Transcript of the video “Introduction to the ArchiFrame demo series”
(00:00) Hello, and welcome to this series of ArchiFrame video tutorials!
(00:05) In this video, I’m going to show you what you need before you start working on your ArchiFrame project. I’ll also give you an overview of the structures we will be building with ArchiFrame over the course of this series of tutorials.
(00:18) Here, I have an ArchiCad model of a demo house, which will serve as a base for all that follows. During this series of tutorials, I will model all the structures of this house using AF.
(00:31) The demo house file is available to ArchiFrame users in the Archiframe → Samples folder. The file named ArchiFrameSample2016 contains all the ArchiFrame structures, while the ArchiFrameSample2016_architect only contains the ArchiCAD model. With these files, you can model the same structures as we have done in the tutorials.
(00:53) The first step in modeling ArchiFrame structures is making sure that your ArchiCAD model is accurate. It is important that walls, floors and roofs are located at the correct heights and join together neatly. For example, this part here, where two roofs going in different directions meet, might be difficult to model without leaving gaps or overlaps between the different pieces.
(01:17) If you’re having trouble with this particular part, I recommend you watch this Youtube video, which I found very helpful.
(01:25) Another key aspect of the ArchiCAD model is the thickness of different elements. The thickness of elements such as walls, floors and roofs should be set up with their structure in mind.
(01:37) This is easiest to do by using the ArchiCAD composite element types tool. The tool can be found in the options menu by going to element attributes and composites. For example here, I’ve set up a type for my exterior wall, so the wall consists of plaster on the inside, some studding, framing, insulation and the external cladding.
(02:03) If you go to the floor plan view, you can then see the different layers inside the wall. So for example here I can measure the framing layer of my wall and I can see that it is indeed 173 mm thick.
(02:17) Using composite types is very useful when you place your ArchiFrame elements. You can check that your ArchiFrame elements are in the correct position, and that your ArchiFrame model is consistent with your ArchiCAD model.
(02:30) So these are the ArchiFrame planks. I’ll show them in 3D just to make it more clear – so it’s just the framing in the wall. And you can see that the planks are indeed in the right position and that they are also 173 mm thick.
(02:52) Note that the ArchiFrame wall doesn’t need to be consistent with the ArchiCAD wall. So it can be for example thicker than the ArchiCAD wall.
(03:02) Next, I’ll give you a quick tour of all the ArchiFrame structures that we will be modeling in the upcoming tutorials. Let’s start with the wall structure since we already had a look at wall framing.
(03:14) Here, I have an ArchiCAD model with no ArchiFrame elements visible. Notice that if I hide the ArchiCAD wall, all the walls disappear, so the wall is just a single element with no layers inside it. Now I’ll turn on the ArchiFrame structures.
(03:32) First of all, we see that whereas the cladding before was just a 2D texture, we now have 3D cladding made by AF. Another change is that the wall is no longer made of just a single object, but many different layers.
(03:46) So now it’s possible to hide the cladding, in which case studding and other layers inside the wall will be revealed in 3D. So here you can see the wall studding in 3D, and we have two layers of vertical studding. Now I’ll hide the first layer of studding, and now you can see the other layer. Now you can see the exterior boarding. If I hide that, you can see the framing. And if I hide the framing, the interior boarding is revealed. And after that, there’s nothing left.
(04:35) Next, let’s take a look the roof structure. As you can see here, our roof consists of two layers: a top layer and a thicker bottom layer.
(04:48) The bottom layer contains plaster on the inside, some timber, fiberboard, insulation (this is the layer where the main roof rafters are), some more fiberboard and some air space. Inside the air space we also have thinner roof rafters supporting the top layer of the roof.
(05:06) The top layer, on the other hand, just has some plywood, a bit of insulation and the exterior material.
(05:18) I’ll turn on a different layer combination so you can see the ArchiCAD walls and some of the ArchiFrame structures that support the roof. So as you can see, this top layer of the roof has to be bigger than the bottom layer because it makes up the eaves of the roof.
(05:32) In this view, you can also see these relatively thin roof rafters that hold up the top layer of the roof.
(05:41) Now I’ll turn on the framing layer combination to show you how the roof is held up. So here we have the wall framing. And as you can see, the roof’s I-beams rest on top of the top plate. And on top of the I-beams, we have these smaller roof rafters that hold up the top layer of the roof. And we also have these extra small roof rafters in some parts to hold up the eaves of the roof.
(06:08) Finally, we also have a ridge beam. The I-beams that intersect with the ridge beam are cut so that there are no overlaps. So they’re grooved around the ridge beam.
(06:23) Now I’ll still turn on the top layer of the roof to make it more clear. So this is what it looks like.
(06:37) In this view, you can also see some of the weather boards and covering boards that I haven’t showed you before. So around windows, we always have weather boards, like this. And below eaves, we also have covering boards, like these pieces here. I will also show you how to model these pieces in the upcoming tutorials.
(07:01) Next, let’s have a look at the floor. So our floor consists mainly of I-beams which are 360 mm tall. And below these I-beams, we also have some studding to support the ceiling below. It would also be possible to model the floor finishing or floor planks above the I-beams.
(07:24) Next, let’s look at the structures in section view. So here again we have these top roof rafters, thicker bottom roof rafters, a ridge beam, cover boards, the exterior wall structure the interior wall structure, the floor and a similar structure in the ground level.
(07:48) Finally, I’ll show you some ArchiFrame elevation drawings. ArchiFrame creates and maintains these drawings automatically. They work in the same way as ArchiCAD elevations but have some additional features like automatic cut lists and dimension lines. So here, for example, we have a wall elevation.
(08:09) So that’s it for this tutorial. Here are some useful links if you need help with ArchiCAD modeling. Thank you!
Helpful links:
– Archicad construction elements (walls, roofs, slabs, columns) – http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-19/archicad-19-int-reference-guide/elements-of-the-virtual-building-2/construction-elements/
– Archicad composite structures – http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-18/archicad-18-int-reference-guide/configuration/attributes/composite-structures/
– Trimming Archicad walls with roofs – http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-17-guides/archicad-17-int-reference-guide/virtual-building/construction-elements/trim-elements-to-roof-or-shell/
– Intersecting Archicad roofs – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7W-T6T0JUelements-to-roof-or-shell/
– Archicad training manuals – http://www.graphisoft.com/learning/training-materials/