Is there a way to create a slab using the inner edge of a wall (like with zones)

[StijnvdnHeuvel]

Hi there, I'm currently recreating a .dwg as a 3D model for a project, and quite a few of the prominent buildings have quite complex shapes (see image below), is there any way to create a slab using the inner edges of a closed polygon like with zones? Or alternatively, converting zones into slabs? It would save me a lot of time if I could just let Archicad do the work for me so to speak.

Is there any function like this?

Thanks

[Karl Ottenstein · Accepted solution]

The Magic Wand should recognize the outside contour of the dark black semi-circular buildings.  For the inside, there are a lot of other lines that break up the contour... if they are on a separate layer of the dwg, just turn them off, although the result should be the same if the dark black contour is a single line element.   Maybe you can zoom in and show why magic wand-ing the outside of the contour does not give what you need?

[StijnvdnHeuvel]

NOTE: I wrote this before refreshing the page, Karl's solution is exactly what I wanted, I just decided to keep this up because it technically does the job.

I've found something that kind of works in cases like this where the shape is the only thing that matters, so for people who want to do something similar, a workaround is to:

1. create the walls

2. create a rectangular slab that covers all the entire wall area

3. use solid element operations "subtraction with upwards extrusion" using the slab as target and the walls as operator.

4. convert the slab into a morph

5. ungroup or suspend groups to delete the outer slab.

As long as you work with the pen sets or overrides to overcome any visual inconsistencies with the rest of the model, this should work.

[StijnvdnHeuvel]

I don't know if what you described is what I just did, but the magic wand was indeed what I was looking for, thanks for saving me a lot of work.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Glad it helped.   But, no, your 5 step process makes no sense to me at all.  I cannot imagine using any of the steps, particularly in the end converting to morphs.

You can magic wand the outer contour with walls, with the construction line for the wall set properly.  Then magic wand the walls with the slab tool at the proper height (or adjust in 3D).

If all you want is a mass, then magic wand with a thick slab.  If all you want is a Morph, magic wand with that.  Etc.

The Magic Wand is such a fundamental - day 1 of learning - thing, that I would encourage you to learn more about Archicad before leaping forward on a project so that you will truly enjoy the process 🙂

[StijnvdnHeuvel]

Yes now that I've discovered the wand I don't know what I'd do without it, as I said, my 'solution' was made before I refreshed the page to see your reply, but the wand is better in every way, I actually watched a couple of tutorials when I first started working with Archicad, so I don't really know how I missed it.

The part about converting to morphs was because I don't think you can select the different elements created using SSE, but you can with the morphs. Thank you for the help and saving me a lot of work for now and the future.