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Maddening CAD gfx issue pls help

Anonymous
Not applicable
Every time I switch between 2D view and 3D view using either F2 or F5 or F3 I lose my guidelines and even all my walls disappear or become grayed.. I am running the Student PC ArchiCAD ver 10 on WinXP svc pack 2, I know of other student users also currently experiencing exactly the same issue on varying hardware (PC) platforms.

Cause
The cause is swtiching from 2D mode (F3 or F5) to 3D mode and back again via F2. Upon return to 2D mode all my walls
and anything else I had previously draw have gone or become very grayed or dissapear entirely.


I have found no solution, although due to the consistency of the error throughout other student users I have arrived at the conclusion that it is not a hardware based issue. Unfortunately I have duties at home so attending Uni 24 hrs is not an option for me, I have to work at home and this issue is having a massive impact on my work as I am simply finding CAD unusable with this issue, I dearly hope someone knows how to fix this bug.

thx
9 REPLIES 9
Djordje
Ace
Anviovisan wrote:
Every time I switch between 2D view and 3D view using either F2 or F5 or F3 I lose my guidelines and even all my walls disappear or become grayed.. I am running the Student PC ArchiCAD ver 10 on WinXP svc pack 2, I know of other student users also currently experiencing exactly the same issue on varying hardware (PC) platforms.

Cause
The cause is swtiching from 2D mode (F3 or F5) to 3D mode and back again via F2. Upon return to 2D mode all my walls
and anything else I had previously draw have gone or become very grayed or dissapear entirely.


I have found no solution, although due to the consistency of the error throughout other student users I have arrived at the conclusion that it is not a hardware based issue. Unfortunately I have duties at home so attending Uni 24 hrs is not an option for me, I have to work at home and this issue is having a massive impact on my work as I am simply finding CAD unusable with this issue, I dearly hope someone knows how to fix this bug.

thx
Do you by any chance go back to the same storey that you went to the 3D window from?

What do you do in the 3D window? If you are moving walls up and down, they might automatically go to a different storey and you will not see them in the same storey you left them on when you went to the 3D window.

This sounds more like a mess up with the Automatic display of walls than the display problem. If it is there in 3D, it is there in the plan - but the question is, which plan?

Maybe this helps:

http://www.archicadwiki.com/Archicad_10/Feature_Comparison/Floor_Plan_Representation?highlight=%28Fe...

If you posted a screen shot, (2D, 3D, then 3D again) it would help ...
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks for the reply, any help is greatly appreciated.

I am only working on one story when this happens and I don't return to say the roof story for example. Though I agree entirely the walls are still most definatly there, except I lose the the outlines and the become extremely grayed out, this even happens with any objects, though they mostly completely disappear.

When Archicad starts I have no problems, everything is present, after pressing F3 to to open the 3D window, and simply rotate (without manipulating any work) I can return to the 2D window, sometimes this will be fine for 5 mins, and other times it only takes 30 seconds for all my lines to vanish leaving only the unworkable lightly grayed out walls and my drafting lines.

I have reduced my screen resolution to see if that had any impact but no, I am starting to notice however the this also occurs (but not always) after I zoom in and out of the 2D drawing with my mouse wheel.

I know this sounds like a cut plane issue, but I have methodically tried every setting (then save and restart to check, but it still occurs).

But alas the model, (even ghost when checked), are still very much there, it's just a case of solving where the lines are going.

Once again thankyou for taking the time to help a very stressed lowly student.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Here are the screenshots of the exact process as it happens.

thanks
Djordje
Ace
Can you try it on another machine?

The next problem might be the video card ...
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Anonymous
Not applicable
although due to the consistency of the error throughout other student users I have arrived at the conclusion that it is not a hardware based issue.
Before speaking with other users I thought so too, but it spans multiple platforms from Laptops to desktops (Only PC it would seem). I have spoken with several other students who are having the same issue as myself and have discounted the fact the we could have identical machines.

I tried my CAD file on my friends full (working without any issues) version, as soon as I opened my file, ArchiCAD reverted to the student version and hey presto, there it was, after two mins my lines where gone. Also I have to add that the file isn't corrupt, I have created new projects and got the same result.

I am starting to thing that it's a bug with the Australian students version for PC.

Due to the fact that we have work due soon, and this is happening on a brand new machine that I purchased in order to not waste time on fixing the exact same issue because it occurred on my last PC, making me think my last machine was useless. I am now 1500 dollars down, stuck with a new PC I didn't need and I am decidedly very unhappy with Graphisoft for forcing me to upgrade via my University to a product that doesn't even seem finished.

I do not have these problems with ver 9 which I am also running. But due Graphisoft enforcing Ver 10 on my uni I have to submit my work on Ver 10, a version that isn't working.

I have called Graphisoft tech help line and all I get is "Well you must be doing something wrong"

So I really appreciate all your help and effort, but I give up. This issue has needlessly cost me too much money that I can very ill afford, and left me feeling decidedly stupid.
owen
Newcomer
Who is teaching CAD there now? They never used to insist on a certain software version, just as long as they could open the files with whatever the lecturer was using. No idea what the problem is but i would either:

a) save your file back to v9 and work in that (assuming you don't need to use any of the new 10 functions)

b) download the free AC10 student INT version from here and use that. Its a big download though so i hope the Uni has increased their crappy account useage caps ...
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5
Nuge
Advocate
Try maxamising the 3d window then switching back to 2d with F2

Nuge
AC27 i9 11900K / 128G ram / GTX 3090 / D5 Render
Anonymous
Not applicable
Okay, my teacher for our cad class at uni has just posted to us a bit of a 'quick fix' for the problem. Hopefully this will help everyone for the time being until there is a proper solution...


It appears that there is a problem with the actual default "pen set combination" in the student version of ArchiCAD on the pc. Now that i have seen the issue in front of my own eyes, i will now again chase Graphisoft with a detailed explanation of the issue, and see if they can resolve the problem properly.

In the meantime, here are the steps you can follow so that you do not have to relaunch ArchiCAD everytime this problem.

When the lines turn white on you in ArchiCAD student version.

1. Go up to the "Options" menu and select "Element Attributes" and the "Pens & Colours (Model View)". This is where you can presetup combinations of pen colours and weights (like AutoCAD etc.)
2. The pen sets on you project are most likely set to the first one "Australian Black Pens 1" or something similar to that.
3. Change the pen set to something else, for example "Australian Colour". Then click ok.

What appears to be happening is that any pen that is set to a black colour tries to reset itself as a white pen. So when you change the pen table from black colours to anything else (such as grey or pink or anything colour) then the pen appears again. The pen set combination is another part that can be set up before creating a "view set" so if you do click on a view set that has been created, the pen set will revert back to the original one, and your lines will most likely turn to white.

I know this is not a proper fix, because if you change the pen set back to the original settings, they go white again. But at least this allows you to keep working without having to restart ArchiCAD every time it happens.
JCovarrubias
Graphisoft Alumni
Graphisoft Alumni
just curious, does the problem still happen when the EDU version is upgraded to Build 1010?
http://tr.graphisoftus.com/
Jeffry Covarrubias
GS US Technical Support Team Leader
P-C2D 1.86GHz/2GB w/ 256MB GeForce 8600GTS; G4 OS 10.4.10 1GHz/1GB "[that other software] is a fancy set of electronic marker pens"