Can't get skin separator lines to look correct

[Bill]

Hi -

I can't seem to get the skin separator lines in these two composite walls to display correctly in plan - see the attached PDF.

I keep changing the "Skin End Lines" in the Composite Structures window to be correct, and it keeps reverting back - I can't save the setting.

The walls are set to follow the structure's settings...

Thanks!

Bill

[Bill]

here's the attachment

[Laszlo Nagy]

Honestly I can understand why the program cannot handle this case because it is so special (for a computer - not for a human).
You can set the pen (and thus the thickness) of any skin separator line but then that line will be the same thickness in its whole length.

I can offer you a trick.
You need to modify the masonry+brick Composite that is problematic at the moment.
What you should do is create a new skin. This skin should be the thinnest possible (0.1 millimeter is the smallest for me) and to be outside the masonry skin. Since it is so thin it will not really be visible.
Make this an empty fill.
The skin separator line between the masonry and this skin should be a thin line and the contour outside this empty fill should be the thick line.
The Skin Priority of this new skin should be set to zero.

That should work.

[Bill]

Thanks for the response, Laszlo...

How come it's happening only on one side of the wall - do you know what's controlling why one side of the intersection looks fine and the other doesn't?

Also, do you know why I can't save the settings I apply to the Skin Separator End Lines (they always default back to pen 1)?

Thanks!

Bill

[Laszlo Nagy]

Because the skin separator line between the masonry block and the brick is set to a thin pen.
In case of this Composite the skin separator line on the other side of the masonry block is also the contour of the whole composite, therefore it is set to a thick pen, because you want the contours to be thick.
So basically the skin separator line on one side of your masonry skin is set to a thick pen, on the other side of it it is set to a thin pen.

As I wrote earlier, the whole length of the skin separator line will be drawn with the same pen. Since that problematic skin separator line reaches into the body of the wall it joins the problem appears.
So it is no like that you define the contour pen and that contour will be drawn around the adjoining wall bodies. ArchiCAD always takes the individual skin separator lines and draws them one by one. The contour is handled the same way.


About your other issue: can you show me a screnshot of that?

[Bill]

I played around with it some more, and used your suggestion, and got that to work.

While I'm not excited about having a 'fake fill' added to the composite wall to get it to look correct, I understand now why it's doing what it's doing and am at least glad to have gotten rid of dark lines running partially into each wall in plan.

As for the skin separator end line setting, it seems to work fine if you make one change at a time. change the color, then save. then change the 'hide' setting and save, etc., so I'll leave it at that!

Thanks again

Bill

[Laszlo Nagy]

I am glad it works now. Yes, it is not the best thing that it has that additional fake skin but at least it works.
However, this one change possible at a time thing is very curious: you should be able to change as many settings as you like and they would all be applied when you leave the Dialog by clicking the OK button.