Archicad can't import a good already created mesh but can create its own bad one?

[TazzieFez]

Hey People

So I'm a surveyor. I can create a very accurate mesh of the existing ground surface (the perfect way to start a design). But there is no native way to import a existing TIN/Mesh into Achicad? Through DXF, LandXML or any other common CAD format? 

So I can create a xyz points file and import it and create a mesh from it, but it is a bad mesh and is not accurate because it doesn't use breaklines. Breaklines control which points join to which ie a retaining wall has a top and bottom breaklines. If just using XYZ like the Interoperability > Place mesh from surveyors data method, then a retaining wall looks like a sharks mouth of bad triangles.

I have seen the LAND4Cad add on, but is there no way to natively get good 3D survey data into Archicad ?

[NandoMogollon]

At this point (Jan 2022) your best bet is to manually model it by tracing and making your own interpretations. 

Yours is a very valid point: the Mesh tool in Archicad is due for upgrade. Its limitations are no par with other more sophisticated and up to this millennia.

As you mentioned,  XYZ or "Surveyors Data" is pretty simplistic: it takes the xyz values and generates a surface mesh joining the points based on the closest ones, generating a typical triangulated surface. No holes, Ridges (as in a retaining wall) nor vertical faces are possible.

That being said, if you have a Mesh - with its own ridges and holes... that is with not just the points but the actual triangulation already modeled in a CAD / DWG file, then this can be imported and regenerated into Archicad via Xref or Merge. You will need to know how to tweak some extra functions in the DWG translator in use.

Hope it helps

In addition to LAND4, investigate ArchiTerra, and there's a japanese Landscape plug in that escapes my memory for the moment.

[SenecaDesignLLC]

Anytime I have that kind of data I create the mesh with all my points and then turn it into a morph and making it zero thickness setting the top or bottom at the current story and then multiply upward to distance you want to see the sloping lines then convert all morphs to lines delete the morphs and you will have the lines, although you would now need to use a mesh and set lines to recreate what you're after.

[TazzieFez]

Thanks for your replies people. When my architects said they spent countless hour digitizing contours giving them heights to create site models off really good 3D surveys that have a surface in the CAD file, I COULDN'T believe it, and put it down to user error. 

After many hours of googling it turns out you cant easily import good survey data that already includes an accurate mesh.

@SenecaDesignLLC  It sounds like you have developed a way to work around the limitation by manually interpreting/creating the surface.

@NandoMogollon I agree, cant believe that you cant simply import an already created triangle mesh, although you do allude to it being possible from xref or merge with some tweaks? Can you provide any more detail.

Thanks 

[TazzieFez]

 This is a screenshot of my already created triangle surface mesh in Trimble Business Centre. It has been created using points AND breaklines, so it honors the top and toe of banks drains ets and things like retaining walls. This surface has been created by me from my survey data so it is the best representation of the site. I can export this in pretty much any format LandXML,DXF, DWG, STL....... if there is a way I could get it into Archicad ?

[SenecaDesignLLC]

I will try to make a video in the next few days as I don't think verbal or I guess textual explanation will give what's needed. If you would like I will try to show the different ways I've imported different information.

[SenecaDesignLLC]

Would you be willing to link me to a small section of the data so that the video contains the information you have obtained?

[JEMagnussen]

Hi,

Did you in fact make a video of how to use a TIN and create a workable mesh in Archicad?

I have dwg, dxf, ifc, skp, 3ds, Collada, gdb, lazer data, but found no way to easy make a mesh from any of this in AC25. I have started the tedious process og making contourlines in Sketchup, save them as dwg and use this for tracing manually... it's a long process and should be easier to handle in AC.

Best regards

Jesper

[Barry Kelly]

I don't know if these articles help in any way, but I noticed they were published just in the last few days.

The first one is most related to this post - the second was just interesting.

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Design-articles/Creating-Topography-in-Archicad-from-AutoCAD-Sur...

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Design-articles/Creating-Contour-Lines-of-Meshes-without-Ridges/...

As mentioned by Nando in his post is meshes can't have a vertical face (retaining walls) which might be a problem if the source you are getting the info from has vertical faces.

Barry.

[NandoMogollon]

Try Merge for an Object with the Tin: