CADD

✓ Computer Aided Drafting (CAD): is defined as a process of producing drawings in which,

computer software and related hardware are used.
✓ The software stored in the disk provides the programme and the drafter gives the commands
and data to the computer to perform the drawing task.
✓ The hardware is the physical equipment or device associated with the computer.
✓ The term CAD is sometimes referred to as computer aided design also. A computer aided
design system can perform automated drafting, design and analysis. For this more powerful
software are required.

The Advantages Offered by Computerized Drafting Systems

(a) It increases the accuracy and productivity of designer.
(b) It allows design alterations to be made easily.
(c) It offers better drawing visualization through colours.
(d) It improves the quality of drawings produced.
(e) Drawings are easier to store and retrieve.
(f) Storage space required is less.
(g) Transfer of drawings is faster and cheaper.
(h) It permits the use of library of standard symbols for more productive CAD work

CAD system and Hardware

A computer system consists of
(a) Central Processing Unit (CPU), also known as processor
(b) Main memory - stores program instructions and processing data.
(c) Input devices
(d) Output devices
(e) Secondary storage devices. - provide slow but high capacity memory for storing program
and large amount of data that is not currently being processed. Typical secondary storage
devices are hard disk, floppy diskettes, magnetic tape, C.D. (compact disk), D.V.D., pen
drive, etc.
Input Devices
The input devices are used for making selections from a menu, which is a layout of a variety of
commands and functions required to operate the system. Sending these commands into the
computer produces complete engineering drawings.
The choice of optional commands on the screen menu is made by indicating the required position
with the cursor cross-hairs or by typing a required code. The movement of the cursor on the screen
may be controlled by the following devices as shown in Figure 1.3:
(a) a keyboard, where the allocated keys control the required movements,
(b) thumb wheels, where one wheel controls horizontal movement and another wheel controls
(a) vertical movement.
(b) a light pen, where the required position is selected by pointing the pen directly at the scree
n;
(c) a joystick, a vertical lever mounted in a box controls movements in any direction;
(d) a mouse, a small box which when pushed across a surface controls movements in the same
(e) direction;
(f) a tracker ball, its rolling in the mounting controls movements in any direction;
(g) a puck or (h) stylus in conjunction with the digitising tablet, can enter the complete drawing
from a sketch or half-completed drawing by attaching it to the surface of the digitiser and
indicating the important points on lines, curves, etc., and entering the relevant commands.

Output devices
The output devices receive data from the computer and provide an output, hard copy. There are two
main types of output devices, namely printers and plotters.
1) Dot Matrix Printers: The characters are formed by printing dots in a specific manner. The dot
matrix printer can also be used for printing of drawings, but the quality of output is poor.
2) Pen Plotters: A pen plotter consists of a device to hold the paper. Usually, two orthogonal
motorized carriages hold a pen and move it under computer control. There are three inputs to the
pen plotter: (i) an X coordinate, (ii) a Y coordinate and (iii) a pen variable. The pen variable can
specify the pen colour by pen number, the pen to be up (non-drawing position) or down (in contact
with paper in drawing position).
3) Ink-Jet printers/plotters: The drawing which is made up of lines, arcs, characters and symbols
is converted into dot form. Then the rows of dots are printed across the width of the paper by
impelling a tiny jet of ink on the surface of paper. The jets are switched on and off at high
frequency to create multicolour plots.
4) Laser printers: use a fine beam of laser light to create the required shapes. It can write with much
greater speed than an ink jet and can draw more precisely, without spilling any excess ink.
CAD software
✓ The CAD system creates an environment to prepare drawings interactively.
✓ Most CAD systems available commercially are menu driven.
✓ Commands can either be typed directly with the help of a keyboard or can be picked-up from
the screen menu or from toolbar with the help of a mouse or can be selected from the digitizer
menu.
✓ Some screen menus offer pull-down menus (also referred to as pop-up menus) and dialogue
boxes.

The major functions to be performed by a computer aided drafting system are:

(a) Basic set-up of a drawing
(b) Drawing the objects
(c) Changing the object properties
(d) Translating the objects
(e) Scaling the objects
(f) Clipping the objects to fit the image to the screen
(g) Creating symbol libraries for frequently used objects
(h) Text insertion
(i) Dimensioning
(j) Creates various layers (Transparent sheets)
(k) Allows zoom-in and zoom-out of any components of drawing or complete drawing
(l) Creates different numbers of print/plot layouts.

Some of the features of CAD systems are:

1) Modelling and Drafting: The majority of systems provide 2D and 3D modelling
capabilities. Some low-cost CAD systems are dedicated to 2D drafting only.
2) Ease of use: The users find CAD systems very easy to learn and use.
3) Flexibility: Popular CAD systems provide greater flexibility when configuring the available
hardware. Hundreds of computers, display devices, expansion boards, input and output
devices are compatible and configurable with popular softwares.
4) Modularity: Standard input and output devices are attached to standard connectors thereby
making the system modular in nature.
5) Low maintenance cost: Little maintenance is needed to keep the system functional.
6) CAD and VR – Virtual Reality (VR) technology: Virtual reality breaks the barrier on
CAD’s 3D display, making it appear as though users can design a model with their own
hands. VR enables CAD users to visualize how the object they are designing will appear at
scale against other virtual objects.
7) 3D Rendering: This software takes 3D models and places them into 3D environments.
CAD users can take the models they drafted and render them into a scalable, navigable, and
interactive object.
Capabilities and versatilities of the drafting system vary depending on the system on which they are
implemented. AutoCAD, VersaCAD, CADKey, DesignCAD, ZWCAD, etc. are few popular
commercially available drafting systems in use. These systems provide a variety of features required
for producing engineering drawings.
 AUTOCAD COMMANDS

ARC Creates an arc

AREA Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas
ARRAY Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern
BHATCH Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern
BLOCK Creates a block definition from objects you select
BOUNDARY creates a region or a polyline from an enclosed area
BOX Creates a three-dimensional solid box
BREAK Erases parts of objects or splits an object in two
CAL Evaluates mathematical and geometric expressions
CHAMFER Bevels the edges of objects
CIRCLE Creates a circle
COPY Duplicates objects
DIST Measures the distance and angle between two points
DIVIDE Places evenly spaced point objects or blocks along the length or perimeter of an
object
DONUT Draws filled circles and rings
ELLIPSE Creates an ellipse or an elliptical arc
ERASE Removes objects from a drawing
EXPLODE Breaks a compound object into its component objects
EXPORT Saves objects to other file formats
EXTEND Extends an object to meet another object
EXTRUDE Creates unique solid primitives by extruding existing two-dimensional objects
FILLET Rounds and fillets the edges of objects
GRID Displays a dot grid in the current viewport
GROUP Creates a named selection set of objects
HATCH Fills a specified boundary with a pattern
HELP (F1) Displays online help
ID Displays the coordinate values of a location
IMPORT Imports files in various formats into AutoCAD
INSERT Places a named block or drawing into the current drawing
LEADER Creates a line that connects annotation to a feature
LENGTHEN Lengthens an object
LIMITS Sets and controls the drawing boundaries and grid display
LINE Creates straight line segments
LINETYPE Creates, loads, and sets linetypes
LIST Displays database information for selected objects
LTSCALE Sets the line type scale factor
MLINE Creates multiple parallel lines
MOVE Displaces objects a specified distance in a specified direction
MTEXT Creates multiline text
NEW Creates a new drawing file
OFFSET Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, and parallel curves 12
OPEN Opens an existing drawing file
OPTIONS Customizes the AutoCAD settings
ORTHO Constrains cursor movement
OSNAP Sets object snap modes
PEDIT Edits polylines and three-dimensional polygon meshes
PLAN Displays the plan view of a user coordinate system
PLINE Creates two-dimensional polylines
PLOT Plots a drawing to a plotting device or file
POINT Creates a point object
POLYGON Creates an equilateral closed polyline
QUIT Exits AutoCAD
RECTANG Draws a rectangular polyline
REDRAW Refreshes the display in the current viewport
REGEN Regenerates the drawing and refreshes the current viewport
REGION Creates a region object from a selection set of existing objects
ROTATE Moves objects about a base point
SAVE Saves the drawing under the current file name or a specified name
SCALE Enlarges or reduces selected objects equally in the X, Y, and Z directions
SKETCH Creates a series of freehand line segments
SNAP Restricts cursor movement to specified intervals
SPHERE Creates a three-dimensional solid sphere
SPLINE Creates a quadratic or cubic spline (NURBS) curve
SPLINEDIT Edits a spline object
STRETCH Moves or stretches objects
SUBTRACT Creates a composite region or solid by subtraction
TEXT Displays text on screen as it is entered
TIME Displays the date and time statistics of a drawing
TORUS Creates a donut-shaped solid
TRIM Trims objects at a cutting edge defined by other objects
U Reverses the most recent operation
UNDO Reverses the effect of commands
UNION Creates a composite region or solid by addition
UNITS Controls coordinate and angle display formats and determines precision
XLINE Creates an infinite line
XPLODE Breaks a compound object into its component objects
ZOOM Increases or decreases the apparent size of objects in the current viewport
INTRODUCTION TO ARCHICAD
Starting a New Project
1) Double-click the Archicad Icon from the desktop
2) Click on the Grey Warning/Information box when it appears on the screen.
3) Click on the Create a New Project dot and click OK. (To load a pre-existing document
click on Browse for Project and locate the desired file.)

Note: Each new project will create two files in the directory. One is the main file extension (.pln) and
the other is the backup file (.bpn). Both of these files must remain together at all times. If they are
separated, neither file will be able to open in the program.

The ArchiCAD GUI

The first time you open ArchiCAD you will find the toolbars along the top, just under the menu bar
and there will be palettes docked to the left and right of the drawing area.
We will focus on the three following palettes to get started:
✓ The Toolbox palette: This contains all of your selection, modelling, and drafting tools. It is
located on the left hand side by default.
✓ The Info Box palette: This is your context menu that changes according to whatever tool is
currently in use. By default, this will be located directly under the toolbars at the top. It has a
scrolling function; hover your cursor over the palette and spin the scroll wheel on your mouse to
reveal everything on the palette.
✓ The Navigator palette: This is your project navigation window. This palette gives you access to
all your views, sheets, and lists. It will be located on the right-hand side by default.
These three palettes can be seen in the following screenshot:

All of the mentioned palettes are dockable and can be arranged however you like on your screen.
They can also be dragged away from the main ArchiCAD interface. For instance, you could have
palettes on a second monitor.
Panning and Zooming
✓ ArchiCAD has the same panning and zooming interface as most other CAD (Computer-aided
design) and BIM (Building Information Modelling) programs.
✓ Rolling the scroll wheel on your mouse will zoom in and out.
✓ Pressing down on the scroll wheel (or middle button) and moving your cursor will execute a pan.
✓ Each drawing view window has a row of zoom commands along the bottom. You should try each
one to get familiar with each of their functions.

View toggling
✓ When you have multiple views open, you can toggle through them by pressing the Ctrl key and
tapping on the Tab key. Or, you can pick any of the open views from the bottom of the
Window pull-down menu.
✓ Pressing the F2 key will open a 2D floor plan view and pressing the F3 key will open the
default 3D view.
✓ Pressing the F5 key will open a 3D view of selected items. In other words if you want to isolate
specific items in a 3D view, select those items and press F5.
Step 1: Setting the Scale
It is very important to set your drawing scale. In the area of architectural drafting, there are two
standard drawing scales that are used when creating a floor plan:
✓ Residential: 1: 50
✓ Commercial: 1:00
To set the scale of your drawing, click on the scale indicator at the bottom of the Archicad window
and select the desired scale. The software, by default, is set to the commercial scale

Step 2: Setting working units

On the menu bar, go to Options > Project Preferences >Working Units and perform the
following steps:
1. Ensure Model Units is set to millimetres
2. Ensure that decimal is set to 0
3. Ensure that Layout Units is set millimetres
4. Ensure that Angle Unit is set to Decimal degrees.
5. Ensure that Decimals is set to 2.

2. Drawing walls
(a) Click on the wall icon from the toolbox.
(b) Click on the infobox wall setting

(c) Change the wall thickness to 200mm or 150mm

 (d) Set the tracker for coordinates input

Coordinate values are displayed in the Tracker, which follows your mouse movements and is
available in any editable window type.
The Tracker gives you a dynamic and constant feedback on such values as edited lengths, angles, and
hotspot values for GDL Object editing.
To use the Tracker, you must activate the Tracker toggle button on the Standard toolbar

or activate the Show Tracker checkbox in Options > Work Environment > Tracker and
Coordinate Input.

Create a Chain of Walls

A chained wall is a sequence of connected straight or curved wall elements with automatically
coincident reference line endpoints.
With the Wall Tool selected, choose the Chained Wall method from the Info Box. (Pop out the small
black arrow on the Straight Wall Method button.)

As soon as you start drawing the first Wall, a pet palette appears, offering you geometry options for
drawing a straight or a curved segment.
The options are:
❖ A straight wall segment
❖ A curved segment tangential to the previous one (cannot be used for the first wall segment) • A
curved segment tangential to a line you define before actually drawing the segment
❖ A curved segment passing through two points
❖ A curved segment defined by its centerpoint, radius and length

✓ Place the cursor on the option that suits you best and define the endpoint of the first segment using
the methods described above for single Wall segments.
✓ This endpoint automatically becomes the starting point of the next Wall segment.
✓ When you want to finish drawing Wall chain segments, double-click the endpoint of the last
segment.
✓ Throughout the process, a ghost contour of the Wall segments is shown.
✓ The full Walls are only displayed when you are finished.
▪ Clicking the Cancel button in the context menu or the Delete key at any time during drafting
will abort the process, and no elements will be created.
▪ Choosing Edit > Undo command will remove the entire new chain of Walls, not just the last
segment.
▪ Hitting the Backspace key allows you to undo the previous segment and continue the creation
of the Wall chain.

Create a Curved Wall

With the Wall Tool selected, choose one of the three Curved Wall Geometry Methods from the Info
Box.

• Circumference
✓ Click on three points of the Wall’s circumference (e.g. other elements or intersections, or special
snap points).
✓ Click a fourth time to define the length of the Wall.
• Centerpoint and radius
✓ Click to define centerpoint.
✓ Move the cursor to define the radius, then click a second time.
✓ Move the cursor to draw the length of the Wall, then click to complete.
 Note: To draw a full circular Wall, double-click when defining its radius.

• Circumference
✓ Click on three points of the Wall’s circumference (e.g. other elements or intersections, or special
snap points).
✓ Click a fourth time to define the length of the Wall.

• Tangential: Define a full circular Wall based on three tangential edges or points.
✓ Select three initial points: these can be a tangent edge, a node, or a free-floating point. The next
step depends on the geometric situation.
✓ If there is only one solution, the circular Wall is automatically drawn.
✓ If there are multiple solutions, the Eyeball cursor appears and the ghost contour of the
✓ Wall flips from one position to the other as you move the cursor around. Click when it is at the
right place to complete the circular Wall.
✓ If there is no solution, (for example, if you define three parallel edges for tangency), no circle will
be made.
Note: Since Walls need to have two endpoints, the fully closed circular Wall that you draw will in fact
consist of two half-circles. Walls in the forms of full ellipses, elliptic arcs or splines cannot be
created directly, but you can trace the shapes of plain drawing elements with the Magic Wand.

SELECTION METHODS
Before you can do much in ArchiCAD, you need to be familiar with selecting elements. There are
several ways to select something in ArchiCAD, which are as follows:
1. Single cursor click
✓ Pick the Arrow tool from the toolbox or hold the Shift key down on the keyboard and click on
what you want to select.
✓ As you click on the elements, hold the Shift key down to add them to your selection set.
✓ To remove elements from the selection set, just click on them again with the Shift key pressed.
✓ There is a mode within this mode called Quick Selection. It is toggled on and off from the Info
Box palette. The icon looks like a magnet. When it is on, it works like a magnet because it will
stick to faces or surfaces, such as slabs or fill patterns. If this mode is not on, then you are
required to find an edge, endpoint, or hotspot node to select an element with a single click. Hold
the Space button down to temporarily change the mode while selecting elements.

2. Window
Pick the Arrow tool from the toolbox or hold the Shift key down and draw your selection window.
Click once for the window starting corner and click a second time for the end corner.
There are 3 different windowing methods. Each one is set from the Info Box palette:
a) Partial Elements: Anything that is inside of or touching the window will be selected.
b) Entire Elements: Anything completely encapsulated by the window will be selected. If
something is not completely inside the window then it will not be selected.
c) Direction Dependent: Click and window to the left, the Partial Elements window will be
used. Click and window to the right, the Entire Elements window will be used.
3. Marquee
The Marquee tool is used to define areas for selection, editing and visualization purposes.

The capabilities of the Marquee tool complement those of the Arrow tool, and are particularly
useful in selecting and moving groups of ArchiCAD elements.
A Marquee area does not display selection dots on the included elements; the marqueed area is shown
by a dashed line of “marching ants.” The color of the Marquee is the same as that of Selection dots:
set this color at Options > Work Environment > Selection and Element Information > Selection
Dots and Marquee color.

Marquee selection is often used when:

✓ You wish to define a smaller area in which to select all of the elements of a given type.
✓ You want to visualize a particular part of the design in 3D.
✓ You need to move or resize a number of elements of different types at the same time: for
example, you can stretch all polygonal and linear elements of a building simultaneously.
✓ You want to save only part of the view in PDF or DWG format.
The Marquee tool is available in the Floor Plan, the 3D Window, Section/Elevation/Interior
Elevation windows, 3D Document, Detail and Worksheet windows, Layout windows, and the 2D
Symbol window of GDL Objects. In image-type windows (Photo Rendering or picture windows) or
the GDL Object’s 3D view, the only operation available for a marquee selection is Copy.
Removing a Marquee
To remove a drawn Marquee area, do one of the following:
✓ Press Esc.
✓ Click with the right mouse button or Ctrl-click (MacOS), and choose the Remove Marquee
command in the appearing context menu.
✓ Begin drawing a new Marquee.
✓ Double-click in the window outside the marquee area with the Marquee tool selected.
If you have explicitly selected further elements within the Marquee, pressing Esc will deselect these
elements in reverse order, and finally remove the Marquee.
If you choose another tool, the Marquee area will not be removed, in order to save the recent
Marquee area for further use.
Saving the Marquee Area as PDF or DWG
When saving a project view in PDF or DWG format, you may use the Marquee to delimit the part
you wish to save.
After placing the Marquee, use the Save As... PDF or Save As... DWG command as usual. Only
the Marquee area will be saved to the file, rather than the entire window contents.

Origins in ArchiCAD
✓ In ArchiCAD, as in any coordinate system, all measurements are made in reference to an origin.
✓ The location of the origin is always interpreted as (0, 0).
✓ ArchiCAD defines three coordinate system origins:

Project Origin
The Project Origin is a constant location which remains fixed for the life of your Project. The Project
Origin of the coordinate system, marked with an X, is close to the lower left corner of the Floor Plan
window, when using the default view of the default template. (The Coordinates Palette shows the
coordinates as (0, 0).
In Floor Plan and other 2D views, the origin is always marked by a bold X.

In 3D Views, the origins and their X, Y and Z axes are displayed with bold black lines.
User Origin
✓ The User Origin is the place at which element input begins.
✓ By default, the User Origin is located at the Project Origin.
✓ The User Origin can be moved to any location, allowing you to “reset the zero point” to any
location. This is often helpful when you need to draw elements with respect to existing walls,
slabs or other components.

Reposition User Origin

There are 3 ways to move the User Origin:
1) At any node by using the keyboard. Hold down both the Alt and Shift keys (MacOS: Opt + Shift)
and move the cursor to the construction node where you want the origin located.
2) At any location by using the User Origin button from the Standard toolbar (or the
Coordinates palette, if it is displayed).

3) Use a Snap Reference point as the User Origin:

When you snap to a Snap Guide during input, the User Origin is automatically relocated to
the nearest Snap Reference point. A Temporary blue X appears, indicating the User Origin
for the current input.

✓ Click the User Origin button, then click at any point in the window. The origin is instantly
relocated there.
✓ Now your new element input will begin at this newly set User Origin
✓ To return the User Origin to the Project Origin, double-click the User Origin button in the
Standard Toolbar.
 Line Types
Line Types

Type: Example: Application: (thickness)

Line types are assigned to each ArchiCAD construction element in its own Tool Settings dialog box,
depending on the element type.
For example, when defining how a Column should be displayed in a 2D window, you will apply different
line types for its core outline, for its overhead display and for its crossing symbol.
The line types available in the element Settings dialog boxes are defined and managed as the
project’s Line Type attributes, in Options > Element Attributes > Line Types.
Use the Line Types Dialog Box to modify the standard line types (solid, dotted, dashed, etc.) and
define customized line types.

Drawing a Single Straight Line Segment

To draw a single straight Line segment, choose the Line tool in the Toolbox and the Single Line
geometry method in the Info Box.

The Line segment is defined by clicking at its two endpoints.

Note: This CAD-like drawing method is the default method for drawing segments in
ArchiCAD, but you can change it in Options > Work Environment > Mouse Constraints &
Methods.

Drawing Arcs and Full Circles

To draw an arc or a full circle, choose the Arc/Circle tool in the Toolbox and one of the Geometry
Methods offered by the first icon in the Info Box (Centerpoint, Three Points or Tangent Point).

• Centerpoint and radius

✓ Click to define centerpoint.
✓ Move the cursor to define the radius, then click a second time.
✓ Move the cursor to draw the length of the arc, then click to complete.
 ✓ Note: To draw a full circle, double-click when defining its radius.

• Circumference
✓ Click on three points of the arc’s circumference (e.g. other elements or intersections, or special snap
points).
✓ Click a fourth time to define the length of the arc.

• Tangential: Define a full circle based on three tangential edges or points.

✓ Select three initial points: these can be a tangent edge, a node, or a free-floating point.
The next step depends on the geometric situation.
✓ If there is only one solution, the circle is automatically drawn.
✓ If there are multiple solutions, the Eyeball cursor appears and the ghost contour of the arc flips from
one position to the other as you move the cursor around. Click when it is at the right place to
complete the circle.
✓ If there is no solution, (for example, if you define three parallel edges for tangency), no circle will
be made.

Drawing Polylines and Chained Lines

The difference between the two options is the result they produce.
✓ Polylines are single elements drawn using the Polyline tool.
✓ Chained lines are a set of connected line segments drawn with the Line tool. Each line segment is
a separate element, although they can be grouped before or after they are created.
✓ To group a chained line, activate the Edit > Grouping > Autogroup command before you
start to draw Chained lines, or select the set of Chained lines you have drawn and activate
the Edit > Grouping > Group command.
✓ To draw a Polyline, choose a geometry method for the Polyline tool: Polyline method, Rectangle
method or Rotated Rectangle method.

✓ To draw a Chained line, choose a geometry method for the Line tool: Chained method,
Rectangle method, or Rotated Rectangle method.
 Sections

✓ The Section tool is used to place a Section marker.

✓ To generate a Section, you draw a Section line on the Floor Plan and place a Section source
marker, which generates a new viewpoint in ArchiCAD.

Create a Section Viewpoint

✓ To create a section with its source in the model, you must place a section marker on the Floor Plan.
(This is a “source” section marker.)
1. Activate the Section tool.
2. In the Info Box or Section Default Settings, make sure that “Create new section viewpoint” is
selected.

3. Choose an input method (either Straight Line or Staggered Line) from the Info Box and draw a
Section line on the Floor Plan.

✓ Straight line: click twice to define each end of the line.

✓ Staggered line: click as many times as needed to define each segment of the Section line.
Double-click to complete the input line. The Eyeball cursor appears.
4. With the eyeball cursor, click on either side of the line to set the orientation of the Section. The place
where you click also defines the Section’s limit line, if you have chosen a “Limited” horizontal
range in Section Tool Settings.

Create a Fillet or Chamfer

Use the Edit > Reshape > Fillet/Chamfer command to fillet or chamfer the intersection of two straight
lines or walls, or the corner(s) of a polygon element.
To open the Fillet/Chamfer dialog box:
✓ Select the two lines, or the polygon element.
 ✓ Choose the Edit > Reshape > Fillet/Chamfer command, or
✓ if the selected element is a polygon, choose the Fillet/Chamfer icon from the pet palette.

Choose either Fillet or Chamfer:

• Fillet joins the endpoints of two straight segments endpoints with an Arc.
• Chamfer joins the endpoints of two straight segments with a straight segment, cutting off
corners.

✓ Enter a radius for the fillet/chamfer. (The chamfer does not have a radius, but it will be drawn
as the chord of arcs of the specified radius.)
✓ Click OK.
Note: The Fillet, Chamfer and Intersect commands are not effective on grouped elements,
unless Suspend Groups is on.

Trimming Elements to Intersection Point(s)

You can trim an element by simply removing the part extending beyond its intersection point with another
element, or even cut out a part of the element between two intersection points. Trimmable elements
are: Walls, Beams, Lines, Circles, Arcs, Polyline and Splines.
To trim an element take the following steps:
✓ Choose the Edit > Reshape > Trim command, or press the Ctrl (Windows)
✓ The Scissors cursor appears. Move it to a trimmable element and click the segment you want to
trim.
Note: In the 3D window, you can also click on a Wall or Beam surface for trimming.
✓ The clicked part of the element between the two nearest intersection points will be deleted. For
example, here we will trim part of the beam - the part that falls between the first two walls
on the left.
Roofs
✓ Choose either the Single-plane or Multi-plane construction method to create a Roof element
✓ The Multi-plane Roof is a single element despite its multiple planes.
✓ When you edit one of the planes, the rest of the planes automatically are automatically adjusted to
the new geometry. You can edit each plane separately, changing its pitch or surface as needed.
✓ A Multi-plane Roof can be split up into Single-plane Roofs: select the Multi-plane Roof and use the
Edit > Reshape > Split into Single-plane Roofs command.

Roof Pitch
✓ The Roof Pitch is measured from the pivot line.
✓ The Roof Pitch value is also shown in the Info Box.
Create a Single-plane Roof on the Floor Plan
1. Select the Roof Tool. In Roof Settings or the Info Box, adjust the main roof parameters (e.g. pitch,
surfaces).
2. Choose the Single-plane construction method from the Info Box or from Roof Settings.
3. Choose one of the three geometry methods in the Info Box (Polygon, Rectangle, Rotated
Rectangle)

4. On the Floor Plan, click twice to define the Roof’s pivot line.
In most cases, you will want the pivot line of the roof to coincide with a wall Reference Line
or a slab edge.

5. Draw the pivot line.

6. After you draw the pivot line, a cursor in the form of an Eyeball will appear. Use this cursor to click on
the side of the pivot line where you want the roof plane to rise (or, in the case of a negative roof
pitch, slope downward).
7. Draw the contour of the roof by clicking on each of the new roof’s nodes. Or use the Magic Wand:
click on an existing element to serve as the p attern for the roof’s contour.

Create a Multi-plane Roof

On the Floor Plan or 3D Window:
1. Select the Roof Tool. In Roof Settings or the Info Box, adjust the main roof parameters (e.g.
pitch, surfaces, eaves overhang).
2. Choose the Multi-plane method from the Info Box or from Roof Settings.
3. Choose one of the construction Methods from the Info Box:
▪ Complex
 ▪ Hip
▪ Gable
▪ Rotated Hip
▪ Rotated Gable

4. Start drawing the pivot polygon of the multi-plane roof - usually, along the outline of your building
structure.
5. Close the polygon to complete the Multi-plane roof.

6. Alternatively, use the Magic Wand (space+click) on an existing Wall to instantly place the pivot
polygon and the resulting Multi-plane roof.
The result is a single roof element, consisting of multiple planes. You can further edit the roof plane by
plane (for example, assign a custom surface or pitch to any plane), but the roof always remains a
single element.

Hip Roof
1. Draw the Floor Plan outline of your building (i.e. external walls).
2. Activate the Roof Tool, and use the Multi-plane Construction method and the Hip geometry
method.

3. In Roof Settings, adjust the main roof parameters (e.g. pitch, eaves overhang)
4. Click twice to place the rectangle-shaped pivot line of the Roof, or use the Magic Wand
(Space+click) on the edge of the Wall outline to quickly create a Multi-plane roof.
5. The created Roof is a single, Multi-plane roof element.

Gable Roof
1. Draw the Floor Plan outline of your building (i.e. external walls).
2. Activate the Roof Tool, and use the Multi-plane construction method and the rectangular
Gable geometry method (this is found in the pop-up next to the Hip geometry method).

3. In Roof Settings, adjust the main roof parameters (e.g. pitch, eaves overhang)
4. Click twice to place the rectangle-shaped pivot line of the Roof.

5. The created Gable roof is a single, Multi-plane roof element.

Change a Roof Plane into a Gable
Use this method to make any roof plane of a Multi-plane roof into a gable.
In the 3D window:
1. Select the Multi-plane roof.
2. Find the pivot line on the roof plane that you want to change into a gable.
3. Click to bring up the Pet Palette, and choose the Custom Plane Settings option.

Another way:
1. In the 3D window, select the endpoint of the roof ridge.
2. From the Pet Palette, use the Stretch Horizontal Ridge option to drag the ridge endpoint until
the plane on that end becomes vertical. (The cursor will snap to the vertical position to make this
easy.)

The roof plane then becomes a gable.

Trim Elements to Roof or Shell

The Trim to Roof/Shell command allows you to connect Roofs or Shells with each other or with other
model elements in any ArchiCAD model window. The result is a more complex structure whose
elements are trimmed precisely to each other, although they remain separate elements. Elements
trimmed to each other using this command will also be merged, and will intersect based on their
skins intersection priorities.
The trimming element is always either a Roof or a Shell. A Roof or Shell can trim any model element
(e.g. Wall, Beam, Column).

Trimming walls with roofs

Your task is to change the height of the 3 walls that will fill the gable end of each roof, then trim the

walls using the roofs as a cutting plane:

1. Open the 3D window, orbit to the west side of the house and select the west wall of the garage.
2. With the wall selected, go to the Info Box palette and change the Top setting to 3. Roof. Use the
following image as a guide:

3. Right-click on wall (the wall is still selected), from the right-click menu
select Connect… | Trim Elements to Roof/Shell.
a. Click on the roof over the garage to use it as your trim element.
b. Click on the lower portion of the wall to select what part to keep.
c. Click on a blank area of the screen to complete the command.

3 DIMENSIONAL DRAWING
Metric projections
1. Isometric: Receding lines drawn at 30º and are usually kept at true measured
lengths.

Oblique: Front face sketched as a true shape. Starts with two axes, one horizontal,
one vertical. The third axis is usually drawn at 45º and lengths are reduced by 50%
of true lengths. Sometimes called 'cabinet' projection.
Axonometric: a geometric drawing of an object, such as a building, in three
dimensions showing the verticals and horizontals projected to scale but with
diagonals and curves distorted, so that the whole appears inclined.

Axonometric:
Axonometric projections are parallel projections onto an oblique plane. Axonometric
projections have the advantage that they give a pictorial view of the object, yet
dimensions are measurable.

ArchiCAD can display parallel (axonometric) projections and perspectives.

Axonometric projections automatically show the entire model in the center of your
view.

Perspectives
Perspectives are defined by a viewpoint and a specific target.
Interior perspective: Perspective inside the building.
Exterior perspective: Perspective view outside the building

3D Projection Settings
Go to View > 3D View Options > 3D Projection Settings, or open this dialog box
from the Mini-Navigator’s pop-up menu.
The name and contents of the dialog box depend on the projection type:
• Parallel Projection Settings or
• Perspective Projection Settings.
You can easily switch from one settings dialog to the other with the button at the top
right corner.

The projections you define here remain valid only until the next time you open the
dialog box and modify them.

Commands available from View > 3D View Options:

3D Visualization toolbar:

Mini-Navigator toolbar:

Navigator Palette:

Rendering

✓ It is the process of translating the designer's ideas into visual representations.

✓ It is an important early step toward realizing a building.
✓ It requires skills that were traditionally related to hand drawing and painting.
✓ Good visualization is based on considering viewpoints, colors, light, shapes, and other basic graphic
 concepts.

Is the process of making the 3D model drawing more photorealistic.

It encompasses all the calculations necessary to transform 3D models into images

Materials
Building Materials in ArchiCAD consist of two components.
1) The Cut Fill is a 2D representation of the material, which will appear in floor plans and
sections when the element is cut.
2) The Surface is a 3D representation of the same material, which will define the look of the
element in sections, elevations, 3D documents, and 3D views when the element is not cut as
well as in renderings.
You can access the Building Materials settings by navigating to Options > Element >Attributes >
Building Materials.

Texture, Light and colour

✓ Surface refers to the visual qualities of the element's surface in different views when the
element is not cut.
✓ The Surface settings define what kind of texture will be assigned to the element and how it will
interact with light.
✓ You can access the Surface Settings dialog by navigating to Options > Element Attributes >
Surfaces.
✓ In the Surface Settings dialog, you can adjust the colour and exposure settings in the
Exposure to Light area.
✓ You can select an image file as a texture map and adjust the surface qualities in the Texture
area.
✓ You can select a fill in the Vectorial Hatching area, which will be displayed in sections,
elevations, 3D Documents, and 3D views when the Internal Engine is used to project the model.
For example, you can assign a brick pattern fill here for a brick material and the lines of the
brick pattern will be displayed on an elevation.

Landscape

✓ The basic ArchiCAD library includes objects that are designed to add the details of the building's
surroundings.
✓ You can select these objects under 2. VISUALIZATION > 2.2 Site Improvements in the
library.
✓ Plants, people, and vehicles are helpful in visually clarifying the scale of the building.
✓ The human eye can naturally relate to the scale of these elements and in return relate to the
scale of the building that is adjacent to them.
✓ You can find people models under 2. VISUALIZATION >2.3 Site People and Vehicles > People
✓ vehicles under 2. VISUALIZATION > 2.3 Site People and Vehicles > Vehicles in the basic
ArchiCAD library

Light
For exterior images, you can adjust the position of the sun as the main light source in the 3D
Projection Settings dialog.
You can access the 3D Projection Settings dialog by navigating to View > 3D View Options > 3D
Projection Settings.