Mis-mesh

[Anonymous]

I constructed an organic form(a solid balcony) that clings to an acute angle corner of a two-story wall by drawing the profiles of the form every three inches using the mesh tool. Each 'slice' was drawn as a separate mesh. How can these be combined into a single mesh so it will render as a solid in the 3D window?

[Anonymous]

Thank you in advance, archiben. I am going to attempt this miracle. Your instructions are exacting. I am wondering what happens to the lines/polylines that are not unified. Do they disappear or do they need to be deleted one-by-one?

[__archiben]

garytom wrote:
I am wondering what happens to the lines/polylines that are not unified. Do they disappear or do they need to be deleted one-by-one?

when the lines are 'unified' they convert into one, easily selectable polyline. those lines and arcs that aren't necessary for the contour or outline polylines can be trashed.

once you've made your contour and outline polylines, drag them a specific (and easy to remember) distance away and create your mesh without the mess of other elements around. once it's done, you can delete all of the intermediate lines and mess that has been created and move the mesh back into position . . .

i'd do it for you, but you're on a student version, right? we're not file-compatible i'm afraid.

HTH
~/archiben

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the offer though. I've been attacking 'other' issues with some success, mostly by trial and error. Back to a mesh question: Can walls be trimmed to a mesh? I am using a mesh as a roof since the form is complex(sloping rakes, curved plates, and irregular plan).

[Anonymous]

And why the hell can't I use the 'Edit Targets and Operators' window to accomplish this? This is one of many instances where I feel ArchiCAD falls short of an intuitive interface.

[__archiben]

i have a feeling meshes can be SEO'd if they have a thickness i.e. the surface only variety won't. somebody please correct me if i'm wrong on that - i haven't used meshes in SEOs much . . .

what you could also do is use the 'mesh to roof' add-on to convert your mesh into roof elements. depending on its complexity this could either work for or against you. if you haven't already loaded it as an add-on, go to Tools>Add-On Manager... and then 'Search for more Add-Ons...'. the 'mesh to roof' add-on can be found in the /Graphisoft/ArchiCAD 9 Folder/Goodies/ folder.

once loaded it should appear in your Tools menu as 'Create Roof from Mesh'. select your mesh and then use this command. the advantages (depending on the complexity of your mesh/roof) are that you can then start to use the roof accessories to achieve structural and finishes data quickly and easily . . .

HTH
~/archiben

[James Murray]

~/archiben wrote:
i have a feeling meshes can be SEO'd if they have a thickness

Only the solid mesh will work. The top-skin-only and hollow versions won't. Elements that aren't solid, or have zero-thickness, can't be operators.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your input. SEO'd is Archi-talk-ture for what? I will give that add-on a try.

[__archiben]

garytom wrote:
SEO'd is Archi-talk-ture for what?

Solid Element Operations - it's what you were talking about with your 'targets & operators' thang, eh?

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

OK, retrieved to roof to mesh tool and got this dialogue box: Add-On Internal Error Details: Unable to create an element Type of the Element: Roof. FYI, my mesh is of zero thickness. Should I assign a thickness prior to converting, if so, how is this done(I'm assuming not through assigning a value to the mesh base)?

[__archiben]

garytom wrote:
OK, retrieved to roof to mesh tool and got this dialogue box: Add-On Internal Error Details: Unable to create an element Type of the Element: Roof. FYI, my mesh is of zero thickness. Should I assign a thickness prior to converting...

possibly . . . or your roof settings could contain a locked/hidden layer thus preventing the add-on from creating the roofs?

~/archiben