On Land

I found this 90% finished in the Ice folder, so I wrapped it up. The main difference is that the text expansion is now handled as a real number, consistent with the expansion feature of text in AC. The default expansion factor is 2.0.

Also: All the drawing names default to Title Case instead of ALL CAPS. Listen, all caps is played. It's a holdover from the hand-lettering days, which I barely remember. Nobody else in any print, design, or writing field uses caps all the time just because. It is hard to read. It looks like shouting.

Played.

Also, in the future (I'm optimistic), we will use automatic drawing titles. (Yes, they can be automatic in 9, but they're not parametric, and they don't cut it.) The name of the SE marker will be the name of the drawing. I'm not going to look at a Navigator full of CAPS all day.

Bury all caps, not praise.

This is a placeholder, I'll flesh it out eventually.

Exterior JAM9 is the new all-(most-?)purpose exterior door. It makes obsolete a large number of JAM8 doors, I don't know how many. Most of the 'basic' parameters (single/double, transom, leaf style, etc) which used to have separate door objects, are rolled into this one. Briefly, more later:

• Single or double
• Solid, french, or glazed-paneled leaf
• Side lights on either side, both, or not
• Transoms with various relationships to the door and side lights

The masonry and trim settings are very similar to the old doors, with greatly improved scale sensitivity in the profiles.

The JAM8 doors have been moved to 08a Doors/JAM8 Doors. They will continue to work. You 'shouldn't' need them. If a feature is missing in the new door, or if you encounter other problems, please let me know.

Location: 13 Special Construction

For adding shingle-style swoops to walls and roofs.

UPDATE: It's swoop JAM9a now. The previous version didn't slope right sometimes. Also, the Width parameter now applies to the bottom width, not the overall width.

More»

Location: 03 Concrete

A 2D symbol to lay over a footing rectangle, in wall sections, for example. It can draw the rebars, the notch for the foundation wall, and the lines at the edge of an adjacent slab. It can draw the outline of the footing, as well as the fill, but for most cases it shouldn't be needed. I put it in there for completeness.

The height and width should match the footing.

Rebars: Set the size, quantity, side coverage, and bottom coverage. Hotspots are provided for dimensioning the coverage. Graphic crosses can be turned on to make the bars easier to see. Turn on 'Other Way Bars' to show dashed bars going the other way.

The thickness of the wall and the adjacent slab can be edited graphically.

UPDATE: I added an option for sealant at the slab edge. You can set the thickness and the fill.

Normally there would be, you know, a footing.

2005-03-23
2005-12-06

A window. Location: 12 Furnishings/Casework

Basically, a niche. I guess you could use it for a wall niche too, with the usual caveats.

But the real idea is to build a bookshelf or cabinet etc from a thick (11"?) wall:

I marquee'd it so you can see the back.

More»

Location: 01 General / 3 Drawing Tools

To help locate overhead ceiling lines. This is a little weird but you'll get it.

More»

Location: 13 Special Construction

An alternative to ArchiCAD's dismal, so-called vault. Last time I saw so many lines, it was election day in Ohio! Anyway.

More»

This is the main, simple text label for associated labeling of objects. It has one parameter, "Parameter to List". Put in the variable name of any text parameter in any object. The default is "desList". I'm using this name as a standard in many objects across the library. So you can put in any parameter name, but for many typical cases you can leave it alone.

Some objects will need more complex, customized labels, which we'll develop as we go along.

(To find the variable name of a parameter: Select the object you want to label and press Cmd+Option+O. (File -> GDL Objects -> Open Object) Find the parameter in the parameter list in the master window. The variable name is the first text column. It's an unfriendly-looking (probably) word-like thing.)

Objects that can be labeled using the "desList" parameter:

Wood Beam JAM9
Column Wood JAM9
Column Steel JAM9
Steel W Shape JAM9
Bent W Shape JAM9
Tuscan Column JAM9
RiserMeter JAM9

UPDATE: I added a list to the 'Parameter to List' parameter. In addition to desList, there's 'typeList', the 'Type for List' parameter of the crown tool, where you can put in a description of the crown, such as 'Type 1'. There's also 'crnDes', which is the name of the crown shape in the crown tool. With these parameters, you can label crown elements in the RCP.

You can still use any parameter name, not just the listed ones.

I also added a read-only description of each of the listed parameters.

Original date: 2004-12-15

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic / Trim & Moulding

A sloped crown object for shed roofs. It's similar to the Crown Tool.

Sorry about the 'a'. I found an issue I couldn't fix in place, so I had to make a copy.

More»

Location: 05 Metals

(Old object, new write-up.)

An object for modeling and annotating W shape steel members. It should behave similarly to Wood Beam JAM9. So I can copy and paste a lot of the documentation. Also, that post has screen shots.

More»

Location: 15 Mech-Plumbing

A very simple residential water heater. OK, it's a cylinder.

The reason to use it is it knows an array of standard capacities, and the tank dimensions for each. You can stretch the object in plan or 3D to change the size. You can also enter a custom size and dimensions.

In plan, the circle can be labeled with the capacity, or just 'WH'.

It's a slight improvement on WaterHeater JAM9; note the subtle spelling difference until I move the old one.

Obsolete. Use Stair Body JM9a. instead.

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic / Railings & Stairs (I'm thinking about moving it, since it's not really a fine detail-type thing any more. More like a missing tool thing. Not to mention, it could be concrete. I really wish the object browser could handle aliases. As for now, there it lies.)

A very basic (in a good way) flight of stairs. An incremental improvement on Stair Stringer JAM8. You can still use it as a stringer; just make it thin. I changed the name because I use it more often for actual stairs.

Sidebar: There's a stair tool (Technically, the StairMaker add-on), which you should never use. Then there's ArchiStair by the very capable and friendly Cigraph, which is like a good StairMaker, only better.

I recently used an ArchiStair spiral stair for which I was very grateful, but generally I am skeptical of full-service add-ons for highly detailed building parts. No matter how many options, configurations, and details are offered, you will soon run into a custom situation where the add-on doesn't quite make it.

I would rather have more, simpler, separate elements. (Well, no, I would rather have one element do everything by magic, but it's not realistic.) If you run into a freaky custom railing, you can focus on that without wrecking the whole stair. And: In design development, you can show just a simple stair, leaving the details for later, where they (the details) belong.

This is consistent with a general principle of ArchiCAD's design, our workflow, and how projects are actually built. Big, chunky stuff comes first: Walls, slabs, roofs, the basic geometry of stairs. Fine detail comes later, and is applied to the big stuff: Trim, finish floors, newels and railings.

So: The Stair Body object is like a slab tool for stairs.

Another major basic-yet-detailed building part is the chimney. See what I mean? End sidebar.

Now we can talk about the object.

More»