Because i hate Plotmaker!!!

[Anonymous]

As the title say because i don't like PM i made this gdl object to help me print from AC
This object is like a paper in the floor plan
You select a default paper size (A0 A1 A2 A3 A4) or the custom (you can then type your own paper size) choose the print scale, the margins of the paper and the pen of the frame.
Use the marque tool to choose the outer frame or the inner frame and print
(if your printer already have margins you better choose the inner frame)
You can also use it just to see what kind of paper you will need depending on the print scale
Hope some people like to use it, so here it is
Feel free to change the object

[Djordje]

miker wrote:
I know that if i spend some hours, play around with PM, am going to learn it but i don't have the interest to do it now

Mhm.

My car goes much faster when I remember that it has five gears. And that Nitro button? Oh!

Learn the procedure. Forget PMKs. Views. Layouts. Layout books.

Yes, frustrating if you want to draw in it. Ever tried to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe?

Playing around does not get you far ... but learning does.

Sorry if I sound as if I am teaching you a lesson. Nothing personal, but I am really tired of complaints about far from perfect PlotMaker that I am hearing for a decade, mostly from the people who did not take the time to get to know the process, because "they don't have the time", but do have the same time to complain and write GDL sheets. Reminds me of the lumberjack that never got anything done because he did not have the time to sharpen the axe.

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
Sorry if I sound as if I am teaching you a lesson

No need to feel sorry Djordje, this is what i want
I guess you know PM like your hand and it's easy for you ,
But for a beginner (in anything, not only PM) is hard
i have time but i don't have the interest.

[Anonymous]

miker wrote:

Djordje wrote:
Sorry if I sound as if I am teaching you a lesson

No need to feel sorry Djordje, this is what i want
I guess you know PM like your hand and it's easy for you ,
But for a beginner (in anything, not only PM) is hard
i have time but i don't have the interest.

Up until about 2 weeks ago I was in the same boat as you miker, I hated plotmaker with a passion, but once I discovered how to use the publisher feature in ArchiCAD it takes a lot of time and frustration out of the process, when you're creating your model take a little bit of time to set up your view sets and then use the publisher to export them into plotmaker, it makes setting up CD's a breeze. Although I do agree with you that it can be an annoyingly long process to update changes, but this will be taken care of in AC10.

cheers,
Dan

PS: I've downloaded your object but I havent had time to play with it yet, although I do look forward to seeing what it's all about. At times I feel very humbled by you, you're so new to the community, but you already contribute so much, makes me feel like I should do more here, other than asking questions

[Anonymous]

Good idea for an object.... Well done.... (I know its a good idea because I made the same object, or similar at least a long time ago... except I didnt share it with anyone...)

As for plotmaker.... Once you get used to it it will save you HEAPS of time...

Why? Because you dont end up spending all your time switching layers on and off, hiding stuff, moving stuff, etc etc etc...

Once you know how to use it, its easy as anything...

That said, I still hesitated quite a while before using it.... Our local GS support guy wrote a document which really helped.... I have attached it... Its basically a "quick guide" to using plotmaker...

(I checked with him first to make sure it was ok to put it on here)

[Djordje]

miker wrote:

Djordje wrote:
Sorry if I sound as if I am teaching you a lesson

No need to feel sorry Djordje, this is what i want
I guess you know PM like your hand and it's easy for you ,
But for a beginner (in anything, not only PM) is hard
i have time but i don't have the interest.

I am not so old to forget what happened 10 or so years ago ... and I do remember my frustration with PlotMaker back then.

But, since 8.1, NOT using PlotMaker and NOT understanding the Navigator and views management is simply counterproductive and doing anything else wastes your time.

Just have a coffee with a friend that knows how ... that two hours will save you months.

[Barry Kelly]

miker wrote:
I know that if i spend some hours, play around with PM, am going to learn it but i don't have the interest to do it now
And if it's true what they say about PM in AC 10 (it's going to be all in one)...
Of course it will be a great help any previous experience but i'll wait until then
Thank for your advise

Not to say what you are doing is wrong or bad but PM is really very simple, especially if you set up a template to mimic your pens in Archicad.
Layers and scale should take care of themselves.

Tell me, how would you combine 4 elevations or details to print on one page if you are printing direct from Archicad?
You must be copying and pasting onto you page layout.
Which means you no longer have live elevations/details!

Link each elevation/detail into PM (and lay them out as you would in Archicad anyway) and you can update when ever you want keeping them live.

But if your method works for you then all is good

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Barry wrote:
But if your method works for you then all is good
Barry.

I 'll give a try with PM next time a have to plot something

[TomWaltz]

Djordje wrote:
Learn the procedure. Forget PMKs. Views. Layouts. Layout books.

I don't know about that.... I still prefer PMKs to live Views... WAY more reliable, even though they are annoying.

What's less efficient: An annoying manual process that works 95% of the time or an automated process that crashes 50% of the time?

[Anonymous]

TomWaltz wrote:
I don't know about that.... I still prefer PMKs to live Views... WAY more reliable, even though they are annoying.

I think this is better than live views.We can't edit a live view in PM so all the editing work has to be done in AC (why not plot from AC then)
If we use *.PMK them it's possible to edit in PM and avoiding what Nefarious said

Nefarious wrote:
Why? Because you dont end up spending all your time switching layers on and off, hiding stuff, moving stuff, etc etc etc...

[TomWaltz]

miker wrote:
If we use *.PMK them it's possible to edit in PM and avoiding what Nefarious said]

Doing it that way causes the exact headaches you are claiming. Editing in PM is nice for little tweaks, but I would never recommend it for serious production. Archicad's View Set capability lets you "edit where you work".

If you need to add or delete a layer from a dozen viewports, your way will require editing all 12 PMKs in Plotmaker... it should be a simple "Redefine Layer Combination" in Archicad.