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?

[Laszlo Nagy]

greenfin wrote:

laszlonagy wrote:
Now, I do not think this is different between Mac and Windows.
The instructions were not correct.

Thanks. Good to know that as we'll be using Macs... So is there really a 'visual compare' icon somewhere or is this 'splitter' thing it?

And the saga continues (I can only do one chapter a day as I'm still working with Revit)...

Create the Slabs called for by the “3.2.3 Slab-04/03” pre-set
View. After creating the outline using SPACE-click,
SHIFT-click the newly created Slab while the Slab Tool is
active, and click the polygons that are pointed to by the other
Labels to create the holes within the Slab polygon. These
holes will be cut into the body of the Slab.[/color]

I followed the instructions as described above but the holes do not appear. I clicked on 3D to see if maybe they're there somewhere where I can't see them on the plan, but there was nothing on the 3D Window, not even the slabs I'd been working on. I zoomed in, zoomed out, panned. Nada! What did I do wrong?

The feature is called Visual Compare, because you are visually comparing the content of the active viewpoint and the Trace reference. You show the Splitter and by moving the Splitter left-right or up-down you are achieving Visual Compare.

The hole creation should work.
You created a Slab. If you select it, its surface should be marked by a greenish color (that is called the Selection highlight). Then you you need to define another closed polygon within the contours of the Slab polygon to create a hole in it.

[Thomas Holm]

laszlonagy wrote:
You created a Slab. If you select it, its surface should be marked by a greenish color (that is called the Selection highlight). Then you you need to define another closed polygon within the contours of the Slab polygon to create a hole in it.

This way:
1. Create slab.
2. Draw a polygon (with a line tool, circle, polyline, whatever) within its perimeter. (Note: If you draw with the slab tool still active, you will create the hole at once. The method described here is more useful for pre-created polygons)
3. Select the slab.
4. Click on Slab Tool.
5. "Magic wand" the polygon. (this is done by pressing the space bar and clicking on the polygon. I guess the text you read should be Space-click). THis method is extremely useful in many situations.

[Anonymous]

Thomas wrote:

This way:
1. Create slab.
2. Draw a polygon (with a line tool, circle, polyline, whatever) within its perimeter. (Note: If you draw with the slab tool still active, you will create the hole at once. The method described here is more useful for pre-created polygons)
3. Select the slab.
4. Click on Slab Tool.
5. "Magic wand" the polygon. (this is done by pressing the space bar and clicking on the polygon. I guess the text you read should be Space-click). THis method is extremely useful in many situations.

6. Don't forget to delete the polygon afterwards. It will still be there after magic-wanding. Use shift-tab to cycle between the newly created hole and the existing polygon in order to select the correct one for deletion.

[Laura Yanoviak]

greenfin wrote:
Create the Slabs called for by the “3.2.3 Slab-04/03” pre-set
View. After creating the outline using SPACE-click,
SHIFT-click the newly created Slab while the Slab Tool is
active, and click the polygons that are pointed to by the other
Labels to create the holes within the Slab polygon. These
holes will be cut into the body of the Slab.

I followed the instructions as described above but the holes do not appear.

I suspect you did not have the Slab Tool active.

[Anonymous]

thanks all. i did eventually figure out how to do it right after i posted my previous post. the problem had been that after i shift-clicked the slab to select it, i simply clicked on the polygons (i think i tried to shift-click them as well when the first didn't work) as instructed when i should have space-clicked them.

selection is more straightforward in revit. you simply click on the element or use tab to toggle among overlapping elements. to cut a hole on a slab however may not be more complicated than in archicad but may take more steps... or not.

[Laura Yanoviak]

greenfin wrote:
you simply click on the element or use tab to toggle among overlapping elements.

It's the same in AC, you just have to hold down the Shift key . Believe me, it quickly becomes a subconscience step.

[Anonymous]

greenfin wrote:
...selection is more straightforward in revit. you simply click on the element or use tab to toggle among overlapping elements. to cut a hole on a slab however may not be more complicated than in archicad but may take more steps... or not.

Actually I find that the selection tools and the polygon editing are two areas where ArchiCAD beats Revit all hollow.

As has been pointed out ArchiCAD's basic selection method is no more difficult than Revit's and the more advanced tools go way beyond anything Revit has to offer.

Polygon (slab, roof, fill, etc.) editing is available instantly on any selected element in plan and 3D with many features just a click away on the pet palette. Revit requires going into sketch mode, fussing with relatively primitive editing functions, and then you don't know if it will actually produce valid geometry until you leave the sketch mode (and have to undo and re-enter the sketch mode to try again if it fails).

I really like using Revit for some things and there are plenty of cool things in the program, but these two areas have actually been my two biggest frustrations with using it. Particularly the lack of selection tools. I can work around the clumsy polygon editing by associating floors, ceilings, etc. to walls - at least when there are walls to work with.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:

greenfin wrote:
...selection is more straightforward in revit. you simply click on the element or use tab to toggle among overlapping elements. to cut a hole on a slab however may not be more complicated than in archicad but may take more steps... or not.

Actually I find that the selection tools and the polygon editing are two areas where ArchiCAD beats Revit all hollow.

As has been pointed out ArchiCAD's basic selection method is no more difficult than Revit's and the more advanced tools go way beyond anything Revit has to offer.

Polygon (slab, roof, fill, etc.) editing is available instantly on any selected element in plan and 3D with many features just a click away on the pet palette. Revit requires going into sketch mode, fussing with relatively primitive editing functions, and then you don't know if it will actually produce valid geometry until you leave the sketch mode (and have to undo and re-enter the sketch mode to try again if it fails).

I really like using Revit for some things and there are plenty of cool things in the program, but these two areas have actually been my two biggest frustrations with using it. Particularly the lack of selection tools. I can work around the clumsy polygon editing by associating floors, ceilings, etc. to walls - at least when there are walls to work with.

yeah, i find the magic wand a great tool indeed. but i still am not sure whether to use shift-click, space-click or a regular click in a given situation. i guess with practice it will come.

as to the pet palette, i'm sure it's very handy but at the moment it somehow irritates me as it gets in the way and sometimes for some reason not all the tools are there.

and i don't like that you have to delete the remains of the polygon after you've created the opening (referring to making holes for a skylight in ArchiCAD BIM Experience Kit).

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?

[Djordje]

laszlonagy wrote:
The hole creation should work.
You created a Slab. If you select it, its surface should be marked by a greenish color (that is called the Selection highlight). Then you you need to define another closed polygon within the contours of the Slab polygon to create a hole in it.

THE SLAB TOOL SHOULD BE ACTIVE.

My usual way to ensure this is to right click the slab, Select and activate tool. Yes, a click extra but you are sure what has happened.

[Erich]

greenfin beta,

Not that I would recommend it but the pet pallet can be turned off in your work environment settings.

As for deleting polylines, I expect with some practice you will rarely even use them and instead make the holes directly without aid of poly lines.

For those times when you want, or need, to use polylines and then want them deleted...place a marquee around the area in question, select the polyline tool, select all (this will only select elements that match the active tool unless the arrow tool is active in which case all elements will be selected), and delete - being careful that you do not have any polylines that you actually want to keep inside the marquee

This works quite well and is useful in many situations. You can also do this with the whole drawing should that be required. Just leave off the marquee selection.

[Anonymous]

On SEOs (BIM Experience Kit Chapter 6: Modifying the Model in 3D)

9. Select the Roof and the two Fascias above the Room at the
Balcony. Click the lower left corner of the left Fascia and
select the Elevate command from the Pet Palette.

10. Press the “Z” key and type “2050”, then press ENTER. This
will be the new vertical position of the point we clicked. By
doing this we lowered these elements by 600 millimeters.

I managed Step 9 without any problem but when I pressed Z as instructed in Step 10 no new palette appeared where I could type the new height. I got around this by clicking on the Settings Dialog and changing the Relative Base Height to '2050'. I was just guessing that this was the height refered to and not the Absolute Base Height. In this case, I was lucky because they were the same.

Anyways, my question is why didn't that palette which typing Z should call up appear? Did I miss a step? This seem to happen (to me) a lot, either a palette doesn't appear or a tool is missing in the palette.

[Brett Brown]

10, "Z" means in the pet palette that appears, top row far right,(not the Z on the key board), which will bring up the height box to enter height.

[Anonymous]

Brett wrote:
10, "Z" means in the pet palette that appears, top row far right,(not the Z on the key board), which will bring up the height box to enter height.

there's no 'Z' on the pet palette, "top row far right" on my palette is 'stretch height'. i would pick elevate but no box appears where i could enter height. i haven't gone so far as to customize the tool boxes, just following instructions in the exercise. here's a screen shot of the palette.

[Brett Brown]

Yes I didn't read it properly,I was talking roof only, but without knowing what the fascias are made out of, there's a different pet palette for walls, slabs,roofs etc. Try turning on the tracker. It makes editing things like this a lot easier.

[Anonymous]

Brett wrote:
Yes I didn't read it properly,I was talking roof only, but without knowing what the fascias are made out of, there's a different pet palette for walls, slabs,roofs etc. Try turning on the tracker. It makes editing things like this a lot easier.

I had the roof (slab) selected but there's no 'Z' in the palette for the fascia (wall) either. So what is this 'Z'? I tend to think it's the keybord Z for entering the height or Z coordinate the way you could with X and Y. Only when I press it nothing happens, no box to enter height appears. I guess the content of the pet palette changes depending on the view you're in but in 3D it should be active, no?

[Thomas Holm]

The elevate icon in your pet palette is bottom row second from left. With the Tracker on, you should be able to type a height. If you don't like the tracker, turn on the Coordinates palette.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Re-read the instructions -- I believe they are correct.

[Djordje]

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.

[Anonymous]

greenfin wrote:
yeah, i find the magic wand a great tool indeed. but i still am not sure whether to use shift-click, space-click or a regular click in a given situation. i guess with practice it will come.

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)

as to the pet palette, i'm sure it's very handy but at the moment it somehow irritates me as it gets in the way and sometimes for some reason not all the tools are there.

The tools on the pet palette vary according to the element being edited. It will take some time to get used to, but is well worth the effort. Generally the lower row of tools are general purpose (move, mirror, rotate, etc.) that apply to anything, while the upper row are the functions that apply specifically to that element.

and i don't like that you have to delete the remains of the polygon after you've created the opening (referring to making holes for a skylight in ArchiCAD BIM Experience Kit).

As others have said, it is usually just as easy to draw the hole directly as it is to draw the polyline. The magic wand approach is mostly to punch holes to match existing geometry or when the form is so complex that you want to fuss and tweak it with 2D tools before making the hole. Of course now in the skylight case, if you can use one of the skylights in the library, the hole is automatic (shades of Revit, oooh).

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.

The only program I ever really switched from was Architrion. That was when I started using ArchiCAD. I have since used most of the building model software that has come and gone over the last twenty years (speedikon, Triforma, Allplan, Arch-T, etc.) I have used Revit off and on since it was new, have always felt that it held a lot of promise, and in the last few years it seems to be getting good enough to really do complete projects (ie. without having to finish in AutoCAD).

[Laura Yanoviak]

Matthew wrote:
The tools on the pet palette vary according to the element being edited. It will take some time to get used to, but is well worth the effort. Generally the lower row of tools are general purpose (move, mirror, rotate, etc.) that apply to anything, while the upper row are the functions that apply specifically to that element.

Also, it is important to note that the Pet Palette for each tool will vary whether it is an element's edge or node that is selected.

[Djordje]

Matthew, you forgot right click. Typical Maccer