bgoodale wrote:It doesn't take as much time as you may think. I do it the way I do it becaue it's faster and more accurate that using the stair tools.
i find the stairs to be a major limiting factor in ArchiCAD and extremely frustrating.
yes, you can model them with parts and detail with 2d, but it takes too much time.
Stairbuilder and Archistair almost get it right, but the stuff they get wrong really sucks.
But other major CAD and BIM programs aren't much better. Revit's stair tools are useles for any residential stair work, Chief Architect is OK for some things but has limitations, and Vectorwroks is completely useless.
I guess it is just the highly complex nature of stairs that makes impossible to design a good 3d tool that does everything you need. oh well...
The stair tools are a complete waste of time if you are modeling for a material list.
I copy and paste stairs from other projects and with very little tweaking it's finished and exactly how I want it.
All you need is a tread and a riser. Use the multiply tool.
Let me make you a stair. I will send it to you as parts and see if you don't like working with the parts better than with the stair tools.
Also keep in mind that those stair tools never produce a materials list either.
What you need is a good set of schedules for your stair and a few parts.
If you are not modeling the stair for a material list then why model it at all?
i'll have to give it a try doing it your way. my modelling can always use some practice. 
Still looking?
