Editing Wall Heads

[FrancisS]

Hi All,

I'm trying again to complete a small job or my mother in law and have started work on Vectorworks 2010 again, and again finding myself wish I'd never bought it (apologies for the negativity). I haven't yet managed to finish anything in it.

I have had consistent issues joining walls, but have now resorted to only making walls with part of the build up to avoid issues when joining different wall types.

Now I have tried to fit these walls to my roof plane. The roof is on a separate Layer, the Z of the roof layer is well above the wall Z & +/-Z. I have seen a couple of forum posts with similar issues, but no real solution. Creating wall peaks tool with 3d reshape does not let me edit the jagged points on the join.

I have attached three pictures of what happens, an overview of the model and a plan to give you an idea of the wall buildup. The wall build-up is not complete as I intend to add cladding to one face separately.

Obviously I would like to use the wall types as they work well for 2d plans, but can't understand why it won't fit to the roof plan evenly. The result is jagged, with mis-matching planes on the corner. Should i give up on all the fancy walls (the reason for buying a BIM program) and just model it in solid objects? Is there a way out of this hole?

I can probably hide the issues in the 2d projections when I output the drawings but would dearly love to know what I am doing wrong. I feel like buying Sketchup and using Layout at the moment :-( .

Again apologies for the negativity, but having spent so long working in Microstation in my office I can't believe how hard relatively things seem to be with Vectorworks, especially when they some of the more unique features.

Regards,

Francis

[Peter van der Elst]

Walltops will always be cut horizontally from the inside of the wall to the outside of the wall, so a sloped top (from inside of a wall to the outside of the wall) is not possible... That's why there's jagged corners... I haven't got a solution for that, I'm sorry (or buy ArchiCAD or Revit..)

[CipesDesign]

FWIW, it is entirely possible to create a wall which is shaped the way it would be in the real world. It requires using the Fit To command with accurately shaped "roof" objects. In the example shown, I have created an Extruded rafter (with a "seat cut"), then used that as the Fit To object. I created the rafter in Side View, using 2d shapes, then extruded it to cover the entire area of the walls...

[FrancisS]

Hi Guys,

@Peter - Thanks for taking the time to reply. The ragged edge is becuse I have joined the walls. I think I need to create a nominal return to "close" the gable wall before joining the side. I will try this and hope it gives me a nice cut line.

@Cipesdesign - Again, thanks for taking the time to reply. I see what you have done, as noted above, I think my expectations of the wall behaviour were a little different.

In your example, have you used a wall style with a component build up, or a simple shape?

Can I also assume from your example that you have formed the corner with the gable wall, and the side is "just" an infill and not involved in the corner return?

Regards,

Francis

[FrancisS]

@Cipesdesign

Having had a play with this, I think I understand what you are saying better. The minimum wall return appears to be the wall thickness, so I understand what your rafter what did now. You have effectively created a wall "peak" line in the gable that has held the corner down and flat.Might try that too, add a "leak" line to bring it level.

Regards,

Francis

[VincentCuclair]

You can even create wall types the are 'stepped on top' if you want them to follow the slope of the roof in a better fashion:

Edited March 26, 2013 by Vincent C

[FrancisS]

Hi Vincent

Thanks for the update. That is quite interesting for when I get as far as a more detailed model.

Regards

Francis