Twelve Tricks of ArchiCAD

[Dwight]

Karl wrote:

A quick P.S.
Karl

Making the move from drafting to three dee means being mindful of the "bridging" techniques that reduce drudgery and repetitiveness. Using the magic wand for all of its capacity is the main one becuse it can unify and transform complex resultant shapes that take a long time to draw one node at a time.

Perhaps it is time for us to make the Twelve Tricks of ArchiCAD Anonymous. Nominations???

Foe example:

1: Magic Wand the heck out of things.

2: Place first, then edit.

3: "Mirror, Mirror on the Menu, who's the flip-a-copiest in the coordinate system?" [which sister said that?]

4: ???????

Your turn.

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:

Karl wrote:

A quick P.S.
Karl

Making the move from drafting to three dee means being mindful of the "bridging" techniques that reduce drudgery and repetitiveness. Using the magic wand for all of its capacity is the main one becuse it can unify and transform complex resultant shapes that take a long time to draw one node at a time.

Perhaps it is time for us to make the Twelve Tricks of ArchiCAD Anonymous. Nominations???

Foe example:

1: Magic Wand the heck out of things.

2: Place first, then edit.

3: "Mirror, Mirror on the Menu, who's the flip-a-copiest in the coordinate system?" [which sister said that?]

4: ???????

Your turn.

4. CONSTRAIN with shift, alt/option X/Y/R/A etc... PLUMB, LEVEL & SQUARE.

5. PRECISE Numeric entry. Type the dimensions you want. If you don't know, type something reasonable (like typing 8' instead of stretching something to 7'-11 37/64"). ACCURACY, ACCURACY, ACCURACY.

6. STANDARDIZE!!!!! Name and number everything sensibly (and consistently); stories, sections, details, files, folders, layers, fills, materials. Layers, pens & library parts; pick what you want and stick with it.

7. It's not real, you don't have to save it. I.E. It is often faster to throw things out and redraw them than to adjust stuff that's almost right.

8. Work within your limits but keep pushing the envelope. There is always more to do than time to do it and the model can always be more detailed. Completely detailed models are the ideal ("Model the building and annotate the views." - Matthew Lohden circa 1997) but there always comes a time when you have to stop and get the drawings out. (Schedule backwards from the deadline to avoid sleepless nights and big Maalox bills.)

9. Block out the drawings early; no matter how crude. Set up the layout book and all the links. This allows instant snapshots of the progress of the work (for when the boss says "Print everything you've got so we can go over it this afternoon.") as well as greatly relieving stress as deadline approaches. You can feel comfortable that printing is a push button process without worries of missing layers, improper pens and other embarrassing mistakes. This also provides the best sense of the scope of work and what remains to be done.

Next?....

[Jacek]

Newbie or not,
your advice is worth posting on the wall, which is what I just did!
Organize, organize, organize...

[Djordje]

Dwight wrote:
Perhaps it is time for us to make the Twelve Tricks of ArchiCAD Anonymous. Nominations???

10. Think building, not drawing, and always around the corner or laterally

11. Use Special snap points

12. Use the tools as building blocks for not so obvious

13. Hang out with older guys/girls

[Dave Jochum]

This is all GREAT stuff, but would be much more accessible in the Tips & Tricks dept., wouldn't it Djordje?

[Djordje]

Dave wrote:
This is all GREAT stuff, but would be much more accessible in the Tips & Tricks dept., wouldn't it Djordje?

Not really ... it belongs here. The newbies should be exposed to some evangelism; the virtual building concept (FYI - Geoffrey Moore Langdon denounces BIM as a term and states that Virtual Building is the right name for what we are doing, the "only" problem being it is a TM of Graphisoft) has to be grasped. ArchiCAD as a representation of the Virtual Building thinking is much more than a software.

Tips&Tricks are showcasing techniques and solutions, like Messrs Ottenstein and Ellis for example (winners of Tip of the year contests) repeatedly do (not to forget other contributors, one of which is seriously breathing down my neck re the number of posts 😉)

Therefore, let's keep this thread here, so that new users may read it and I sincerely hope not take it for a hype, that they epeienced once too often otherwise.

[James Murray]

14. If you don't know how to model it, try to model it like they would build it in real life. You might have to compromise, but it's a start.

15. Keep track of your stuff. Use pens to differentiate parts of the model. (Eg, counters are always purple. Roofs are always blue.) Use favorites. Option-click. Watch the info box as you select from a pile. Stay organized, and you can handle a model of great complexity.

16. Marquee, marquee, marquee. For limiting the 3D window, for find & selecting, for stretching.

17. Use the QuickLayers palette. I keep mine in the middle of the screen.

And:

1a. Use the magic wand in conjunction with the pet palette Add & Subtract.

8a. Seek out the limits of the program. Try everything. Wish.

[Dave Jochum]

Djordje wrote:

Dave wrote:
This is all GREAT stuff, but would be much more accessible in the Tips & Tricks dept., wouldn't it Djordje?

Not really ... it belongs here. The newbies should be exposed to some evangelism

That's a good point--what prompted my comment was really the subject line which has nothing to do with these concepts. Maybe a new subject post, "12 Tricks of ArchiCad Anonymous" pointing to this thread? Many times a question will come up that I know has been discussed, but is often part of a thread that evolved far from the original topic. Being able to visibly search the subject lines directly is often more efficient than using the search form. It also allows one to peruse the forums, be intrigued by a topic, and learn things they didn't know they didn't know.

[Anonymous]

as a newbie myself and the orginator of this post, I would agree that having a useful heading would be excellent for such a topic... because while i'm trying to absorb all these tips (despite not understanding all of them due to my lack of experience), if I were to come to this forum without this being my original thread I would be unlikely to look for tips of the trade under a thread such as this and would be much more likely to simply do a search.

[Djordje]

Dave wrote:
Maybe a new subject post, "12 Tricks of ArchiCad Anonymous" pointing to this thread? Many times a question will come up that I know has been discussed, but is often part of a thread that evolved far from the original topic. Being able to visibly search the subject lines directly is often more efficient than using the search form. It also allows one to peruse the forums, be intrigued by a topic, and learn things they didn't know they didn't know.

Granted