Chucked into the Deep End

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I am a construction student from the UK and for this summer I am working in an architectural office in France in order to learn French building terms. When not on site, I will be using ArchiCAD in the design office and already I am to design a building that will house the electricity that is generated from wind turbines (hence my user name). Using the French version of ArchiCAD will be an excellent way to learn the building terms here and French construction methods.

Having not done much ArchiCAD at university and having no formal tuition, I feel that I am in the deep end of the pool without rubber arm bands. That is even before the language issue!

Yesterday I was looking for online tutorials and tutorial based books to not much success. In amazon for example, there were three pages for AutoCAD tutorial books while there a couple for ArchiCAD that were poorly rated. From what I remember, they were demonstrative books as opposed to 'How to...' books.

Does anyone know where there are tutorials on the net that I can work through from a basic to intermediate level over this weekend?

Any book recommendations from high-basic to advanced would also be appreciated.

Cheers.

[Dwight]

You have my sympathy in trying to learn modern Archicad on your own. There was a time when that was possible, but that time has passed.

Archicad's "Help" menu presents a number of documents - notably the Archicad "Get Started" and the Archicad "Training Guide."

Interactive Training:
http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/ac10/ITG/

Other books exist, but they aren't strictly for training - they are for problem-solving for various issues.

But the real trick with Archicad is employing lateral thinking, and to properly exploit Archicad, you need an hour with an old hand to show you the ropes/tricks.

Good luck

[Erich]

You should look to the interactive training guide as a starting point, assuming you haven't already. In the US it can be found on the archicad site at http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/ac11/ITG/ for version 11 (change the ac11 to ac10 if you need that instead). I am not sure what the equivelant site might be for France but I am sure others on this site can help you with that if the above link won't work for you.

BTW you should list what version you are using to help folks answer questions more effectively.

[Erich]

Dwight,

boy you are fast

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.

I have ArchiCAD 9 student version (English) on my laptop and the office uses the French version of 9. I will have a go at the interactive guide over the weekend even if it is not in the same version. I also need to get to grips with PlotMaker 9.

In the medium to long term, I might have found a training based book through this site, however it is in French.

http://www.amazon.fr/ArchiCAD-prise-main-jusquau-traceur/dp/2100495275/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/403-2888622-9...

[Erich]

While I havn't seen the book Tom Simmons' "ARCHICAD Step by Step Training Guide - Level 1 & 2" has been recommended numerous times in the forums. Having met Tom several times he is knowledgeable and explains well. The only issue may be getting the book to you in time for it to be of use (also I am not sure about the shipping).

You could try to contact him through his company at:

http://www.archvista.com/

to find out more. To reach Tom click on the "About Us" link then click his name. That should start your mail program.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I am working through the ArchiCAD 10 training guide after downloading the 10 student version. It is certainly very enjoyable and it is amazing quickly time flies when drawing.