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Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

where do i find the length/width of a slab i am creating ?

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hello,

I am new to archicad and i can't find where i can see how big the slab / wall / etc is when i create it..

I mean this:

I want to create a slab of 38m length and 26 m width.. The only way i know now is to count the grids having in mind that 1 grid is 2 meters ?
Where can i see live when i am dragging the cursor how long my slab is going to be ?

thanx for your help !

yellow
7 REPLIES 7
Stephen Dolbee
Booster
I would almost never use the mouse alone for precise measurements. Make sure the slab geometry is set for "rectangle". Click a start point, type "x", 38. Then "y", 26. Hit enter.

Steve
AC19(9001), 27" iMac i7, 12 gb ram, ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb, OS 10.12.6
Anonymous
Not applicable
As steve had said, you want to always input dimensions of elements "drawn" in Archicad. The Palette that allows you to do this is the coordinates (Window menu / pallette display / show coordinates). Archicad has a peculiar quirk in that you control the level of accuracy displayed in this coordinates box in the preferences. If you do not numerically input dimensions via the coordinates box, you could unintentionally introduce errors into your project. As steve had mentioned there are single key short cuts that bring you in to the input mode of this coordinates box. X and Y for x and y dimensions, R for relative distance from the temporary origin and a for angle.
Anonymous
Not applicable
thanx! that works... is it correct that i have to move my shape to the correct position afterwards ?

could you help on this one also?

When i select my shape (slab or wall), where can i read the exact dimensions ? Like when i select my base slab that i can see it's 38m on 38m ?

thank you very much for you most appreciated help !

yellow
Anonymous
Not applicable
yellow wrote:
When i select my shape (slab or wall), where can i read the exact dimensions ? Like when i select my base slab that i can see it's 38m on 38m ?

thank you very much for you most appreciated help !

yellow
There is an element information palette that displays some of the information about a selected object. You can not however use this to enter new length and width information . I don't know for sure, but it is my guess that this information is only displayed at the accuracy defined in the preferences. I seldom use this palette. Many parameters can be changed in the Info box (this is different than element information), but plan dimensions are something that seem to be missing. One definitely has to accept the methods that Archicad has provided to deal with length and width of certain types of elements. Inputting exact dimensions as you build you model is something that you should become very familiar and comfortable with because in my opinion it is fundamental to effectively using Archicad.
Stress Co_
Advisor
yellow wrote:
When i select my shape (slab or wall), where can i read the exact dimensions ? Like when i select my base slab that i can see it's 38m on 38m ?


You can also do a quick dimension check by creating a temporary origin point on a corner of the slab.

Place arrow on corner and hit "shift" & "control" (on a mac, anyway). Then move your arrow to an edge of the slab (or the opposite corner) and read the "x", "y" coordinates in the coordinates box.

Marc
Marc Corney, Architect
Red Canoe Architecture, P. A.

Mac OS 10.15.7 (Catalina) //// Mac OS 14.5 (Sonoma)
Processor: 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 //// Apple M2 Max
Memory: 48 GB 2667 MHz DDR4 //// 32 GB
Graphics: Radeon Pro 580X 8GB //// 12C CPU, 30C GPU
ArchiCAD 25 (5010 USA Full) //// ArchiCAD 27 (4030 USA Full)
Anonymous
Not applicable
Stress wrote:
Place arrow on corner and hit "shift" & "control" (on a mac, anyway). Then move your arrow to an edge of the slab (or the opposite corner) and read the "x", "y" coordinates in the coordinates box.

Marc
Note that if the Slab is not Orthogonal with the current "x" , "y" Axis you must re-align your Axis with the Set Skewed Grid Button. Just Click on the button then select the edge of the Slab.
Skewed Grid.JPG
Anonymous
Not applicable
that's already too wicked for me... but i'll try..

I kind of got a weird perspective view though when i created a rectangular slab.. it looked like it was smaller on one side...

now you can really see i am a newbee