Detail tool deterrent

[Aussie John]

there a couple of things that prevent me using the detail tool (which is a great idea in principle)

1)3d editablility is lost so in early staes of a project it is not work setting up details

2)origin in plan detail (and section) moves to the centre of the detail. Cutting and pasting items from the main plan are now awkward

I could possibly use the detail tool without item 1) so long as there is an option to retain the origin ( item 2)


Development of the detail tool must continue well past the current level of refinement

[James Murray]

IMHO,

When creating a 'cutting' drawing perpendicular to the plan, it's a section. It might also be a detail. The term detail implies a change in scale; it's independent of cutting. Details are a subdivision of both plans and sections.

The tool for cutting a perpendicular view in a plan is the section tool. The tool for creating an enlarged drawing without changing plane is the detail tool.

The section tool is perfectly adequate for creating section details from the standpoint of generating the drawing window. The extra step is only needed in order to 1) classify your enlarged section drawing as a detail in the project map, 2) enable use of a detail marker for the purpose of placing multiple flags for a single drawing, which the section tool can't do, which makes automatic numbering inconvenient.

1) is partially solved with view sets, but not automatically: you can put different view types in a folder, but you have to do each one by hand. Giving the detail tool cutting power wouldn't solve this. (The only solution would have been to unify the tools in the first place.) The difference between a section and a section detail isn't as clear-cut in real life as it is in the project map or toolbox.

2) would disappear if detail markers could refer to section windows, as Alex pointed out.

The power of the detail tool isn't in the window. We've long had the ability to create windows via the section tool, and to capture 2D geometry with a patch. (The detail tool is a better method of doing both, but it's improvement, not invention.) The power is in the detail symbol, in automatic numbering. Before automatic numbering, you had to consider maintenance overhead when calling out details more than once. Now you can call out a detail as many times as you like without fear of losing consistency. Additional clarity at no cost, very Virtual Building.

Down the road, we should be able to refer to 'metadata' about any view from anywhere, text or GDL. Once a detail can refer to a section, there's no reason a zone stamp couldn't refer to an enlarged plan, or a label refer to a wall-type drawing, or a text block refer to whatever.

On the original wish, the origin thing is essential and I voted as such. As for the model-link, you might guess I find the section tool addresses this need as it is.

See you tomorrow,

[Anonymous]

James wrote:
The power of the detail tool isn't in the window... The power is in the detail symbol, in automatic numbering.

Well said. Frankly, the detail tool sucks right now.

[Anonymous]

Alex wrote:
Well said. Frankly, the detail tool sucks right now.

I don't agree. I find the detail tool quite useful, and pretty well implemented for a major new feature. The first release of the section tool was more limited (and stricken with a rare but major bug) but it has developed well over time.

Personally I prefer to have the use of it now and influence over its future development than to wait for something Graphisoft thinks I will like better.

[Rob]

I am just thinking of having the detail boundary line as a 3D cutting line. It would cut a sort of "tube" perpendicular to the particular window. So in the plan window perpendicular to XY plane and in the section/elevation window ZX / ZY. There would be Depth limitation (similar to section/elevation Range limits). It would resolve nesting of details as well (in principle we would make smaller section within the section). Then I suppose we could get the dimensions through because they are linked to particular objects.
It would be sort of 3D tube space section with ability of displaying 2D elements such fills, etc..
There is a 3D cutting engine ready in the Image menu / 3D cutaway, may be it could be use for this purpose.

[Aussie John]

I think a lot of issues with Details can be made redundant if the section tool is given a method to cross reference. The Duplicity of creating a section to make a Detail become a non issue.

Combine that with making a Detail correspond to the origin.

While were at it let Details be named with the same detail number (as long as they are on a differnet sheet)

[Rob]

I have completely forgot about 3D marquee tool which is actually better analogy to explain the idea of 3D 'tube' section

[gpowless]

It would be nice if the Detail tool had the option of displaying like a 3D marquee and being able to label and detail withing it. It sure would help us explain and document the building in visual terms.

[Daniel Lindahl]

gpowless wrote:
It would be nice if the Detail tool had the option of displaying like a 3D marquee and being able to label and detail withing it. It sure would help us explain and document the building in visual terms.

That is an idea that has been floating around in my head too for a while!
(I have not actually tried the detail tool yet, but that doesn't stop me from weighing in on this issue).

My wish is for a detail CUBE that would be placed, and the appropriate heights set, in the floor plan. It would have parameters for appropriate labelling and spacing of view tiles, what views are required of the 6 faces of the cube, as well as the 8 corners for isometrics.
Then the detail cube window would show all the requested views tiled in the appropriate fashion.

In fact what I am asking for is almost like an inside out version of the Interior Elevation tool, which I use quite a lot for kitchens and bathrooms in spite of it's quirks.

What do you think?

[David Tauer]

A user would like to be able to create a detail within another detail. Is this something that would be useful for you as a user to be able to do?

Thanks,
Dave

[TomWaltz]

We've been begging for that since the detail tool was introduced!