Building materials, priorities and linework.

[KorniliaP]

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of creating a template and I’m having some issues with material priorities and wall intersections in Archicad 26 and could use advice.

Here’s what’s happening (see attached photos):

I was advised to use one priority per material based on actual material strength. if i do that, I don't think I can control the materials properly.. as you can see:

• The concrete on the left extends automatically and digs into the insulation (is there a way to control the sensitivity of the snapping?)  What if i want a concrete wall to go until the insulation and stop there so that the insulation wraps around the entire building?

• If I create two similar materials (e.g., insulation or bricks) with different priorities, Archicad creates a visible separating line between them - which my boss alsways comments that should not exist because it is the same type of brick..

• In some areas, like the concrete on the far left, the thick outline disappears in plan view, even though the material is there. Or is the case of the brick wall -one random line appears on the left.. Am I missing anything?

My questions:

1. How do you assign material priorities for clean intersections?

2. Do you use a reference line strategy to avoid these visual issues?

3. Tips for line thickness / cut-fill settings so outlines don’t disappear and materials don’t jump through others?

4. How do you make materials visually connect without creating unwanted lines?

Thanks for any advice or workflows you can share!

[Ricardo Lopez]

Hi @KorniliaP 

Building material priorities is a tricky skill, but I recommend to take a look at these links:

• Basic intersections in Archicad
• Intersection Priority (Building Material)
• Specific Element Intersections and Junctions
• Fine-Tune Intersections

You can also use layer groups depending on your needs: Use layers to prevent intersections

[KorniliaP]

Hi Riacrdo, 

thank you so much for the response. I must admit that I have used all the skills you have reccomended me but this post is about finding a solution that consistently works. For example I know that if I shift the reference line in on spot from inside to outside it will fix a specific error (but it will mostlikely mess dimensions), or if I trim a wall and have one part with stronger materials and another with less strong, it will fix another isuue (but a line will appear between these materials, although "the same" structurally). However, I seek to understand why things happen. For example, why on my first image the lineweight of the concrete is missing and the line of the insulation is visible?? In order to not have the concrete go through the insulation should i have the insulation at a greater priority even thought tecnhically speaking I should not? Or maybe just create a complex wall intersection?

"The concrete on the left extends automatically and digs into the insulation even thought the reference line stops at the intersection (is there a way to control the sensitivity of the snapping?"

I would greately appreciate it if you -or anybody- could show me their process to design properly.

My main goal with this post is to find a solution that works consistently, rather than relying on fixes for individual cases.

Thank you very much!

Kornilia

[Patrick M]

at this point, I've accepted that some wall-wall junctions and wall-floor junctions may be a bit... not right. wall-roof gets even worse.
It would be great, especially given the industry is sprinting away from print documents, if our digital files looked clean in all instances. But the composite/bMat junction lines just don't like to clean up.
...
Possible work-arounds in areas where things just absolutely will not meet your graphic requirements:
avoid composites, model skins individually

use complex profile beams/columns to force connections to show the way you need them to

...
neither is efficient or condusive to potential design changes, since you basically throw the work out and start over. But we don't have a solution like Revit's wall layer priorities... so we do what we can and make it look as good as possible at 1/4" scale.

[Lingwisyer]

What if i want a concrete wall to go until the insulation and stop there so that the insulation wraps around the entire building?

You could add a membrane which has an Intersection Priority greater than your concrete.

Ling.