Vic and Ted,
Well, so much for your excellent adventure with MSA Detailer!
😉
I've just investigated, and frankly Graphisoft should be ashamed. You have done nothing wrong.
The original MSA Detailer 3.0 package was a dream to work with and was smoothly and most cleverly integrated into the QuickView system of ArchiCAD 7.0 and 6.5. It used to be a for-purchase product, from MSA SoftTools. With 8.0 (as I recall ... not sure which version really), Graphisoft bundled it with the US version as a value-added 'bonus'.
Unfortunately, Graphisoft has never updated the manual ... which is still written for 7.0 and earlier "QuickViews" (long gone). So, following the manual is the first struggle.
But, the tutorial files and templates were simply not updated properly for 8.1/9.0 either.
The View sets that we have in 8.1/9.0 are quite different from the old QuickViews... since QuickViews did not memorize all the same settings as Views. What worked slick-as-a-whistle in 7.0, just doesn't work without some new thinking in 8.1/9.0. In fact, a new approach is needed to have the same 'magic' as the entire MSA system had in 7.0.
Someone working in or for Graphisoft produced the 9.0 version Tutorial files... and did them rather badly I'm afraid. (You have to understand how the original worked to appreciate how an update should behave.)
Also, the objects themselves require some editing to fix the Detail Level issue and a few pen issues. But, the source code is hidden for many objects, so there is only so much we as users can do.
Vic - the reason your mudsill disappears, is that when you click on the view for "Connectors", the layer combination changes, and the wood layer is turned off. You could create a new layer combo to show everything, and switch back to that combo. (Or with the ridiculously implemented 'story' views in the tutorial file.) This is NOT your fault! This is a problem in the way that GS brought MSA over to 8.1 and 9.0 from 7.0, which makes the templates and tutorials unusable.
If you use the MSA parts directly in your current template, in detail views or elsewhere, they do work fine. Typically, I put them all on one layer (and use Active Layer so that my linework and detailer parts are on that layer), since I never turn parts of my details on or off.
It's a clever system and rich library that, with it's snapping template, yields beautifully laid out details. If GS wants to hire me to update it, they know where I am.
😉 I would imagine the original authors are available too! (Not clear what the options are since the manual and templates still show a MSA SoftTools copyright.)
Karl
AC 28 USA and earlier • macOS Sequoia 15.3, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
One of the forum moderators
