I do not believe 8.1 is usable for production

[Anonymous]

In AC7 I used the QuickView tto navigate Layer Combos. In a section window I had all my symbols and text settings. This Section faithfully followed the Quick View I clicked on, I had at my fingertip any symbol line fill text I can dream of except walls slabs roof. I was hoping for 8 – but what s surprise:

In 8.1 with the new navigator the section does not follow the layer combination, I may be wrong here but looks like I was rubbed of 80% of my productivity.

I am also getting such huge number of view Sets that it worst to navigate then the layer combos before Quick View was introduced. Using the pop up View Setting from the bottom of the Project Map or toggling between the Map and View set is insane. Both of them open leave less screen space on the 23” Cinema Display then AC6.5 on an Imac,

I am miserable and need to punch the one advising GS. I wonder who is advising GS, who and why it is listened to.

I may be wrong but I do not believe 8.1 is usable for production. It is just the most unproductive Construction Document tool I could imagine, and this is a fact no opinions please, unless aint so!

And all those schedules, has amy of these guys opened a set of CD made for lets say a $5M commercial building, has any of them noticed a doot schedule where every piece of hardware it listed.

[gpowless]

Set your layer combination. Right click the Navigator view and "redefine". The layers, scale and display settings will follow your selection.

[Anonymous]

Not so the layer comb of the section does not adjust the plan

Set your layer combination. Right click the Navigator view and "redefine". The layers, scale and display settings will follow your selection

Not so, the layer comb of the section does not adjust the plan as was in 7. This renders the section not fit to act as a palette. So GS screwed a most valuable function out of sheer crassness, a total lack of understanding productivity. This is what CADENCE should point out. Yes, who cares about productivity?

Just remember why QUICK VIEW came about, to help navigate, but with the complexity crated we do not see the forest because of the trees


I am sick, what a waste running an office, spending $$$ to get the new G5s just to find out that the darn thing does not work.

I personally use the 3d max 20% of the time. Anything made in 3d is redrawn almost in its entirety in 2D unless it some simple modern nothing. This because of changed after the 2d is unlinked. If this software wants to succeed need much more emphases on 2d tools and methodology. Believe me the day when the *** hits the fan will come.

[David Larrew]

Albert,

It sounds like your Section/Elevation window is still in "Model" mode. Try "Unlinking" the window from the model and resetting your ViewSets.

[Anonymous]

I am amazed, just what are you guys doing for a living. You certainly do not create Cds because then it would be obvious that the changes stink.
To put it in a different way, display options should be attributes of layer combinations. This was the case in AC7 but not anymore. A Quick View was an easy way of accessing a layer combo with a precise assigned display option. The active section had the same layer combo as the active plan thus was easy to use it as s a palette.

What GS did. Incapable of solving problems raised since AC4 under the pretext of creating the navigator it get rid of the Quick View navigation tool. For a good while a bunch of losers acclaimed the darn publisher as some sort of miracle some of them even pretending that one could just work out of AC without PM. So GS goes for it and we have the present abortion. It is nothing but and organized template to view “ save visible layers”. The real deal is the linking one but that is not yet usable and over network is unusable.

All this is nothing but snake oil salesmanship. It generates chaos a huge complexity extremely slow navigation it caters to the a consultant based design and not to the in-house AE concept. Works for pure design where in fact layers are not that important and not that many. One needs a toll to produce be a in constant state of motion navigation between layers and the only then the only toll was sacrifice. Hey GS I asked for Quick Views to be improved canceled.

Since it is not malice involved from GS there is just one other possibility leff, plain old stupidity barking up the wrong tree.

GS please understand it from me, designing in 2d 3d AC is one thing for what Quick Views is the solution and creating 2d data for PM is an other issue.

[Anonymous]

Adalbert,

I am sorry I haven't time for a detailed response, but I feel compelled to say that I love the improvements in 8.1. I (we) can produce all of our work (SD, DD, and CD) so much faster that I find it hard to understand your difficulties. The drawing production is becoming so automated that the only tedious parts (besides the occasional troublesome client) is putting in the notes and dimensions (oh, and ceiling plans, and roof plans... of course ).

There are many areas of the program that could use improvements (I think I'm at least as prolific in my wish list items as any one) but IMHO the program has been improving at a steadily accelerating rate since I started using it 15 years ago.

Of course I have to admit that many of the major improvements have been consistent with (and perhaps in some small way, based on) many of my wishes over the years.

In any case, though I don't share your opinion in this case, I appreciate the challenging perspective you have been bringing us all these years. Here's to hoping you keep using ArchiCAD and complaining about it here for many more years to come.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Matthew wrote:
Adalbert,

I am sorry I haven't time for a detailed response, but I feel compelled to say that I love the improvements in 8.1. I (we) can produce all of our work (SD, DD, and CD) so much faster that I find it hard to understand your difficulties. The drawing production is becoming so automated ...

I quite agree, Matthew...well said.

Adalbert, I know you're a long-time user, but it sure seems that a few hours spent with a nearby consultant like Matthew would bring you up to speed on the new features of 8.1. But, if you want to discuss the problems here, give a very specific description of a QuickView that you are unable to create in 8.1 for example and we can see if there is a loss of functionality, or otherwise one of us can suggest how it is done in 8.1

With respect to your comment about sections and plans and layer combinations ... 8.1 behaves exactly the same as earlier versions - there is only one layer combination active across all windows (there is a wishlist item to change this) ... so whatever combo is visible in your section will be visible for your plan. Aha! I think I see what's going wrong for you -- you are probably switching to or re-opening your section by double clicking on its icon in the view set ... which will reset the layer combo. If you're switching between the section (used for your object palette) and plan and want to keep the same layers/etc settings and cannot see both windows, switch back and forth via the project map, not a view set (or any number of other methods). This is done most conveniently if you have a wide monitor or, better, two monitors so that you can display the "View Editor" at all times, rather than the Navigator.

Cheers,
Karl

[TomWaltz]

Adalbert

it really sounds to me like what you need more than anything is to update your skills.

I have 10 users who are using Archicad 8.1 (started on the much maligned 8.0) to crank out drawings from schematic design through construction documents and construction admin. Even though every one of them has less than 1 year experience on Archicad, they are all faster and more effective than ever before on their former software.

Archicad is perfectly usable for construction documents, as well as many other functions.

It seems to be your own lack of ability is holding you back. A little training would take you a long way.

[Petros Ioannou]

I think that the truth is somewhere between....It is a big issue if someone needs to hire a specialist to adjust his office needs in each project. You never had this need when you draw everything by hand or probably you don't have this luxury in some countries or due to economic reasons. Computer AIDED design as the word suggests is a helping tool, not something that will mess up your work. IMHO everyone should learn deeply the use of a program. This means spending quite a lot of time searching, practicing and even playing (like most of us did with a compass, a ruler, reading geometry etc.).
It is also important not to forget that we are architects and our main objective is architecture and not being computer experts-So if someone finds the right tool for him he should stick to it- even if it is ArchiCAD 5 or Claris cad. Whatever suits your work better. Personally being a user since v.5 I didn't earned much from upgrading ArchiCAD 6 to 7. The upgrade to 8.1 was essential for me. But I don't think that there will ever be a program version that could satisfy us all because of different practices, different number of employees, different countries etc. I work in Greece and we do not design log houses here. So if I had to speak for myself I don't want that log-detail option in walls. BUT too many users, overseas (and not only) are using it a lot so...If a company had to make a program that fits my needs probably it would be useless to you. If it was fully customisable then it wouldn't be user-friendly. It is a thin line to balance things.
To conclude, there are too many different viewpoints to this subject so lets be fairer to everyone...
I hope I didn't bore you

[Dwight]

Some people think that repeated complaints on this forum will embarrass GS into making changes in the application [Do you notiice the irony of the words "bare" and "ass" in the word embarassment?]. But mostly, they liked things the way they were.[Our colleague still in version 5, for example.]

While improvement is always available, we've seen so much broadening of ArchiCAD's capacity and in most recent years, remedy of many of the glitches we've all suffered with, that when a member discovers what should be fundamental yet not documented [that I never checked] aspect [and unknown to several of the power users] - the line/arc fillet - we all fall down.

One cannot get enough training or practice to properly control all aspects of the application. While in the past I have focused on conceptual communication in ArchiCAD, I am now facing a period where I must learn to do some CD's and feel like a duffer.

Is ArchiCAD mastery collapsing?

It seems that the constant shift of program and API lag has created [worse for beta testers] a fluid situation WHERE ONE CAN NEVER CATCH UP? [yelling]