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

Newbie questions: continuous wall tool, special snap points

dcerezo
Advocate
Hi guys,

I'm trying to learn ArchiCAD because I'm considering transitioning to it given that Revit does not have a Mac version (nor a Maxwell Render plugin).

So I'm learning archicad on the weekends. A few questions:

1. As I'm drawing a continuous wall, if I want to undo the last segment I just drew, how do I do that? Cmd-Z doesn't seem to do anything.

2. The Special Snap Points is kind of a tedious tool to use when placing objects. Is there another way to do this? What I mean is, the book I'm using to learn (Step by Step) is having me place windows along a wall. To place a window a certain distance along that wall, I have to click on the Special Snap Points button, then click on Set Special Snap Values, then type in a distance, whew, getting tired, then I click on the Special Snap Points button again and select distance so that it snaps according to that criteria (not half, or divisions, etc)....thennnnnn, I hover over the wall where I want to place the window until the little marker shows up (at the distance I set) and finally I click to place the window.

Whoa! That's crazy. Now If I need to place the window at a different distance I have to repeat this all over again.

I thought that maybe I could place a window arbitrarily and move it later, but haven't figured out how to do that precisely yet.

Once agin, I miss Revit here, where temporary dimensions show up when you select something. Then you can just type/change one of those dimensions to adjust the object.

3. Inference snapping. Is there a way to snap to certain key points of elements like: Endpoint, Perpendicular, Center, etc?

I'm really trying here guys, but this is so different from Revit (and frankly not as intuitive and easy to use IMHO).

Thanks in advance.
ArchiCAD 26 - iMac 27, Late 2019, 3.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 32GB Ram, Radeon Pro 8GB, macOS Sonoma
7 REPLIES 7
Erika Epstein
Booster
dcerezo wrote:
1. As I'm drawing a continuous wall, if I want to undo the last segment I just drew, how do I do that? Cmd-Z doesn't seem to do anything.
Backspace
dcerezo wrote:
2. The Special Snap Points is kind of a tedious tool to use when placing objects. Is there another way to do this? ...
-Set your local origin opt+shift at the place you want to measure from,
-move your cursor along the wall in the direction that you want to place the window/door
press the 'r' key [r for radius] and then type the distance you want, hit enter key when done and place your window.
dcerezo wrote:
3. Inference snapping. Is there a way to snap to certain key points of elements like: Endpoint, Perpendicular, Center, etc?
Set your snap points to half or other divisions you want. Rext your cursor along the wall edge. TICK marks will appear temporarily marking these divisions. Patience while they appear and then quickly make use of them before they disappear.

dcerezo wrote:
I'm really trying here guys, but this is so different from Revit (and frankly not as intuitive and easy to use IMHO)
The familiar often seems easier
Erika
Architect, Consultant
MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch Yosemite 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Mac OSX 10.11.1
AC5-18
Onuma System

"Implementing Successful Building Information Modeling"
David Maudlin
Virtuoso
Erika wrote:
dcerezo wrote:
1. As I'm drawing a continuous wall, if I want to undo the last segment I just drew, how do I do that? Cmd-Z doesn't seem to do anything.
Backspace
On the Mac it is the Delete key.

dcerezo:You should add a Signature to your Profile (click the Profile button near the top of this page) with your ArchiCAD version and operating system (see mine for an example) for more accurate help in this forum.

David
David Maudlin / Architect
www.davidmaudlin.com
Digital Architecture
AC27 USA • iMac 27" 4.0GHz Quad-core i7 OSX11 | 24 gb ram • MacBook Pro M3 Pro | 36 gb ram OSX14
dcerezo
Advocate
Hey all,

Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to use them. I still think the Special Snap Points methodology is kind of weird, but it is what it is.

Thanks,

Danny
ArchiCAD 26 - iMac 27, Late 2019, 3.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 32GB Ram, Radeon Pro 8GB, macOS Sonoma
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Danny, you may also want to check out the free interactive training guides at:

http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/training_guides/
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
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Anonymous
Not applicable
Hey all, I want to draw continuous wall, but I couldn't find it. Can you help me please?
Barry Kelly
Moderator
Merve wrote:
Hey all, I want to draw continuous wall, but I couldn't find it. Can you help me please?
It is part of the 'Geometry Method'.
Any buttons with a small black triangle have more options - a pop-out will appear if you select and hold the button for a second or so.

Barry.
continuous_wall.jpg
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
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Anonymous
Not applicable
Barry wrote:
Merve wrote:
Hey all, I want to draw continuous wall, but I couldn't find it. Can you help me please?
It is part of the 'Geometry Method'.
Any buttons with a small black triangle have more options - a pop-out will appear if you select and hold the button for a second or so.

Barry.
Thank you so much for your help.