ARCON User Guide - 3D Architect Home Designer
Contents
1. r Roof Editor 5 2 39 0 P Piti Ps cd Yes Display all details Wood construction Wood dimensions General Change roof side Bl E Arinae tation Roof side Details eS ee Cancel Roof side type Preview man Help c c el C Roof side simple I With diag pi N fo 500 mm ht 837 mm pt 38 Deg I hi 2 jo 0 Round i Assistant b 13 JL l fal Roof over all buildings B 1 As you can see the layout of the Advanced Roof Editor varies greatly from the Simple Roof Editor Here the 3D preview becomes more important as it enables us to select which part of the roof we are using and therefore changing The active roof surface is highlighted in red At the top of the dialog box directly above the 3D preview we can see two arrow buttons pointing left and right n weno no 2222 1 Pit ar uem 6 g C Display all details Wood construction Wood dimensions General Change roof side 5 IV Animate rotation Roof side Details 2 Cancel Roof side type Roof side simple Preview aae EM Help a y a E ay 4 VW With diag pi fo 500 mm m 837 mm pi F8 Deg h1 2 0 T m D p Round M 0 Assistant Roof over all buildings Clicking on either of these buttons will rotate the model in the 3D preview and change which of the2. Dake a 482 Big Qk amp Arte e pz ER ee TIM Sonate k ml an EM an n Je EN E a gt i B E f IM Z Aic je H Pj 21 ARCON User Guide 8 10 11 12 18 14 15 Having placed both a Vertical Guideline and a Horizontal Guideline we have created a reference point from which we can measure all of the dimensions needed to create the footprint of the building We will now place Guidelines at all of the ends of the measurements that we know to create an accurate scaled plan of the building To place our first known measurement we will use the Set Distance Parallel Guideline Select this from the left hand toolbar by clicking on the icon BLOOM The Set Distance Parallel Guideline differs from the standard Vertical and Horizontal Guidelines that we have already placed in that it requires a reference point to measure from To place our Set Distance Parallel Guideline we need to move the cursor back onto our page Move your cursor towards the Vertical Guideline we placed earlier As you move your cursor close to this guide the cursor will snap to the guide which will then highlight N B the highlight colour will depend upon the guideline colour The highlight colour for black is white so the guide will effectively disappear To select the Vertical Guideline as our reference with the mouse cursor highlighting this guide left click This locks
3. OK icu D 8 Cancel Symbol radius 1000 g m Set Default Help 3 With the Compass set correctly toggle back into Design Mode 4 We now need to set the time and location to show the sun position 5 Move the mouse to the top toolbar and locate the Day icon 6 Hovering over this icon reveals options for Day Night and Variable Time of Day Left click on Variable Time of Day to select it 7 With Variable Time of Day selected right click on the icon to navigate to the options screen On the dialog box that opens click the Advanced button 8 We can now see that the a dialog box opens containing variables which can be adjusted to select the location of the property and the date and time we wish to use to calculate the sun position 63 ARCON User Guide 10 11 12 18 Location zi o Timezone Country UNITED KINGDOM r Camel City Aldershot England X Set Default Longitude x a IE E p m Help Latitude Scan 51 IN Nort Local time 2 March y 2017 at IE a 3d Hours Summer time IE A Light properties 30 Constant Define s Influence of the sun on the background 50 g 1st January 31st December The drop down boxes allow for selection of location by Country and nearest City More accurate calculations will be presented if you use the Longitude and Latitude of the actual plot property this can be located on mapping services such as
4. sssenenenee enn 12 OpenmPEoject us i RI tertie d 12 Save Projection etm ae tied re a cl a EE eH tent 13 2D COnstruction Modes oca teh tfe eq ite eM p chaste 13 3D Design Mode 352 iioi peperit pep ea ebenen 13 New Prol8ct T ERR RERUM REED RES 14 Optional Changes to ARCON ins 15 Backups c x Rd hte er a 15 Tutorial Getting Started in ARCON inner 17 Gr ating a New Project iiss nine eerte eder eee Lecta rende lues 17 Entering Measurements isiyi aanne a eene nnne nnne nnns 19 Adding the Walls 2 ee einen 23 Inserting Doors amp Windows uuusssssnnnensennnnenennnnnnnnnnnen nennen meer 26 Pl eing a St ircase iode nte nitus muitis e nium 29 Additional Floors finite en AS AN Ain t det 32 Adding a Roof to the Building 36 Editing the Roof 2 2 Heel 42 Roof Editor Simple Roof Type 42 Roof Editor Advanced Roof Editor 44 Roof Features Dormer Windows eem 47 Roof Features Skylights and Velux Windows 51 Adding Solar Panels and Other Objects 54 Gopying Objects Hm ar ERE ned 60 Adding Textures eoe enregistre 60 Viewing Shadow Detail and Sun Positioning 62 Online Support Documents ini 65 ARCON User Guide Welcome Welcome This guide has been created for users of all levels and is ideal for anyone new to ARCON experienced users looking for some suggested methods or for prospective users who want to see
5. EL NM Move you cursor between the swing options to highlight the required option in red Once you have chosen the appropriate opening side left click to finish and place the Window You can now repeat these steps for your remaining Windows or copy this process to place Doors simply substituting the Window Type with a chosen Door Type Placing a Staircase Once your ground floor is complete it is likely that your building will be multi storey We will need to add additional floors to the building shortly but first we will add a staircase to link the floors together Within ARCON we can define numerous styles of staircase from the available options and we retain full control of depth width number of steps and even the start and end heights These are all fully adjustable meaning complex stair configurations can be created For the majority of cases however a simple floor to floor staircase is all that is required This basic guide covers placing a single staircase to link two floors 29 ARCON User Guide 1 To begin we first need to select the Staircase type that we want to use 2 We can select the Staircase by hovering the cursor over the Stairs icon on the left hand toolbar This opens the fly out menu which shows the Staircase options available E e 7 amp 8 b m EB PI m mI Pier PP 3 The Staircases are formed into two columns These represent the construction type either timber or concrete The Stairca
6. measurements for the guidelines as the dormer requires you to place the external walls 47 I BDD DE Flat Dormer Pitched Dormer Triangular Dormer Trapezoid Dormer Hipped Roof Dormer Barrel Roof Dormer Bat Dormer Roof Terrace ARCON User Guide 6 7 10 11 Select one of the Dormer Window types by choosing the appropriate icon and left click to select it Now making sure you are working on the floor which holds the roof i e Attic move your cursor over the roof surface Your cursor now shows an outline of the dormer shape you have chosen Liam ing LA 2 AZ E E ft Inset View Floor Bling Room info Macros Options Window Heb Je x z amp uu eosMue me 2 Qs amp Am ae esp pe oe eje DTI ee v z o ou 91 k BP o gt DALBDES SRD tb RS 3E ANS E o x Width 8062 mm Death 5460 mm You will notice that the face of the dormer automatically faces in the same direction of the downward slope of the roof side that you are hovering on Move to another roof face in a different direction to see how this changes for each roof side With our Guidelines in place move the cursor so that the bottom left corner of the dormer snaps to the intersection of our guidelines Left click to place the wall With one wall locked into p
7. C Use printer default ee the project These settings C Scale 1 50 oe 5 can again all be changed at en x Sese 1100 anytime so it is always C User defined pi yi 5 1 20 possible to change SA Es m b scale size or metric imperial Height 210 Amm measurements and different Background display Measurements in unit types mm C Inches C C Yard Under Paper Format select HAN Use Printer Default and Lese fl then press the Print Setup button In the dialog box that 18 Getting Started opens choose the paper type and orientation that you would like to print your projects to The page on screen will then adjust to match your chosen printer settings 5 Select the required Scale for most plans this will be 1 100 and the measurement units you wish to use this would normally be mm 6 If you want to use these settings as your default for future projects select Set as default then press OK to return to your newly formatted project page Entering Measurements With the ARCON software there are often multiple methods that can be used to achieve the same outcome Providing multiple options for producing the same end goal enables the user to select a working method that suits their own style For the purposes of entering our dimensions of the floor plans we can achieve this in a number of ways The method detailed below is just one option although it is seen by most users as the fastest and most accurate w
8. Display Edge Dimensions r Head height Ir Doors g cm Windows g cm I7 Height from top edge of bare ceiling 14 Basics Optional Changes to ARCON Backups Most of these options exist in the Options menu The most important is the backup option No matter what software you use you will eventually lose data either due to hardware error loss of power human error or software error It will happen So please always make regular backups ARCON can help you do this automatically Click Options Program Save to activate the Save options dialog Save Options When exiting program EA TIRA OK C Without confirmation With confirmation Cancel Never save t Help Automatic save Every 4 Minutes M Create backup copy In addition to activating the Automatic save function to e g every 15 minutes it is advisable to create a backup copy too check this box It is also useful to save your project at different stages so a regular save of e g myproject001 acp and then myproject002 acp etc will mean that you can always return to a known project state e g e Guidelines myproject001 acp e Walls myproject002 acp e Windows amp doors myproject003 acp 15 ARCON User Guide 16 Getting Started Tutorial Getting Started in ARCON In this tutorial we will guide you through the basic functions required to draw a multi storey building and for viewing in 3D Yo
9. always open the roof after it has been placed to change edit and amend the roof settings The Roof Editor dialog box varies depending upon the type of Roof Placement used All of the individual roof types which are covered by the Simple Roof Type have a specific editor unique to the Roof Type selected Using the Freeform Roof Type and any of its associated placement methods Automatic Polygon and Polygon Marks will open a more advanced Roof Editor which provides many more options and variables We will look at both options here starting with an example of the Roof Editor for the Simple Roof Type Roof Editor Simple Roof Type The options for the Simple Roof Type will vary slightly depending on the individual roof style selected The process for amending the roof remains the same 1 The Roof Editor willbe opened I CCM either automatically following H AE the placement of the roof or by 44_ IL selecting an already placed SS A RAA roof Li 2 To select a roof we have H don already placed first left click on the roof structure to highlight it j 52 Ro i Su 3 With the roof highlighted LH TN ll double click the roof to open eo the Roof Editor 42 10 11 Getting Started r 3 Gable roof Profile Surface texture Ovehangi ot E mm tile05 gt Pit
10. roof corner to be Moving our mouse cursor to the first top left for example corner of the building left click once to place the first polygon mark Now move your cursor to the next corner and left click again to place the next polygon mark Repeat this process until you have completed the shape of the roof When you have completed the shape of the roof right click the mouse to complete the polygon You will now be presented with the Roof Editor which enables you to now make changes to the type of roof and the roof settings The use of the Roof Editor will be covered in a later section so at this stage click the OK button The main benefit of using this type of roof placement derives from the fact that we can place polygon marks where we choose This means that the roof does not have to automatically follow the shape of the building instead we can make forced corners and roof breaks by placing polygon 41 ARCON User Guide points to create roof shapes and styles which are not easily created using the automatic or simple roof methods Refer to the Revealed guide for an example of using this technique Editing the Roof Once a basic roof has been placed you will want to make sure that all of the settings and variables correctly reflect those of the existing roof we are modelling As you complete the roof placement the appropriate Roof Editor will open automatically to enable you to enter the correct settings Alternatively you can
11. this position as the measure from point N B the Snap function must be turned on for this tool to function correctly Once the measure from point is set move your mouse in the general direction of the next measurement As we are using a parallel guide and referencing a Vertical Guideline we will only be able to move left or right across the page Now we can left click on the page again Doing this will open a dialog box asking for entry of the dimension This is the measurement we wish to use from our baseline 22 Getting Started r Distance of Parallel Guideline Distance to reference line DK f 000 g mm Cancel Help 16 In the highlighted box type the measurement you wish to enter and click OK A new guideline will now be placed on your page which is the exact distance specified from the reference point 17 By repeating steps 12 16 for each known measurement of our floor plan we can very quickly build a series of intersecting guidelines which reflect the accurate measurements to the scale of our project Adding the Walls As with any construction we need to create the walls that create our building and on which the roof will sit By using the guideline placement method detailed above we can use a very simple method to place the walls effectively tracing around the edge of our guidelines to create a measured accurate floor plan 1 Firstly we need to select the wall tool and the place
12. ARCON User Guide Produced and published in the UK by Eleco Software Limited 2013 Eleco plc All rights reserved The software and hardware names and labels used in this document are generally protected trademarks of their respective owners All data and programs described in this document were compiled and or arranged by the authors with utmost care and reproduced under adherence to proper and effective control measures Nevertheless there may be errors Therefore Eleco Software Limited would like to point out that neither a warranty legal responsibility nor any liability for consequences of using the software or documentation can be ascribed to the publisher or the distributor No part of this document may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher ARCON User Guide Contents Contents WOICOME mee 5 Installing ARCON mE 7 If Setup Does Not Launch Automatically eene 7 Licence Agreement ie oen aa c EEG EE EROR 7 Setup Type iir e ectetuer rat 7 Ready to Irnistall eem 8 Copying ARGON Files 22 180 een ne 8 Completing Setups 2 3 2 nenn 8 Product AClIVatiOni per he PER RE SEE D ENTRE Est 8 Online Felp T ertt ert RR EDS P T 9 ARGON The Basics 5 1er retener nerd nerit manne 11 Understanding the Interface
13. Click on the Free Rotation option to select it With the Free Rotation option selected left click the icon to open the slider and rotation value bar The slider can be adjusted to change the angle of the X Axis of our Solar Panel simply by moving the angle indicator up or down the slider Alternatively enter the angle value in the field at the bottom on the slider Here we have set the angle to 38 degrees to match the pitch of the roof surface Click OK to set the angle With the correct angle now set for our object the Solar Panel should now sit flush with the roof surface 58 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Getting Started Sen 5 Qos AH acf 2 top gt I wr ARCON 2D Architect Pro 2010 Elece ple This process of adding an object can now be repeated to add additional items or more copies of the Solar Panel object In addition to adding single items objects can be Grouped so that they move as one combined item These Groups can then be transferred back to the Object Catalogue and saved for use in future projects To Group objects you first need to select more than one object To select multiple objects we simply hold down Shift and left click all of the objects we want to include in the group With multiple objects all highlighted together we then select the Group icon from the left hand toolbar We are then prompted for a Group Name this will be used as the identifier for the Group once it
14. Googlemaps Once the location has been chosen set the date and time to use for the calculation The Now button sets the date time to the current system date time Click OK to accept these settings With the location and time set we can simply click the Raytrace button to calculate the shadows cast from the property and its fixtures There are many settings for speed and quality of the shadow calculation and raytracing and these can be amended to suit your requirements Lower settings for faster calculations or higher settings for better quality 64 Support Documents Online Support Documents Get the most from your software by taking advantage of our free downloadable training and tutorial guides Our guides are intended to help you get up to speed quickly and learn some of the most useful tricks and tips Go to www 3darchitect co uk and head to the Support Documentation section where you will find the most up to date tutorial guides and reference manuals e g ARCON Manual The ARCON Visual Architect Manual is the complete guide to all of the tools and functions within ARCON Covering the use of each tool and each option this comprehensive manual is included with all our ARCON Visual Architecture titles and is also used as the basis for the Help system ARCON Revealed A collection of useful hints and tips Originally collated from our FAQ library this manual contains details of tricks and tips to produce complex designs and
15. N User Guide 10 Basics ARCON The Basics If you are a new user you should work through this chapter first before you embark on the next tutorial Here we will concentrate on the fundamentals of ARCON After having installed ARCON start the program and after a short while the following screen will appear Change to Design mode F12 This screen will vary depending upon your operating system ARCON version add on modules installed and screen resolution NOTE There are no projects loaded at the moment If you can t see the Help menu in the top menu bar then it s possible that you are running in a low screen resolution and you will need to increase it If you are running in the highest resolution allowed by your computer then it s possible to grab the menu bar and slide it until the Help menu comes into view The same may apply to your vertical icon bar especially in later versions of ARCON which have additional tools Grab this vertical bar and slide the icon bar upwards To check this activate the 2D Graphics Editor from the Macro menu and 11 ARCON User Guide ensure that you can see the new 2D Graphics Editor icon appear at the bottom of the left vertical icon bar Understanding the Interface The ARCON interface is very easy to work around once you gain an understanding on how to locate dialog boxes for editing There are 2 simple ways to access dialog boxes The f
16. acing the Stairs As you can see from the position of the cursor in relation to the ghost Staircase the first point we lock into position is the bottom corner at this stage it doesn t matter if this is the left or right corner as we will define that with the third click Click once to place the bottom corner Your cursor movement is now restricted and we need to place the second click The second click represents the furthest point length of the Staircase from the bottom corner first click This would be the full length of the Stairs if using a straight Staircase but my just be the furthest point if using L or U shaped Stairs With the second point in place we can now only move left or right to place the third click Again with a straight Staircase this would give us the width With an L or U shaped Staircase this will be the distance to the top Once the Staircase has been entered onto the plan with the three click method the Stairs dialog box will open to show the default settings for the Staircase 31 ARCON User Guide Geometry 4 Textures Stair width f m Stringer fwood03 Steps to F Tresds fwood03 Cancel landing Steps from Pp Balusters ereyo2 review landing Set Default Tread depth 0 2772 m 2D Symbol _SetDetaut Towser Start height o m Height 28 m Rise height 0 175 m Step size 0 5272 m Restore values Optimal st
17. air settings Construction details r Railings Left Standard E Right Standard 13 By default the Stairs will run from the floor level to the floor surface of the floor above You can of course amend any of the settings to change the start and end heights as well as changing the depth width and number of steps 14 Click OK to accept these settings Your Staircase will be added to your floorplan complete with automatic cut out for the ceiling above Additional Floors Once the ground floor has been created we will need to add any additional floors that are relevant to the building we are modelling In the majority of cases we will probably be adding between 1 and 3 new floors The reason for this is that we almost always treat the roof as the top floor of the house so we have to create an attic floor for the roof to sit on See below 32 Getting Started Single Storey Two Stories Three Stories Attic Attic Attic 2 floors 3 floors 4 floors As demonstrated above the attic floor is created as with any new floor the roof settings we apply to that floor will then determine how much or how little of the walls of the attic floor we actually see This will be explained further when we look at placing the roof From the footprint of the building we have created so far we will create a standard two storey house This means that we need to add an additional two floors one for the first fl
18. automatically labelled Room 1 This is an important part of the checking process when drawing in ARCON The room label confirms that all of your walls connect with no gaps or spaces to form a fully 25 ARCON User Guide 16 contained room Once walls connect like this they are a room which means that the floor and ceiling are created If the walls do not connect then no floor or ceiling will be added Room labels can always be changed to more meaningful names At this stage you could now go on to split the floor plan into smaller spaces using internal walls add doors and windows stairs and other architectural features However as we are primarily concerned with creating the roof structure we will just use the outside floor plan we have created Inserting Doors amp Windows With your external and internal walls in place it is generally now that we would place the remaining construction items in the first floor we have completed Although you can add these details at any time adding them in at this stage means you can then copy the details to other floors if required saving time We will start with adding doors and windows into the project The basic principles for adding doors and windows are the same The following steps will cover placing a window into the project using one of the selected window types The process for placing different windows or doors will be the same although some of the customisation options vary dependin
19. ay of creating an accurate floor plan In the method we will use below we initially ignore the placement of walls Instead we will mark out our known measurements using the Guideline tool 1 From the left hand toolbar locate and click on the Guideline tool amp be I H4 2 Clicking on the Guideline tool will display a new set of options on the inside left toolbar 19 ARCON User Guide 3 Each of the icons displayed in this toolset represent a different placement method or type of Guideline We will now use a combination of these Guidelines in order to place our known measurements 4 As we will be dealing with real world measurements we need to ensure that the guidelines we place are accurate The first thing we need to do is place a reference point on our drawing to measure from this method is the same for working with either internal or external measurements 5 Firstly we will place a Vertical Guideline on the left hand side of our page To do this left click on the Vertical Guideline icon on the inside left toolbar I kKRENEPERNIZ 7 ALES o 6 With the Vertical Guideline selected move your cursor onto the drawing area of you page As you move your cursor onto the page you will see that the cursor is now accompanied by a vertical line This line represents our Vertical Guideline To place the Guideline left click the mouse Your page should now have a single Guideline which runs the full heig
20. bjects Solar Panels for example from a single item This can then be used in conjunction with the Group option to make building large arrays from a single panel very quick Adding Textures In ARCON we use Textures to add colour or pattern to an object to try to replicate more accurately the look and feel of the building we are modelling All of the Textures in the catalogue are simple 256 colour bitmap bmp images This means they can easily be added to with your own Textures if you have specific requirements for roof tiles masonry etc Textures are accessed through the Object Catalogue just as we did with our Solar Panel To use the Object Catalogue we again need to make sure we are in Design Mode and we open the Object Catalogue using the same icon as before 60 Catalog s Catalog View 4 File System 48 Drives 3D Swimming Pools Ul Colors Floor Interior eg UL Kenngott Objects Furniture Outside m Getting Started As we can see the Object Catalogue layout is no different from placing an object However on the left hand tool bar of the Object Catalogue we need to ensure we now choose the Texture icon This provides us with the same set of panes as with our 3D objects and they function in exactly the same way We can drill down through the folder thumbnails to find the texture we want to apply to the model we have created In this case w
21. ch 1 fpi 145 Deg Alignment 7 S C Horizontal Vertical Fino Height 1 nt 800 mm r II N Info Ovehang2 02 500 mm Eau ae 62 AS peg 17 Display all details a Height 2 h2 800 mm Wall th 365 mm End view ol 02 Ovethang1 o1 1500 mm Overhang2 o2 500 mm Roof over all buildings Advanced L d The actual screen you will see may vary slightly again depending upon the Roof Type Here we have the Roof Editor for the Gable Roof type and the settings available for us to edit are now specific to this roof style On the left of the Roof Editor we can see a 2D cross section of the roof from both the side and end views We can see that the cross section is labelled with a series of tags which directly correspond to the editable fields in the centre section Highlighting a field will show the corresponding tag and vice versa To change a variable left click into the field and either over type or delete and enter new settings Clicking the mouse into a different field will then apply the new value and you should see this reflected in the 3D preview window on the bottom right Each field only corresponds to a single side of the roof allowing for asymmetrical designs to be created Just above the 3D preview are two selection buttons labelled Horizontal and Vertical Swapping from one to the other changes the direction of the ridge line of the roof Cli
22. cking OK will accept your changes and close the dialog box This can then be opened again at any point to make further changes 43 ARCON User Guide Roof Editor Advanced Roof Editor Roofs placed using the Freeform Roof type irrespective of the placement method used have a more detailed Roof Editor which enables greater changes to be made to the roof structure The Advanced Roof Editor not only enables changes to height pitch etc but also allows each roof side to be changed in style and type 1 The Roof Editor will be opened either automatically following the placement of the roof or by selecting an already placed roof 2 To select a roof we have already placed first left click on the roof structure to highlight it ln a ar 3 With the roof now highlighted double click to open the Advanced Roof Editor 44 Getting Started
23. e Transfer tab to view the options available 34 Getting Started r New Floor Cancel Set Default Help Ground floor General Source Transfer C None C Complete floor Floor plan only Floor plan with ex jen ben dca Feet Pim den Wl Ed Edo rb SSE EMNENE 6 The selection boxes available in this tab enable you to specify the Source to copy from together with what we will copy to the new floor The options to transfer are a None Creates a new blank floor on which we can start drawing again This is useful if the upper floor of the building is completely different in layout to the ground floor Complete Floor Creates an identical copy of the Source floor including fixtures and fittings ideal for creating duplicates of apartments Floor Plan Only Creates a copy of all the walls from the Source floor and as we have only created walls in our plan this will be the option we need to choose Floor Plan With Selecting this option opens up all of the tick boxes below and enables us to choose which elements are copied from the Source floor 7 Ensure that the option Floor Plan Only is selected and click OK 8 Anew floor has now been added to our plan and is now the active floor we are working on 35 ARCON User Guide 9 Atthis stage we have two floors to our building We now need to add the final floor for our attic To do this simply repeat st
24. e are changing In addition any changes are reflected in the 3D preview pane on the right We can amend the roof and wall settings as desired to ensure that the model correctly reflects the existing structure of the roof and dormer To remove windows from the dormer simply set the Number field in the Window section to 0 Finally there is a tick box on the left named With Roof Break Checking this box creates a break in the roof line directly in front of the dormer 49 ARCON User Guide Dormer with Roof Break Dormer without Roof Break 17 With all of the Dormer Window settings in place click OK to close the dialog box and place the dormer One item of note is that when you place a dormer it becomes part of the roof and it will automatically amend the roof structure and construction woodwork etc to fit the dormer Due to the complexity of this process it can be very difficult to move and resize a dormer retrospectively If this need to be done it is easier to delete the existing dormer and replace it with another to the correct settings 50 Getting Started Roof Features Skylights and Velux Windows Of all the other potential roof furniture features Skylights and Velux windows are the only other items which directly affect the roof structure In the similar way that Dormer Windows adjust the construction of the roof around them Skylights and Velux windows also have an impact of the structure of the roof 1 In orde
25. e installation process and once complete you can then re activate your anti virus software To install ARCON you must run the Setup Insert the disc into your drive If Autorun is enabled Setup will launch automatically If Setup Does Not Launch Automatically Autorun may be turned off on your computer On the Windows Start menu select Run and enter D Setup exe where D is your drive After Setup has launched a Welcome dialog box appears Click the Next button to continue Licence Agreement With the purchase of ARCON you are presented with a Software License Agreement Please read the License Agreement carefully before you accept it Click Next to continue Setup Type After entering your User and Company name click Next to continue to the Setup Type dialog box ARCON can be installed on your computer in two different ways The Typical setup will install all common components In the Compact setup objects textures videos and demo files are not installed to the computer s hard drive but are accessed from the disc Regardless of the type of setup you ll be asked to select and confirm a destination folder on your hard disk where the files will be copied You may leave this destination as the default or change this to a desired path Click Next to continue ARCON User Guide Ready to Install Click Install to proceed with the install as chosen Click Back to amend any choices Copying ARCON Files During copying a progre
26. e object to change the properties Click OK to accept any changes made and close the dialog box In the same way that we previously used Guidelines to ensure we placed elements such as walls and dormers in the correct place we can of course use them to ensure the placement of Skylights is correctly measured With a Skylight selected moving your mouse over the roof of the project shows the outline of the Skylight The outline will only display when your cursor is over a valid section of the roof and that the chosen Skylight settings enable the window to fit in that part of the roof surface 52 11 12 Getting Started ARCON 30 Arch tec Pr Be fdt Insert vi info Macr w Help DARSE OSRE BUG o ah 4 Ke all AE v n A ae SBR EDS o DR BOR PS E VE LE At kr Meth 2103 mm y Ossth 9977 mm As with Dormer Windows the Skylight automatically aligns itself with the direction of the downward pitch of the roof surface Position your Skylight in line with your Guidelines and left click to place the Skylight into the roof Repeat this for the number of windows you need to place ARON a0 re ro T aa EEE E gt mi B hes wa ARCON 3D Architect Pro 2010 Eleco ple 53 ARCON User Guide Adding Solar Panels and Other Objects Within the ARCON system all furniture fixtures and fittings are represented by individual 3D models which are stored in the Object Catalogue Each of these models will
27. e will change the Texture of the Roof Surface and the Walls On the thumbnail panel double click on the Outside thumbnail followed by Roof Tiles Use the scroll bar on the side of the window to locate a new Texture for our Roof Surface ARCON User Guide 4 When you have chosen a new Texture left click on the thumbnail and hold the left mouse button down Now move your cursor over to the 3D model in the main window and make sure it is hovering above the Roof Surface Simply release the left mouse button and the Texture will be applied to the Roof Now repeat this for the Walls choosing a suitable Texture from the catalogue EV ARCON 30 Architect BS E Eie Edit Objects View Floor Building Room info Macros Options Window Hep son OBR SO SIS MU 2 2 Qu mmi e me sx 2 eaw AIA Xx M ar E e ARCON 3D Architect Pro 2010 Eleco ple Viewing Shadow Detail and Sun Positioning Once our model is complete and all of the required detailing and texturing has been finalised we can use the sun positioning feature to check for shadow casts from both structures and roof furniture 1 2 To enable us to show shadows we need to first identify the position of the sun in relation to the building Firstly back in Construction Mode check that the Compass is correct in relation to the direction the building should face If not double click the Compass to set it to the correct angle 62 Getting Started Compass
28. eps 1 to 8 making sure to select Floor Plan Only again and change the name of the new floor to Attic Having added this third floor to our building we can now place our roof Adding a Roof to the Building Roofs can be added to the building in a variety of ways and the best method to use will depend on the type complexity and style of the roof As creating an accurate representation of the roof structure and style is of paramount importance to visualisation of solar panels we will look at all of the different methods for roof placement Method 1 Automatic Roof The simplest of all the methods of adding a roof to the building is by using an automatic roof placement option This option allows us to very quickly place a standard hipped roof onto our building The settings of this roof can then be changed to alter all aspects of the style and design See section Editing Roofs 1 Firstly we need to select the Roof Type from the Roof Type icon menu on the left hand toolbar Hovering over the icon will display the fly out menu showing the Roof Type options available 2 For this method we will select the first option on the top left of the fly out menu Freeform Roof 3 Choosing the Freeform Roof then displays three options on the inside left toolbar which represent the different methods available for placing the roof onto the building 36 10 Getting Started We need to left click on the middle icon which allo
29. f type Using this method we can move around the roof changing styles and variables to create more complex roof shapes and structures 46 Roof Features Dormer Windows Getting Started If the roof structure contains Dormer Windows they can be added with a specific Dormer Window toolset In order to place a Dormer Window we need to first ensure that the basic roof structure has been added to the building Roof settings can still be amended after the dormer has been added but generally it is recommended to get the roof structure set correctly before adding a Dormer Window 1 2 To place the Dormer Window we first have to select the type we want to use from the fly out menu From the left hand toolbar hover your cursor over the Dormer Window icon to show the options available In a similar way that we selected the Simple Roof Type each of the icons on the Dormer Window menu represents a different style or type of dormer or roof feature The description of each dormer relates to the style of roof that will be applied to the dormer itself rather than the style of roof it must be placed on This gives a great amount of flexibility to create and replicate complex designs To place a dormer it is recommended to first place Guidelines to show the position of the front wall and the two sides of the dormer Refer to Entering Measurements to be reminded how to use Guidelines to place known measurements Note Use external
30. g upon the model of door or window chosen 1 e The first thing to understand with both Doors and Windows is that they need to be placed into an existing Wall With the Wall in place we need to select the Window type we want to use Do not worry about leaving or creating an opening for the Window in the Wall this will be created automatically when placing the Window Initially we need to select the Window type from the Window menu Hover your mouse over the Window icon on the left hand toolbar the fly out menu will be displayed Each icon on the fly out menu represents a i different style or type of Window 0j eE Hs El Like Doors Windows vary in their complexity meaning that some types have more variables that can be changed than others Particular attention should be paid to the first four options Simple Windows Advanced Window Window with Fanlight Window Macro as these contain the most complex set of variables enabling the more complex designs to be created 8 A EIS 213 SE EE ON ED D E D in E EB 8 E e B I Z3 LIES F3 8 E RE E22 E53 E V 9 91 9 D8 hengo 26 10 11 12 13 Getting Started For this example we are going to use the Window Macro type So left click the Window Macro to select it The fly out menu will be closed and you should notice that the Window icon on the left toolbar has now changed to show the active type as Window Macro As w
31. get the most from the toolset Real Time Renderer Quick Start Guide This quick start guide is intended to accompany the detailed help system and pdf manual that are installed with the Real Time Renderer package The quick start guide gives a brief overview of the basic functions of the Real Time Renderer and describes the process of taking your ARCON project through to creating a scenic visualisation This is also a useful overview into how simple the Real Time Renderer is to use for those considering adding it to their ARCON suite The website also includes other useful resources including support forums written and video tutorials project gallery and much more 65 ARCON User Guide 66 67 Notes ARCON User Guide 68
32. have preset dimensions but these can be amended as required on an individual object basis The objects themselves can be positioned by simple drag and drop functionality from the catalogue into the model In order to access the Object Catalogue and then place edit and amend objects we need to change from Construction Mode to Design Mode These two modes of the software are for different purposes and therefore each has its own unique toolset Everything we have done so far has been in Construction Mode where we create the building In Design Mode we can see the building in full 3D and place objects as well as decorating and changing finishes with textures 1 To switch from Construction Mode to Design Mode either press F12 on your keyboard or left click the following icon on the top toolbar clicking the icon again or pressing F12 again will toggle us back to Construction Mode Building Room info Macros 2 Upon entering Design Mode your default view will be the 3D Perspective View and you will see that the icons on the toolbars have changed to provide us with a new toolset 54 Getting Started EJ ARCON 20 architect Pro ef Buiding 1 1 Ari ME CUN ONNNN GNEG LL10017 cec 2 3 Mn ON cr Bul ng Room nfo Macros Options Window Heb AGE DAS Cee ah sme 36 0 RR fos El eu AH amp CRO grin t 5 h wh SR amp ms ARCON 3D Architect Pro 2010 Eleco ple At this stage the majority of the tools on the left hand
33. how easy ARCON can be This guide will not teach you architecture interior design drawing or building methods it will teach you how to use ARCON After practice you will soon realise how effective ARCON is as a design and visualisation tool The screenshots in this guide may differ from your own depending on the Windows operating system and product version you are running Please note that this guide will only teach you the basics of ARCON If you need more details on a particular function in ARCON you should refer to the PDF manuals on the ARCON DVD context sensitive help system in the software or visit the support section on our website www 3darchitect co uk If you experience problems viewing the PDF files found on the ARCON DVD then thats possibly due to you using an older version of Adobe Reader You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader from www adobe com We would also like to thank Custom Homes Ltd for allowing us to use some of their house designs from their catalogue ARCON User Guide Setup Installing ARCON NOTE Whilst every effort is undertaken to ensure that all of our software is quick and easy to install occasionally different computer configurations can cause rare issues These generally occur when anti virus software is used during the installation process preventing some files from being correctly registered To help avoid such issues temporarily disable your anti virus software before starting th
34. ht of the page 20 Getting Started 882008 2 0 Qs amp Auf ez EZ PER S T BR oit a Ee Col L PLAAS i guam uc n amp bhmbnasprIez ec DER e Ok we now have a reference point on the page for any vertical measurements we now need to add in a Horizontal Guideline Follow steps 5 and 6 above to place a Horizontal Guideline making sure to select the Horizontal Guideline in place of the Vertical Guideline Place your Horizontal Guideline near the top edge of the page which should now look like this
35. irst is to right click menu items to open dialog boxes This will allow you to easily set default settings and or make adjustments before adding elements to your project e g adjust wall depth before drawing The second method of accessing dialog boxes is to select and double click elements that you have drawn e g left clicking a wall in your project When highlighted in red double click left mouse button to open the dialog box to make changes Selecting different elements that are overlapping can be achieved by single clicking over the element until it highlights in red Provided you keep the mouse cursor in the same position you will notice each layered element highlight in red Open Project To open an existing project click the menu File Open The Project dialog will then display For example in File Macros Options Eleco ARCON Projects Tutorial project folder locate New Ctrl Nn the file Tenterden07 acp All ARCON project files N fom Template New with Project Assistant end with the suffix acp and are displayed in the list Open ctrl o of files available Click the file Tenterden07 acp and projet Cpl then click OK Exit Alt4F4 The project will load and you will then be displayed 1 project1 acp with the following screen 12 Basics RT ARCON Tenterden07 Building 1 Ground floor Wek Ele Edit Insert View Floor Building Macro
36. is transferred to the Object Catalogue therefore it is useful to make this name meaningful With the Group created left clicking on any item within the Group will highlight the whole Group as a single object This can then be moved edited rotated etc To save this Group for use in future projects we simply left click to select the Group and hold the left mouse button down Now drag the mouse cursor back to the right hand pane of the Object Catalogue The Group is now added to the catalogue under the same name we called the Group 59 ARCON User Guide Copying Objects Once one object a Solar Panel for example is placed it is possible to copy that object to add more of the same without having to amend each object Standard Windows commands for Cut Copy amp Paste are valid either through the Edit menu or the standard keyboard shortcuts CTRL X for Cut CTRL C for Copy CTRL V for Paste In addition to the standard options ARCON includes an option to Multi Copy This option enables us to select a single item and automatically produce a number of copies in a specified direction and specific spacing FE Multiple Copy x No of copies g Direction Co Right C In front Below 2D Spacing 4500 Emm SUE Div C Left C Behind Above 2D From edge Cancel Con C At an angle of offset 0 Em 0 4 Help C 7 offset ae 0 Epes M Relative to object By using this option we can quickly build up a bank of o
37. ith all tools in ARCON we can now right click on the Window icon to open the properties dialog box General Advanced l r Dimensions p Textures Width 1 26 m Component G nner TEME Cancel Height 1 385 m Frame T C Outer f 00d03 Md Set Default Sill height 0 8 m Preview Im Ecrire Window sill inside Window sill outside Help Depth 0 03 m Overhang 0 05 m Depth 0 03 m Overhang 0 05 m Create only wall opening m Macro selection amp Arched Window mM Diagonal Window Simple Standard Window Simple As we have selected the Window Macro type the dialog box that opens is specific to this type of Window With this particular type you can select a new style from the sub menu on the left any Windows created in the Door Window Macro Designer will also appear in this sub menu Make any adjustments you need to the style and size of the Window and when finished click OK With the Window set to the correct size we now need to left click on the Window Icon to activate this tool You should now see three placement options for inserting this Window appear on the inside left toolbar 27 ARCON User Guide 14 15 16 17 Each of these options represents a slightly different method for placing the Window into the wall Window Free Position enables you to use a drag and drop action to simply click on the spot the want to place the Window Window Positi
38. lace you can now only move left or right of this point to place the opposite dormer wall As we have a guideline on the right side move your cursor across and left click to place the other wall and complete the dormer Upon completing the placement of the dormer the Dormer Window options dialog box opens 48 12 13 14 15 16 Getting Started Pitched Dormer Window eg Section Dormer roof s x Transparent roof Spacing t jE mm Structure heights Cancel Overhang o 200 mm Construction 240 mm En 5 Cladding 80 mm Wall thickness th 200 mm Help d jw Apply the settings for the verges and eaves to th Opening height oh 200 mm the roof View Width w 4274 mm E Overhang o 200 mm Eaves height n 2250 mm Pitch p 30 Deg Window Number 2 IT Remove lower wall Width we TI00 mm IV Roof opening up to ceiling Height CHEN ce Measure from floor N Wah roof break Sill height sh 1200 mm Testures Cladding tileba I gt Ls l la E d The Dormer Window dialog box is very similar to the Simple Roof Editor in that it contains a series of variables to change the pitch and overhang of the dormer roof In addition there are fields to alter the wall elements of the dormer and the automatically placed windows The 2D preview panes on the left show tags for each of the fields so that we can easily see what w
39. ment method So to begin left click on the Wall tool on the left hand toolbar TR A 2 Clicking on the Wall tool will display the placement options on the inside left toolbar 3 Each of the icons displayed in the toolset represent a different placement method to draw a Wall As we have already laid out our floor plan we will only need to use one of these tools 4 The tool we are going to use in the Multiple Walls tool To select this tool left click on the icon 23 ARCON User Guide 10 11 E D8 DI ANSXXNE With the Multiple Walls tool selected we can now begin to draw the floor plan by tracing the Guidelines already placed on the page Firstly move your mouse to the first intersection of your Guidelines this will be our starting point Left click once to place the start of you wall and drag the mouse towards the next intersection where the end of the wall will be Note At this point DO NOT left click to place the end of the wall As you will see from the screen when you draw your mouse across the page a ghost image of the wall you are going to create together with its dimensions follows the cursor When looking closely you should also be able to see that by default walls are drawn along the centre line of their depth thickness 6000 0 m 0 0 mm Obviously this can create problems when using internal or external measurements as you will end up with half the wall depth inside ou
40. ningful and correct floor names will aid navigation through projects as they become larger and more complex Floor to floor height this will help determine the height of your walls in 3D Floor to floor height represents the measurement from the floor surface of the floor we are creating to the floor surface of the level above To calculate floor to ceiling height you would need to subtract the values in the Ceiling measurements box from the Floor to floor height Height above ground floor level if required this can be set to an appropriate measurement either positive for raised properties or negative for underground builds 5 When these settings are correct click OK to open your blank workspace Don t worry about the accuracy of these settings if they are unknown as they can be edited at any time You will now be presented with an empty workspace on which your drawing will exist However before we start with the drawing we need to check the scale and paper size settings are correct and appropriate for our requirements 1 2 Navigate to File L mem Select Project Options the Project Options following dialog box will Paper format ok OPEN C Ad Portrait Cancel Using the radio buttons next 5 to the options we can select E LIS Letter portrait Set Default US Letter landscape Tm our paper size the scale the ede Help roject will be drawn at and C A3 Landscape pro p EM cale the measurement units for an
41. ntil you reach the point that will be your bottom right corner of the roof Note Normally we would be using walls or guidelines to ensure sizing is correct Left click again to set this opposite corner Your Gable Roof will now be created and the appropriate Roof Editor dialog box will be displayed Again as we will look at the Roof Editor shortly simply click OK at this stage to place your roof on the page Method 3 Creating the Roof Shape Manually There will of course always be occasions where a standard roof shape is inappropriate or the shape of the roof differs from the shape of the floor plan On these occasions it may be necessary to manually define the roof shape by placing a series of points to define the corners 1 Firstly we need to select the Roof Type from the Roof Type icon menu on the left hand toolbar Hovering over the icon will display the fly out menu showing the Roof Type options available 40 10 Getting Started For this method we need to select the first option on the top left of the fly out menu Freeform Roof Choosing the Freeform Roof then displays three options on the inside left toolbar which represent the different methods available for placing the roof onto the building The final option of the three is to place a Roof from Polygon Marks This option is only available with the Freeform Roof type To add the roof we need to now place a single polygon mark at each point where we need a
42. of A Dual Pitch Gable Roof T Flat Roof 3 Although all of the roof styles available vary greatly in structure and editable settings the basic principle of placing these Roof Types is the same regardless of which type is chosen 4 From the fly out menu left click on the Gable Roof icon to select it 5 We now have two options to place the Gable Roof You will see that one of these is the Automatic Roof option that we used to add our Freeform Roof earlier This works in the same way except the roof editor options will be specific to the roof type we are placing However on this occasion we 39 ARCON User Guide 10 11 are going to use the Rectangular Roof placement option To select it left click on the icon By choosing the Rectangular Roof option we now need to define the space that we wish the roof to cover Unlike the Automatic Roof option placing with this method does not require you to produce any walls Accordingly if you prefer you can simply use your guidelines for measurements and then draw only a roof For simplicity navigate to a part of your page that currently has empty space i e no walls or roof Left click once to place the first corner of the Rectangular Roof This first point now represents the top left corner of the roof as we look down onto the page Move your mouse cursor right and down across the page You will see that the outline of the roof shape is being created as a rectangle Continue u
43. of the object and where it will land on the roof surface Still holding the left mouse button you can move the object around the screen to position it hold the right mouse button down to move the object closer or further away When you have chosen the position of the Solar Panel release the left mouse button The object will now naturally fall to rest on the roof surface ARCON 30 Architect Pro 2010 Eleco ple 57 ARCON User Guide 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 As we can now see the object is resting on the roof however its angle does not match the pitch of the roof We need to adjust the angle of the Solar Panel to match the roof At the moment our object is surrounded by a green bounding box This box highlights the object that is currently active You can see that now we have an active object in the model the majority of the icons on the left hand toolbar are now available We need to select one of the object rotation tools to change the angle of the Solar Panel to match the roof There are options to rotate objects on each of the three axes X Y Z together with freehand rotation options Each of the axis has a number of different rotation preset options on the fly out menu For each axis there are preset clockwise and counter clockwise rotation settings for 90 45 and 30 degrees For the purposes of matching the roof pitch however we need to use the Free Rotation option on the X Axis menu
44. on at Set Distance enables a reference point to be selected and then a distance entered to determine how far from the reference point the Window should be placed Finally Window Midway functions like all midway options within the software and allows you to define two points with the Window being placed exactly centred between these two points You should use whichever of these methods is appropriate for your particular situation For this example will use Window Free Position With this option selected move your cursor over to your project page You will see that as you hover over a wall the outline of the window appears where your cursor is located LE a elx nE Files epe Blei 77 eronate Ev hu g nn L 3 4 e 1 aS Le LL EIRE m 4 a d x d m Y i E Room 1 F Dl E LA ANE EES KAR Width 11 259 m y Depth 15105 m If you move your cursor off a wall the option to place the Window will no longer be valid When you are happy that the Window is in the correct position left click to lock it into place 28 18 19 20 Getting Started Before the Window is finalised we need to define which way the Window will open i e windows swing window note The four symbols that appear show the different available opening directions er i Sl c 7 Eac u 60 amp bnBgiLrI
45. oor and one for the attic to our existing ground floor The process for adding each floor is the same 1 From the top menu bar navigate to Floor and left click to expand the options contained in this menu 2 As we are currently working on the ground floor select New Floor Above Current This option always enables us to place a new floor directly above the currently active floor and is the option you will use on most occasions when adding a new floor You will then be presented with the following dialog box 33 ARCON User Guide r New Floor General Transfer Name lu pper floor Set Default Info ira Help Floor to floor height fa g mm Ceiling measurements Floor space go g mm Ceiling thickness he g mm Suspended ceiling CE g mm Height above ground floor level 4 mm Display Edge Dimensions Head height Doors 0 g mm Windows 0 g mm Height from top edge of bare ceiling 3 As you can see this looks very similar to the dialog box we saw when we defined our ground floor options at the start of the project As we are now starting a new floor we get to define these options again as the new floor may have different settings to the floor below 4 n addition to changing the floor properties you will see that we also have a tab labelled Transfer which was not present when we setup our ground floor at the start of the project 5 Leftclick on th
46. ot been able to connect to the activation server due to internet connection problems then you will be required to activate the product manually by following the on screen instructions Online Help ARCON has detailed online Help that can assist you whenever you are unsure about a certain function icon etc You have several ways of accessing ARCON help First you can press the F1 function key You can press F1 at any time ARCON contents page will open from which you can select a topic of your choice Pressing F1 has the same effect as selecting Contents from the Help menu The second way to receive help is to select the menu option Index in the Help menu Here you can enter a keyword to search for the online help file will present a list of every occurrence of that word in the file The third way is to click the R icon If you click this icon your mouse pointer changes to a mouse pointer with an attached question mark With this click the place you would like to receive information ARCON jumps to the appropriate place in the help file and displays the information on screen Finally there is help as you move the mouse around the ARCON window As you move the mouse over icons descriptions are displayed at the bottom of the window in the status bar Also if you hold the mouse over an icon for a second pop up help text is displayed to help you identify the function of each icon This feature can be switched off from the Help menu ARCO
47. r to be able to use Skylights and Velux windows we must first have a roof in place on the building Skylights and Velux windows can only be applied to a roof surface Both Skylights and Velux windows are accessed from the same fly out menu This appears on the left hand menu and hovering over the icon will display the variety of Skylights and Velux windows available Each of the icons represents a different style of Skylight or Velux denoted with the red and white V symbol For the purposes of amending placing and editing them there is no difference between the two types of object other than style Select one of the Skylights or Velux windows by left clicking the icon With one selected we can now right click on the icon to open a preview of the window 51 ARCON User Guide 10 r Y Skylight Parameters rvs Dimensions Textures EXT Width 1019 92 mm Frame dwood0Ba LK Height 2545 3 mm Cancel Set Default Opening style Preview Right stop Help Left stop Opening angle To 9 C abs rel z Bottom 90 E abs rel J Left 30 Dun Right 90 d Eirfa gt The right hand pane of the dialog box shows the 3D preview of the chosen window In addition on the left we can change the dimensions of the Skylight prior to placing it into our roof Alternatively we can place the Skylight on the roof and then open this dialog by double clicking th
48. rm you that the apex of the roof is higher than the walls the roof sits on If this message does appear at this stage click OK We will look at the effects and the resolution to solve the problem later on We now have a roof on our building and in the standard 2D floor plan view you should now be able to see the structure of the placed roof E ercon 30 arte pro er ER Urper RE 1a x NE EI it Insert View Floor Building Roominfo Macros Options Window Help SH CGH S Big n QUE Ae pr REP EI mern mw Bs Pit b BAN 2 el1 amp hELDEPFEN ESTE P Width 35146 mm yiDepth 189456 mm Method 2 Placing a Simple Roof If the roof that you are modelling is very simple it may be quicker to use one of the preset roof types available from the Roof Type menu Using the preset roofs allows us to find the correct roof style right away These roofs have fewer editable options but you retain full control over pitch height etc 1 By hovering you mouse cursor over the Roof Type icon the fly out menu will show the simple roof styles available 38 Getting Started 2 As we have already seen in Method 1 above the first icon represents the Freeform Roof For the simple roof type we ignore this icon and choose from one of the other standard roof styles T Pent Sloping Roof 7 Gable End Roof X Hipped Roof 2 Partial Hipped Roof 1 Mansard Roof With Gable Mansard Hipped Roof C Barrel Ro
49. roof sides becomes the active side Using these two buttons enables us to rotate the roof working on each side at a time and changing the settings just for that specific roof side 45 ARCON User Guide 7 10 On the left hand side we can see that we have a 2D cross section of the roof side that we are currently working on showing variables that we can change such as pitch height and overhang As with the Simple Roof Editor the fields available to change will depend upon the roof style for the selected roof side Unlike the Simple Roof Editor however with the Advanced Roof Editor in addition to changing pitch height etc We can also change the style of a roof one side at a time This can be done by using the Roof Side Type selector at the top left r Roof Editor A l b TT ls D Display all details 7 Wood construction Wood dimensions General Change roof side ps BE esce Roof side Details 2 Cancel Preview Info Help Roof side simple IV With diag pt fo 500 mm m 837 mm ot 8 Deg EA L E I Round 0 Assistant a Roof over all buildings a L Each of these icons represents a different roof style Simply tick the required roof style for the roof side we currently have selected and it will be changed to the new style together with showing the variable fields appropriate to this roo
50. s Options Window Help e x D Gic esas Go amp 9 3 A s IE e zz RS DO Faden 6 UP NN emite E D a I A t L3 Ci Utility Y Family Room Dining ki E 4 Kitchen E H d en A LA WC y o B Hall Garage I Lounge D Study Entfa ce Hall LR os Abc Pk m i lt gt Note If your project loads a 3D view then press F12 key Save Project To save a project at any time select the menu File gt Save If you want to save the file as a new name then select File gt Save as 2D Construction Mode Pressing F12 will switch between 2D and 3D modes The 2D Construction mode is used to construct your project and can be best described as the plan mode Like you would draw a house plan the 2D mode is a bird s eye view of your project laid out on your workspace or page Walls doors windows roof etc are positioned in the 2D mode by placing them into position from the icon bars Dialog boxes will appear allowing you to easily adjust settings for each element All changes in your 2D plan are automatically calculated in the 3D mode 3D Design Mode In 3D mode you can add 3D objects such as architectural features and furniture You can also drag textures from the catalogue onto walls floors etc 13 ARCON User Guide Clicking the following icon ac
51. s a thumbnail preview of each object to aid selection Thumbnails with a small folder icon on the bottom right corner indicates that this is a folder thumbnail and clicking on it will drill down to the next level of that folder On the right hand pane use the scroll bar to locate the SOLAR folder and double click to select it Note Objects available may vary between versions if you do not have this folder select any object for the purposes of this tutorial For example use Elements Plate Horizontal We can now see the thumbnails of the objects inside this folder These objects can now be dragged onto our model Objects can be placed onto the model in 3D Perspective View however this can be difficult to align or position the object correctly Try placing an object onto the roof Select the Solar Panel object by left clicking and this time hold the left mouse button down 56 12 13 14 Getting Started Now move your mouse over to the roof of the building EE 0 Free UN awe I emv EEEN E mo 3 eus 5 Br amp B al m EI re Satelit dish 60 cm a i Bi E s i g F ELECTRIC a BU i manens E etae piate we Cu Evo 2 a e E Satelite cish 0 em L2 Satelite dish 99 cm Wih mounting pte Width from 625 5 mm 2220 9 mm y Depta from 5351 mm 10535 mm zlHeight from 128759 mm 61 mm An indicator line underneath the object shows the position
52. se types within each column are identical in their shapes with the exception of the spiral staircase and ramp construction options 4 As with all tools we can right click on the Staircase icon for the design we want to use to set the properties However with Stairs it is generally more logical to place the Staircase first and then make any changes to the properties 5 Soto begin with select the Staircase style you wish to use by left clicking the appropriate icon 6 With the Staircase selected move your cursor into your project page space you should now see that your cursor now has a ghost outline of the Staircase shape attached to it 30 10 11 12 Getting Started LE Te Projects Bulding Le A a rt View Floor Building Room Info Macros Options Window Help Jelx DER Gum eaim Foy 2 2 QUE Amer esp 2 ff UT oomatecr DIS h 5 am a k amp Fi a dl E 4 A gt i B LA Room 1 D a D SUE TEE x Wieth 14 m yDsptk 11 5 m We now need to place the Staircase into the room Stairs are placed with a three click system The three clicks are used to effectively form an L shape with the cursor which will define the length from the base of the Staircase to the furthest point and then the width This process can easily be simplified by making use of Guidelines to mark out known measurements before pl
53. ss bar is displayed to show the progress of the install The time required to copy the files depends upon the speed of your computer and whether you have selected a Typical or Compact setup Completing Setup Finally upon successfully completing the installation of ARCON a final dialog box appears Click Finish to complete the program setup A completed setup displays the following icons in the ARCON program folder Starts ARCON program y Web Links Product Activation The activation technology integrated into your product is intended to prevent illegal copying and distribution of software and it is an additional means allowing us to provide customers with confidence in the quality of the product purchased In order to launch ARCON in full you are required to activate it by entering the Serial Number supplied with the purchased product normally located on the outside cover of this guide We recommend that you activate ARCON as soon as you have installed it When you start ARCON for the first time the opening activation dialog box will appear To automatically activate ARCON please follow the on screen instructions Setup NOTE Always check that you have entered your Serial Number correctly before starting the activation process If the automatic activation process succeeds then you will be able to launch ARCON in the normal way NOTE You will need a stable internet connection for automatic activation If you have n
54. tivates the catalogue x ij Objects textures etc can be selected from the catalogue and dragged into the project Switch to the Texture catalogue by clicking the Texture icon From the Texture catalogue you can now drag textures onto walls roof etc There is an alternative JES cats Je Hd io help you Catalog View Catalog View view ts m o i p HAE navigate around the 1 C Access n a m 1 Bidets a Obj ect and texture Bath Decoration a C Bath catalogue To the left E C Mirrors of the object texture 4 Wl E Ee e icons there is a split gl a al neg I Elements Installations J Ca deco Decoration window bar Drag this a CJ access bar to the right to amp amp E dors display a Windows Ps eren E xp orer Lamps WindonsiDoors eee Elements C2 standing MM Organic Series amp Window M 1 installations a Floor properties E3 New Project En E To create a new project from scratch Name Ground floor Cancel click the menu entry File gt New and Info Set Default you will be presented with the Floor Help properties dialog This dialog is used to define your floor to floor height but for the moment we will accept the Floor to floor height 280 g cm defaults and click OK Ceiling measurements 7 nis space 8 g cm Ceiling thickness 16 4 cm Suspended ceiling 0 g cm Height ab curd bor Eel 0 g cm T
55. toolbar are inactive Most of these tools are used to manipulate or amend our objects and accordingly they only become active once an object has been selected and placed into our project We now need to open the Object Catalogue to select the objects we want to add to the project The Object Catalogue icon is located in the top right corner of the screen directly underneath the standard Windows minimise maximise buttons 2 E E Left click on the Object Catalogue icon to open the catalogue wx 55 ARCON User Guide 10 11 Y Catalog EI Catalog View H File System wv a Drives j MEN I m E3 a Animated objects E ths F EL a a m A Audio Video B 7 s Bath Bedroom LS 4 This window can be positioned and resized as required the layout of the window is dynamic so the orientation of the icons and viewing panes may appear different than above depending where the window is located on your screen The Object Catalogue consists of three panels On the left we have a number of icons each of which enables us to access a different set of catalogue items objects textures materials etc In the centre we have the file tree panel This is a standard Windows folder menu enabling the sub folders of the tree to be viewed by pressing the icon next to the folder name i e File System Finally on the right side is the thumbnail pane This show
56. tside your guidelines stopping the drawings from being accurate to the measurements we placed earlier Therefore before we place the end of this wall and carry on with the remainder of the floor plan we need to define which edge of the wall we want to draw along To do this we simply press CTRL W This key combination enables you to toggle between the centre line of the wall the inside edge and the outside 24 12 13 14 15 Getting Started edge Try pressing this key combination a few times to see the effect on screen Use CTRL W to select the outside edge as the drawing edge 7000 0 m 0 0 mm With the correct edge selected complete the first wall by left clicking to place the end point As we are using the Multiple Walls tool you will notice that finishing our first wall automatically gives us the start point for the next wall Also as we have already set the wall to draw on the correct edge this setting remains in place until we cancel the tool Now it s simply a case of following your guidelines to place wall finish start points at all of the correct intersection points until you get back to where you began and the floor plan is completed CES Bi pme Jelx A em iow e Ez PE pe n pe Se T BR creure gt M al Ek BAM Be CIRNENERENDE Flo POETS P With 1997 6 mm yiDepth 179828 mm You will notice that when your final wall connects back to your start point the room is
57. u will learn about e Creating a new project e Editing the roof Entering measurements Dormer windows skylights and velux windows e Adding walls e Adding solar panels and other objects e Inserting doors amp windows e Copying objects e Placing a staircase e Adding textures e Additional floors e Viewing shadow detail and sun positioning e Adding a roof to the building This tutorial will help you to get started in ARCON and once you have learned about the above tools and drawing methods you can apply these to your own building design project Creating a New Project In order to start with our drawing we have to initially create a new project and establish the project settings which will define the parameters of our drawing 1 Navigate to the File menu 2 Select New 3 You will be presented with ok a dialog box to confirm the Coude Cancel floor properties of the Set Default initial floor of your new Help building Floor to floor height 2800 g mm Ceiling measurements Floor space o o g mm Ceiling thickness feo g mm Suspended ceiling 0 g mm ae 0 g ma Display Edge Dimensions Head height Doors 0 g mm windows p g mm Height from top edge of bare ceiling 17 ARCON User Guide 4 Inthe Floor Properties dialog box we need to select the following fields a Name either select the correct floor name from the drop down list or type a new one in this box Using mea
58. ws us to use the Automatic Roof With the Automatic Roof option selected simply move your cursor back onto your floor plan Note Make sure you have the Attic floor selected as the active floor before starting to place your roof As you move your cursor over any of the walls of your building the whole floor plan will be highlighted with a red outline 23 FENE mei jeme es pz En ler Se FIRE i Uppertcor x B Seo b BAN m 08 582 m SAR T or Width 1764 2 mm yiDepth 150258 mm This red outline highlights the section of the floor plan generally the whole plan over which the roof will be drawn Now simply left click once and your roof will be drawn with default settings You will now be presented with the Roof Editor which enables you to now make changes to the type of roof and the roof settings The use of the Roof Editor will be covered in a later section so at this stage click the OK button Depending upon the size of the property and the roof settings the following message may appear on screen 37 ARCON User Guide 11 12 r Roof Height The apex of the generated roof is 1 83 m above the upper most floor a Gable end sections may be incorrect or missing Adjust top floor ceiling height to correct any gable end problems This is an information message rather than an error and is designed to info
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search