🙂 But that's a later lesson to learn.

I can see from changing the texture of the material of my custom profile that it does not change on the object in the elevation view. Most likely I have at some point, somewhere, managed to turn off the texture. In what menu is this controlled? Or, can I make my on custom vectorial hatching pattern, because this shows and changes in the view as it is changed in the material.
But since the texture showed before, I should be able to get it back.

[Anonymous]

I can see from changing the texture of the material of my custom profile that it does not change on the object in the elevation view. Most likely I have at some point, somewhere, managed to turn off the texture. In what menu is this controlled?

Just to check, how are you changing the material of the complex profile at the moment? These should be adjusted in the Profile Manager window by clicking on an edge of a fill and selecting the 'custom edge' button on the pet palette. Select 'All Edges' to apply the changes to all the sides of that individual fill you have selected, or 'Selected Edge Only' to change that single edge.

When you have a complex profile applied to a wall, the material control in the walls settings dialog box only adjusts the material applied to the wall ends.

Maybe it's worth just carefully checking in the profile manager what materials are applied to what edges, then pressing the 'Store Profile' button to make sure these settings are saved. You could even try temporarily selecting a different complex profile in the wall settings, then switching it back again.

Whatever the problem, it's bound to be fairly simple. Complex profiles are pretty reliable once you understand the way they work.