Creating Stair

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I create a new stair successfully. But the function in the Stair Setting Dialogue: [ 2D Symbol, Arrowheads,Batten and Flight ] does not exist. I can't modify the arrowhead, 2d symbol...etc....

Anybody know the reason and how to overcome this ?

Please advise.

Many thanks

[Anonymous]

ArchiCAD 11 has much less control over the 2d symbol than AC12. I find it is best to turn most of the details off and redraw by hand exactly how I want it.

It is often worth creating a special custom 2d library part for that specific purpose if there are several stairs to do.

[Anonymous]

Hi,
So you mean that you create a seperate GDL lib part for the stair and not using much of the default settings ?

The functions in Creating New Stair is less than in the default stairs. Do you experience the same ?

Please advise,
Many thanks

[Anonymous]

In AC11 the best way is to hide the stair and redraw the 2D graphics by hand. Or by mouse! 😉

In AC12 there is big improvement but redrawing is still a very good option.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't anybody see that this is not BIM!! If you have to redraw everything you build in 3D in 2D to make construction documents, than it is just a wast of time. I am finding that you have to do this with everything, all of our sections, interior elevations and enlarged plans and details have to be copied over and drafted with 2d lines and fills. I am tired of hearing how much better this program is that Revit, when after 11 releases they cant figure out how to make 3d objects appear correctly in 2D. The reoccurring advice i keep getting is to just draw it in 2D, well why even build it in 3d then! The most frustrating part is if you draw everything in 2d to cover up the 3d and then change the 3d to make design changes, you have to also do the same thing to the 2d, it is double the work!
I am not trying to be the guy that comes on to the forum and trashes everything just to be a jerk, but i had to switch to archicad and i have found only minor things that it can do that Revit cannot and the things it cannot do vs what revit can do is major. I guess i am just trying to get a message out to the developers of ArchiCAD that they need to step up there game, because there is a reason that Revit is the industry standard and its not because Autodesk is a huge corporation, its because it works the way it is suppose to work; it is BIM.

[Thomas Holm]

Hence wrote:
If you have to redraw everything you build in 3D in 2D to make construction documents, than it is just a wast of time. I am finding that you have to do this with everything,

This is just BS. If you really do redraw everything in 2D like you say, you simply don't know how to use Archicad. As Djordje points out time after another, lack of knowledge is Archicad's greatest problem.

If you really don't want to be the jerk you mention, give us some examples instead of just whining!

[Anonymous]

To start, you are right. I have not received training on ArchiCAD and that is 90% of why i don't know how to do things, however, as i am learning the program i'm coming across things that are driving me nuts.
These stairs are example 1. 2 would be wall sections. I have tried to keep a section "Live" so that as the building changes the section updates with min re drafting on my part. The problem is that since the program is so dependent on layers, that if i want to hide an object or change its line wt in the section, i would have to create new layer states for every view. My office has just found it eaiser to copy the view over and re draw the copy, which is now a mess of lines and empty fills. Revit allows you to control an objects visibility and line wt per view so that all views are actual representations of the model, and when a wall moves in the plan, it move everywhere in every view. ArchiCAD could do that if you could cleanly draw the views with out covering everything up with fills.
i could go on and on trust me, i have had many a rant in my office with my drafting partner about this project. You can say that it is bs when the majority of architectre firms do NOT use this program.

[Anonymous]

Hence, it sounds like you are working against ArchiCAD. You need to start to work with it if you want to remain sane!

If you try to use ArchiCAD in a way it's not designed, of course you are going to be disappointed and frustrated. ArchiCAD doesn't work like Revit. Get over it!

Now, wall sections. The best way to use ArchiCAD is to physically model things to a level that you would see on a 1:50 drawing. You extract details from these live 1:50 drawings and enhance them using 2d geometry and objects.

In a detail, it is often best to copy the lines & fills extracted from the model off to one side, and edit these to look presentable. This way when you change the model and consequently update the detail you don't loose any information, and it is easy to spot that something has changed. Yes, I know it isn't automatic, that is just how it works! I quite like it!

And yes, you will have to create a few layer combinations, different ones for plans, sections, and elevations, different ones for structural drawings, services and HVAC, electrical etc etc. But if you come to create another electrical drawing in the future, as long as you have modeled things on the correct layers, you reapply that layer combination to the view and it will always look correct.

Just relax, read the manual, go through the Interactive Training Guides, get some proper training, and go easy on your poor drafting partner!

Best of luck to you.

[Thomas Holm]

Peter wrote:
Now, wall sections. The best way to use ArchiCAD is to physically model things to a level that you would see on a 1:50 drawing.

I'd just like to emphasize what Peter is saying here. There is simply no need to redraw anything manually unless you want to add something that you have not modeled at all in the first place!

Peter wrote:
In a detail, it is often best to copy the lines & fills extracted from the model off to one side, and edit these to look presentable.

Again, what he says here applies to details, not section or plan views. Simply since it's usually a waste of time to model details.

Peter wrote:
And yes, you will have to create a few layer combinations,

Once more, this is so easy, if you just use the Quicklayers palette and the Layers/layer combinations dialog.

Hence wrote:
To start, you are right. I have not received training on ArchiCAD and that is 90% of why i don't know how to do things

You're right there. Your office saved a couple of bucks on proffessional training. Now you're losing thousands because of that decision.

Hence wrote:
My office has just found it eaiser to copy the view over and re draw the copy, which is now a mess of lines and empty fills.

Your office's QA routines must be a mess too! I hope none of your clients are reading this. Or rather, I hope they do!

Hence wrote:
Revit allows you to control an objects visibility and line wt per view

Archicad does too. When you've finished controlling visibility in a view with the Quicklayers palette, it takes about three seconds to save the layer combination, and three more to save the view's settings. (Note: for efficiency, this is not what I recommend - I'd rather re-use the same layer combo for several views, but if that's what you want, you can have it.

Hence wrote:
You can say that it is bs when the majority of architectre firms do NOT use this program.

From what I hear, to use Revit efficiently requires training too. I hope you made a better decision regarding that program or I'm afraid, in a few years, when the majority of architects have learned what BIM really can be, you'll be out of business from pure inefficiency!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the extra clarifications, Thomas. I agree, creating a new layer combination is very simple and quick, and not something to get into a fluster about.

With regard to any particular details you are unsure how and what to model, Hence, post them up in a new thread and someone will gladly help. Make sure you add a sketch of what you need. It is also worth thinking about how you would like it to be seen in both section and plan.