Elevation lineweights

[Tom Krowka]

What is the best way to show thinner/wider lineweights in elevation so the drawings appear closer to farther away.
I've done it in section, but nothing seems to work in elevation. Is that something I would have to set up in the pen weights in each wall? That would seem to be very time consuming.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure I fully understand what you want, but you might get the effect you are looking for with the distant area effects in the section tool. I usually set the distant elements to all draw with a 40% - 50% gray pen (pen 95 or 96 in my settings) and it is definitely a nice effect.

[Dave Jochum]

Tom wrote:
What is the best way to show thinner/wider lineweights in elevation so the drawings appear closer to farther away.
I've done it in section, but nothing seems to work in elevation. Is that something I would have to set up in the pen weights in each wall? That would seem to be very time consuming.

I've been doing it by drawing new lines (saved in Favorites) on a separate layer in each elevation. Very non-BIM! If there's a better way, I'd love to hear it also.

[Djordje]

Dave wrote:

Tom wrote:
What is the best way to show thinner/wider lineweights in elevation so the drawings appear closer to farther away.
I've done it in section, but nothing seems to work in elevation. Is that something I would have to set up in the pen weights in each wall? That would seem to be very time consuming.

I've been doing it by drawing new lines (saved in Favorites) on a separate layer in each elevation. Very non-BIM! If there's a better way, I'd love to hear it also.

As Matthew said, Distant area option in the Section?Elevation settings does quite a good job. Expecially when you combine it with the shadows, as you can separately set the shadows for the distant area (different fill, different pens).

You should try not to draw over if possible ...

[Dave Jochum]

Djordje wrote:
As Matthew said, Distant area option in the Section?Elevation settings does quite a good job. Expecially when you combine it with the shadows, as you can separately set the shadows for the distant area (different fill, different pens).

You should try not to draw over if possible ...

I agree--drawing over the S/E is not a BIM ideal. But when there are several building planes receding into the distance, I want to show each plane with progressively thinner outlines, and that was Tom's question. I know of no other way of achieving this than re-drawing.

I also like greying the linework, but doesn't AC only grey one level? That doesn't help with multiple planes.

[Anonymous]

Oh, if you are talking outlines, then I understand. I do this too. It would be nice if ArchiCAD could do this automatically but I suspect it would be a bit of a challenge to program.

In the meantime, I have found a neat trick I call shrink wrapping. It goes (briefly) as follows:

1. Place a solid (or other) white fill at the base of the building as a ground plane (if it doesn't already exist as a section of the site model).

2. Draw an empty fill with a null pen for the background around the building elevation (or part) to be outlined. Make sure to cross the ground plane.

3. Click the edge or node of the fill an select the subtraction tool from the pet palette.

4. Space bar (magic wand) click in the space around the building and...

Voilá, the fill shrinks to fit around the outline of the building. The BIM purists among you will be disappointed to know that this only works on unlinked (i.e. drawing type) elevations. This is no problem for me since I still (and probably will always) prefer to unlink the drawings that are intended for printed output.

This will also test the tightness of your model. I have found that round domed cupolas can be a bit fiddly.

If people are interested I can post a PDF showing the technique later when I get to the office.

[Tom Krowka]

Matthew:

I'd appreciate it if you would post the technique. As a new user, I don't know the advantages/disadvantages of keeping the elevations linked versus unlinked. I guess it depends if you anticipate a lot of changes. One of the reasons I changed from AutoCad was the linked solution to elevations.
Could I combine some of the above noted solutions. For example, could I do the distant area marked operation, then unlink, then do your solution to work the outlines. I assume you would be able to change the pen weight of the fill outline.

[Djordje]

Tom wrote:
Matthew:

I'd appreciate it if you would post the technique. As a new user, I don't know the advantages/disadvantages of keeping the elevations linked versus unlinked. I guess it depends if you anticipate a lot of changes. One of the reasons I changed from AutoCad was the linked solution to elevations.
Could I combine some of the above noted solutions. For example, could I do the distant area marked operation, then unlink, then do your solution to work the outlines. I assume you would be able to change the pen weight of the fill outline.

This has been posted by Duane on the old Talk years ago, and AFAIR was even living somewhere in the Archiguide files ... but, Matthew, please do post the technique under a new topic!

[Dave Jochum]

Tom wrote:
Matthew:

I'd appreciate it if you would post the technique. As a new user, I don't know the advantages/disadvantages of keeping the elevations linked versus unlinked. I guess it depends if you anticipate a lot of changes. One of the reasons I changed from AutoCad was the linked solution to elevations.

Be aware that even after you unlink a S/E, you can rebuild from the model whenever necessary. Any 2D linework you've added in the drawing will be unaffected.

[Dave Jochum]

Matthew wrote:
I have found a neat trick I call shrink wrapping. It goes (briefly) as follows...

If people are interested I can post a PDF showing the technique later when I get to the office.

Neat trick indeed, Matthew. Please do post when you get a chance.