Mass extrusion won't move vertically!

[Merlin]

Hi Gang,

Got a "curly one".....I'm doing a hi-rise (at concept stage) so am starting by extruding basic levels and adding them on top of each other....

PROBLEM: I did one extrusion (based on a sketch from an imported .dwg file) that won't budge!....it'll move/drag/stretch horizontally and I can even drag the top surface to increase its overall height .......but do you think I can get the *%##! thing to stretch/move/drag/whatever its bottom surface down?...no way! It won't matter what view and even when I change it to shell, it still won't drag down wards...I e-mailed it to the tech support from the vendor. They said they had much the same problem and they overcame it by copying the editing outline to the clipboard and re-inserting it. (I can't get success that way either!)

I'd attach the file in here but after purging and deleting un-needed views, it's still over 7mb. Any suggestions greatly appreciated....If you think I can still attach attach the file without overloading things here, let me know and I'll submit it.

You know come to think about it I've always had trouble trying to copy/move and array things vertically....would that be a seperate issue (i.e. my own incompetence)?

cheers,
John Mc
PS...I can't see any locking but that doesn't mean I have in fact locked it in some bizarre way! ...and, yes, I have long since removed the .dwg files that I sketched it over.

[Mr Spot]

If its an extrusion...

Done in plan i presume?

Then can't you select the extrusion and change the start offset to negative whatever you need it to be?

You could try copying the mass into a new project (clean) then upload...

[aggockel50321]

Extrusions are tied to the original plane they were created on, so if you want to copy an extrusion created in plan view vertically, you can with some effort. Try this.

Assuming you're working with massing objects, create an extruded mass in a plan view of any level, by invoking "create mass" command, and then the extruded solid command. (analogous to an in-place family under the modelling tab)

Once the solid is created, go to an elevation view, select it, & copy it. You'll notice it can't move vertically. Just copy it right on top of itself.

Select the solid (either one), then push the "edit work plane" button above, and select the next level (up or down). The solid will jump to that level.

Pick "finish mass".

If you have many masses of the same type stacked, you'd probably be better off to create the mass in the family editor, save it, load it in your project, and then place it. You can then array it or copy it in any direction.

Hope this helps....

[Merlin]

Chris and Andrew,

AH!...Thanks guys. It helps when you understand what the ____ is going on. I'm better informed now.

On a tangential topic, would this be the best approach for this sort of project?
i.e. It's a multi-storey tower; the goal being a quick model for a brief external fly-around that can then be easliy added/extended to further design development and (hopefully) construction documentation.

I thought that, because the similar nature of floor plans for towers, commencing with mass extrusions then converting to shell etc would be the best approach

any comments?

[aggockel50321]

I'd say you're on the right track. You're going to create a "etrail" that you can later refer back, to see how you got where you are presently.

[Merlin]

Great. Thanks for the feed-back, Andrew.
John Mc