switching from revit to archicad

[Anonymous]

hi, i'm new to archicad... kinda. i used version 6 ages ago but have been using revit since 2006. i thought it would be a piece of cake getting back into archicad but find i'm mistaken. i've done the basic interactive training but have difficulty doing the exercises on my own. could be because i'm trying the same approach as in revit, which doesn't work, obviously.

anyone here made the switch? any tips on how to un-revit my thinking?

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
Do yourself a favour, regardless of what the GS marketing tells you:

Switch the Coordinates and Control box on. Tracker off. Windows/Palettes. Place them in the bottom or top of the screen.

Djordje,

Slightly off-topic I know, but why do you recommend this? I've seen it mentioned several times but I've never known the reason why. Personally I've been using ArchiCAD for 18 months, so still a newbie I suppose, but I have never even turned on the co-ordinates & control box. What have I been missing out on all this time?! I seem to get on OK just using the tracker (when it stays on!).

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:

hey matthew, did you switch from revit, too, or is it your job as a 'consultant' to be on the know? what are you a consultant of, if i may ask?

I guess you could say I am a BIM consultant, though I don't care much for the acronym. I still prefer Graphisoft's "Virtual Building" and I kind of like the new "IPD" or "Integrated Project Delivery" as it applies to the construction process.

i figured as much. it seems very rare that someone would switch from one BIM to another. i guess i never thought about it before because i did it a couple of times. i hope this would be the last time though.

it must be a tough job what you're doing. you can't just superficially know about these software but have a working knowledge of them as well.

Matthew wrote:


Shift click = select/deselect regardless of the active tool (also accumulate/de-accumulate selections)

Spacebar click = Magic Wand

Simple click = use active tool (or deselect if something is selected)

and don't forget...

Option/alt click = Eye Dropper cursor; sets tool to and matches parameters of element clicked.

Command/ctrl click = Scissors cursor; trim linear segments including walls and polylines (doesn't apply to fills)

Command/ctrl + option/alt click = Syringe cursor; apply (inject) curent default settings to clicked element (combined with option/alt click above turns all your work into a convenient template to pick up and reuse element settings - another feature that beats Revit's version hands down)

i don't really have to know all that, do I. I mean the icons should be somewhere on some menu-, option- or toolbar.

[Erich]

greenfin beta

Sure you could hunt down the icon or change your work environment to make them easily accessible, if they aren't already, but I suspect you will quickly find that these keyboard commands are very useable and very useful. IMHO it is much quicker than searching for a button.

[Anonymous]

In Revit when I select an object/element in one view and want to see it in another view, I just click on the new view and see my object highlighted in that view. This doesn't seem to be the case in ArchiCAD_at least not the way I've been trying to do it. Is there something special I need to do like stand on my head and 'caps lock' click with my left big toe? 😉

[Shivang Rajvir]

Very Simple.
Select the object/element and press F5.

[Anonymous]

Shivang wrote:
Very Simple.
Select the object/element and press F5.

thanks but i don't want to isolate the object (which clicking F5 seems to do) but see it in the context of another view.

[Anonymous]

here's a screenshot of 3 views in revit. in plan view, i've selected (highlighted in red) the curtain wall on the north side of the building. as you can see (or not?... too small?) it is also highlighted in the other views. can you do the same in archicad?

[Anonymous]

greenfin,

Highlighting an element in one elevation will not highlight it in another elevation, although any changes you make will be reflected in all the other elevations when they are updated (ie when you next open/select one).

Only elements modified in the 3D window will automatically update in realtime on to the floor plan (strangely not the opposite!?). None of the other views are linked in realtime. They all require some form of updating to see any changes.

So the answer is no, not really!

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
Matthew, you forgot right click. Typical Maccer

... and the double-click... hah! i'm getting the hang of it.

[Anonymous]

Peter wrote:
greenfin,

Highlighting an element in one elevation will not highlight it in another elevation, although any changes you make will be reflected in all the other elevations when they are updated (ie when you next open/select one).

Only elements modified in the 3D window will automatically update in realtime on to the floor plan (strangely not the opposite!?). None of the other views are linked in realtime. They all require some form of updating to see any changes.

So the answer is no, not really!

that's good to know so i don't waste my time figuring out a way to do it but i'm really quite surprised, i had expected archicad to be able to do anything revit can and more.

[TomWaltz]

greenfin wrote:
that's good to know so i don't waste my time figuring out a way to do it but i'm really quite surprised, i had expected archicad to be able to do anything revit can and more.

You're going to find there are a lot of things that Revit can do that Archicad cannot.

For example:

• Showing Zones in Sections
• In elevations, automatically show other sections cut through the building
• Changing the dimension text does not move the elements being dimensioned, it makes the dimension fake
• Interference checking
• Constraints
• Copy 3D elements in sections
• Demolition Tool
• Element borrowing in multi-user files
• Annotation crop
• Constraints. I know, they are a blessing and a curse, but Archicad still does not have them.
• Revision schedules (ok, there's an add-on you can buy for Archicad, but I was thinking what comes in the box)
• Massing tools that can convert to real elements (for the non-Revit folks, think SketchUp light, with the ability to convert masses into walls, roofs, and curtain walls.)
• Wall profiles (different from Archicad's, these are drawn in elevation, not section, like castellation at the top of a wall)

On the plus side, Archicad can import PDFs, has really nice global-selection (Find & Select), better text formatting, and Virtual Trace (view layouts, sections, or other drawings as backgrounds).

[Rakela Raul]

Must be getting difficult for resellers to sell AC, running out goodies.

[Djordje]

Peter wrote:

Djordje wrote:
Do yourself a favour, regardless of what the GS marketing tells you:

Switch the Coordinates and Control box on. Tracker off. Windows/Palettes. Place them in the bottom or top of the screen.

Djordje,

Slightly off-topic I know, but why do you recommend this? I've seen it mentioned several times but I've never known the reason why. Personally I've been using ArchiCAD for 18 months, so still a newbie I suppose, but I have never even turned on the co-ordinates & control box. What have I been missing out on all this time?! I seem to get on OK just using the tracker (when it stays on!).

Well, after 13 years ...

First, I am used to it. That's a personal reason that bears no objective weight. But - the Tracker can to an extent replace the Coordinate box FOR THE BEGINNER. Not for the user who knows what the small delta buttons mean, how to reposition the origin, what does pressing S do etc ... Much more important is the Control box, with the Special snap points for example. Do you know where they are? I intentionally forgot.

Before anyone mentions the building of my own UI or command palettes - sorry, guys, if you pay for a car, you don't expect a kit. I might tune and tweak it, but it has to work out of the box.

The point is, "old" tools and methods were not OBVIOUS. You had to have someone to show you - but once you know, you fly. The "new" methods are falling over themselves trying to be obvious, and are spectacularly failing to even come close to the "old" ones. The fact that the new users are used to a software that is as friendly as a mad hedgehog with a hangover, and melt at ANY hint of freindlieness (look! a guideline! a bunch of them! wooow!) does not require Archicad to become inelegant, obvious and plain. We should be architect, I seem to recollect?

But ... to each their own. Call me negative, old fashioned and reactive. Still, for 60% of the questions on Archicad Talk, all the answers are in the old ArchiGuide, made for ArchiCAD 6.o ten years ago. Basics are basics.

[Djordje]

greenfin wrote:
i don't really have to know all that, do I. I mean the icons should be somewhere on some menu-, option- or toolbar.

You don't have to know any of those - in fact, I can bet that most of the people who read that post did not know at least two of them.

Keyboard shortcuts (the ones using only one hand ...) are the time saver. Icons are not.

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
Well, after 13 years ...

First, I am used to it. That's a personal reason that bears no objective weight. But - the Tracker can to an extent replace the Coordinate box FOR THE BEGINNER. Not for the user who knows what the small delta buttons mean, how to reposition the origin, what does pressing S do etc ... Much more important is the Control box, with the Special snap points for example. Do you know where they are? I intentionally forgot.

Before anyone mentions the building of my own UI or command palettes - sorry, guys, if you pay for a car, you don't expect a kit. I might tune and tweak it, but it has to work out of the box.

The point is, "old" tools and methods were not OBVIOUS. You had to have someone to show you - but once you know, you fly. The "new" methods are falling over themselves trying to be obvious, and are spectacularly failing to even come close to the "old" ones. The fact that the new users are used to a software that is as friendly as a mad hedgehog with a hangover, and melt at ANY hint of freindlieness (look! a guideline! a bunch of them! wooow!) does not require Archicad to become inelegant, obvious and plain. We should be architect, I seem to recollect?

Thanks for the reply Djordje, I may start a new thread to discuss this further as I am curious as to whether it can help me or not.

[Anonymous]

aligning elements/objects to another object

e.g. align a window with a door on the opposite wall

in revit i click 'align' then pick a reference point or line (in this case the center line of the door) then click the object (window) i want to align. in three simple mouse-clicks, i'm done.

i've been trying to figure out how to do this in archicad. there's nothing about it in the help menu. how do i do this?

p.s. notice the padlock in the bottom drawing? after aligning the object, you have the option to lock it to the reference so that when one of them is moved the other will move with it to keep the alignment.

[Anonymous]

Two ways to align an element
>select an element
>Press Shift and drag
> move cursor to the element you want to align to, a dotted line will appear showing the alignment.
> click to complete.
you can download align element goodie
HTH

[Anonymous]

editing door/window orientation

here's how it's done in revit:
1. select the door or window
2. click on one of the double arrows that appear, vertical or horizontal (in-out, left-right) to flip the door to desired orientation

in archicad?
1. select door
2. to flip left/right, mirror it? to flip in/out, go to settings and click 'flip'?

[David Maudlin]

greenfin wrote:
in archicad?
1. select door
2. to flip left/right, mirror it?

Yes.

greenfin wrote:
to flip in/out, go to settings and click 'flip'?

Use the Rotate command.

You should add a Signature to your Profile (click the Profile button near the top of this page) with your ArchiCAD version and operating system (see mine for an example) for more accurate help in this forum.

HTH

David

[vistasp]

greenfin wrote:
editing door/window orientation
...
to flip in/out, go to settings and click 'flip'?

As David says, use Ctrl+E to automatically rotate it 180°. You may or may not then need to use Ctrl+M (mirror) it to flip the hinge side.

If you're on a Mac (we don't know, see), substitute "Ctrl" with "Cmd" above 😉

[Anonymous]

thanks everyone. i really appreciate your input. all these combination clicks are so confusing but there's no other way around it i suppose. i hope you're not tired of my comparisons with revit but when you've been doing something a certain way it's hard to suddenly have to do it another way. as djordje (how do you pronounce 'Djordje', btw? the Js like Y?) old habits are hard to break

now, for the next question/problem.

how do i edit in plan view one of the walls in a chain of walls? i can't seem to isolate it from the others. when i click on it, the whole chain gets selected. i've tried all the combination clicks, shift-, space-, ctr-, even tried F5. must i explode or ungroup them first?