Create visual cutaway sections for your client

[Andrea Polgar]

Visual perspective section in Archicad - blue design

Enhance your design presentations with a visual perspective section that helps your clients clearly understand your vision.

This tip is from the Create Engaging Drawings with Archicad course, offered through the BIM Author Program. For more insights like this, subscribe to the program!

Subscribe

 

 

Let’s design the section

Open one of your projects  or download or sample project and follow the steps below!

---

visual perspective section in Archicad - yellow design

Define the Objective of the Illustration

• Decide on the type of image (e.g., black and white negative, coloured cutaway).

---

Create a section by placing a Section with Limited Depth line

Create and Define Viewpoints in Archicad

• Create a section by placing a Section with Limited Depth line.
• In this example we will go with the blue version.

---

Changing Section Settings in ArchicadHorizontal Range to Zero Depth

Change Section Settings

• Open the Section Settings by right-clicking on the section line and selecting 'Section Selection Settings' from the context menu.
• Set Cut fill to Uniform Surface.
• Apply Paint Blue – Cobalt surface.
• Tick Uniform Cut Pens checkbox.
• Set Cut Line Pen to blue.
• Set Uncut Fill to Nothing.
• Set Horizontal Range to Zero Depth.

---

Creating 3D section with 3D Cutaway

Create a Perspective Projection

• Activate the 3D Cutaway function in the floor plan viewpoint.
• Drag a horizontal plane to the new section line.

---

Look to Perpendicular of Clicked Surface

• Open the perspective viewpoint.
• Use View > 3D Navigation Extras > Look to Perpendicular of Clicked Surface to align the camera view.

---

Applying the Technical Drawing style in Archicad

• Right-click the Generic Perspective item in the Navigator.
• Select the 3D Styles context menu command, and apply the Technical Drawing style.
• Save this 3D Cutaway as a view under the Cut Perspective name.

---

Composing Layouts in Archicad

Compose and Adjust Views and Layouts

• Go to the Layout Book and create a new layout.
• Drop this new view onto the layout and adjust it to fit the layout (use the Resize command from the Standard Toolbar).

---

Blue Cutaway

• Open the "Blue Cutaway" section viewpoint and apply the Layer Combination which shows the Mesh and design elements, such as wall, beam, stair etc.

---

Matching up the blue cutaway drawing with the cut perspective

• Drop the section onto the layout.
• Adjust its size and scale as we did before.
• We need to match up the blue cutaway drawing with the cut perspective. Move a node of the Blue Cutaway drawing to the same node of the Cut Perspective drawing.
• Add 2D elements such as fills and lines to the background to make it more visually appealing.

---

---

This tip is from the Create Engaging Drawings with Archicad course, offered through the BIM Author Program. For more insights like this, subscribe to the program!