ArchiCAD Popularity? (Worldwide) How widely used is it?

[Anonymous]

I know this will most likely become a bit of debate but I think it is a general concern for students - at least at my University in Scotland, UK.

I have been using ArchiCAD for two years now and love it (even though there are always small niggles, like with everything - and in time I will learn ways round them). I have only used AutoCAD (what appears to have the monopoly) once, and so do not have an opinion on it.


The problem is that, (at least in the UK), practices always seem to use AutoCAD and want people who can use AutoCAD. In university we have had zero training on AutoCAD (and very little on ArchiCAD - it is self taught really). I have no problems learning new packages - I enjoy it really, however, there are many who people are not as quick to pick-up new programs.


So my question, after all that, is ... how popular do you find ArchiCAD is in practices in your country and your general area of the world?


I assume it is becoming more popular

[Chazz]

As I've noted elsewhere on this forum, one metric that is easier to obtain and potentially more meaningful to someone locally is the the number of want ads. If I type ArchiCAD into my local Craigslist (a large site with want ads localized all over the world) I get only 11 hits. Revit will give you twice that number. Autocad will be in the hundreds.

This is worrisome because in my unscientific spot checks, ArchiCAD and Revit used to be about even (and before that, AC was way out front). Regardless who is selling more seats, Revit is clearly wining in the hiring war in my area. Eventually, universities will see this and begin training in Revit at the exclusion of ArchiCAD. That will be the beginning of the end.

Still, to address your post: Autocad will be dominant for a long time to come but any firm worth working for will see that that BIM is the future. There are undeniable opportunities for candidates who can lead firms in the BIM direction, regardless the package.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Chazz wrote:
Autocad will be dominant for a long time to come but any firm worth working for will see that that BIM is the future. There are undeniable opportunities for candidates who can lead firms in the BIM direction, regardless the package.

I agree. Most firms in my area are using BIM to some degree, so learning AC vs. Revit pretty much comes down to which firm you want to work for. Software knowledge is a plus, although it's typically assumed that someone coming out of school won't have much experience there, so it doesn't weigh heavily (compared to other abilities) on a resume. Honestly, knowledge of PhotoShop and SketchUp probably carries more clout than CAD software (again, for someone coming out of school). This has been my experience in the US.

[Chazz]

Interesting.

Laura, I notice you're in Denver --where I see Revit is beating ArchiCAD 13 to 1 in the CraigsList hiring game. Ouch!

[Richard Morrison]

If you actually read the content of the listings, it's almost always "AutoCAD required, knowledge of Revit a plus". You get the sense that Revit might be used for 3D, but not as the main production engine in the office. There are still very few offices that seem to use Revit exclusively in the same way that an Archicad office usually does.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Chazz wrote:
Interesting.

Laura, I notice you're in Denver --where I see Revit is beating ArchiCAD 13 to 1 in the CraigsList hiring game. Ouch!

I know of 2 medium/large (30-60 staff) architecture firms in Denver (of course, there could be more) who have implemented Revit (i.e. are moving away from AutoCAD) -- and I know of maybe a dozen who are "using" Revit (i.e. playing with it, not sure of this whole "BIM thing", got the software for free when they upgraded AutoCAD). The major structural firms are working with Revit, but I hear a lot of frustrations with the software from that sector, and I believe they use it for modeling and calculations, but still resort to AutoCAD for documentation.

I know of 4 medium/large firms in Denver implementing ArchiCAD.

Now, this is sort-of a biased sampling, restricted to my professional circle, but it seems to me that firms that are truely committed to BIM have selected ArchiCAD.

[Chazz]

Richard wrote:
If you actually read the content of the listings...you get the sense that Revit might be used for 3D, but not as the main production engine...

It's also true that many of the ads are from for Struct or MEP houses rather than architecture firms.

I'm not sure if any of that matters. It's not about now, it's about 5 years from now. If all these places are experimenting with Revit or deploying it in phases, it is only a question of time before it becomes their dominant tool and the market leader. As the struct and MEP guys get into BIM there will be pressures on the the architects to do the same and visa-versa. It's a brilliant, viral feedback loop.

The ultimate tactical move in Autodesks favor is it's ability to leverage its AutoCAD hegemony by binding upgrades to Revit (ie Revit for $200 more). This is a challenge that GS/Nemetschek simply cannot answer.

It would be one thing if ArchiCAD was a clearly superior product (it's not) or if GS/Nemetschek had a superior development effort (they don't) or if the company had a better marketing machine and sales network (Archi-what?) or maybe that they had a superior vision and trajectory (quite the opposite). About the only thing you can say for ArchiCAD is that it's cross platform and that, at the end of the day, it's a real pain to switch. That's not much of a strategy for going up against a company like Autodesk.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Chazz wrote:
It's not about now, it's about 5 years from now. If all these places are experimenting with Revit or deploying it in phases, it is only a question of time before it becomes their dominant tool and the market leader. As the struct and MEP guys get into BIM there will be pressures on the the architects to do the same and visa-versa. It's a brilliant, viral feedback loop.

I still think it could go either way -- a know a few firms that are pretty disenfranchised with Revit, and they could very well swing to AC, or back to ACAD (depending on their dedication to BIM). The aggressive marketing by AutoDesk (I've heard from more than one Revit customer that they feel like they were lied to) may just backfire.

Chazz wrote:
It would be one thing if ArchiCAD was a clearly superior product (it's not)...

OK, maybe not "clearly" superior, but superior none-the-less.

[Chazz]

Laura wrote:
OK, maybe not "clearly" superior, but superior none-the-less.

Agreed. However, this is only a _now_ argument. We must remember that 5-7 years ago there was simply nothing on the landscape that could compete with ArchiCAD. That lead and advantage has been completely squandered with timid half-step upgrades such as AC9 & 11 or complete acid-party abortions like AC 8. What is left is a mishmash of creaky legacy code on top of more modern, but still visionless, work. It's a disaster. 5 years from now Revit will be Autodesks InDesign while Archicad will be the occasionally-used, mostly forgotten QuarkXPress.

Am I the only one paying attention or did I just skip my Zoloft this morning?

[Anonymous]

Chazz wrote:
........ As the struct and MEP guys get into BIM there will be pressures on the the architects to do the same and visa-versa. It's a brilliant, viral feedback loop.

I would like to disagree with all your are saying but this logic is a killer AC. I not a happy AC user in 5 years!
Joseph