How do I keep my AC models precise???

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody,
I've been using AC12 for over a year now, and still wonder what's the matter with my snap/guidelines/general input settings... I usually work with the Standard AC12 settings.
No matter what I do or how much time I spend trying to get a precise model, eventually I always discover errors! Lines that were supposed to be parallel, but are't, angles that are close to 90°, but not really...

Anyway, my point is: I've used AutoCAD (the Evil!) for over 10 years, and my models/drawings have always been precise. No eyeballing, good snap settings, and I all the precision I want.

Then I switched to AC12. Great! BIM, wow! But precise? I'd be more accurate with a pencil and a broken wrist! I just spent an afternoon trying to fix a preliminary design model, and after a few hours I've decided I'd better re-do the whole thing, otherwise I'll be dragging around these f***ing (foxing) model errors until the end of the construction site!!!

Is there an effective way maintain an acceptable precision level in ArchiCAD???

Thanks!


Enrico


...or do I have to buy a plug-in for that??

[Erika Epstein]

It is not just using the shift key but in conjunction with r,a x or y and typing in accurate dimensions.

[KeesW]

I am sorry but I don't agree with Erika (in this instance only!). We don't always know what our dimensions are at the design stage - when still messing with shapes and layouts. I expect the shift key to give me horizontal and vertical defaults unless I have set them differently. Sometimes they don't - and this should not happen.

[Dwight]

There used to be a problem with a temporary constraint set using the perpendicular/parallel command. If this deviated from the axes by only a degree or two, you could inadvertently constrain to the wrong line. That was trouble!

I can't replicate this problem in 13......

As far as accuracy goes, I have just imported a Sketchup model. Krikey!!!
How does a thing get off true by .59 of a degree?