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Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Detailed kerb Modelling

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi there,

what is the best way to model detailed kerbs (using profiler as example) in ArchiCAD on a sloping terrain along a winding road? Is Architerra 3 any good for this? Any other software we should be looking at?

Cheers Carsten
13 REPLIES 13
Anonymous
Not applicable
Carsten,

I use a mesh for that. On my site models (residential home sites in a hilly area!) I use a mesh for the street paving, a mesh for the gutter, a mesh for the curb, another for the sidewalk and finaly one for the existing earth. When you're all finished, it looks like a chunk sliced from the crust of the earth. All my mesh points are derived from the topographic survey or my own poor-man's survey with the construction level!

I like to make the street, gutter, curb and sidewalk seperately because it makes them less confounding to manipulate AND it leaves a 2D representation that looks correct. Set your meshes with smoothed, hidden user ridges and they'll look dynamite in elevation views.

Good hunting!
Ralph Wessel
Mentor
Carstene wrote:
what is the best way to model detailed kerbs (using profiler as example) in ArchiCAD on a sloping terrain along a winding road? Is Architerra 3 any good for this? Any other software we should be looking at?
Take a look at OBJECTiVE - it provides tools to create profiles and bend the to curves in both plan and elevation, which is perfect for shaping kerbs to sloping & winding edges. If you refer to the attached example, I have selected one object (out of many) created and shaped with OBJECTIVE that does exactly this (and also acts as an SEO operator for the wall below).

For more info, point your browser to: http://www.encina.co.uk/objective.html
kerb.jpg
Ralph Wessel BArch
Software Engineer Speckle Systems
Anonymous
Not applicable
HI Dave,
The way you described your use of mesh tool sounds interesting to me.

Would you mind posting a 3d image of what you described?
It would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Bier
Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi guys,

Here's a very basic example per Bier's request.

All the entities are meshes. The black part is the street.. In this case, I've modeled it to the centerline. The corner at the lower left is a hair higher than the corner that touches the gutter. The grey parts are the gutter and curb meshes. The part that's tan on the sides and green on top is the earth. I set all the meshes with a consistent reference plane on the site story, such that I've got a meter or two of thickness at the site's lowest point. The top surfaces of all these meshes can be edited at will, of course.

Here's another trick I use for flatwork (paving) on significant slopes.. I model the paving as a mesh, put in all the slopes, edge elevations, drain inlet low points, etc. then copy it. Lower the copy a few inches, subtract the copy from the original using a solid element operation, then put copy on a 'scratch' layer that stays turned off all the time (unless I want to see it). Similar idea to what's shown here, but with the mesh's lower portion cut away to turn the top surface of the mesh into a 'warped plate' with thickness of my choosing (difference in elevation of the two mesh entities used).

My site modeling method is sort of like making a base for a physical model. As a matter of fact, that's how I approach Archicad... I'm making a very detailed physical model in the traditional sense. Now if I only had a rapid prototyping machine......!!

Hope that helps

Warm regards
MESH_PIC_01.jpg
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
You might also want to try Profiled Walls/Beams for the purpose. Beams can be inclined, that's a good thing.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
Anonymous
Not applicable
Hey,

thanks for all the feedback. I have been modeling with the terrain for a long time, but now we need more detail in some cases ( close up ) while rendering animations.

- the beam tool would be great if you could do curved beams....
- OBJECTIVE looks very interesting I think I will investigate this further.

Cheers Carsten
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Carstene wrote:
- the beam tool would be great if you could do curved beams....
Cheers Carsten
You cannot do curved Beams but you can approximate them with linear segments. Maybe the Radial Multiply command is what you need with some vertical offset applied during the multiplication.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
Anonymous
Not applicable
thanks mate but that's just not "nice" enough. Plus it would be very hard depending on the road sloping, the beam pices would have to have different degrees.
It would be easy solved by Graphisoft if you could "tell" the terrain tool to slope the same at the bottom as on top and then convert this to a profile!

Cheers Carsten`
Link
Graphisoft Partner
Graphisoft Partner
Carstene wrote:
It would be easy solved by Graphisoft if you could "tell" the terrain tool to slope the same at the bottom as on top and then convert this to a profile!
You can use the Mesh to Roof add-on, but it's still pretty messy. Otherwise you have to use other 3D profilers, such as Objective, ArchiForma, and I think CadImage have one.

I agree mate, GS needs to include one with the package. It would help everyone who wanted to put fascias on their buildings too!

Cheers,
Link.