complex profiles and element processing

[lparke]

Question about complex profiles and time it takes for processing of the elements in section/elev and 3D.

I've made a complex profile of a S.S. pool gutter. Admittedly, it is a 'complex' object with lots of bends, returns, etc. I originally placed this object with the beam tool. 3D processing was relatively quick and what i would expect. The project design changed to where i needed to add curves to the edges of the pool, therefore i need to use the wall tool to create the curved (in plan) complex profile. Since i could not make the floor plan display match between the 'beam' parts and the 'wall' parts i ended up and converted all the gutter using the wall tool. Now the element processing of the complex profile has become i nightmare when i switch to 3D or section/elev views. I've forced stop the processing when it says 2400 minutes! I've been forced to turn off this layer in my section view which defeats the purpose.

Should this be expected?

If so, can you guide me on the floor plan display to make the beam parts and the wall parts join and appear the same. both are set to 'home story only', 'outlines only', and entire element is greyed out. even with the same settings the output display is significantly different.

[Dwight]

Complex, complex profiles do add to processing time.

I suspect, however, that you've made an illogical element by overlapping a wall radius, or something.

The best way to make the gutter is to use the magic wand against a perimeter line that defines the path [all at once]. You can easily control the corner resolution by reducing segment interval.

Do you really need all of the gutter section detail for the 3D? You could make a special layer for a less-detailed gutter appearing only in perspectives, retaining the full detail for sections, etc.

[Anonymous]

There is also the possibility that the gutters are trying to interact with other walls/beams. Try changing the layer intersection index of the gutter layer to see if that helps any.

[lparke]

Thanks Matthew and Dwight ... I’ve been playing around with this (way too much)

To answer Dwight's question directly, no I don't need this much detail for 3D. As a newbie I fall into the trap of not thinking about things like this when I detail. I had an AutoCAD block so it was a simple copy/paste, magic wand spacebar click to make this fills in the profile manager and I was good to go or so I thought.

I tried a 'dumbed down' object (without rounded corners) in a blank file (so there would not be the intersection issues Matthew described) using a closed polyline of straight lines then using Dwight’s magic wand method described below. Even with a dumbed down object, the section processing time was instantaneous when using the beam tool and 60 seconds or so when using the wall tool.

So when I introduce a curve to the polyline (and tweak the magic wand settings to an acceptable curve resolution level) using the beam tool still produces near instantaneous results. Problem solved.

Maybe that's just the way it is, but I am still curious why the same profile (in this case) takes substantially more time to process when using the wall tool in lieu of the beam tool.

Thanks for your help.

[Dwight]

Very interesting. I am going to study this result.