CBuserIndia Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Hello, I am CA-interior user. I have downloaded Beds catalogue ( 3D Library>Furniture>Bed no 1 ). While using one of the bed, I realised, I am unable to explode / edit any block. How do I explode/edit these blocks ? I want to customise (drop some part of design), how do I do that ? The usual steps which I use for exploding/editing other blocks, those options are not available here. From what I understand these are not Architectural blocks. Is there any way to convert this in to block, so that we can customise it. Thanks for help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Unfortunately once something has been converted to a symbol it cannot be reverted back to it's original components. You can only adjust it through the limited options in the symbols DBX. This has also been a common complaint by others that individual component data that was used to make the symbol should be retained so one could go back as you wish to and make alterations. Currently only Architectural blocks permit this type of deconstruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJPotter Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 I suppose you could export such symbol3 to a 3D dwg, .3ds or .dae file and then import into Sketch Up as a .skp file, do your customizing and then reimport into Chief as a .skp. That is the ONLY solution I can think of. If you want what you want, then extra steps must then be taken. DJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Graham is correct in saying that you can not unblock a symbol from Chief's library. However, can you edit it to make a new symbol? YES. I've done it several times. However, I'm not sure you're able to do it with the "Interiors" version. Place the symbol in a blank plan, take a vector overview. Using the delete surface tool, start deleting the faces of the symbol you don't want. Once done and before you close out the overview, convert it to a symbol and now it's in your user library. In plan view, delete what you did or start a new blank plan. Place that symbol you just put in the library in the plan. Now add the new things or items you want in the new symbol using whatever tools you need to accomplish it. Take a vector overview and save that as a new symbol. Now you have it. BTW, when deleting surfaces from the original symbol, you'll need to rotate the symbol around in the overview to see and delete all faces needed. If you close the overview before saving to the library, you'll have to start all over. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Tommy - Great tip/technique, I will definitely give that a try. There are symbols with shapes that are not easy to create in CA, being able to extract those and then build a new symbol using them would be very useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkMc Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 It's also possible to alter the stretch planes/zones and shrink away portions of a symbol. Combined with Tommy's tip there's a lot you can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 It definitely works. I've been doing it for years with different versions. I've edited Chief's gas meter to look more like what we generally use, edited a TV so now I have a TV with a wall mount stand (done years ago), edited a garage door so now I have a library with garage doors open so you see the garage door open with tracks. There are more that I've done too including electrical items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Cool !!! This Technique needs to be brought to the forefront. There has in the past been a considerable amount of discussion concerning CA's limited 3D modeling capabilities. Being able to plagiarize an existing symbol model from within CA would certainly be a big help in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Graham, this is really nothing new. I've been using this method since version 8 (or whenever the delete surface tool was available). I know that I have mentioned this in the original forum but not sure if it has been brought up since CA introduced this new version of the forum. BTW, you can edit any symbol...even symbols imported from the 3D Warehouse. I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 5 minutes ago, tommy1 said: Graham, this is really nothing new. I've been using this method since version 8. I know that I have mentioned this in the original forum but not sure if it has been brought up since CA introduced this new version of the forum. BTW, you can edit any symbol...even symbols imported from the 3D Warehouse. I have. Could very well be, not the first time I've missed something. I just can't recall this being mentioned in those 3D modeling discussions over the past 6months or so, maybe it was but I just didn't put it all together. Thanks for bringing it up in this post, I'm certainly going to play around with it over the next few days. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 1 hour ago, MarkMc said: It's also possible to alter the stretch planes/zones and shrink away portions of a symbol. Combined with Tommy's tip there's a lot you can do. Mark is absolutely right. And in addition to those 2 general tricks you can also further manipulate your resulting symbols by using the aforementioned methods again. Here are a few videos I've made that go over how to tweak symbols for various purposes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Graham, one more little tip concerning symbols. A little off topic but is related to symbols. It's often said that like plans, symbols are not backward compatible. Well in general that's true but then again not. Let's say I made a symbol or have a symbol in a current version and someone would like to have it but are using an earlier version of Chief. You can send them that symbol by simply saving that symbol as a 3D model (3D dwg) using an early version of Autocad when exporting. Now they can import that file into their earlier version of Chief and have it. They will need to assign materials though. Just food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 4 minutes ago, tommy1 said: Graham, one more little tip concerning symbols. A little off topic but is related to symbols. It's often said that like plans, symbols are not backward compatible. Well in general that's true but then again not. Let's say I made a symbol or have a symbol in a current and someone would like to have it but are using an earlier version of Chief. You can send them that symbol by simply saving that symbol as a 3D model (3D dwg) using an early version of Autocad when exporting. Now they can import that file into their earlier version of Chief and have it. They will need to assign materials though. Just food for thought. You can also export/import as a 3DS file and keep the materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Thanks everyone for the great info. What interest me the most about this is that in CA it can be very difficult to create certain shapes, especially anything that is more freeform. With this method I can likely find an existing symbol that has the shape I'm looking for, delete all unrelated structure and isolate the shape for use in another model/symbol. As an example, if I don't like the shade on a table lamp but like the base I can find a table lamp with the shade I like and easily make a new table lamp that has the base and shade I want. Nothing to draw, just delete, position and convert back into a symbol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Works Like a Charm!!! Real easy and no drawing to do at all. Took about 5 minutes and that's because it was the first time. I can't imagine how long that would have taken if everything had to have been drawn from scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKitchenAbode Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Thanks Tommy & Michael - Nicely explained and videos too. Definitely worth a point for both of you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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