Can't create gable roof

[Anonymous]

just started using archicad v11 for students.

i have 2 questions and 1 cry for help

1. is archicad better than revit?
2. does archicad have cad capabilities for custom design such as millwork,
stone, etc.?

i may be dumbest person on planet but can't get gable roof created no matter what i do. am used to ease of use of partial BIM product such as
chief architect that makes all roofs a breeze. what am i doing wrong? if anyone can give step by step help it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Gable roofs are very simple to make.
Usually, you start with the two parallel walls
that will support the two roofs that form the gable.
Select the roof tool, go to the roof tool settings,
enter all parameters, including height of the pivot line
which should be set to the height of the walls,
the pitch, thickness, etc.
Go back to the plan and select the polygon construction method.
Start drawing the first roof by starting the eave edge
line at the inside edge of the wall and running parallel with it.
An eyeball cursor form will appear prompting you to
gesture towards the up-slope direction of your roof.
Once you have done this, go back to the start point
of the eave line and start drawing the eave line.
This time you are drawing the eave edge.
Draw the eave edge then the adjacent rake edge,
but don't go all the way to where you think the ridge
will be but go up about half way.
draw the adjacent ridge line and then the return rake line
completing the rectangle.
Get out of the roof tool and mirror a copy of this roof
onto the opposite wall.
Select one roof by selecting the ridge edge of one roof
and command click on the ridge edge of the other roof then
select the ridge edge of the other roof
and command click on the first roof.
This miters the two roofs at the ridge.
You can then stretch the edges of the roofs to form
eaves and rakes.
Some people make a hip roof and then delete the
two end hips and then edit the the hip ridges
so they form 90° rake corners. I suspect that
these people never learned how to make a simple
gable as described above.
Peter Devlin

[TomWaltz]

new2archicad wrote:
1. is archicad better than revit?

Can... open. Worms... everywhere!

2. does archicad have cad capabilities for custom design such as millwork, stone, etc.?

What do you mean by "CAD capabilities"? You can draft anything you want in Archicad. Are you asking about modeling them?

[Anonymous]

"Peter Devlin" wrote:
Gable roofs are very simple to make.

Thank you for your quick and responsive reply to my question, I was pleasantly surprised.
I guess I should have mentioned that i am using pc not mac, (command-click, is that mac for control-click?) Anyway all goes well up to the point
below;
Select one roof by selecting the ridge edge of one roof...

I tried everything a dozen times to the letter and ac will not stretch object, only move it. I tried edit/stretch and some other things, even in 3d, all to no avail.
I would suspect the installation is corrupted except everything else works fine, including the tutorials.
I don't understand why such a simple and oft-used task would be so complicated, (even when it works), in ac when less robust design programs perform this with a few simple clicks. Am I missing something?

If you have any suggestions in this regard and the time to respond, I would appreciate it. Also I would appreciate your honest opinion, if you have one, as to the limitations of ac in the matter of use for high-end single family residential and multi-use residential design. I am all too aware that all programs have some quirks and limitations but this has really got me bummed-out, as it is a function that I use x times daily.

Hope I have not bored you too much...

Thank you very much

[Anonymous]

1. is archicad better than revit?

Can... open. Worms... everywhere!

Quote:
2. does archicad have cad capabilities for custom design such as millwork, stone, etc.?


What do you mean by "CAD capabilities"? You can draft anything you want in Archicad. Are you asking about modeling them?
_________________
Tom Waltz

Very humorous response, don't know many engineers with a sense of humour. Still, I would greatly appreciate an honest opinion in this regard. Since you speak both, you are in a unique position to help, I would think.

As to #2, I admit the question did require some mind reading. Actually, I think I found the answer in ac's documentation, though I can't say it was a pleasant revelation.

I was hoping for a more designer-friendly application in contrast to an engineer-specific approach. Spending many months in learning to master yet another program no longer has the appeal that it did 20 years ago...

Thank you again for your thoughtfulness in responding to my original post, and I welcome any further thoughts you have in this regard.

[Anonymous]

Yes, control-click is PC for command-click (Mac).
I am guessing you are trying to stretch the roofs
to there intersection point rather than allowing AC to
do the mitering. After you have selected one roof
press the control key and your cursor changes to
the snipper cursor (scissors) pass this cursor over
the upper edge of the other roof and when the
snipper cursor turns black press the left mouse button.

As to my opinion about cad software, I have used several
2D cad applications and one named PowerCadd has many
more drafting tools than AC. I have not used any other
3D applications other than AC so I would not know but if
you are interested in other peoples opinions about say
revit versus AC then do a search using the key word revit .
Peter Devlin

[Djordje]

new2archicad wrote:
i may be dumbest person on planet but can't get gable roof created no matter what i do.

What you did not do is learn how to do it.

http://www.graphisoft.com/archiguide_archive/ArchiGuide_Online_6o/issue15/roofs.html

This is eight years old ... and still valid.

Try to read first, do and ask later.

[Djordje]

new2archicad wrote:
1. is archicad better than revit?

My dad is stronger than your dad.

new2archicad wrote:
2. does archicad have cad capabilities for custom design such as millwork, stone, etc.?

No it does not. No software does. Unless you know how to do it in a given software.

The point is always: a software does nothing. People do.

[TomWaltz]

new2archicad wrote:
1. is archicad better than revit? .

I think the more serious answer is more similar to the answer to
"Is a screwdriver better than a hammer?"

The fact is that Archicad and Revit are both tools for design and documentation of design. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and it entirely depends on what kind of work you do and what kind of consultants you work with.

I think Revit is better at Design, Archicad better at Documentation. I think Archicad handles large building better but requires a lot of workarounds to make it happen. I think Revit has more tools. but they can be annoying to use in places (just like Archicad's). Revit is easier to make parametric objects but Archicad's are more powerful (once you learn to program).

It really is a decision that you gave to make for yourself based on your firm, it's practices, who it interacts with, its strategy for the next few years, how much time and effort management is willing to put into training, accessibility to training and support, how important interoperability with consultants is, and, most importantly of all, the people you have on staff who will be using the software tools.

[Brett Brown]

TomWaltz wrote:

new2archicad wrote:
1. is archicad better than revit? .

Archicad better at Documentation.

Except Labels,Keynotes and Revisions where Revit wins handsdown