Modeling Vs. Drafting

[Anonymous]

We are doing our first set of CD's in archicad and are trying to figure out if/when we should switch drawings over from linked views of the model to 2D drafting drawings. We've been steadfastly trying to keep everything in model but at this point it seems to be causing us quite a bit of trouble.

I know someone will say that everything should be a model but clearly details and such or not (the detailer tool doesn't even give you the option of creating a linked view it seems). If details are 2D, what about wall sections? or enlarged building sections? where/how does one draw the line?

[Anonymous]

This is always a hard question to answer and will vary depending on your modeling abilities. I personally ask the question if modeling something will save me time in the long run. When you are first learning the program it will take longer to model certain items purely from lack of experience and as a consequence you might tend to unlink your elevations and sections earlier. Most of the time I keep my elevations live and unlink sections at the tail end of the project. I will use linked sections with some fast clean up to give to the engineers. However, when I was first learning the program I tended to unlink earlier.

[Anonymous]

I do all my sections and elevations in 2D and never unlink from the model. For example, if you go to a section window and select everything, copy, paste on top of it, then before releasing the paste, drag it up an exact amount (50', 100', whatever gets you well clear of the model), then release the paste and put what are now lines and fills on a 2D layer. Then I can turn off the model layers and just do drafting. If (I mean when) there's a change to the model later, I can turn those layers back on and accurately adjust to the changes. But even better, you can also grab lines (copy) from the 3D window for a quick line perspective, or, what I have learned to always do for sections/elevations, marquee (fat marquee) the area I want in plan, go to the 3D window in parallel projection hidden line mode, outline the area I want with the marquee in the 3D window, copy, always click the little "remove redundant line" box, then paste into the section/elevation window. It pastes exactly on top of the model. Again, drag up before you release the paste, and you have a perfectly accurate line drawing with all the redundant lines, extra lines in the composites, and unwanted fills removed. Change the line weights to what you want and, again, put on the 2D layer. I use three layers only in my 2D drawings (lines, fills and text). And I use exactly the same copy-from-the-3D-window technique for the outline of my details. With the model layers turned off, you can also go quickly to your drawing without the dreaded waiting for the section/elevation to rebuild everytime.

Maybe it's me, but I've never been able to produce really nice elevations and sections in model, but I strongly believe in keeping the model detailed and accurate throughout the project.