The Global Archicad Community

[jl_lt]

Thanks Mr. Braza, same for you. As it has been said before, i think Archicad actually has most of the pieces already set, it just need the final push to bring it all together.

On the other hand: thinking in terms of systems instead of tools, now that is a nice paradigm shift.

[nardo99]

First of all - I absolutely love working in Archicad and overall my experience is great on a daily basis.

Below are my thoughts - I know a lot of these have already been listed. Also, I understand that there are workarounds for all of the notes below, but it would be great to get away from workarounds.

- Full Multi-Screen Support - Self-explanatory.

- Objects - Ability to work with specific manufacturers for objects (windows, furniture, lighting, etc). For me, this would be an incredible advancement. If this is not possible at least the ability to generate custom objects should be much simpler. (to be fair I have spent limited time in the world of custom objects)

- Schematic Modeling - I would love to see more advanced tools for early schematic work. Archicad has made some great moves in this area and I hope they continue. Ideally, if Archicad could eliminate the need of a software like Sketchup early in the process it would be a big deal.

- Complexity - I end up using a lot of custom profiles for my projects. This works well for me but the complexity for the projects goes up quite a bit. This makes it hard to share the files with other users or to even go back and edit the project months after you last worked on it. I know this is a very broad topic

- IFC / Working with other Trades - This is less of a factor for me but I feel it would help the software greatly if you were able to clearly communicate with Structural Engineers, MEP engineers, Etc.

- Change Manager Tool - I think this tool needs to be updated. It is incredibly powerful but difficult to use.

- Renovation Tool - One of the best tools in ArchiCAD - I think this tool should be updated to include Phasing so that a project can include more than one phase of work. I know that there are workarounds but it would be nice for it to be included in the software. This tool should also be revised to include the ability to show various project options.

- Other Data - I would love the ability to somehow incorporate spreadsheets or typed data into the document more efficiently. (to be fair I have not done too much research on this)

[Kristian Bursell]

- Objects - Ability to work with specific manufacturers for objects (windows, furniture, lighting, etc). For me, this would be an incredible advancement. If this is not possible at least the ability to generate custom objects should be much simpler. (to be fair I have spent limited time in the world of custom objects)

This can already be done through one very capable object - Infinite Openings (https://cadswift.com.au/products/Infinite-Openings.html) the videos on this page are a bit old but we are releasing a user guide with more demo clips every week. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the reviews.

You can access manufacturers catalogues from within the object and its geometry is so flexible that you can create any window or door with it.

[Kristian Bursell]

- Complexity - I end up using a lot of custom profiles for my projects. This works well for me but the complexity for the projects goes up quite a bit. This makes it hard to share the files with other users or to even go back and edit the project months after you last worked on it. I know this is a very broad topic

The thing to watch out for with complex profiles is curved edges. If you have a lot of curved profiles then your polygon count will go through the roof. The solution is to not use curves but instead facet the curved edge (make it out of several flat edges)

[jl_lt]

Mr. Bursell, as a noted Archicad and GDL expert hope you have some spare time and can give your opinion on the discussion about Archicad´s future going on here. Many here, including yours truly, would be very interested in hearing it.

[jl_lt]

- Schematic Modeling - I would love to see more advanced tools for early schematic work. Archicad has made some great moves in this area and I hope they continue. Ideally, if Archicad could eliminate the need of a software like Sketchup early in the process it would be a big deal.

Hello Mr. Nardo. i would be interested to know what it is you find better in Sketchup than archicad for schematic design?

[nardo99]

Hello Mr. Nardo. I would be interested to know what it is you find better in Sketchup than ArchiCAD for schematic design?

Good questions. Please note that they are two separate software with two different purposes so its hard to compare the two but this is specifically what Archicad could Improve related to SD design workflow:

- Better support for Open GL image use - I really like the sketch-like drawings that Sketchup produces. I have figured out a way to generate these kinds of drawings form Archicad (directly in the open GL model view) and overall I am happy with what I can do. The issue for me is that the software does not really support using the Open GL images on layouts or exporting them at a higher resolution. Perhaps other users don't use this at all but I think this should be improved. I understand the focus on Twinmotion and the Cinerender. I use these tools and they are great, but for 95% of the time I want to generate simpler drawings straight out of the model. The more 3d images I can share along the way the easier it is to communicate with Owners / GCs / Etc.

- More fluid Workflow - Sketchup is incredibly fluid and fast for early design work. Archicad is surely more powerful overall but for conceptual work, it lacks some of the speed and freedom SketchUp offers. (Just my opinion). I think perhaps creating a separate toolbar for just schematic design that allows fast 3d manipulations, shadows, etc. would be helpful.

- Groups / Components / Objects - The ability to make groups and components in SketchUp on the fly makes the software incredibly powerful. Double click and you are inside a component, press escape, and your back out. The way this allows you to block out parts of the design and come back later is amazing. Not sure how this could be incorporated into the ArchiCAD workflow. Maybe it's just not possible considering the purpose of the two Softwares is so different.

- 3d Objects - The warehouse for Sketchup is immensely vast. You can find any tree you could ever want, vehicle, etc. Archicad should include some better assets for presentation purposes or at the very least it should include better tools for importing and manipulating objects. (I am expecting Archicad to address this issue with the new release - fingers crossed)

[nardo99]

The thing to watch out for with complex profiles is curved edges. If you have a lot of curved profiles then your polygon count will go through the roof. The solution is to not use curves but instead facet the curved edge (make it out of several flat edges)

Thank you so much. I understand what you are saying but it is not what I was referring too. I have recently worked on a single-family residence. The design for the roof is unique and requires custom details. In the end, I believe I ended up using something like 8 custom profiles for the roof as the roof changes from inside to outside, different edge conditions, etc. This worked very well - I was able to create full 3d drawings, elevations, and fully detailed sections all from one step. The issue is that every time I open the file it takes me an hour just to get oriented and to remember what I ended up doing with all of these profiles and how they are set up. I could not just pass this file along to somebody in my office and ask them to work on it as they would be completely lost with a detailed explanation.

This is what I am referring too. Not sure how this can be simplified. In the end, we want very detailed and powerful tools that are simple to use, I understand this is a lot to ask for.

[jl_lt]

Hello Mr. Nardo. I would be interested to know what it is you find better in Sketchup than ArchiCAD for schematic design?

Good questions. Please note that they are two separate software with two different purposes so its hard to compare the two but this is specifically what Archicad could Improve related to SD design workflow:

- Better support for Open GL image use - I really like the sketch-like drawings that Sketchup produces. I have figured out a way to generate these kinds of drawings form Archicad (directly in the open GL model view) and overall I am happy with what I can do. The issue for me is that the software does not really support using the Open GL images on layouts or exporting them at a higher resolution. Perhaps other users don't use this at all but I think this should be improved. I understand the focus on Twinmotion and the Cinerender. I use these tools and they are great, but for 95% of the time I want to generate simpler drawings straight out of the model. The more 3d images I can share along the way the easier it is to communicate with Owners / GCs / Etc.

This one would be very nice to have. Also, and contrary to many people, im quite fond of the cinerender engine (not for superrealistic stuff of course), but you can make some very quick black and white images and conceptual imagery.

- More fluid Workflow - Sketchup is incredibly fluid and fast for early design work. Archicad is surely more powerful overall but for conceptual work, it lacks some of the speed and freedom SketchUp offers. (Just my opinion). I think perhaps creating a separate toolbar for just schematic design that allows fast 3d manipulations, shadows, etc. would be helpful.

Personally i never liked Sketchup (in those ancient times, being used to battle with autocad 3d and 3dmax on a daily basis, i kind of felt insulted at Sketchup´s ease of use, go figure ) but of course i have seen first hand what it can do in capable hands. Do you mean schematics in the form of conceptual volumes or schematics where the spaces have already been defined? I think Archicad could be very good at this if they ever fix the very weird Morph tool (the videos about Sagrada familia are amazing though, but for what i can see, they are just dumb 3d modeling, with no parametricity or editability whatsoever other than push and pull operations)

- Groups / Components / Objects - The ability to make groups and components in SketchUp on the fly makes the software incredibly powerful. Double click and you are inside a component, press escape, and your back out. The way this allows you to block out parts of the design and come back later is amazing. Not sure how this could be incorporated into the ArchiCAD workflow. Maybe it's just not possible considering the purpose of the two Softwares is so different.

This is the one feature i actually realli liked from Sketchup. It allows control down to many levels of details, and as far as i know, Archicad doesnt have anything like it. I have recently envisioned a tool for archicad that allows for the generation of construction assemblies and details with a hierarchichal system, where your structural member functions as the base and then you can add joinery, fixing and support systems, profiles, insulation, vapor barriers, finshings, etc, and you can even decompose layered elements (like curtain walls) in their own subcomponents, and then join it all together in a semi parametric hierarchical way (they are all attached to the main structure element). Then it can be exported as a complex profile for easier use or leave it as stand alone 3d and 2d detail. I would REALLY like to see that, a dedicated detail modelling environment with appropiate tools for linking and connecting parts.

- 3d Objects - The warehouse for Sketchup is immensely vast. You can find any tree you could ever want, vehicle, etc. Archicad should include some better assets for presentation purposes or at the very least it should include better tools for importing and manipulating objects. (I am expecting Archicad to address this issue with the new release - fingers crossed)

Most of the discussion on this thread has revolved about this and Archicad´s barrier (GDL) to create parametric objects. Personally i dont care too much about this, as long as we can define any objects position and dimensions we are fine but it sure is very important for many people. Hopefully there will be improvements on this soon (also, i think one can import sketchup objects into Archicad, but i have not tried that. The 3ds import works fine though).

[Kristian Bursell]

Thanks for asking jl_lt.
To be honest I though this thread would be a lot older than what it is as I feel it was more relevant 5 years ago. However, I have seen huge changes in Graphisoft’s approach that I think make the difference in recent years all revolving around education.
Archicad is in every way a quality piece of software and the Hungarians should be applauded for what they have created. Revit is in all honesty a piece of junk, from the backend forward. We cannot gauge the quality of a piece of software based on the average users experience as the average user will get used to processes and not want to change. They also don’t like having too many options and that’s one race Revit wins without question.... but they can have that win.
I don’t believe Revit has a very long life left and signs point to fact that Autodesk are looking for something else. Without Dynamo Revit probably would have died a few years ago.
Archicad continues to win awards and get recognised as the best BIM software for architects, and I believe this message started the tide turning a few years back. Combined with the recent efforts towards education I believe we have already entered the stage where Archicad is being elevated to the number one position. It will take time because there are still many very large architecture firms invested in Autodesk that are simply to big to make such a change without massive investment.

I don’t think Graphisoft need to do anything different than what they are doing now.
• The tool is the best by far and now most of the world know this including those who refuse to believe. I constantly here from the top Revit users at conference that they know Revit is [censored] and Archicad is great, but they have to live with it.
• Graphisoft are putting effort into education and this is very important in my mind as it provides a workforce for the archicad firms to draw on. I know this has been a decision-making factor for many companies.
• They are focusing on promoting the end to end project capabilities of Archicad, including the structural and mechanical consultants. Looking forward to next week presentation.

For me I don’t need anything new, but I suppose that because I use GDL heavily which allows me to automate so many processes and make thing far more intelligent. So for everyone else I agree with the common line of this thread that GDL becomes more accessible.
SO for me the only changes neede are:

1. Enable object parameters to be mapped to Classification Properties.
2. Provide a GDL >< Python translator

That last one will open the capabilities of GDL up to the novice coder which the AEC industry is starting to get flooded with.
The 3rd party GDL and API community needs to be strengthened so that office can control there processes more easily with the help of a junior programmer. This can only be done if GDL gets a mainstream language translation.