Profile Manager - Anchoring Edges?

[Jeff Galbraith]

Is it possible to anchor fill edges to the stretch modifiers in a complex profile? I am struggling to achieve control of complex profiles that have more than a single fill object.

ie: I want to make a wall profile that has core elements the full height of the wall, but finish elements at a variable dimension such as wainscoting on a wall. I can create offset modifiers to set the height of the wainscot but I can't figure out how to make sure the bottom of the wainscot is always at the bottom of the wall. If I make the overall wall height any more or less than the fills drawn in the complex profile then archicad shifts them away from the point of origin (bottom of the wall).

It does not appear possible to place more than one offset modifier on the same edge, making it impossible to both prescribe the wainscot height and fix the alignment of the bottom edges of both fills.

It also does not appear to be possible to anchor an edge or node of a fill to the stretch modifier extent lines. Is this truly not possible?

Is there any way to anchor edges or nodes so they stay where you want them when you stretch the profile instance?

This tool seems like it could have so much potential...

[James B]

A sketch would help I’m not near a computer, so I had to make a crude sketch of what I think you are referring to.
The red edge can be anchored to the red circle to set the height of the detail. Then the blue edge anchored to the blue circle to set the offset from the base of the wall. You can then set the stretch to be anywhere, as it won’t affect the red and blue line as they are controlled by offset modifiers.

[Jeff Galbraith]

Here are a few images to illustrate the issue:
The intention is to be able to stop the top of gyp board below the top of wall framing, as is common in commercial interiors. I have approached this by placing an offset modifier to control the height of the gyp board independent of the overall wall height.

The problem is that when the wall height is made taller or shorter than the height as drawn in the profile manager then the gyp board moves away from the bottom of the wall. Truly bizarre behavior. Eliminating the value of the parameter altogether...

If I try to fix the bottom of the gyp to the point of origin by using an additional offset modifier I run into 2 problems. First, because the profile manager does not allow more than one offset modifier attached to an edge I can only create one on one of the 2 finish sides of the wall. Second, I still get very strange behavior when I zero out this 'base reveal' modifier to try and get the gyp to extend to the floor. Archicad actually lifts the bottom of the wall core above the point of origin to achieve the offset of zero, rather than pulling the gyp board down to the point of origin. WTF?!?!?!
There really NEEDS to be a way to anchor multiple points or edges to the stretch extents (or other guidelines) AND allow edges to be locked to each other, AND place more than one offset modifier on an edge.

Otherwise offset modifiers are of very limited use.

[James B]

I can see that your Gyp Height modifiers have two arrowheads, meaning you have top and bottom edges included, so the two edges will move symmetrically.
I presume you want just the top height to modify? You’ll need to assign just the top edge and bottom node (not a second edge) - see image. To modify select the modifier, hover over the dimension and a small grip icon appears that allows you to add remove edges within that dimension constraint.
Do you need both gyp to move the same on both sides of the wall? Or you want to control them independently?
The stretch zones also don’t need to be at the external boundaries, these can placed anywhere inside the wall height.

This help article can help: https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/88575/
Also check the tips and tricks page there as well.

[Jeff Galbraith]

Thank you James! This solved the issue. Are your tips already in the archicad user guides? I was not aware of the ability to delete edges from the constraint by hovering over the dimension.

Thanks again,

[James B]

Jeff wrote:
Thank you James! This solved the issue. Are your tips already in the archicad user guides? I was not aware of the ability to delete edges from the constraint by hovering over the dimension.

Thanks again,

Glad it worked the editing abilities help page is here: https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/88576/

Cheers,
James.