A R C H I C A D 1 5 - it's gotta be asked.

[rob2218]

Ok, it's gotta be asked unless it's already been asked.
When? this year?
What can we speculate (wikileaks) the improvements would be to?

[Anonymous]

laszlonagy wrote:
It is HTML 5-based so currently it does not play in Internet Explorer 8.

I have been able to play it in IE 8.0.6001.x (64-bit version). I had to change the zoom level (bottom right hand IE window border) to 400 - 450%. If anything was missing, I'm not aware of it. It is quite a good presentation.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify...

For practical purposes I define a "solid modeler" as any program that knows the inside from the outside of an object and so can close the face when cut through and calculate enclosed volumes. There are more stringent requirements for some advanced solid modelers but that does not make the less strict programs "not solid".

At this point pretty all the standard elements in ArchiCAD are solid. It can still do surfaces but this is the exception. NavisWorks on the other hand is a surface modeler which I assume is how they manage such complex models without slowing to a crawl.

Similarly with parametrics. It's a question of what aspects can be controlled by parameters. I find Revit's relational parametrics a mixed blessing. Also it should be noted that all ArchiCAD elements are parametric. For example walls have parameters for thickness, height, composition, and so on.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:
Just to clarify... For practical purposes I define a "solid modeler" as any program that knows the inside from the outside of an object and so can close the face when cut through and calculate enclosed volumes.

Also see good Wikipedia article on "Solid Modeler" with foundational info and just this sort of criterion.

[Laszlo Nagy]

didrik wrote:

laszlonagy wrote:
It is HTML 5-based so currently it does not play in Internet Explorer 8.

I have been able to play it in IE 8.0.6001.x (64-bit version). I had to change the zoom level (bottom right hand IE window border) to 400 - 450%. If anything was missing, I'm not aware of it. It is quite a good presentation.

The guys at GS have been working on it since then so probably now it works just fine in any browser.

[Anonymous]

I'd like a new icons for ArchiCAD 15.

[Anonymous]

roiter wrote:
I'd like a new icons for ArchiCAD 15.

You might get them, isn't mac enforcing standards now of how apps should look in the OS environment. So they will probably filter through to the PC.
Personally I'd rather they spend the time doing something that enhances the functionality of the software then how it looks.

[Anonymous]

Danj wrote:
Personally I'd rather they spend the time doing something that enhances the functionality of the software then how it looks.

It shouldn't be that much of a drain on resources. After all Ivo Venkov created these in his spare time...

[Anonymous]

Mathew, Didrik et al - the point of the slide I posted seems to have been missed. Instead of marketing spin we had (some form of) Nemeschek conceding the state of 3D in ArchiCAD.
Technical terminology aside the fact that we have such a poor GUI to do 3D operations and are asked to resort to GDL is, IMHO, irrelevant to most architects who are visually minded and just want to get on with design. Back in version 9 we had access to a plugin - rudimentary as it was - but even that has been lost to us and never returned. Then there was the Maxonform plugin...

I think this forum should be a place where the strengths and weaknesses of the software can be debated, in the hope that the developers can obtain valuable feedback from users.

Here's hoping AC15 is a step onward in delivering a better tool for us all!

[Anonymous]

What about "railmaker"?

[Fran_ois Chatelain]

rwallis wrote:
Then there was the Maxonform plugin...

Well, I couldn't live without MaxonForm, which I use daily mainly to convert models from furniture companies (and other sources) to usable AC objects, but also to create new objects from scratch.
We need something similar to MF built in AC.
More and more companies are finally seeing the light and start providing the community with 3d models of their products. They start understanding that the tools architects use today could also benefit them in terms of communication.
Most of the time the models they provide are in 3ds, DWG or Obj format. Sometimes even SAT or STL. You can get models with hundreds of thousands of polygons that need trimmed down to usable size, and we're stuck with a lousy built-in 3ds importer that works once in a blue moon and doesn't allow you to edit the data.
And what will happen when OSX Lion comes out, and Rosetta will be canned?
Wiil I still be able to use AC9 and MF to expand my object libraries?
The whole building industry is moving towards sharing as much data as possible, and yet AC (GS, Nemetschek, you name it) seems to isolate itself from all that.
And don't tell me that it would take too much resources to allocate a couple of programmers for a couple of weeks to dig MF out of the grave and revive its core modelling features and make them compatible with AC again.
After all, MAXON Computer GmbH are the copyright owners for MF, and MAXON Computer GmbH has been bought by Nemetschek.
It's all too sad

Cheers
Francois