Wishes
Post your wishes about Graphisoft products: Archicad, BIMx, BIMcloud, and DDScad.

Cover & Background Fills for Beams

Anonymous
Not applicable
Beams should have Cover Fills and Background Fills!
There should be different fills for Cover Fill and Cut Fill, like Slabs, and not like Walls, where the fill is the same!

Right now I am modelling a pergola and I have to use the Fill Tool to cover the beam so it could be clear which one is above the other. I lost as much time drawing the Fills as making the Beams!
69 REPLIES 69
Use the Object Beams like M Beams 21, Joist Beam 21, I Joist 21 ?

Would a person even need the Beam Tool since we have so many object Beams already?

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Barry Kelly
Moderator
I only have the Joist Beam 21 in the AUS library and this has the background fill.

The problem with objects is they don't interact (trim) with each other or other elements.
So no mitred corners or trimmed columns or holes punched in walls automatically.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
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jameshart
Newcomer
This has always been annoying, but today it's actually a problem:

We modeled this important historic terrazzo base as a beam with a complex profile (which worked great) and now we are cutting a few holes for new doors. The sections of terrazzo to be demolished get the proper dashed linetype but are NOT highlighted with a red fill (as every other demo item is) because beams do not have cover fills. So now we have to go manually add fills behind every instance where there is terrazzo base being demolished. 😕

+1 essential vote from me!
ArchiCAD 22 (6021 USA Full), 2.5 GHz Intel Xeon W iMac Pro, 64 GB RAM, MacOS 10.14, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64
Anonymous
Not applicable
This one is easy...it's time.
MrC
Advocate
YES PLEASE
ILIFFE ARCHITECTURAL

BRITISH COLUMBIA

macbook pro 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB

AC 21 USA (latest build)
Takis
Expert
Absolutely necessary.

Takis
ryejuan
Advisor
Hi,

It never occurred to me that I'll be needing this background fill for a BEAM usually we can do a workaround like put fills, but most of the times the changes are really spot on and you really want to save time if you know what I mean.

Also this post started at 2007 and they have never addressed this?
In the end what is your Objective?
ArchiCAD 9 onwards
Toronto is a concrete town and so the convention for concrete structure framing plans from our structural engineers shows them on the underside of the current storey - not above.

Placing "beams" using the "Beam" tool is brought with workarounds in order to have them display properly in the various plan forms we output for documents. Fills would help, but more control over the floors they are visible on would be a boost as well.

Sloped Beams also need additional parameters for input: the same ones as roofs please: rise/run AND %.
Think Like a Spec Writer
AC4.55 through 27 / USA AC27-4060 USA
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MacOS 14.2.1
Anonymous
Not applicable
I agree really necessary in France too.
ryejuan
Advisor
ArchiCAD 23 is coming out soon hopefully they have manage to add this functionality to it. It's really annoying having to spend too much time adding fills to complex profiles of beams specially when your about to do construction drawings that needed to be represented correctly.
In the end what is your Objective?
ArchiCAD 9 onwards