The Graphisoft User Conference was inspirational in many ways. I was able to talk with many ARCHICAD users about the great work they are doing. The sessions were educational, even for a long-time user of ARCHICAD. But mostly I was pumped to see the many great uses for ModelPort is being used for.
Walker Warner Architects from San Francisco has put ModelPort to work in a variety of ways.
Creating a 3D Object Library
“ModelPort has been a huge asset to developing our company library,” according to Patrick May, their Digital Design Coordinator. “I have been tasked with creating, developing and maintaining a company library of attractive objects that fit the aesthetic quality of our designs. These objects are not readily available from the standard ARCHICAD library, and in many cases, I have been creating them myself. ModelPort has allowed me to expand my search to sites like turbosquid.com.”
Improving GDL Objects
Walker Warner also uses ModelPort to create x,y,z rotational toggles for existing GDL objects. “By saving a file to 3ds or SKP format, then reimporting through ModelPort I can gain control over all three rotational positions of the element without the need to edit the GDL script,” said Patrick. “This does mean that I lose a lot of the parametric settings of the GDL element, but in a few cases that have been a trade that was worth making.”
Cleaning Up SketchUp Objects
This is probably my favorite way that Walker Warner is using ModelPort. SketchUp objects are often overly triangulated or cluttered when converted to an ARCHICAD object. By using ModelPort Patrick is able to use ModelPort to convert SketchUp objects into cleaner, more usable library parts. According to Patrick, this is a better solution than ARCHICAD’s merge command.
Sources of these objects include Modlar.com, Archibaseplanet.com, and 3dwarehouse/sketchup.com. Some of these sites provide GDL objects that are poorly made and overly triangulated. According to Patrick ModelPort helps to clean up these objects and make them more useful.