measuring area quick and easy

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Is there any way to measure area quick and easy? There is the measure tool that will help me with distances, but how about areas? I don't want to check coordinates and count, and I'd rather not use zones either.

I'm (obviously I guess) an absolute beginner, so please excuse me for posting really really basic questions.

(I think this is a working in ArchiCAD/drafting kind of question, but please refer me to another forum if I'm in the wrong place. I'll probably have a lot more questions like this one so you might get annoyed if i keep posting them where they don't belong. )

[Anonymous]

Lisa

Not sure if this is the easiest way but this is how I would do it....

Select the fill tool. Go into the selection settings. Under general settings switch on the show area text button.

Then either draw around the profile of the room you're measuring or, if there is a good contiguous boundary, select it using the magic wand (while the fill toll is selected) tool. Then just click to drop the area text where you want it.

Hope this is what you were after

[Anonymous]

Thank you Alan, that works!

...but since I'm a really lazy person I still wonder... is there anyway to do it without creating an object? I'd just like to be able to click the four or six or eleven corners of a room or a slab or whatever and find out how big it is. (Like with the inquiry-tool in autocad. Sorry for bringing that up, hope i don't offend any of you hardcore ArchiCad people )

Otherwise I'll just use Alans method, which is fine!

[Dwight]

Let's see.

1: You are lazy. So you are learning Archicad. Good start. Welcome. We are all lazy.

2: You think that manually clicking on room corners is faster than:
- selecting the fill tool - specifying area info.
- using the magic wand to automatically follow the edges of contiguous space whether four or fifty corners.
- getting a graphic confirmation of the area reported.
- no problem to delete it when finished.

Try it and see if it is not better.

[TomWaltz]

Why not maintain Zones in all rooms (as intended) for just that purpose? Then you get room names, area, perimeter, schedules, and other joys.

[Anonymous]

Right. Thanks Dwight, and thanks again Alan. I'll just get used to it, and probably learn to appreciate and love it!

[Anonymous]

Tom, thanks for your advice, but the things I want to measure might not be a room just yet. By the way, I love the fill tool now!

[Dwight]

Of course you will.

Not that there aren't a lot of infuriating things about Archicad, but most of a new operator's problems come from trying to emulate their drafting experience rather than boomeranging (quick check to see if you are Australian) yourself into the BIM process and exploit the usefulness of 3d elements in all ways.

I find that the magic wand tool is largely overlooked as a time saver, since it will seek areas and edges for all element tools.

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
...boomeranging (quick check to see if you are Australian) yourself into the BIM process...

New definition?

BIM = Boomerang In Motion

[Dwight]

I like it.

Where sloppy model construction eventually comes around to strike you in the posterior.