Exploded Plan View

[Anonymous]

Any software on the market that can do this or how do you do this in ArchiCad?

[Karl Ottenstein]

Can't read your mind ... can you post a picture or a link to what you're trying to produce?

Thanks,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Karl wrote:
Can't read your mind ... can you post a picture or a link to what you're trying to produce?

Thanks,
Karl

[Karl Ottenstein]

Ah. Exploded model.

Relatively easy, but manual process to be done on a copy of the file.

Floor explosion is easily done by opening story settings and increasing the height-to-next as required for the desired look (appears double height in your image).

Other elements have to be dragged by hand - walls pulled out, fireplace pulled out, etc.

Annotation in 3D is not possible in AC, so you have to generated a hidden line 3D view, flat marquee the image, and paste the linework into a working area - such as an unlinked Detail window - and annotate there.

Alternatively, if you need a variety of exploded angles, you can export the exploded 3D model to 3DS and import that into SketchUp, if you have it. Annotate in SU, and the annotation rotates to face the camera as you change the view of the model.

Karl

[Anonymous]

Karl,
Thanks.

Have you done this before and do you have any shots of it?

[Dwight]

Karl: Wonderful tip - the storey height increase thing!!!

Here's one of mine - no storey changes, just manual expansion and elevation, but it also works well to use a combination of see-thru wireframe with the rendering.....

I prefer a perspective view with lots of wide angle distortion - more like a Scientific American style dissection diagram.

[Anonymous]

Dwight, awesome do you have anymore?

[Dwight]

None that I can show right now.

This was my 2004 submission to the ASAI illustration competition.

The reason I posted this one to ArciCAD TALK is to show the hybrid possibilities of merging a plan, section, wireframe and solid rendering in one layout.

[Djordje]

For a nice "transparent" blow up, going to Sketchup might be more trouble than it is worth.

In the Special menu, Switch on Special Hidden Line and play around to your heart's content.

The annotation? Might sound completely crazy, but I would do it in PlotMaker!!!! Better (live view) than copying the 3D line work from the 3D window and paste it into the plan ...

[Karl Ottenstein]

Djordje wrote:
The annotation? Might sound completely crazy, but I would do it in PlotMaker!!!! Better (live view) than copying the 3D line work from the 3D window and paste it into the plan ...

Good idea, Djordje! But, with no snap points in PM, it makes it hard to be very precise if you want annotation leaders to snap ... or to draw dotted extended-floor lines as in the original example image, right?

My other frustration with putting live 3D hidden line drawings into PM directly is that the 3D window does not generate the proper linework for composites (no skin lines and fills!) and it generates extra lines where soliid element ops have eliminated them in section view (for some reason sections are generated with a different algorithm than 3D). So, I find that there is a LOT of cleanup of a 3D hidden line view required if either of those two features (composites and SEOps) are used. Would be nice if I was missing something...?

Karl