Has anyone got ArchiCAD 9 to run on OSX 10.3.4/5?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We have been trying to get ArchCAD 9 (and Plotmaker) to run on our 2Ghz and 1.8Ghz Dual G5s 1Gb RAM for 3 days without success.

Launching ArchiCAD 9 give a bouncing dock icon, CPU useage goes to 100% in the activity monitor, fans speed up, no Archicad menu or windows show.

Sometimes, after about 10 seconds, the "ArchiCAD 9" listing in the activity monitor turns red and the word "(hung)" appears.

A force quit is required to return CPU and fan useage to normal.

Very consistant on the the Macs we have tried, both with 10.3.4 and 10.3.5

Usual tricks tried - permissions, new admin account, clear caches etc. ArchiCAD 8 and 7 run fine. No problems with other apps. Have sent bug report/logs to graphisoft via reseller.

Any ideas?

Regards,

Nick

[Djordje]

Millard wrote:
Now there's a switch from a year ago, when everyone agreed that AC on a mac was slower. Has the hardware caught up or is AC9 written better to use the mac hardware?

Hardware is catching up, but the main advantage is that 9 is MUCH faster on the Mac than the previous versions.

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
Hardware is catching up, but the main advantage is that 9 is MUCH faster on the Mac than the previous versions.

Catching up? Isn't it more like caught up? The little shortfall the Mac hardware might have is made up in the sleek OS X. With the full 64bit OSX coming out soon "TIGER" and the rumor mill of dual core 3 GHz chips in each CPU.
Prediction: First Quarter of 05, Steve Jobs unveiling a dual core 3GHz Power PC with (3 CPUs) That would be 3x2=6 He will have to name it the G6.

Fantasy time.

(Corrected 10/8/04) Megahurts

[glenn_peters]

Small correction to your posts Mark -- I believe you mean to say GHz instead of MHz (simple typo).

I still recall with a slight shudder the "good old days" when 2MHz was actually a valid CPU speed.

[Dwight]

This speed thing comparison can't be generalized.

Rendering is obviously faster since the machine can address two processors, and OpenGL routines are constantly improving.

TIP for LightWorks rendering users:

Mark sees that the sun control is, to a degree, active in OpenGL, but that the LightWorks engine can operate with a sun and a sky object [that are actually lamp objects] that will tempt you to erroneously turn off ArchiCAD's sun in the renderer. In this case OpenGL images will be black.

[Anonymous]

Illustrating that point.

In placing lights into a scene, I am spoiled by C4D and the way it shows the effects of lights and lighting in the OpenGL window. I know that Lightworks can do this also, have seen it in the demos at Siggraph. Was sorry to see that ArchiCAD is still using the little rays of line to show the light cone. Also some lights don't even show the little rays, such as the exterior ground lamp.

Even C4D won't show a very exact reprensation in OpenGL, but at least it tries. Not that I can complain, I think ArchiCAD 9 shows an extreme level of work and commitment to both platforms. Think about it, how many software vendors release both operating systems at the same time? Many kudo's to GS for that. The speed shows that GS has been doing their homework, big time!

Yes turning off the sun allows you to place lights for dramatic lighting effects, but then the OpenGL window is black. There is probably a better method of doing this, the sun at 10% - 20% of lighting works well as a global illumination, but now I wander because I rather wait for Dwight to figure this all out for me. I am lazy, I like to avoid it all and then kick back on the hammock and read his book.

[Dwight]

My point is essential to exploiting the LightWorks engine. Look for a lamp object called Sun Object and a lamp called Sky Object.

Insert these objects near the center of your building.

Study them well - they are both lamps that have multiple, distant light sources [GDL lights - not fancy LightWorks lights] that can make the appearance of diffuse sun and fuzzy shadows. Start with three "suns" and 5 degrees divergence. This makes a neat shadow. Each additional "Sun" increases rendering time - to the point that for really fuzzy shadows [20 suns] you will go and take lunch like in the old days.

I wonder if by increasing the divergence to, like, 45 degrees and specifying only two suns, whether a binary star gets created.

The Sky object provides a diffuse ambient fill.

To get the most of these, in the Photorendering dialog setting, turn off sun and turn on lamps. This makes the Open GL view black. I am not sure if they automatically cancel out the real sun in ArchiCAD or not.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thanks Dwight - I didn't find those light objects at first. They seem to work well and also work in combination with the Camera/Sun settings. For example you can use the ambient setting from the Camera/Sun settings to enhance the image. Looking forward to the manuals with v9, but appreciate receving the CD's ahead of the books.

[Stress Co_]

Aaron wrote:
Dwight,

Just how big was your windfall?

Given you have sufficient readies and a chiropractor on 24hr call, I think you might be ready for this baby:

Exhibit A: The 92" Grand Canyon.

You were also asking about supercharged computers. These guys say that they make those too. I've heard a lot of bad things about the company, but their website sure is impressive: http://www.go-l.com

With the proceeds from the new book........ Dwight should be into this one.....

Yep, that's a 200" screen, cupcake.

http://www.go-l.com/monitors/athens/features/index.htm

[Dwight]

It appears that the highest resolution is the 110" model - more realistic aspect ratio, too. A feollw won't need binoculars to see the ends of that one.

[Stress Co_]

Yeah, but I guy could view a of a 110 story building at a respectable scale............. sideways of course.