Fundamental concepts of quickly modeling 3D architecture?

[sb56637]

Hi there, I've done mechanical 3D parametric modeling for years, so I'm fairly proficient in the core concepts for using FreeCAD and other similar tools in that field. But now I'm trying to sketch up a quick 3D architectural floor plan, and I get the impression that I'm not understanding some core concept, or maybe I'm going about it the wrong way.

What is the quickest way to create interior walls (i.e. make rooms in a house) without having to specifically worry about aligning wall thicknesses and offsets? For example, in my attached model, it feels like there must be an easier way to make "wall02" line up with "wall01" to the left, and then completely merge into the angled wall at the right. What is the easiest way to use existing walls as reference geometry for new walls, without worrying about which way the wall is offset or finding the center baseline of every wall?



Thanks a ton!

[Joyas]

I think that the best way is to draw a sketch with all walltraces, and then, draw the walls using that sketch.

It is the methot that I am using now wth a small house.

[sb56637]

I think that the best way is to draw a sketch with all walltraces, and then, draw the walls using that sketch.

It is the methot that I am using now wth a small house.

Thanks for the reply.

So I tried your suggestion, putting the basic floorplan in a sketch, and then selecting the sketch and creating a wall from it. This is what happened:



For some reason, it refuses to create walls for one of the rooms. Not sure why? I'm attaching the new model.

Thanks!

[NormandC]

If I simply force a recompute of the document, the missing wall appears.

[sb56637]

If I simply force a recompute of the document, the missing wall appears.

Hmm, interesting find, thanks. Yours does indeed show all the walls. I tried a recompute on my copy of the document, but for some reason it doesn't fix it. I'm running:

OS: "openSUSE Tumbleweed"
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.17.13541 (Git) AppImage
Build type: None
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-17
Hash: 9948ee4f1570df9216862a79705afb367b2c6ffb
Python version: 2.7.6
Qt version: 4.8.6
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)

[NormandC]

You're right, it doesn't work for me either on 0.17.13541. I've been using v0.18-dev for quite a while now, it's pretty stable, and its development is coming to a close.

Recompute works on
OS: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.15188 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: master
Hash: de074ec4f37ee8baf4c268a3bc528f4bddf8ac15
Python version: 2.7.15rc1
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: French/Canada (fr_CA)

[paullee]

Try search the forum abou ArchWall on Sketch, there are discussions and way Yorik tackling it.

Yorik change some codes and it seems 0.18 works better - though i do not why it's like throwing dice, recompute sometime give you something incomplete - suspected the 'process' is terminated 'half0way' as it takes too long? Pure speculation.

And in sketch for ArcWall:-

- Prevent 3 or more edges joining to same vertex
- Avoid lines(wire) from 'self-intersecting'
- ArchWall on Sketch export to IFC is problematic

Hope it help

[sb56637]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies!

[vocx]

But now I'm trying to sketch up a quick 3D architectural floor plan, and I get the impression that I'm not understanding some core concept, or maybe I'm going about it the wrong way.

I think using Sketches to draw the underlying wall traces is pretty easy. However, when creating an Arch Wall, it may have some issues. However, I haven't experienced many issues if you instead use the Draft tools. The Draft workbench allow you to create 2D lines and wires that you can turn into Walls. This works most of the time. Changing the size of the wires is a bit more complicated, as you cannot just define the length of the lines; you need to change the points that make the wire. The best way to do this is with a grid, and snapping to points in that grid. It's a bit more elaborate but works better in my opinion. Once you become proficient with Draft, you can align your walls relatively quickly.

https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Tutoria ... en_windows

The Arch developer also developed Draft so both workbenches work together quite nicely. As you probably realized the Arch workbench has all the tools of the Draft workbench as well.

I am not sure, but I think when you use a Sketch, what happens internally is that there is a conversion Sketch-Draft. So, instead of doing that, it may be better to use Draft directly.

[Joyas]

I have done these days a small house. I have used multimaterial walls and some furniture. The walls were made using the method of "master sketch + many slave sketchs".