Help with the very basics

[Anonymous]

I have just installed and watched the ArchiCAD 12 tutorials. I need to create a 3D model of a house along with all the windows, doors and services for a University Portfolio.

Are there any books and help that I can get to help with the very basics and getting started, as the tutorials are all pre-loaded with configurations and favorites.

I would be very very grateful of any help given.

Thank you

NStocks

[Anonymous]

NStocks wrote:
I can't get crop to work in preview ( Mac )

What exactly do you mean by this?

If it's about screenshots :
1. Shift + Command + "3" (on top of the keyboard) = full view
2. Shift + Command + "4" (idem) will let you draw a rectangle around the desired area...

[Anonymous]

5. Draw a section through the building.

It will be useful to draw a section through the building to double check that every thing is in the right position.

Select the section tool and double click its settings. Set the horizontal range to limited, and the vertical range to infinite. You can leave the rest of the settings as they are for the moment. Experiment later to see what they do!

Draw the section line from the so it passes though the entire building and extends a metre or so outside each side. An eyeball will then appear and your next click will specify both the direction you want to look in and the maximum distance you want to look to.

If you select the section line on plan and right click, the fourth option is to open in a new window. When the window open up you will notice that the walls have appeared to merge and any join lines have disappeared! The walls are still separate though and can be edited individually at any time from any view. Try changing the thickness of the wall and you will see the both the floorplan and 3d view will update automatically when activated again. Any change will be reflected in all views automatically - that's the beauty of BIM!

[Anonymous]

To answer your questions,

NStocks wrote:
Ok, this is what I got :

It looks like you haven't drawn the walls high enough on the ground floor. They should probably be the same as the storey height.

..what does elevation mean on story settings?..

It's just a running total measuring from ground 0.000m level. You can enter the heights in there if you like. If you change one the other heights will update also.

and if I am copying and pasting the ground floor to the second floor, would/should the slab be the same thickness in reality ?

Sometimes, but not normally. It depends entirely on how the floors are constructed. In the UK the typical domestic ground floor buildup is 150 hardcore, 150 conc slab, dpm, 50-75 insulation, 75 screed, then the floor finish.

First floor is generally timber based so say 12.5mm plasterboard ceiling, 150mm timber joist (depends entirely on span) 22mm chipboard + floor finish. In reality it could be anything - concrete, timber, beam and block, steel, miteks etc etc. If you allow 250mm (or even 300mm!) for everything you at least know you have some adjustability.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Right, so after I set up the story heights, the wall height have to correspond to these in order for it to work properly i.e story height for 2nd floor is set to 7m, the wall height must also be 7m.? I have done it again, only I must have missed something out causing it to go off course , but I will work it out from the help you have given me....

Maybe I should close off a few distracting programs and focus on ArchiCAD ( I'm also writing up Assignments and editing a few photo's !)

And for elevations : say the ground floor is 0 ( because it is on the ground obviously ), the 2nd floor is 7m and 3rd floor is also 7m, the total upto the 3rd floor would be 14m, also the 3rd floor will act as the attic floor/2nd floor ceiling.

Thank you so much for your help, I'm sure by tomorrow I would have had the floors and walls sorted ! ( I hope )

Nathan

[Anonymous]

I think your suspicions are probably right! Also check the top of the slab is actually starting at 0.000m.

You can check this easily if you have the section open. Hitting 'M' on the keyboard activates the measure tool and you can quickly double-check all your measurements.

I'm glad it helped! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I'm having a problem with the section tool. I have configured the settings but when I draw a line and press the mouse when the eye appears, the section line is placed, although I can't see the section in 3d mode. Should i be using a different mode for viewing sections ?

[Anonymous]

NStocks wrote:
I'm having a problem with the section tool. I have configured the settings but when I draw a line and press the mouse when the eye appears, the section line is placed, although I can't see the section in 3d mode. Should i be using a different mode for viewing sections ?

No, you wont see the section in 3d. The section will open up in its own window. (See Part 5, paragraph 4. above)

It is purely a 2 dimensional view of the model.

[Anonymous]

NStocks wrote:
Ok, this is what I got :

And sorry about the image, I can't get crop to work in preview ( Mac )

use cmd+shift+4 and then select the area that you want in the screen.

[Anonymous]

Peter wrote:

NStocks wrote:
I'm having a problem with the section tool. I have configured the settings but when I draw a line and press the mouse when the eye appears, the section line is placed, although I can't see the section in 3d mode. Should i be using a different mode for viewing sections ?

No, you wont see the section in 3d. The section will open up in its own window. (See Part 5, paragraph 4. above)

It is purely a 2 dimensional view of the model.

If you want to view the section in 3D, use the marquee to bound the area that you need, and right-click the bounded area and select show marquee in 3D

[Djordje]

Peter wrote:

NStocks wrote:
I'm having a problem with the section tool. I have configured the settings but when I draw a line and press the mouse when the eye appears, the section line is placed, although I can't see the section in 3d mode. Should i be using a different mode for viewing sections ?

No, you wont see the section in 3d. The section will open up in its own window. (See Part 5, paragraph 4. above)

It is purely a 2 dimensional view of the model.

Just to spice this up: you CAN see the section in 3D, using Special menu, but it is still lost in the distance before you ... first do the "usual" sections.