ARCHICAD functionality

[Brett Brown]

Moderator comment:
This discussion was started in another thread, but then changed into the discussion of various ARCHICAD
functionalities, so the topic was split into its own discussion.

Christophe wrote:
Archicad is also the best and has always been!

Might have been 10 years ago but now it is far from it.
It is embarrassing the basic functions missing in Archicad that all the others have, Vectorworks, Revit, Archline XP, Cheif Architect.
The main downfall of Archicad is that it is the only Software that hasn't a central UI that you open all your projects in. This costs all users of Archicad hours a week in maintenance which the others don't have.
And as said all the basic usability functions which are to many to list which we all miss daily.
In the last few years all Graphisoft has been doing is updating (or making the tools more complicated to use) existing tools (Stairs,Curtain Wall, Beam, Column) which has been only beneficial to some, and this will be happening for a few more years to come. I bet there is a new Door and Window tool next.

[rob2218]

Brett wrote:

Christophe wrote:
Archicad is also the best and has always been!

Might have been 10 years ago but now it is far from it.
It is embarrassing the basic functions missing in Archicad that all the others have, Vectorworks, Revit, Archline XP, Cheif Architect.
The main downfall of Archicad is that it is the only Software that hasn't a central UI that you open all your projects in. This costs all users of Archicad hours a week in maintenance which the others don't have.
And as said all the basic usability functions which are to many to list which we all miss daily.
In the last few years all Graphisoft has been doing is updating (or making the tools more complicated to use) existing tools (Stairs,Curtain Wall, Beam, Column) which has been only beneficial to some, and this will be happening for a few more years to come. I bet there is a new Door and Window tool next.

please elaborate on this statement "The main downfall of Archicad is that it is the only Software that hasn't a central UI that you open all your projects in".

Await your explanation. And please....write like I'm a 5-year old. Big words with lots of syllables give me a headache.

[Christophe Fortineau]

Brett wrote:
The main downfall of Archicad is ...

Wishing to use one tool in the same way as another seems to me to be an inappropriate postulate.

Brett wrote:
This costs all users of Archicad hours a week in maintenance which the others don't have.

I'm an Archicad user and I do not spend maintenance hour per week. I don't even spend a minute on this.
Why and how do you need maintenance ? Wouldn't it rather be a question of using the Archicad tool ?

[Brett Brown]

Christophe wrote:
Why and how do you need maintenance ? Wouldn't it rather be a question of using the Archicad tool ?

So you have a magical way of getting newly created Favourites, Graphic Overrides, Attributes, etc in one project and updating all your other active projects (usually 5+ and template) with those, using zero time? Perhaps the Magic Wand?

[Christophe Fortineau]

Hello Brett Brown,

What you describe is interesting and maybe GS is considering getting closer to such an organization but it does not seem essential according to my use of Archicad. It is true that it is good to ask questions about your model file and to integrate new resources (tpl file) but the simple pus remains to provide your old tpl file AC21 or AC22 with the latest version of Archicad and add useful resources to it (2min per years). Indeed all the resources developed in a project are not necessarily useful in the TPL project. You have two options, either you have only one TPL file which will be very large and complex to use, or you develop several TPL files according to your uses. In conclusion, it is also an opportunity to take stock of its design methods and tools.

Beautiful day,

[Brett Brown]

Christophe wrote:
Hello Brett Brown,

What you describe is interesting and maybe GS is considering getting closer to such an organization but it does not seem essential according to my use of Archicad. It is true that it is good to ask questions about your model file and to integrate new resources (tpl file) but the simple pus remains to provide your old tpl file AC21 or AC22 with the latest version of Archicad and add useful resources to it (2min per years). Indeed all the resources developed in a project are not necessarily useful in the TPL project. You have two options, either you have only one TPL file which will be very large and complex to use, or you develop several TPL files according to your uses. In conclusion, it is also an opportunity to take stock of its design methods and tools.

Beautiful day,

Hi Christophe,
Sorry but you have missed the point completely, It's all about the day to day use of the software, must be lost in the translation or just avoiding the subject.

[Christophe Fortineau]

Hi,

Day after day I use the appropriate TPL file according to my project. So I take advantage of all my favorite settings. If I have created a resource in another file, I need no more than 1 minute to transfer thousands of parameters to my master TPL file. But beware it is me and me alone who decides what I put in my TPL file. Not all of the resources in all of my files are uninteresting. Nothing very complicated in short.

Transfers between files can certainly be improved but with a correct working method there is very little "lost time".

Have a great day,

[Richard Morrison]

Brett wrote:
So you have a magical way of getting newly created Favourites, Graphic Overrides, Attributes, etc in one project and updating all your other active projects (usually 5+ and template) with those, using zero time? Perhaps the Magic Wand?

With the ability to import/export all of these as XML files, plus the Attribute Manager, I would have a hard time making it take more than 5 minutes per project. So, maybe not ZERO time, but not very far off.

[Brett Brown]

Couldn't disagree more Richard, the point being the antiquated way Archicad is set up, every plan is a separate entity. Great if you are doing one plan at a time but for me having 10 projects at all different stages going at the same time, it's a continual time waster.
I always have the template open and alter or add to it when I need to, on the go. Then you have to update all the other ongoing projects from your Template.
Just a painfully disadvantage of using Archicad compared to equivalent Cad Software.
A lucrative opportunity for an API maker to relieve us all of this pain.

[Bricklyne Clarence]

Brett wrote:
Couldn't disagree more Richard, the point being the antiquated way Archicad is set up, every plan is a separate entity. Great if you are doing one plan at a time but for me having 10 projects at all different stages going at the same time, it's a continual time waster.
I always have the template open and alter or add to it when I need to, on the go. Then you have to update all the other ongoing projects from your Template.
Just a painfully disadvantage of using Archicad compared to equivalent Cad Software.
A lucrative opportunity for an API maker to relieve us all of this pain.

I would have to argue that most people don't really work like this, and you have to concede it wouldn't be efficient, logical or even workable for Graphisoft to tailor a workflow that's suited specifically just to you (or perhaps to a handful or maybe some more rather than to the larger majority)..
But then again I might be misunderstanding what you mean.

When you say "plan" are you in fact referring to distinct "floor plans" within the project or within a single project, or were you in fact meaning ( as I understood your comment anyway) to actual "projects" (And conflating "plan" to mean a project file)?

In my personal experience it's extremely rare to have or to have seen or observed anyone with more than 3 or 4 projects open at the same time, let alone 10.
Perhaps the types of projects I work on are way too big to ever contemplate having that many open at a time and not expect my computer to get bogged and dragged down to its knees.