The Global Archicad Community

[Djordje]

I know, but tracing sometimes isn't so simple and if I magic-wand it I get the whole slab. Once I did a Disney store which didn't have a single straight shelf, all were radial + they were different at every level (3 levels)... Tracing was, let's say, a bit of a pain in the b...

Hmmmm ... have to meet you at last ... inshallah ...

[Djordje]

Matthew Lohden wrote:

Is there a reason that Drag > press option/alt to copy > type "r" > enter distance doesn't work for you?

this is inaccurate as the distance becomes whatever you dragged plus "r" distance input.

Not if you keep the cursor on the reference point/edge.

Otherwise, use realtive coordinates (+, - ...)

[Donald Mac Donald]

Djordje wrote


Not if you keep the cursor on the reference point/edge.

Otherwise, use realtive coordinates (+, - ...)


that is what i was trying to say. There is no drag aspect. only select and at point of selection mouse down and hit option.

I'll repeat my minority opinion. the offset functions can be made simpler and more intuitive. There are too many buttons/settings to click.

donald mac donald
[/b]

[Paul King]

THe ability to copy-offset an individual arc or ellipse is sorely needed. Space click is only useful if the ends of original arc are not touching anything.

Rather than switching techniques, it should be possible when copying a series of lines that when you happen to select an arced or elliptical line, that the radius simply changes according to distance moved - that way work flow is consistant between lines & arcs - which are after all the same kind of entity in the way they are used

[Balazs Simonyi]

Already added to wishlist as
"Single/Multiple Offset command"

Balazs

[Keith JAW]

Sorry to enter this debate belatedly, but I was about to add a simple offset command as a 'wish'.

Those people who don't seem to understand the problem, clearly haven't tried Autocad. The offset command is one of the easiest and most useful tools in the palette!

4 things bug me about the offset constraint in AC:
1. You've got to be in 'line' or 'arc' mode to offset
2. If you try and offset a group comprising lines and arcs, and you're not in 'arc' mode when you do it, your offset arcs end up as a mass of tiny straight lines.
3. You can't offset polylines.
4. You've got to enter the offset dimension every time, preceeded by that 'R' thing.

[TomWaltz]

Keith has a point.

There is a fundamentl difference between AutoCAD and Archicad Offset commands.

Autocad offset offsets a single object. Archicad's offset is a drawing method when you are already in a command. It almost seems semantic, but it is a key difference.

[Djordje]

Keith has a point.

There is a fundamentl difference between AutoCAD and Archicad Offset commands.

Autocad offset offsets a single object. Archicad's offset is a drawing method when you are already in a command. It almost seems semantic, but it is a key difference.

Agreed.

Another key difference - and the one that seems to me Keith does not realize - that the ArchiCAD offset is NOT geared towards lines. Think polygons.

And yes, you can offset polylines (at least in 9, don't remember 8.x)

[Keith JAW]

Djorde's comments made me go back and try the 'offset' tool again.

I think Donald MacDonald hit the nail on the head back in September when he wrote: "the directions in the manual for how to offset are completely un-understandable".

I'm still very confused, and have mixed success when I try. For example, assuming you're trying to offset an element which has already been drawn. surely you don't have to 'trace' the element you want to offset? I usually select the group and switch on the 'offset' button, then the magic wand, then specify the distance. When I tried this with polylines, the selection dots disappear after selecting the magic wand. Then (magically!) I discovered the magic wand would operate without having first selected the polyline. However the resulting offset was a bit unexpected, forming a closed polygon from an open-ended polyline!

I did, however, discover that arcs no longer offset as groups of tiny line if you have line mode selected, which is what happened in previous releases.

Why is it all so complicated?

Archicad may well be oriented towards offsetting polygons (which Autocad also does very nicely, thankyou), but this doesn't help when trying to draw site layouts (or shouldn't one attempt this sort of thing in AC?)

[Donald Mac Donald]

the offset issue leads to a larger one i believe. in any new cad program i've ever used after fooling around for a while the user gets serious in terms of how do i use this program and the 1 question they will ask is how do i set a point a known distance from another. Its the basics of cadd.

Now go to the Archicad manual and that explanation is for the most part not there. In fact most of the ways decribed in this thread for how to offset someting are not in the manual, or if they are its just the skimpiest of explanations.

I repeat, in my opinion the offset command is, in practice, not simple and, i find, unreliable. And why can't you offset a single line?

donald mac donald