We’ve had the Morph Tool for a few months now. What have you been doing with it? Here’s one of the least flashy examples you’ll see:
Those columns could be done pre-ArchiCAD 16. It would involve making a Column, then creating a Complex Profile of the cut out, placing the CP as a wall, revolving the CP around, moving it into place, mirroring 3 more copies about the center of the column so that they are at the other corners, selecting the CP walls, using SEO (subtraction) with the CPs as the operators and the column as the target, then either putting the CPs on a hidden Operator layer or saving the SEO’d Column as an Object (and then hiding, moving, or deleting the original column and CP walls). In other words doable, but not intuitive or fast (to be honest I AM making it sound a little harder than it really is).
Now with the Morph Tool, you start with the same column, turn it into a Morph, draw the outline of the cut out using the Morph Tool (in elevation or 3D), revolve it, copy it to the other three corners, select the Morphs, go to Design/Modify Morph/Subtract, click on the Morph you want to remain, and then save as an Object if you want.
It’s this type of faster, easier, and not-so-flashy stuff that I love. Why? Because on my typical projects I have way more pedestrian needs for the Morph Tool than Signature Architecture Moves. And at the moment, I’m not going through the final step of making Objects. Why? Because my Morphs are typically one offs (or four offs) that don’t need the added power and intelligence of Object-ness. And if I have to change the shape, it’s not so much of a burden to just recopy it a few times. Now if that column showed up more than a handful of times or had more ties to the rest of the model (i.e., SEOs, dimensions, etc), I definitely would be saving it as an Object and placing Objects instead of Morphs. That way I could update them all en masse by redefining the Object and not lose any of the connections to the rest of the model.
Not sure if you should save your Morphs as Objects? Here’s something else to think about. If you save a Morph as an Object you can (and should) share the Object via BIMComponents.com. Then everyone gets to pool their resources. Also if you save a Morph as an Object, you enable a deeper connection to BIM. Later this autumn, I plan to write an article that will cover how to add intelligence (parameters) to an Object derived from a Morph. But in the meantime, sometimes you just need a pretty thing. And until you can make that pretty Morph at will, don’t stress about making it a smart Object. That’ll come soon enough.
So what have you made with the Morph Tool so far? Share some screen shots here on the ArchiCAD-Talk Forum. By the way, there are already some great examples of Objects derived from Morphs on the thread I’ve linked to. Check them out.
