Drawing Curtainwalls

[Anonymous]

New user: Can't find info on curtainwall drawing methods/placement and editing in the manual.
To all power users: At your liesure, please help and furnish info on the best way to execute drawing straight, inclined end and canted curtainwall assemblies.
Should they be placed in a wall assembly ( for example: 6" mullion in a 6" stud wall?) or are they considered to be walls and will clean up on their own. If they are required to be placed in a wall assembly, should the canted walls and inclined end walls (where required) be precisely drawn to their extents and on all levels in advance of placing the curtainwall objects as an exact fit?
Note also that the particular design intent (a box with flanking stairwell ears) is to have curtainwall extents at varying elevations. i.e.. flanking stairwells (say, six stories) fully clad to the the ground and canted out at 10º common with the building mass (facade) in between say from the roof parapet to the second floor level with a solid punched (plumb) mass below at the first level. How do plumb inclined end type curtain walls at the flanking stairwells marry into and clean up with the adjacent outward canted facade.
Once placed correctly are the exterior parameters of the assemblies editable? i.e. stretch corner extents etc. if the design changes through design development.
What is the best method for editing - in elevation, section, axon, plan, dialog box? The tutorial only touches on editing simple doors and window assemblies in plan and elevation.
Also, can one build a curtainwall assembly with a combination of exposed mullions and butt glazing in the same assembly? Can't seem to find the combination radio button on exposed and butt glazed options and where you care to have those sub assemblies located.

Archicad masters please advise.

Thanks,
Jim

PS crashes seem to be under control for the moment, all libraries loaded locally.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Trussmaker can help you build your own curtainwalls if the standard ones can't be customized to your liking...

Karl

[Djordje]

JAS wrote:
New user: Can't find info on curtainwall drawing methods/placement and editing in the manual.

So you did read the manual? Rare species ...

JAS wrote:
To all power users: At your liesure, please help and furnish info on the best way to execute drawing straight, inclined end and canted curtainwall assemblies.

For the beginning, use the ones from the standard library. Try out ArchiGlazing - quite crazy stuff can easily be done with it - and if all else fails, TrussMaker is there (as Karl pointed out already).

JAS wrote:
Should they be placed in a wall assembly ( for example: 6" mullion in a 6" stud wall?) or are they considered to be walls and will clean up on their own.

They are obejcts and behave as such.

JAS wrote:
What is the best method for editing - in elevation, section, axon, plan, dialog box? The tutorial only touches on editing simple doors and window assemblies in plan and elevation.

Somehow you will guess that I will say - 3D !!!!!! Don't forget diamond shaped hotspots for editing! With parameter settings in dialog box, of course, or, even better, Info Box.

JAS wrote:
Also, can one build a curtainwall assembly with a combination of exposed mullions and butt glazing in the same assembly?

Yes, if they are separate segments.

JAS wrote:
Can't seem to find the combination radio button on exposed and butt glazed options and where you care to have those sub assemblies located.

No such button, sorry ... but you can break it down to pieces. More work, I agree. Group when finished.

HTH,

[Anonymous]

Karl, Djordje,
Thanks for the kind words.
Karl I did play with truss maker but I think it's not the way to go here.
Djordje I did review the manual in depth and there must be pages missing in the English version as I wasn't able to find an iota on constructing placing or editing curtain walls, canted or otherwise.
I did however figure out how to get combined butt glazed and exposed mullions.
I have created a kit of parts, 20 separate curtainwall objects 12 of which have been placed so far at the east stair tower which I have attacked first. Various parts will share new layer names based on their Z coordinates and story locations at least for now so I can control visibility via view sets. So far so good and it is looking nice in 3D as well.
The tough part so far was understanding the dialog box options and the resultant effects. It has been a bit dicey stacking the canted panel components nicely. I also found problems coordinating the inclined end wall dimensions as they are measured from the top of the wall, difficult to utilize since I am building from the ground up. Can I change this with a change of insertion point, via a hot spot? Haven't tried that yet but it was just suggested by a work cohort.
I have had to do a fair bit of trig to compensate for this which is fine but I'm getting creep a la gaposis starting at about 40' off my foundation. The creep/gap is evident at the corner that is shared with the outward canted wall. Most likely due to decimal point tolerance or just bad math. I'm letting it slide for now but may have to come back to it later to tighten things up if it doesn't look good on paper.
Regarding your comment on hot spots, I admit that I really am not too clear to date on how hot spots can help facilitate my work but very willing to learn. Please advise.
I checked out the Archi-glass info and I think it sounds like a good idea for the future. There must be a faster way to do all this and perhaps Archi-glass is the way to go.

Based on your comments I seem to be headed in the right direction although all those slick Graphisoft advertisements in Architecture Magazine seem to portray a faster way to visualize and model funky architecture without the pain. I do believe that complex elements take time to work out but it seems contrary to all the slick fast talk and advertising.

Any additional kind words are always appreciated.
Best regards,
Jim

ArchiGlazing 1.7 for ArchiCAD 8.1 is now available!

General Information

ArchiGlazing is an ArchiCAD Add-On that enables architects to design a broad range of glass structures. Custom windows can be created based on sketches, and vertical or slanted glass walls can be built on any type of curves quickly and easily. It offers extra support for the placement of conical and shed glass structures as well as winter gardens, adjusting them to fit the building. The parametric behaviour of these objects enables changing most of their properties at any time in the design process. ArchiGlazing fulfills the needs of the ambitious architects, seeking to exceed the capabilities of the standard ArchiCAD library.

Features:

Vertical glass structure tool:
creates vertical glass structures along lines, line combinations or closed contours.
Slanted glass structure tool:
creates slanted glass structures along lines, line combinations, closed contours and in roof panes.
Sketch window tool:
creates windows, doors or freestanding glass structures from draft sketches; positions corner glass structures automatically.
Conic glass structure tool:
creates conical glass structures along arcs, circles, on circular ceiling apertures and walls.
Shed glass structure tool:
creates shed glass structures on rectangular line contours, walls or ceiling apertures.
Winter garden tool:
creates conservatories using lines and line wall combinations.

[Djordje]

JAS wrote:
I have created a kit of parts, 20 separate curtainwall objects 12 of which have been placed so far at the east stair tower which I have attacked first.

Make sure to save them as Favourites.

JAS wrote:
Various parts will share new layer names based on their Z coordinates and story locations at least for now so I can control visibility via view sets. So far so good and it is looking nice in 3D as well.

Sounds like you are really organizing it Watch out for the layers/heights.

JAS wrote:
The tough part so far was understanding the dialog box options and the resultant effects.

This does require a bit, or more than a bit, of playing around.

JAS wrote:
It has been a bit dicey stacking the canted panel components nicely.

Did you try it in the 3D window?

JAS wrote:
I checked out the Archi-glass info and I think it sounds like a good idea for the future. There must be a faster way to do all this and perhaps Archi-glass is the way to go.

Might be; I always like the way the slanted glass structure cut the adjoining walls. Cool!