BASIC SIMPLE set up of: the data base, layouts and master sh

[Anonymous]

Archicad is so wonderful and it gives us unending ways to do so many things. However for this user this can just complicate everything....SO where are the very simple, 1,2,3-type instructions on how to:
1. set up the database file
2. set up the layouts,
3. set up the masters and how they interact and WHY - so that this simple minded architect can understand and then use them.

(I have just spend over 8 hours with the Reference Guide, Australia's CD and all the on-line help that I can find and am completely cponfused and have no resutls for this 8 hrs of hard work !)

Thanks

[David Larrew]

Sounds like you need to contact your local Graphisoft re-seller, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

If you are using AC10 there is the "Online Training Guide" that should help get you started. If you are using an older version there are some training materials available at www.objectsonline.com.

Generally...

The database file is your .PLN/.PLP model file. You can add/alter the "Descriptor" and "Component" lists to do more in-depth/customized calculations for pricing and quantity take-offs.

The "Layouts" are used for composing your drawing sheets for Plotting/Printing output. Place views and drawings as needed onto each Layout.

The "Master Layouts" work like the "Master Slide" in "PowerPoint" - A Master Layout can be applied to multiple Layouts for shared information such as title blocks.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dave -
I am running AC 10 on my G5 so lots of room and speed are available...most times too much of both.
And yes I have tried your suggestions and am even more lost that before I started with the. Igorence may be bliss but it does not get the job printed for the client meeting.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

Setting everything up is not a matter of one-two-three, unfortunately. Back when I started I only got a sense of the whole (and a working whole, to begin with) from Eric Batte's STS, his 'Standard Template System'. 'Standard' meaning, here, 'Eric Batte's procedures for his own work, arrived at by consensus between Eric Batte and Eric Batte'.

Check out www.getstandardized.com.

[David Larrew]

Don't forget that Graphisoft includes sample templates for free (AC9 -AC10).

[Anonymous]

Ignacio wrote:
'Standard' meaning, here, 'Eric Batte's procedures for his own work, arrived at by consensus between Eric Batte and Eric Batte'.

That's not the first time you've said that and I'm not quite sure what you mean by it. Do you mind explaining? You're referring people to me so I'm not sure if you're complaining or not. 😉

My templates have very little to do with myself and were developed after:

1. Years of using other CAD software (AutoCAD, Cadvance, etc.)
2. Years of using ArchiCAD
3. Lack of appropriate template files, setup files, and basic instruction like atelier bessieres is asking about
4. A desire to make things as intuitive and easy as possible for users.
5. Attempting to adapt ArchiCAD for use with the National CAD System and Uniform Drawing System http://www.nationalcadstandard.org/ (HINT: that's where the "Standardized" comes from)

We've been using a variant (more specialized version) of my templates in my own firm for over 8 years. They are continually refined as needed and as new versions of ArchiCAD are released as is the STS.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

Eric wrote:
Do you mind explaining? You're referring people to me so I'm not sure if you're complaining or not. 😉

Heh, I'm not complaining! Just giving a warning to avoid confusion over the use of the term 'Standard' or 'Standardized', which may mislead someone into inferring that there is some sort of standard (heh) going around. ['If this is the standard, then some other thing must be non-standard?']

A CAD setup used by yourself for use by your firm and by every person who purchases and finds it pretty well thought through and adopts it (like I did) is not a standard. Microsoft Excel-like it could become a 'de facto standard' if it took 98% of the market, but this is not the case --and in any case a standard is something else. Also when you do have standards, typically you have competing standards (like layer naming per NCS or AIA or ISO or whatever), so the question that would follow would be 'what standard?'.

Apart from the NCS layer naming convention, which does not cover the full layer setup needed for BIM and which does not cover say ArchiCAD extensions (which for example changed from STS 7 to STS 8 ), and which deals with a nanofraction of the setup needed to work in ArchiCAD --views, composites, favorites, sections, objects, layouts, titleblocks, and all of that which makes the STS a great starting point -- there are no *standards* for an ArchiCAD or BIM or whatever full CAD setup, which does not make the STS a bit less useful and wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for clarifying.

[Anonymous]

I believe Eric's product, and others like it, help establishes standards within offices by standardizing the workflow. Of course there are graphic standards for things such as elevation symbols, which third-parties help establish and maintain, but compliance with these items is really no more difficult than complying with english grammer in text documents.

To establish a standard for workflow within an office, on the other hand, is highly valuable. The greatest benefit is the ability to give guidance to a new employee, helping him to become productive faster.