interior designer seeking advice

[Anonymous]

I'm a Danish Interior Designer (well, studying to be..) living in Italy. I have the study version of ArchiCad 9, I bought it because of my beloved mac. BUT -even though I master several computer programs from my old life as an art director (e.g. InDesign, Illustrator, photoshop) I find this one really difficult and diverse.
So I decided I need a fool-proof guide, real basic stuff. (the little guide that comes with the CD supposes that you already know how to draw a room - which is not the case!!)
I'm NOT an architect, my need is to make Interior Design come to live for the client...
So my questions are these:

1) Can anybody recommend a really good guide (in either Danish, English or Italian)

2) can anybody tell me if the stydy version is very limited compared to the full (meaning, if I buy a guide, is there a risk that basic tools it mentions are missing from the program I have, or is it usually the more complicated features they leave out?)

3) Is there a real life Interior Designer out there who can confirm that this is actually the program to have and use (on mac, I recall you) -or are there better alternatives, before I start getting to know this animal...

4) Bonus question - how should I save an archiCad file to make it possible for an autoCad user to open and correct my file?

I thank you so much for any help - really, please do send me your thoughts!
ciao, Iacobe

[TomWaltz]

Broker wrote:
I think perhaps you underestimate or make incorrect assumptions. Surely with most users such as myself for example have been using something else for a long time (Autocad and 3D Max). The time taken to use a 'new' program out of the box is not available to all of us. I can draw a complete project in less time than it would take to even become familiar with Archicad. Sketchup is cool enough but not for mainstream work. Perhaps you should try ADT, we can give you lessons for FREE, without bias. Chill man, po-dobre da prekavash poveche vreme za semisestvo vi e ne da oplakvash sus gulposti samo da furli vremeto ot men e drugite.
Priyatna vecher:-)

While my first thought was "then why are you bothering if you do not have time to learn," this made me curious just how hard it is, not to learn this skill, but to find it.

Wouldn't you think that entering points would be in the first chapter right behind how to open a file? Maybe even after the 88-page chapter on "Workspace"?

Nope. it's on Page 346, under the "Drawing Aids" chapter.....

It took me 4 different searches to find it, only when I tried "Coordinate Box" as a search string that I found it... Of course, the Learning Guide only tells you to "enter a distance" in the coordinate box, without really saying how...

It really is kind of hard to find out how to enter distances without any training...

[Djordje]

Broker wrote:
I think perhaps you underestimate or make incorrect assumptions.

No, man.

The situation is too familiar.

Everyone expects that any new software they try works like the software they are used to. Not.

In life, it is very useful to know who knows, if you don't know.

In plain English - there are many Bulgarians here on the forum; see who is nearby, have a chat ... one afternoon spent in frustration less, many afternoons spent in frustration saved!

Agreed with Tom; I had nobody to ask in 1995 ... and spent QUITE some time in fonding out how, being at that time used to command line in you-know-what ...

[Dwight]

Software works like it works.

And if it works TOO MUCH like other products, talk to the lawyers.

Some things just aren't intuitive until you understand the intuition of the designer of the application.

But sometimes that guy is an idiot.

Right now, for instance, I'm testing a piece of software that has a control for the size and orientation of a dialog box.

There's a wide or high choice.
There's a top-on-the-side or top-on-the-top choice.

Ends up being four alternatives (2x2)

That's four lines of information.

Trouble is, you have to change each parameter separately and re-open the pull down a second time...

he didn't make those four lines of information say:

wide and top
wide and side
high and top
high and side

where just one command could do everything at once in the same four lines.

Idiot.

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
Right now, for instance, I'm testing a piece of software that has a control for the size and orientation of a dialog box.

There's a wide or high choice.
There's a top-on-the-side or top-on-the-top choice.

Ends up being four alternatives (2x2)

That's four lines of information.

Trouble is, you have to change each parameter separately and re-open the pull down a second time...

he didn't make those four lines of information say:

wide and top
wide and side
high and top
high and side

where just one command could do everything at once in the same four lines.

Idiot.

You mean like a single click (or menu selection) to switch between OpenGL shading and internal engine hidden line views?

As I recall this was possible in AC7 but for some reason got "improved" in AC8.

If I am missing something? If there is a way to set up a toolbar to accomplish this please let me know.

[Dwight]

I just saying that the interface decisions of designers aren't always correct: an extra click is an extra click.

[TomWaltz]

Dwight wrote:
I just saying that the interface decisions of designers aren't always correct: an extra click is an extra click.

Graphisoft even agrees!:
Every Click Counts

[Dwight]

Is that like Monty Python's "Every Click is Sacred?"

"Every click is sacred.
Every click is great.
If a click is wasted,
Graphisoft gets quite irate."

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:
You mean like a single click (or menu selection) to switch between OpenGL shading and internal engine hidden line views?

As I recall this was possible in AC7 but for some reason got "improved" in AC8.

If I am missing something? If there is a way to set up a toolbar to accomplish this please let me know.

I have not done this with the Toolbar, but I have set the Alt+` to be the Switch to Internal Engine. The WE allowed for a Shortcut key to Switch to the Internal 3D Engine but not to the OpenGL????

[Anonymous]

Jay wrote:
I have not done this with the Toolbar, but I have set the Alt+~ to be the Switch to Internal Engine. The WE allowed for a Shortcut key to Switch to the Internal 3D Engine but not to the OpenGL????

Thanks, I saw this too (about the lack of an OpenGL switch). Even with that it would still be a two step process. I still just open the settings dialog and change both settings there. The toolbar might be an improvement if all the options were available.