topic Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced in Modeling

ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 13:44:53 GMT

Find the official announcement and new features at:

http://www.graphisoft.com/archicad/archicad-18/overview/

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 13:56:26 GMT

Please guys, let us know your thoughts, impressions about the new release in this thread.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2014 14:01:10 GMT

Autodesk - start your photocopiers!

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2014 14:11:19 GMT

I am assuming lightworks is ditched in favour of the C4D rendering engine? I am assuming this is built into archicad? I have only just started to get the hang of artlantis as well

I like the revision manager thing - and hope that you can link a drawings issue sheet into this .

Other than it looks likes a fairly small upgrade - I hope some there are lots of small enhancements in other areas. Like stairs!

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Barry Kelly — Tue, 06 May 2014 14:27:40 GMT

Lennox wrote:
I am assuming lightworks is ditched in favour of the C4D rendering engine? I am assuming this is built into archicad? I have only just started to get the hang of artlantis as well

Yes Lightworks has gone and C4D is built in.

Lennox wrote:
I like the revision manager thing - and hope that you can link a drawings issue sheet into this .

Yes you will be able to have drawing issue sheets.

Lennox wrote:
Other than it looks likes a fairly small upgrade - I hope some there are lots of small enhancements in other areas. Like stairs!

I guess it des seem like a fairly small upgrade if you don't do renderings or need the revision management.
But these are quite bi improvements in their own right.

Unfortunately no changes to the stairs that I know of.
But there are a few smaller features.
One I can think of is editing multiple elements at once.
i.e. slab edge, wall reference line and roof pivot line all align with each other.
Select all three and edit the perimeter as if it was all one element in either plan or 3D.

Barry.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:28:35 GMT

I like the new rendering features as this is a major pull for clients and will save us looking for (or me nagging the bosses for) a bolt on/ additional software. But I wonder if some of the standard objects stand up to this enhanced render quality???

I do have reservations on the revision tool, especially as this is not automatic. Doesn't seem to (at first glance) force you to publish to layout. This was implied but only as pdf - This should be pdf and dwg! Also there seem not information on layouts that do not carry save changes in revision 2 but has changes in revision 3. Will these layouts skip revision 2???

So for me the only WOW is the render unless there is a Gem hidden in the small changes that Barry mentioned

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:35:34 GMT

Lennox wrote:
Other than it looks likes a fairly small upgrade - I hope some there are lots of small enhancements in other areas. Like stairs!

Lennox,
My impression is that the Cinema 4D Engine is quite a big feature, if you consider all that needed to be improved/modified/developed for its integration, so it works seamlessly with Building Materials, Surfaces, GDL and ArchiCAD Light objects etc.
I also find the Revision Management solution quite comprehensive.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:41:56 GMT

tlodge wrote:
I do have reservations on the revision tool, especially as this is not automatic. Doesn't seem to (at first glance) force you to publish to layout. This was implied but only as pdf - This should be pdf and dwg! Also there seem not information on layouts that do not carry save changes in revision 2 but has changes in revision 3. Will these layouts skip revision 2???

So for me the only WOW is the render unless there is a Gem hidden in the small changes that Barry mentioned

Revisions are Layout-specific: if a Layout was not affected in a certain Revision then its Revision number will not increase. So for example, you might have Layouts that have 1 or 2 revisions, while others may have 5, 6 or more, just any number. It is calculated Layout by Layout.

Can you please explain a bit what you mean by the following?

tlodge wrote:
Doesn't seem to (at first glance) force you to publish to layout. This was implied but only as pdf - This should be pdf and dwg!

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Rob — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:48:40 GMT

tlodge wrote:
I do have reservations on the revision tool, especially as this is not automatic. Doesn't seem to (at first glance) force you to publish to layout. This was implied but only as pdf - This should be pdf and dwg! Also there seem not information on layouts that do not carry save changes in revision 2 but has changes in revision 3. Will these layouts skip revision 2???

So for me the only WOW is the render unless there is a Gem hidden in the small changes that Barry mentioned

mate, the revision tool complies with PAS1192 guidelines and is fully automatic however it still allows the user to correct its output if needed by an interactive way. So manual skipping, excluding or including revisions/issues is possible. Also this feature includes automated renaming of published documents based on auto text so e.g. you will be able to attach a revision ID to the file name of each published document automatically. I reckon this alone will save you a lot of tedious fiddling with file names when communicating with consultants. And of cause all is visible in new Issue History and Change List schedules... So far this is the most comprehensive revisions tool I have ever seen in any AEC software.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:14:20 GMT

laszlonagy wrote:
Can you please explain a bit what you mean by the following?

Doesn't seem to (at first glance) force you to publish to layout. This was implied but only as pdf - This should be pdf and dwg!

I meant that the program does not seem to prevent you from closing or gives you a prompt window to the pdf publisher for the drawings marked for that issue - preventing the wrong date of issue. But I must concede I've re-watched the overview and it does allude to this feature??

As for the DWG remark- we've found that we need to publish DWGs and PDFs to satisfy consultants and clients alike (and allow for the occasional back track when the client changes their mind). currently if you publish the layout in pdf and continue to work the dwg published later reports and error which can cause issues.

Rob wrote:
So far this is the most comprehensive revisions tool I have ever seen in any AEC software.

Can't argue much with that Rob can I

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:24:16 GMT

tlodge wrote:
I meant that the program does not seem to prevent you from closing or gives you a prompt window to the pdf publisher for the drawings marked for that issue - preventing the wrong date of issue. But I must concede I've re-watched the overview and it does allude to this feature??

As for the DWG remark- we've found that we need to publish DWGs and PDFs to satisfy consultants and clients alike (and allow for the occasional back track when the client changes their mind). currently if you publish the layout in pdf and continue to work the dwg published later reports and error which can cause issues.

If I correctly understand what you are saying:

So the way it works is there are Issues. Each Issue consists of any number of revised Layouts. An Issue has an Issue Data. The Issue Date is set automatically when you close the Issue with the Close Issue command button. After this point you can publish Layouts included in that Issue, or all Layouts, as PDF or DWG or any of the other available formats. The Issue Date in these published Layouts will reflect the date set at the moment you closed the Issue.
However, this last Issue can be Re-opened. You can make needed modifications, close the Issue again, and publish again. Then the Issue Date will be the date you closed the Issue the last time.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Brad Elliott — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:30:54 GMT

When?

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Laszlo Nagy — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:40:27 GMT

This page:

http://www.graphisoft.com/info/news/press_releases/archicad-18.html

says:

GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD® 18 will start shipping in June, 2014 with an impressive list of 26 local versions rolled out by the end of Q3 2014.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

TMA_80 — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:47:24 GMT

First personal impressions:

On the + side
++ the new rendering engine( although an option to drag and drop image maps would have been more handy/ a mapping tool is also missing)
third party engines also have made this feature less urgent than what it was before
+ the revision tool
+ the openbim ( but wasn't this enough advertised with all the older versions)

On the - side
- the natural constraint ( where is the "intelligent" constraint "gravity that follows its host..etc )
- for a 30th anniversary , some old implemented features are still waiting for attentions for decades ( a better hotlink tool/stairmaker/the curtain wall, graphical GDL editor, SEO & plan view... )

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Rob — Tue, 06 May 2014 17:20:36 GMT

tlodge wrote:

Rob wrote:
So far this is the most comprehensive revisions tool I have ever seen in any AEC software.
Can't argue much with that Rob can I

Well observed indeed

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

Karl Ottenstein — Tue, 06 May 2014 17:28:35 GMT

Barry wrote:
[
But there are a few smaller features.
One I can think of is editing multiple elements at once.
i.e. slab edge, wall reference line and roof pivot line all align with each other.
Select all three and edit the perimeter as if it was all one element in either plan or 3D.

To me this small feature is a HUGE improvement and time saver. It is just brilliant the way you can reshape your building in 3D compared to the tedium of previous versions.

There are dozens of other little improvements that may mean nothing to some users, but will be huge for others... depends on your workflow.

Rendering and Revision Management are big, long-awaited features of course.

I think the total package is definitely worthy of being the 30th anniversary release. 🙂

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

JaredBanks — Tue, 06 May 2014 17:57:03 GMT

The multi-edit is awesome. To me though the killer feature is the improved PDF control. Layer management of imported and exported PDFs makes them so much more useful. Our PDF sets sent out become that much better.

BUT BUT BUT

Exploding PDFs into vectors is going to be one of the most used features. Every cut sheet on the Internet is ours to use. No more searching for DWGs or .GSMs or whatever. Every product has PDF data. And most of that was created in autocad or some equivalent. So just drag, drop, explode, and do with it as you will. Need the right size for that elevator? Grab the cut sheet and drop it in. Explode and grab just the parts you want. Or if you can just turn off the layers and you're done. Window details from the manufacturer? Break metal? Joinery info? It's all there in PDF. We can now gobble it up and use it however we want. So rad.

Oh and things like QR codes? PDFs of those can be exploded into fills as well (if you've noticed the QR code in my Shoegnome Open Template http://www.shoegnome.com/template/, that's how it was done).

I think it's also important to focus on that quote in the beginning of the press release. This release (like future ones) will be about process and workflow improvement. A new stair would be great, but revisions, PDF control, integrated rendering, IFC/BCF improvements those are large scale process improvements that will change how we work more than us not having to do work arounds for geometric issues like stairs.

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

bgoodale — Tue, 06 May 2014 18:39:45 GMT

@ Jared,
what is the multi-edit function you are referring to?

also, @GS, the link for the 6 page brochure is not working....

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

bgoodale — Tue, 06 May 2014 18:41:04 GMT

also, @GS, the link for the 6 page brochure is not working....

scratch that, musta just been a chrome browser issue...

Re: ArchiCAD 18 announced

JaredBanks — Tue, 06 May 2014 18:52:38 GMT

the multi-edit.

Select say a fill, a roof, a slab, and a wall then add a node to all of them at the same time and move that node where ever. Things like that.