Object Processing Limit?

[Chadwick]

I am trying to have an aerial view of a site with landscape elements in it - trees, flowers shrubs. When I marquee the entire site and try to open it in a wire frame view - the information window showing the process pops up and stops about 2/3 through the progress bar. Then the amount of minutes it will approx. take to finish keep going up and up - I let the computer try to calculate it for two days and it just kept going up. I then tried just half of the site and it only took about a minute to generate the wire frame. It seems like there is a point where there are too many objects in the view and the software cannot calculate them and just keeps working at it infinitely.

Does anyone know if this is true, that there is some kind of object amount/polygon limit to what ArchiCAD can process in the 3D window? If not, does anyone know a way around this? I cannot upload the file due to privacy reasons.

Thanks in advance

Note: - The site is rather large, I would say about 300,000 SQ FT. There are plants, shrubs and flowers scattered all around the green areas.

[Chadwick]

I would also be interested in the process Dwight. I am assuming you export them out of Onyx as a 3DS file and then import them into ArchiCAD?

[Dwight]

You bring the foliage in separate from the trunk as two 3DS imports to create separate GDL objects - this allows for easy material changes and differential spinning of foliage on the trunk to induce the feeling of more variety.

ArchiCAD is XYZ and Onyx is XZY so the orientation of the import needs to change. You will see this when the tree comes in laying down.

The modeler makes many polygons, but in exporting, entire orders of polygonal elements can be eliminated or simplified.

I feel that I can put dozens of these trees {simple ones} into a scene without blowing the rendering time budget. But it does take longer to render....... so you need to clearly understand the benefits.....

[Anonymous]

Dwight, I hope you or someone else can help out.

I have just started using Onyx Palm Trees (also quite new to ArchiCAD) and attempted importing into ArchiCAD 10 as follows:
In Onyx, I loaded the parameters for an existing Palm Tree, saved the model as a 3D object, as 3DS and as dxf formats.
In ArchiCAD:
File, Libraries and Objects, Open Object, could only import as dxf file the 3DS was grayed out?
Once in ArchiCAD the Palm Tree from the dxf file was OK and upright except the leaves were the wrong color!
It took for ages to load up. (I will take the advice to limit the leaves & polygons etc. in future)

How is the 3DS import done correctly?
How are the 3DS files imported?
Is it the 3DS format that has orientation issues?

Once I have that figured out, how do you "You bring the foliage in separate from the trunk as two 3DS imports to create separate GDL objects"
ie. Are the two objects placed on the drawing separately at the appropriate elevations or are they made into one GDL Object?

When I get to the following stage, namely: "ArchiCAD is XYZ and Onyx is XZY so the orientation of the import needs to change. You will see this when the tree comes in laying down." How is this rectified?

Thanks Greg.

[Dwight]

Yes, these elements will take a lot of time, especially if you haven't stripped polygons.

When you export using 3Ds, you'll export the trunk separate from the foliage. Two separate objects. Bring them back together placing them in the Archicad model. This gives material control and more variation since you can rotate the foliage around the trunk.

Separation is done by controlling the visibility of the Onyx tree elements in Onyx. ie: show folliage save foliage.....

Foliage - save as "Foliage."
Trunk save as "trunk".
This solves material problems because you can apply anything to the foliage separate from the trunk.

Always reduce the number of polygons at export:

- only show flat planes for leaves
- simplify elements.
-hide all minor branches and stems. and seeds. Who needs stems and seeds?

For axis orientation correction, check your 3ds options in Archicad.

[Dwight]

You also need the 3ds import goodie from Graphisoft.
There's a link beneath the Help menu.

[Anonymous]

Dwight,

Thanks very much for the quick response.

I will give it a try.

Thanks Greg.