Archicad AI Visualizer in the Cloud for Technology Preview ‌🚀‌

[Ilona Jasenszky]

We have some exciting news for Archicad Collaborate subscribers and Technology Preview participants! 

The popular experimental feature, Archicad AI Visualizer, is now seamlessly integrated into Archicad 28. This exciting upgrade brings significant advantages. Forget local software installations or needing powerful computers – Archicad AI Visualizer is cloud-based, offering effortless access and streamlining your workflow. Furthermore, it works flawlessly on both Windows and macOS, regardless of the language version you use. This cloud-hosted approach makes AI visualization readily available to all users, removing technical barriers.

Important Notes: 

• We support a fair usage policy, meaning the primary use of this service should be for testing and bug reporting. 
• The initial version, now called Legacy AI Visualizer, remains compatible with Archicad 27 but won't be supported in Archicad 28 and onwards. 
• Don't miss out! After the Technology Preview, the AI Visualizer will be exclusive to Archicad Collaborate subscribers. 

Ready to experience the future of architectural visualization? Download the Technology Preview and try out the AI Visualizer.

We appreciate your feedback! 

[Ruben V]

I will be testing this feature for sure - comparing it to other (online) tools as well. AI was always set to be a paid 'item' once it would reach some level of maturity (thanks to the users/testers during free phases), but also do regret this not being a feature for SSA-users.

Off-topic: License policy was a big plus for Graphisoft in the past - let's hope they keep it like that...

[thesleepofreason]

Yes - it is hard not to read a link to the conversion program in this context as nothing but an expression of the notion that it would be best for GS if everyone just gave up on perpetual and went with the moneyflow. As you say the issue here is not what we need to do to get access to functions like the AI visualiser - it is that GS actively are depreciating the value of SSA while being coy about it - leaving costumers without enough information to make an informed decision about future commitments. Just stop the farce of "perpetual will continue" and own the decision of going subscription already...

And not that I care too much about the AI visualiser per se but I'm pretty sure that it's development wasn't covered exclusively by subscription fees? And although the AI visualiser might seem readily separable for AC's basic functionality what's to say that we won't see more and more feature being developed using SSA fees just to be made subscription exclusive under the pretense of "cloud technology" - attribution management, energy calculations, publishing, etc. GS is of course free to use revenues from SSA customers to increase the leverage of the subscription shift but it would then be appropriate to atleast tone back the "let's make archicad better together" language a bit.

[Jp1138]

It´s evident more and more things will become subscription exclusive. That road was taken when some thing became SSA exclusives for no apparent reason. Now, they are moving to the next step.

This case, anyway, is one of the few I can see a justification for being subscription based: the computing time image generation requires makes it a perfect choice to be tied to a subscription model.

I´m still disappointed they deprecated the local version based on "it was very difficult to install" (completely their fault) or it "requires a decent GPU"(it´s still cheaper than subscription). It was a refreshing take on the AI matter, having a local solution independent and private. GS should just be clear it was a purely (respectable) business decision and don´t try to convince us other way.

[Francois_MCD]

Hi @Ilona Jasenszky 
I find something weird with my 1st few AI render tests with the default prompt as installed then making slight prompt changes.

It looks like the AI engine does not understand what "next to the lake" means. I even tried it with adding "not inside the lake" to the prompt. But the building still remains inside the lake. What's up with that? I will try more prompts as I go, but this one getting stuck ignoring the prompt is unexpected. 

Another thing about the output response to the prompt: why does the AI jump to the 1st conclusion that a building will be built smack in the middle of the water? I would think the default logic for most buildings would be on land (next to water bodies) unless prompted otherwise. I actually saw the same gravity to this outcome in the Archicad 27 local AI Visualizer that I recently re-installed & tested after a Main SSD replacement.

One good thing I notice is that it generates quite fast despite my internet not nearly being the same as you are used to in Europe / USA... nice!

I also see the cloud AI Visualizer has less controls than the preceding version. Is the Tech Preview version intended to be like this or are more controls on the map for the tool? Those extra controls just sensible to aid with some control over the outcome.

Testing continues...

[Ruben V]

So as promised, I did some testing. Similar conclusions as @Francois_MCD .

I used the exact same model and camera as I did for the image I uploaded to Pr***AI. I copied the prompt and set the 'creativitity' in a similar fashion.

I get 2 completely different results.

PROS for Archicad:

• it is fast
• it recognizes structure well (a wall is a wall, steel beams do not turn into plants,...)
• it does lighting form the interior good (although not asked this)

CONS for Archicad:

• materials are changed (the building material settings are more or less ignored)
• no option for a "negative" prompt >> "do not put the building in the lake"or in my case "do not add a second pool"
• no option for reference image (the best result online was achieved by using a actual picture of the building as reference - the 'design' here was just the pool and garden part)

Really expected to combine the BIM-data (materials, ...) with the AI creativity to be honest...

I will do test on more prompt engineering to see what works better. 

Does it make a difference if you start from a line drawing in stead of "3D window vectorial style"?

first try in Archicad (I get an extra pool and some unwanted wood - like the interior lighting though)

second try ((the pathway is ok, but materials and overall design are somewhat changed)

first try online (steel turns into vines at top left)

 

 

 

second try online - using reference picture (= really good result)

 

3D window in Archicad

[claudio_pia]

I've experimented AI Visualizer with complex shape. As you recommend it shouldn't be the way to work, but a message at the end of the process that the "geometry is not processable" or something similar will be nice: in this way the user can have a feedback that the geometry has been processed and it's not viable. In this way we can experiment the borders of creation.

[Funfun Yan]

I believe we should take a rational view of Graphisoft providing AI services. The functionality of AI Visualizer, as far as I know, is not fundamentally different from Stable Diffusion. For the need to generate images, setting up a local SD environment would suffice; it does not necessarily have to be implemented within the Archicad software interface, unless the software at its core supports spatial information, material information, and other features that SD does not support. Therefore, in order to provide a balanced user experience, the AI Visualizer plugin embedded in Archicad must be cloud-based. Moreover, the current hype around AI concepts is essentially a money-burning affair that ultimately incurs costs. Hence, I believe it’s fine for Graphisoft to leverage AI for publicity, but users also need to understand that these costs, when moved to the cloud, will need to be shared. It is unlikely to be free.

I would prefer that not too many development resources be invested in the AI image generation feature. Instead, I hope more focus would be placed on basic tools, such as how to create truly curved curtain wall panels with the curtain wall tool. The development of these basic functionalities is more urgent.

[Botonis]

I agree with you @Funfun Yan . No one said it should be free. On the contrary. But after this announcement the perpetual licence holders under an SSA agreement are not considered eligible customers and do not have the right to access AI on the explanation that is cloud based so it needs to be funded by cloud based clients. I would understand a logical increase in my my SSA agreement just to have an access to the AI, but excluding all the SSA users that way sets a question of respect to the customers.

[Ruben V]

I agree with @Funfun Yan and @Botonis  - of course this service is not free. It is to be included in a license fee.

I do not agree that AI should not further be researched and implemented by Graphisoft. IMHO they should push it even further, but expand research beyond "mere" visualizations...  Using AI for generative design, assessing/improving sustainability or providing workflows for automated compliance checking is no science fiction... But 'lower hanging fruit' would be implementation like with the stair tool - providing layout options within user defined rules.

Back on topic: AI Visualizer indeed is (seems?) based on Stabel Diffusion. But in order to be a useful and used plugin, it would be interesting to see a USP in this implementation. For instance: ignore the BIM content seems very strange to me. A fast, creative, realistic visualization within the design(ed) boundaries seems like a minimum. Instead of "creativity", maybe a switch to choose how far away from current design the visualization should be generated. In an early design stage, this can be quite far off, but in a finished design the speed of AI visualization should be combined with the intellect of the designer 😅

[Ian_Forbes_Architect]

We were very interested and excited about using the AI visualiser. However, it never worked for us. After several attempts, we discovered that we should have split our storage to install a Microsoft window simulation on our Mac computers and then, from there, try to install Archicad or wherever was needed to install the AI visualiser, which we didn't do. Since we are a practice trying to make some profits while we test and report some feedback to you to improve the tools you put out there, that is a lot of time-consuming for us and not productive.