2003-12-05 02:06 AM
2003-12-11 06:41 AM
2003-12-11 06:30 PM
2003-12-11 07:22 PM
Matthew wrote:Hmmm ...
One issue occured to me with the new plan windows. Overlaying different drawings for coordination would need to be worked out. This could probably be handled by an ability to ghost one plan in another.
I have also been thinking about the performance and implementation issues. After my last post the whole picture became more clear and the changes seem less dramatic than I originally thought. The main difference from the present is the addition of the new plan view window. The story views would remain for overall viewing and editing of the model. They would also retain the up/down/go to story navigation. The plan views are where the drawings would be annotated.
2003-12-11 09:33 PM
2003-12-17 05:02 PM
2004-01-04 02:52 AM
Geoff wrote:The plan view windows could also address one of my (and others) long standing wishes: opaque fills in roofs and slabs. The story view (i.e. the current plan window - which I think should remain, at least to start) can retain the transparency for ease of editing, while the new plan view would use opaque fills like the 3D and section views do now. This way floor patterns can be shown without having to apply a fill over the slab, roof plans can be live model views (or renewable drawings) instead of snapshots from the 3D top view (as I do them now), and attic plans can show the roof coverage below the cut height.
Having a separate window for each plan drawing, like S/E is now, would certainly simplify the layer structure. If each retained it's individual view settings and the rebuild issue was addressed (manual for now, instant in the future) then these multiple windows could be quickly accessed through the navigator or stacked and accessed with Exposé (Mac plug).
But this brings up a few new issues:Reuse of annotations is nice. I have a drawing title part that I place on the main floor and show on all stories so that the plans all align from one sheet to the next and are numbered & titled automatically according to the type of plan and story name. For over-all dimensions I have sometimes used dimension string library parts which can then show on all stories. These feel like workarounds though and I think things could easily be improved with the plan view idea. Overall dimensions could be put in the story view on a dimensions layer, which could then be turned on or off in each plan view as appropriate. The same thing could work for common symbols like section markers etc. Another way might be to reference elements from a base plan or cross reference layers between drawings. These or other approaches could easily get complicated and would have to very carefully thought out since the goal is to make the work easier.
One place the current plan/story/layer scheme excels over multiple windows is in the re-use of annotation and 2D objects. Dimension strings, notations and 2D time savers can be shown on floor plans, framing plans and RCPs without duplication using simple layer management. (I'm constantly copying things between S/E windows. Associative dimensions would probably not survive the journey.) If anything I've longed for these object types to gain the option to display on multiple stories to ease the placement of common dimensions and general notes. One possible solution is the transformation of everything into a 3D object type. Anyone who hasn't done so should check out BOA for an example of this and some other innovative thinking:http://www.boa-research.com.
My other thoughts go more to philosophy and workflow . If plan documents now reside in their own windows, why retain the story views as they currently exist? Why have stories at all? Why not just define where along the z axis each of the plan windows is cut, or do it graphically like we do now with sections? (This is the way BOA works, all plans are sections of the model.)I'm not sure that I would want to get rid of the story view. I do a lot of design work in plan view and I think having a standard top view with ghost stories etc. is superior to using a top down 3D view. Maybe after the methods develop I would change my mind. I could just be invested in methods I've been using since the early days of plan view only editing.
So here's my sci-fi vision of the working environment of this mythic future ArchiCAD. Multiple working windows, like the 3D OpenGL but showing all composites, hatching, etc. and having all the snap points and dimensional precision we're used to in plan. I imagine at least 3 open simultaneously, for example plan, section, axon/perspective. Or maybe the situation calls for two plans cut at different heights and an elevation. Thus I wouldn't confine these working windows to particular roles but let each be a general purpose 2D/3D view with streamlined navigation tools and savable views. Cutaway planes could be dragged, as in SketchUp, or set numerically, and could be shown ghosted in the other windows for reference. Cutaways would also have an adjustable depth to limit what is available in ghost or x-ray mode.I agree in general with your vision but I would still retain the current single 3D and Story views as modeling/design windows that the operator can work freely in without worrying about the final output drawings. The new plan and 3D views would be defined in their own windows with the ability to refine and annotate them as finished drawings.
And since I'm shooting the moon here, none of this would come at the expense of the new plan or S/E windows which would remain live linked and editable with all dimensions associative, etc.Of course.
2004-01-09 08:44 PM
I'm not sure that I would want to get rid of the story view. I do a lot of design work in plan view and I think having a standard top view with ghost stories etc. is superior to using a top down 3D view. Maybe after the methods develop I would change my mind.Matthew, I'm sure you will always have the option to design in plan and hope for all our sakes that working in other views just becomes easier. Indeed, while I do imagine the working environment of the future to be a 3D top view, I see it enhanced to provide all the features of our current story view and more.
2004-03-04 06:48 PM
2004-04-20 04:24 PM
Geoff wrote:
...Indeed, while I do imagine the working environment of the future to be a 3D top view, I see it enhanced to provide all the features of our current story view and more.
2004-07-09 04:53 PM