Electrical issues

[Anonymous]

I'm attempting to add electrical objects to my project and running into several issues. I have spent over 40 minutes searching the ArchiCAD "help" and searching Archicad - TALK topics.

1. Anyone know of a good tutorial relating to electrical?

2. I'm trying to create an electrical layer combination. Some of the layer names of existing default layers are not intuitive. Is there a list anywhere of what each layer name represents? Like A-NPLT-HTSP or L-PLNT for a couple examples.

3. Is there a fast effective way to add electrical fixtures to the center of each room? Right now I draw two drafting lines from corner to corner and drop the fixture at their intersection point and then delete the lines. This is definitely not an efficient method for placing lighting and takes forever.

[Anonymous]

1 - Have you looked at the 'electriGon' object and schedules from ACE - http://www.archicad.ca/?p=70#more-70. They seem quite usefull.

2 - Where have the layer names come from? Are they in your office template or from an external source? Don't change them if other people need to edit the file in the future and would be looking for those specific names.

3 - How about using the special snap points set to division or distance, and then use the automatic guide lines to provide a temporary grid. Maybe you could use 'multiply - matrix' to distribute objects over a grid also.

[Anonymous]

seraphim wrote:
3. Is there a fast effective way to add electrical fixtures to the center of each room? Right now I draw two drafting lines from corner to corner and drop the fixture at their intersection point and then delete the lines. This is definitely not an efficient method for placing lighting and takes forever.

You could try temporary guidelines. You still have to place them but at least you don't have to delete them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions on centering the electrical objects. The layer names I was talking about in question 2 are all default names in AC11 trial. I'm sure there has got to be some file in the actual ArchiCAD software that lists what the names represent but I'm not having any luck finding it. Is E-POWR possibly an electrical related layer? I'm looking into the electriGon link that was posted.

Thanks for the fast replies!

[Dwight]

Seraphim wrote:

3. Is there a fast effective way to add electrical fixtures to the center of each room?

For rectangular rooms, click the boingy-boingy tool [special point constraint - illustration attached] - default is 2 divisions.

Place a boingy from corner to corner diagonally. The fixture will place at the mid-point.

[Anonymous]

THANK YOU! That's EXACTLY what I was looking for! Although I have to admit I'm impressed AC people have such highly technical terms as the "Boingy Boingy Tool". That is just cool.

[Anonymous]

After a bit of googling the layering system you're using is the AIA system. I'm not familiar with it personally, but these links might help you. (BTW a NPLT layer is one that is set not to plot. Not really applicable to BIM software.)

http://www.caddee.com/layerlist.html

http://www.cad-design-and-drafting-services.com/aia-cad-standards.html

http://www.upo.harvard.edu/CampusProjects/Stds/Csg_2006.pdf

[Laszlo Nagy]

Seraphim wrote:
Although I have to admit I'm impressed AC people have such highly technical terms as the "Boingy Boingy Tool". That is just cool.

Yes, that is another pearl of the Dwightese dialect of ArchiCADese.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Peter for the effort helping me find the answer to my layer names issue. Those links provided just what I was looking for.

[Dwight]

laszlonagy wrote:

Seraphim wrote:
Although I have to admit I'm impressed AC people have such highly technical terms as the "Boingy Boingy Tool". That is just cool.

Yes, that is another pearl of the Dwightese dialect of ArchiCADese.

I find that shouting the word "boingy" as you place each corner node improves accuracy. I work alone.