placing walls

[Anonymous]

Hi

I am very new to Archicad. This has got to be an easy question but I just can't find the answer anywhere yet.

How do you place a wall (or other object) a set distance from some point without having to drag it there? For instance how would one place a wall parallel to and 1.86 metres, say, from an existing wall? Or how would one create the shape of a room using the keyboard alone for dimensioning purposes? I am trying to place the walls on a project based on the plans and dimensions of the existing building.

Any one care to answer this one for me?

Many thanks, and apologies for my ignorance.

[Thomas Holm]

This is basic. You need basic training. Archicad is a professional CAD tool. You'll save loads of time=money by purchasing some professional training. Not counting that, there are good help files, and you can search Graphisoft's site for various demos and instruction movies.

Edited:

Sorry for my tone above. I didn't realise you were posting this in the student forum. Still, I think you should look for some basic training before you start asking. The demo movies on GS's site are quite good.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Thomas, Just so that he does not feel bad,

For a beginner it is easier to draw the wall (or any object) and then drag it to its place.

For the other question start the wall press shift to lock the direction and hit "R" then type the distance if the angle is is not orthogonal just click to start move the mouse in the direction you want to go type the distance (or press "D") and then tab to the angle (or type "A"), press return and keep going provided you have selected the continuos wall option.

[Thomas Holm]

Sorry, my bad.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies, guys. I know it is a basic question and I will be going to USA to take a course before too long.

However, I don't think my question has been answered??

Starting the wall and pressing R or D gives the length of the wall, not it's position relative to anything else.

My question is slightly different.

Say you want three parallel walls (any length you like) placed at differing distances from each other (say 1.02m and 3.56m). How do you place those walls without dragging them there?

[Anonymous]

Use temporary origins to measure from any given point. Look in help and search for origin.

[Eduardo Rolon]

And still the best answer is that it is easier to draw the first wall, drag a copy to the second location and then use "Shift+R" to stretch the new distance.

If not just put your mouse over one of the end points of the first wall,

1) press "command+alt+shift (Mac OS) to place the User Origin at that point
2) hover the mouse over the UO and type "X" for horizontal or "y" for vertical
3) type the distance and press enter
4) draw the wall

[Anonymous]

Thanks again for your input. Particularly the temporary origin method. I really appreciate the help.

Many thanks

[Barry Kelly]

adgilcan wrote:
Thank you for your replies, guys. I know it is a basic question and I will be going to USA to take a course before too long.

However, I don't think my question has been answered??

Starting the wall and pressing R or D gives the length of the wall, not it's position relative to anything else.

My question is slightly different.

Say you want three parallel walls (any length you like) placed at differing distances from each other (say 1.02m and 3.56m). How do you place those walls without dragging them there?

Activate your wall tool.
Place your cursor at the location you want to offset from.
Press "X" or "Y" depending on which axis you want to move your cursor.
Now type in a number for the distance you want to move and then press "+" or "-" depending on which direction you want to move.
You can now repeat with more "X" and "Y" moves.
When you are happy press "Enter" and your wall will begin.

Now you just need to chhose the point for the end of the wall.
Again you can move the cursor relative to any pont as described above or you can simply input a length and angle relative to the beginning of the wall.


Just positioning the cursor and then "X" or "Y" with "+" or "-" after it will simply move the cursor.
Having a tool active and then pressing "Enter" after you are happy with the move will begin to use that tool.

You can use this method at any time and also with "D" and "A".
It is simply a way of adding or subtracting from you current cursor position.

REMEMBER: the "+" and "-" come AFTER the distance other wise it will move relative to you user origin instead of adding/subtracting from the current cursor position.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Barry, that's very useful. Thank you.

In a previous CAD program I used it was possible to change a dimension measurement and so move an object like that. I'm sure Archicad is better so I really didn't want to drag and drop as this is crude and difficult to get right precisely. The interactive guides are little help because they don't ask you to position objects without pre-existing guidelines. The helpfile is enormous and I hadn't been able to find the answer I knew must be possible - hence my post.