Warped slab

[KeesW]

What is the best way to draw a warped slab? I have a carport which needs to meet a sloping street. The carport is flat but has a 2m transition zone where it meets the street which can obviously not be flat. I can create this using a mesh, but I need to have a uniform thickness, with the bottom surface parallel to the top surface. Any suggestions?

[Erwin Edel]

If there is no curve, could you use a roof? That offers the most control to pitch and the angle of the edges.

Otherwise with the mesh: convert it to morph, offset a 2nd copy of the morph, and substract it with morph boolean command or SEO.

[DGSketcher]

Sounds like a job for the SHELL tool?

[KeesW]

I can't use the roof tool easily because I'd have to calculate elevation angles for all 4 sides. What I need are corner elevation points - as in the mesh tool.

Converting a mesh into a morph etc would probably work but I don't have enough morph skills to manage this.

Archicad still makes some necessary procedures very complicated.

Or I could buy Masterscript Mesh Generator for 60 euros! Yet another add-on to supplement Archicad.

[Anonymous]

KeesW wrote:
I can't use the roof tool easily because I'd have to calculate elevation angles for all 4 sides. What I need are corner elevation points - as in the mesh tool.

Converting a mesh into a morph etc would probably work but I don't have enough morph skills to manage this.

Archicad still makes some necessary procedures very complicated.

Or I could buy Masterscript Mesh Generator for 60 euros! Yet another add-on to supplement Archicad.

If you draw a roof in 3D using known points of elevation it will calculate the angle for you.
OR use a mesh, copy the mesh down the required thickness. Select the original mesh as target, lower mesh as operator, and Subtract with Downward Extrusion in SEO. Put the operator on a layer which is normally turned off. Of course the thickness will not be exactly perpendicular, but how accurate does this have to be? You could also convert the resulting mesh to a Morph is you so desire.

[Erwin Edel]

Regarding shell tool, it's quite awesome, but lacks the control over edge angles like roofs and slabs have.

[Anonymous]

This is my method for this:

- model driveway using mesh (solid body option);
- make copy of mesh to same location and reduce elevation by required slab
thickness;
- use mesh copy as subraction SEO to first; change layer of mesh copy to non-
visible layer.
- if changes to driveway required, delete mesh copy, adjust original and repeat
process.

Have been using this method since before morphs introduced and still prefer it due to easier (IMO) changes if required.