Turning off part of complex profile

[Anonymous]

I am looking at using a complex profile for a foundation wall - concrete wall with footing and a sill plate on top.
In section, this looks great. In plan view, I get the lines for the footing and the sill plate which I do not want.
I can designate the fills for the sill plate and footing as "other" in the complex profile definition and then use the structural display to show only core items which then just shows the wall. Great. Only problem is that for the other framed walls in the view, I want to have the finishes in the display. There doesn't seem to be a way to selectively display portions of a complex profile in a plan view. Anyone have a solution?
KrisM

[Laszlo Nagy]

ARCHICAD cannot do this out of the box. What I would suggest is that you model the foundation wall out of two elements and use layers to make them visible or hidden as needed.

Such sub-element level control would be a very useful feature indeed.

[gpowless]

Managing stories is an important part of success of using complex profiles IMO.

I use the following story scheme:
2D Site
3D Site
Walk-out Footings
Footings
Basement Slab
Landing
Top Basement Wall
1st Subfloor
Top of 1st Wall
2nd Subfloor
Top 2nd Wall
Gable Height
Roof Height

Place the complex profile base on the footing storey and make sure in the FLOOR PLAN DISPLAY submenu [Show on Stories] = All Relevant Stories. You can limit the display of the wall by changing FLOOR PLAN DISPLAY [Floor Plan Display] on each wall. I would suggest that you play around with the floor plan display as this can be adjusted with each individual complex wall. You can also change the [Floor Plan Cut Plane] to show different aspects of the the complex profile.

Change [Options][Project Preferences][Legacy] line types for "Above Story" and "Below Story" to hidden and above line types or your preference.

Make sure as well that you adjust cut line the pen colour and cut line type and the outline pen colour and outline line type for each complex wall for best effect.

Once you have everything looking the way you want save the complex profile as a "favorite" so that this process doesn't have to be repeated for each wall.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Laszlo,
I am already doing the parts as separate elements. I was hoping to consolidate and streamline the process. Complex profiles seem perfect for this but as with a lot of things in Archicad, you hit a wall at the end of the workflow.
Gpowless
I can see what you're getting at. I will explore your suggestions.
Thanks to you both for your help.
Kris

[Andy Melaragno]

gpowless wrote:
Managing stories is an important part of success of using complex profiles IMO.

I use the following story scheme:
2D Site
3D Site
Walk-out Footings
Footings
Basement Slab
Landing
Top Basement Wall
1st Subfloor
Top of 1st Wall
2nd Subfloor
Top 2nd Wall
Gable Height
Roof Height

Place the complex profile base on the footing storey and make sure in the FLOOR PLAN DISPLAY submenu [Show on Stories] = All Relevant Stories. You can limit the display of the wall by changing FLOOR PLAN DISPLAY [Floor Plan Display] on each wall. I would suggest that you play around with the floor plan display as this can be adjusted with each individual complex wall. You can also change the [Floor Plan Cut Plane] to show different aspects of the the complex profile.

Change [Options][Project Preferences][Legacy] line types for "Above Story" and "Below Story" to hidden and above line types or your preference.

Make sure as well that you adjust cut line the pen colour and cut line type and the outline pen colour and outline line type for each complex wall for best effect.

Once you have everything looking the way you want save the complex profile as a "favorite" so that this process doesn't have to be repeated for each wall.

Good luck!

I am having the same issues with my Foundations. I think the ability to turn parts of the complex profile off and on would be huge!

Gpowless, Are you saying that you set up a "Story" for each one of the items you listed? So, in essence, Archicad thinks you are working on a 13 story structure? I would love to hear more about your workflow if you don't mind explaining a little more.

[luciant]

In the wall's Selection Setting try setting the wall's Floor Plan Display to Cut Only.

[gpowless]

That is correct. Archicad shows 7 minus storeys and 5 plus storeys with the 1st floor as o. storey. The purpose of this arrangement is the ability to adjust heights or each storey individually. If the client decides they want 9 foot versus 8' ceilings for the 1st floor after the construction drawings are complete then it is just a matter of adjusting that storey height. Complex profiles are linked at the base from the subfloor and top of wall. Beams are placed at top of wall and are adjusted with the storey height. If the floor joist change then again it is just a matter of adjusting the distance from the top of wall to the subfloor above.

The other huge advantage is doing floor framing plans. They along with beams are also placed at the top of wall in ht eactual floor joist space. This way I don't have to manage layers as much since the top of wall to subfloor storey can be placed on its own view and layout.

Being able to adjust individual skins of complex profiles has streamlined cut plane views. Complex walls contain the rim joist and sill plate each having multiple offset modifiers. If I don't need those I can turn them off by changing the Offset Modifier dimensions to 0". Footings are attached to foundation walls and can be sized in either direction. Brick ledges and interior insulation are also attached and can also be adjusted.

This is only one way to work but after years of working and improving with ARCHICAD it has become the most efficient method for me. I have model home for builders dating from 2005 that need to be brought forward, updated to recent codes and re-issued - often with more detail demanded by approving authorities. And while the argument one way or the other still rages on this forum, I model detail so that sections are almost complete when I open them. This is helpful when I have to change the length or width of a building that has already been modelled. The detail takes care of itself in section so all I have to do is adjust the location of labels.

I hope this helps.

[Andy Melaragno]

gpowless,
Thank you so much! That explanation is a HUGE help. Being a new user, I haven't nailed down my workflow yet. I only do residential design and I have had a hard time wrapping my head around modeling top of story to top of story instead of the way you describe. Your method is the way a house is actually built, and coming from a construction background, that makes the most sense to me. In all the training videos and examples I have seen, everyone seems to model Top of Floor to top of Floor. I am finding that the great thing about Archicad is that there are many ways to accomplish a task. This is also what makes it hard for a new user to nail down a workflow because there is no manual or black and white way to set up the workflow.

A few questions if you don't mind: Does setting up the levels the way you describe pose any issues with stairs or 2 story walls that span multiple levels? Also, it sounds like all your exterior walls are complex profiles with the sheathing and finish materials having offset modifiers to span the floors, do you ever run into graphic issues in 2D or 3D with overlapping walls at the foundation or floor levels? I have tried using offset modifiers to overlap finishes from my first floor walls to my foundation and I ended up with unwanted projections at corners and odd intersections. I had to do a lot of messing around with layers and layer intersection priorities to get rid of them as well as creating skin walls to cover the band and foundation stem wall...it was kind of a pain. This is what lead me to this topic on the forum. Any more advice on workflow would be greatly appreciated! I definitely want to try your level method on my next (second) project, I just want to be aware of any work-around I need before I get too far.
Thanks again,
-Andy

[Erwin Edel]

We have 0 as ground floor here, -1 for foundation works, -2 terrain. We also link our walls and such to stories above, but I don't have stories for subfloor finishes etc. But in practice I hardly every have to change this. It's either a single family home, where I'll need floor heating to meet energy performance standards, which means a 70 mm subfloor. Or it's an appartment where I need to deal with noise levels and need some insulation and detached subfloor and up this to 100 mm total.

Some perks of working where most of the terrain is flat as a pancake: terrain is just a slab that I set to correct distance from ground floor level. So this setup might not work for the more up-and-down going parts of our planet

I find it helps to cut your walls where possible for stories. Extend them downwards to the bottom of that stories' slab, end them at the bottom of the slab the story above. Sometimes you might need to change this if you have windows / doors spanning multiple stories.

There is no 1 set of rules that works for all plans. However, the urge to turn the entire section of one wall in to one huge multi story spanning complex profile will generally lead to tricky corner to resolve with wall connections and issues with getting the floor plan display the way you like. Splitting it up vertically will ussually help out with this.