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2021-09-11 11:49 AM - edited 2021-09-11 01:27 PM
Hi everyone
I am working on a very old project and the roof tiles are very unusual and there is no tile like this in the Archicad accessories addon.
I tried to model it with a morph and finally turn it into an object, but eventho It is an object, it becomes very heavy and I can no longer work on the project, does anyone have any suggestion? Except for GDL coding...
2021-09-11 12:08 PM
Even creating a GDL object via scripting will probably not be much better.
I guess it depends on the tile.
Can you post an image?
If you need an actual modelled tile, can you simplify its shape and maybe use a profiled shell?
You want to get it to a few polygons as possible.
Personally I would try to avoid modelling individual tiles.
Use a flat roof with a hatch pattern for elevations.
In section and large scale details you can use a 2D fill of the profile where it is cut.
In 3D renderings you may want to see individual modelled tiles - depending how close you get to seeing them.
But if viewed from a bit of a distance, you can set up a surface with bump maps or distortion to give the impression of tiles.
That is a bit easier said than done unless you know what you are doing with surface materials for renderings.
Barry.
2021-09-11 01:11 PM
You might want to look at CADImage "Coverings". I believe you can create custom tiles and then the tool covers the roof with the custom tile shapes.
2021-09-11 01:21 PM - edited 2021-09-11 01:22 PM
Hey Barry, thanks for the answer, I have attached a photo.
They need these tiles to be visible in 3D so I cant use 2D stuff or textures, but havent heard about profiled shell, you mean modeling 1 tile with shell then copying that?
2021-09-11 01:22 PM
Its rotated, sry
2021-09-11 01:23 PM
Thanks alot, I will check that
2021-09-11 01:38 PM
This should be doable, depending on the level of detail you need.
I would suggest modeling one tile as a morph, using as few polygons as possible. Could you use a single, flat shape with no thickness? This alone will reduce the amount of polygons needed by more than 50%. Keep detailed curves to a minimum, use straight line facets instead.
Look at the attached quick sample I made – this roof has 1120 tiles, each modeled as a single layer (no thickness) morph, 7 polygons each. To make this I drew the profile in plan, traced it with the morph tool using straight lines, and then a little manual work in 3D to extrude it, before multiplying it and unifying them into one large morph. I believe this last step is important – it reduces the number of individual objects Archicad has to keep track of.
The total roof (one side, 14 x 4 meters) amounts to 7840 polygons – that should be workable on most computers, at least it is on my 2013 iMac.
Of course you could end up with many times more on a large building, but I think this is about as efficient as you get without coding. I have not tried to convert it to an object, this could increase performance even more, but I have generally not felt the need to do so.
Regards,
David
2021-09-11 01:57 PM
Thanks David, very cool suggestion; but how about sections, where you need them to have a thikness?
I have almost 7500 tiles, so with the thinkness and extra lines, I have atleast 75000 lines at the end, big difference indeed
2021-09-11 02:24 PM - edited 2021-09-11 02:26 PM
I would consider if I really needed to show the modeled thickness in section. It is a drawing after all, which will always be a simplification of reality, to varying degrees.
Adding 2D fills could be enough, and manageable, in most situations.
2021-09-12 07:32 AM
Hi, up-to what extent you are willing to show then in your 2D and 3D representation? Are you willing to extract number of tiles quantities too?