Project Preferences don't stay set

[Anonymous]

I'm having a real issue with my project preferences changing, specifically dimensions, from one day to the next, even on the same computer. The dimensions revert to the archicad standard. Any ideas?

[Karl Ottenstein]

Have you learned about creating views in the View Map that save your settings?

[Anonymous]

not really sure-I have largely disregarded the view map area. Not really sure what the view map is there for. I had always thought that changing a global setting under project preferences would do the trick globally, but I thought it was a bug that wasn't allowing correct functionality. What is the correct way to use view maps?

[Karl Ottenstein]

The Views in the View Map save all settings necessary to produce the view - layer combination, dimension preference, pen table, model view options and more for 2D ... marquee, render settings, 3D window settings, filters and tons more for 3D. The idea is that you have a "what you see is what you get" view of your potential drawings from the Views ... and only Views can appear as Drawings on a Layout.

The Project Map lets you display viewpoints (vs views) - using whatever the current settings are. That is, you can change stories, elevations, whatever from the Project Map and NO settings will be altered - you will just see the viewpoint that you select.

ArchiCAD is far more complex than most people new to it imagine and cannot be learned by experimentation. (Well, it can, but it will be painful as you're finding out - and in the worst situation, may require your models to be completely rebuilt: I have seen many new users who did not understand how coordinate input works in AC and ended up with not a single wall at the proper length or angle.) Do spent some time with the training guides, and with the PDF User Guide / Help. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Thank you much for your help! As a follow up however,
1_So when you navigate around in a project do you use the view map exclusively and not the navigator?

2_I agree there is much to learn in archicad, however when thrown into a project in a new office environment on new software one often has to work and not learn. I wish it could be different but I learn new features on a daily basis and I don't think most people at the firm have full comprehension of the software. Again, the view map is ignored in our office until now....

[Karl Ottenstein]

hillclinger wrote:
Thank you much for your help! As a follow up however,
1_So when you navigate around in a project do you use the view map exclusively and not the navigator?

Personally, I almost exclusively use the view map because I want to see and work with what is actually going to be produced as a drawing. Once you develop your own template based on existing projects, your view map will be pre-populated for future projects, ready to go, with the view pre-placed on layouts, ready to print.

While setting up views, I use the Project Map and all of the various settings. (And, I typically use the Project Organizer rather then Project Navigator, so that I can drag and drop viewpoints from the Map into the View list, creating new views with the current settings.)

I'll also use the Project Map if I want to see another viewpoint with exactly the same settings as whatever I'm currently working on. For example, I might be viewing a structural plan, and I may not actually have structural section views ... but opening a section from the Map will keep the settings from the plan I was viewing and I'll see the same elements presented the same way in section. Etc.

Note too: Trace and Reference can use either viewpoints or views. If your reference is a viewpoint, then when you change any settings - e.g., layer visibility - it affects both the trace and the reference. If, however, your reference is a View, then the reference always uses the settings in the view, regardless of what settings you change. So, for example, if your Reference is your structural plan view and your Trace is your architectural floor plan view of the same story, they will differ and even if you temporarily show/hide other layers while working on the floor plan, the structural plan reference will not change.

2_I agree there is much to learn in archicad, however when thrown into a project in a new office environment on new software one often has to work and not learn. I wish it could be different but I learn new features on a daily basis and I don't think most people at the firm have full comprehension of the software. Again, the view map is ignored in our office until now....

Sorry, I could tell you were a new user, but could not tell from your prior posts that the firm you are with has been on ArchiCAD for some time. Seems to me that your firm should be giving you more support! You've got my empathy for your situation. If there is nobody there who really understands AC (which is apparently the case if the view map is ignored), your principals should consider bringing someone in to provide some training for the whole office.

Cheers,
Karl