Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Detailing sections

Anonymous
Not applicable
im trying to detail up my 1st lot of sections since starting with archicad and having a bit of trouble.

Im trying to do the finer detail as 2d lines and fills over the top of my section cut. Is this a bad idea?? As to model everything up to make the section look correct seems like a MASSIVE amount of work for something thats only getting seen once.

In doing so iv also got this question.
For example. If I have 2 slabs of the same properties and I run a section through them. This will show the 2 slabs.. now I slide them together and they visually look like one item, as the fill and line work join together.. can I get this to work with a 2d fill over a section cut? A fill with the same line types and fill type to “join” up with a section through a slab (or other element with the same properties (fill and line types etc)
7 REPLIES 7
gpowless
Advocate
Using 2-D lines and fills in section is a dangerous practice. The benefit of BIM is that if one thing changes say on the floor plan, it is automatically updated in section.

You best move is to model as much as you can before sectioning and then only add what may be necessary for clarity (a vapour barrier for instance is difficult - but not impossible - to model). While it may appear to be a longer path, once you get good at it, and once you start to build up a table of favourites, it will actually take less time to complete.

Good luck.
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Anonymous
Not applicable
I'm going to disagree slightly with gpowless!

As I explained here, I feel the level of detail to physically model to is governed by the scale of the main sections, as it is easier to add fine 2d detail in larger scale drawings than it is to hide fine 3d detail to stop the main sections getting messy.

Extract the details using the Detail tool (suprisingly ), and enhance and annotate there.

Rather than using just 2d lines and fills to enhance the details, think about building up a library of intelligent 2d components. The MSA detailer parts (included with the US library) are a good example. These can be overlayed onto the details and represent real building components, which will increase speed, accuracy and consistency.

Have a look here for further info.

One technique is to make a copy of the drawing created by the detail tool off to one side and enhance that. If the model is updated you can easily compare and see visually what has changed without loosing any modifications you may have done to the lines and fills that were originally created.

Modelling down to every nail and screw is just about feasible if you really want to, but in reality you just need to know where the main 'chunky' parts of the building are in 3D to ensure an accurate construction.

Hope that helps!
Anonymous
Not applicable
Very interesting Peter, I read your post and looked into the Eric Bobrow's tips and tricks, I downloaded the detailer template from the link he has on his page, but the pdf guide says

"Detailer for ArchiCAD 10 is a library of 2D parts that simplifies the creation of architectural details. It can be found in the 01 General 10 / Detailer Library 10 folder of the ArchiCAD 10 Library. References to folders in this manual refer to folders within Detailer Library 10."

I run with AC12 2156 INT FULL and I can't find the detailer library folder in ac12 library, is there a way to get it for my version of AC?

It looks very interesting and very usefull and I will like to use it,
any ideas?

Thanks!
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
rucailo wrote:
I run with AC12 2156 INT FULL and I can't find the detailer library folder in ac12 library, is there a way to get it for my version of AC?
The DET library is part of the US library only, as all units are Imperial.

You can download the entire US version, including the library, here:
http://archicadwiki.com/ArchiCAD%20Bittorrent%20Downloads

If someone who recently updated their US library still has the web link to download just the LCF file, that would be much smaller and easier...

Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
mmmh, bummer!
Everything that we do in Mexico is metric, I couldn't use the US version unfortunately, it looked very usefull!
Thanks Karl!
Anonymous
Not applicable
There are quite a few available ready built on objects online here, both in metric and imperial I expect. It isn't too difficult to create your own simple ones though.

Draw them on plan with a with lines and fills behind using the correct pens, select one and 'Save Selection As' (under 'File' 'libraries and objects') to turn it into a library part.

This creates a very simple object. You can enhance it later with parameters if you want to make it more useful in the future. Have a look at James Murrays site here to see what is technically possible if you have the skill and time! They aren't for download, but can certainly give inspiration and ideas.

Start with the objects you will use most often, and you will find you have done the majority fairly quickly.

Bear in mind if you update them in the future, any old projects that also refer to them may update unpredictably to the newer version. Maybe the solution is to put a revision/version number in the title of each and/or properly archive old projects with the library parts included.

Good luck!
Anonymous
Not applicable
cheers everyone.. the sections we do are usually a section through the whole job representing all the ceiling heights and floor levels etc... due to the amount of split levels our jobs tend to have.

so its not as much as detailing this connection and that connection in the section.. more just an overview of how the jobs going together.. from there we will add standard 2d details for areas that require them..

for example in plan and elevation i like to use a 300mm thick slab to represent the floor and slab thickness.. works fine.. but in section I really need that slab to appear as a 100mm thick slab with 300 (or so) footings around the edge and then thickening beams through the middle.. stuff like that seems to be a waste of time to model up if its just going to be seen once in section.. and even there its just a representation of what could be, as the actual design will be by the engineer.

Also am I able to get a 2d fill to “join” a 3d solid in section? Like 2 solids would normally