Update to the Tile Objects - v2.0-18

Back in ArchiCAD 13, I'd made four objects for tiling bathroom floors and walls but, what bothered me was that they didn't have the option to make cutouts for doors and windows. It wasn't all that hard to do in the end, so I'm wondering why I put it off for so long!  Each of the new objects now supports up to ten openings and you can adjust the sizes and positions using hotspots.

These objects, which are made in ArchiCAD 18, have a consistent User Interface--which may not be the prettiest but it is a lot easier than scrolling through parameters! More importantly, they now respond to standard Model View Options wherein, their display can be (optionally) suppressed if the MVO excludes finishes.

DOWNLOAD

Oh yes, they are free.

Single Colour Tiles
RGB colours or an existing surface in the loaded library

Variegated Tiles
RGB colours with user-controlled % variation or
up to 10 existing surfaces from the loaded library

Gradient Tiles
Gradient in RGB colours with user-controlled % variation

Chequered Tiles
RGB colours and/or an existing surface from the loaded library

Hit the comments if you like them or have suggestions.

Chequered Tile Object

As I said in a previous post, a chequered tile object is something I wanted to create. Well, here it is.

• Like the other tile objects, it can be used for floor or wall cladding.
• Either or both of the alternating materials can be textures from the loaded library or RGB colours. In the case of the latter, you can choose the type of material it will be (Matte, Metallic, Dull Shine or Transparent).
• In 2D, you can choose whether you want to show the chequered pattern with fills.

The second image lists all the available parameters.

For ArchiCAD 13+
Download [11kB]

Random Tile Object - Update

Type 2. RGB Colour with variation

As mentioned in an earlier post, I got in touch with Zahari (Zach) Dimitrov and, since then, he's uploaded a corrected version of his tile object to the depository.  However, I wanted more control over an object like this (especially for a current project) so I tried to extend it. Finding myself restricted by the parameters and wanting to remove the usage of CUTPLANE (which I'm not very familiar with), I finally decided to rewrite the entire object from scratch.  Zach is fine with this and the object will remain open-source and free to the AC community.

The only question in my head is whether I should split the single object that does many things into separate ones - each with more parametric control.  Right now, there are 6 optional tiling types and I'm thinking of making this into 3 separate objects. Additionally, I'm thinking of a chequered tile and percentage weightage for type 6. (More images after the jump).

Comments and suggestions are wanted!

For ArchiCAD 13+
Download [15 kB)

Random Tile Object

Set of tiles with base RGB of 0.2, 0.3, 0.2

In the AC-Depository, there is a tile object called "Tiles with variable colours" by Zach Dimitorv which I thought would be a useful if extended and improved.  Wrote to him at the email ID given in the script but have no reply. Given that he's only made two posts on the forum, I wonder if he's moved on.

Anyway, for a current project I needed to have closely related colours on a tiled wall so I had to explore the RND function for the first time. It quickly became apparent that the way ArchiCAD generates random numbers isn't exactly random.  Searched the AC-Talk forum and first thread that popped up was from as far back as 2004 - and it talked about exactly this problem. Oleg helped out with a little trick to make the numbers more random and Karl gave not just a nice explanation of pseudo-random but also a test object with what he calls the "goofy function".  As usual, I learned a lot!

For whatever it's worth, what you see on the left is one of the things that can now be achieved with this object.  If anyone is in touch with Zach, please tell me how to contact him so I can give him the updated object.  Below is a screenshot of the parameters used.

Edit: Zach (Zahari Dimitrov) just responded to my message and I'll be in touch with him about extending the object further.