Archicad 14 New Features

[Dennis Lee]

See what's on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Archicad#g/c/5C1926DD91A70C7B

Personally, not much in it for me at all!

[sinceV6]

owen wrote:

sinceV6 wrote:
If GS wants to improve AC, in my opinion they should look into:
1. Database parametric engine: In Revit, you really have live views of a single database. If you have several views open and select a door in one of them, it gets selected in other views, and changes are realtime. In AC, you may have a plan view and a section view opem, but they are not live and connected, and get updated only after you click on the other view. Even worse: AC bases almost everything on the floor plan, so while in Revit you click in a section view and the software responds like "the user selected a door", AC works like "the user has clicked a point in a section view, in the coordinate x=2 y=1.8, which based on the floor plan and elevation data, corresponds to an area enclosed by a door, so, the user has clicked on a door: select it".
2. Remove the 80's thinking about software: if sketchup and revit can make components and families without programming knowledge, why AC can't do it?
3. Improve the model->view->layout->publish work model. It is a great strength of the software: take advantage of it.
4. GUI. AC has a GUI that you HAVE to learn. Once you get it, you get it; but if you analize it... well... you'll see it lacks a lot. The features about the work environment are awesome. Export and import workspaces, and set them with a few clicks is FANTASTIC!. But the rest of the GUI is just confusing, in the sense that it lacks consistency. I mean, open up and compare the settings window for walls, doors, columns, slabs, zones, dimensions, levels, text, lines, grids, etc... and you'll see. Yes... there are some elements of consistency, but in general you have to dig into every window to know where a parameter is. Revit's GUI is not that good either, but the simplistic manner in which it shows properties (like a spreadsheet), makes it easy to learn, instead of learning a different window for each tool. You know what I mean.
5. Listen to the userbase/clients. You may come up with ideas to implement on the software, based on technology and new standards. That just gets you halfway. The userbase/clients is where the software gets tested and used in real life situations. That's the other half that's missing. Autodesk already learned this lesson. Just look at the complete transformation they're doing with 3ds max.

Agree 100% .. Great post in general but excellent summary of the major areas Graphisoft needs to address.

Thanks

I hate to be pesimistic... but GS has not placed the foundations to take AC to the future. At least, not yet. Want a good example of this? Take Form*Z for instance. Auto-des-sys did place foundations for the future of that software. How? They took the best parts of the software, and placed them in a new program: bonzai3D. Form*Z is better in MAC, just like AC is. More robust, and stable. But it's hard to use, and has a steep learning curve.

Bonzai3D is like Sketchup on steroids. With its simplicity to create forms, but with accuracy and tools found on Form*Z. Is far from complete, but you get the idea; and although Form*Z will not disappear soon, my guess is that bonzai3D will evolve to match it.

Now... I'm not saying GS should make a new program, but rather that they should take the good bits and pieces of its core, fill in the missing parts, fix troubles, and then, only then, add new features. What they're doing right now just can't be right for business, not for investors or customers alike, it doesn't matter how you try to look at it.

Just how long it took GS to fix correct cleanup of walls in 3D with different heights? and they couldn't add a feature to set it's height based on story height? Why is it that new features are always half new features that take another release to get finished? <-and not every time

I don't see the new features as foundations. In fact... I'm afraid they might be the excuse to let the ship sink, as in the end, they are nothing more than the ability to take your projects to other platforms.

best regards.

[Anonymous]

Look at this pic. This is my work in progress (WIP). I draw it in archicad 13 using all my skills and it is a BIM project as much as it can be. I lost a lot of time navigating, drawing custom profiles, creating landscape etc...
This pics was renderd in program that cost 99$ ! All 3 togeter took about 15 minutes on my comp which is old now comparing to new CPUs and GPUs
Is ARCHICAD 14 new render engine able to render like this ???? OFC no !
thats why i will not give mone to GS and i will give it to poeple who have good ideas. You must ask yourself would you rather pay someone else then to this bloodsuckers???? I would and i will !
I started with arcon, then i used acad, first time when i isntalled archicad i erased it same day, then later i sit down and learn archicad. Now archicad is not giving me what i need and i will try Revit. For me its not such a big problem to change software cos every software have its own philosofy of work and when you understand it its eaey then.

My point is that im architect and i need tools to desing my architecture. Archicad is great program in some fields but as a modeling tool its very weak and i start to loose my time working in archicad cos i have to battle with software instead doing my design.
Archicad is architectural program that CANT represent truly rounded objects in sections and elevation. What to say... Thats disaster cos many years ago i was able to that with my pen and now i cant with my comp.

archicad is a very limiting tool for designer and architects and TW2 will not change that fact. So i choose to snoop around and to see is there better solution for my work.

p.s. you dont have to change your software like me but i understand your fears...you are scared cos its hard to admit that your architectural tool sux !

[Anonymous]

erased

[Piotr Dobrowolski]

NeckoFromSarajevo wrote:
This pics was renderd in program that cost 99$ ! All 3 togeter took about 15 minutes on my comp which is old now comparing to new CPUs and GPUs
Is ARCHICAD 14 new render engine able to render like this ???? OFC no !

I always thought AC was to be a Architectural design tool, not render tool.
There are better tools for rendering tasks than AC - and good for them.
Anyway I never rendered using AC's internal engine - IMHO - in my point of view developing better rendering engine inside AC would be waste of time - but it is purely my opinion.


[...]

My point is that im architect and i need tools to design my architecture. Archicad is great program in some fields but as a modeling tool its very weak and i start to loose my time working in archicad cos i have to battle with software instead doing my design.

The old thing comes to mind - the harder to design - the harder to build.

But true - AC lacks of modeling tools on some fields, but I would rather need math operations in schedules, automatic beams over openings - things that would save me some time - when doing regular work, not some kind of blobs etc (I do not like forms like that anyway)
but wait...looking at the pics... doing such work like that - what is that You need on the field of modeling that lacks in AC?

[...]

p.s. you dont have to change your software like me but i understand your fears...you are scared cos its hard to admit that your architectural tool sux !

So good luck for You.

[Rafal SLEK]

NeckoFromSarajevo wrote:
Look at this pic.
...
Is ARCHICAD 14 new render engine able to render like this ???? OFC no !

I've never made any building on green ice...

[Anonymous]

Well... I have to confess that I'm not impressed by AC14 new features too... Yes. It looks more like an AC13.1...

But come on guys... Don't you read newspapers?... We are in the middle of a global economic crisis!
As well in our practices, GS too has to make hard and strategic decisions...

And you expect that a considerable small (compared with autodesk) team like GS's could address all of your wishes and beat revit in one shot?
Making an analogy... Some people around here act like if they were driving their cars around the streets... Sees another car running a little faster... and thats it!... Their car engine sux, suspension is old, color is "retro", eco performance sux..
and want the manufacturer immediately bring them a new and better engine, suspension, color and etc... While they are still driving it... And with even not slowing down!

I understand that most part of those dramatic comments are driven by other factors that are not related with AC14 new features... But at least lets try to put our feet on the ground.

Test another software to compare its performance with other is ok... But its not that easy... you don't expect to have a credible review by a quick dummy project in a weekend, are you?

As others said... TW2 and 64 bits are signs that a core change is being made by GS.
Users claiming that are dropping years of AC use by a new unknown software, are at least unwise.
My 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Rafal wrote:

NeckoFromSarajevo wrote:
Look at this pic.
...
Is ARCHICAD 14 new render engine able to render like this ???? OFC no !

I've never made any building on green ice...

WORK IN PROGRESS MAN, you just cant read all text
no textures, no bump maps, no displ, trees, people, grass . . .

noobish comment Slek

MARGARITAS ANTE PORCOS

[Anonymous]

no challenge of Archicad limitation at all

[Brett Brown]

Philippe wrote:
you do not even see this kind of crap in the first year of bachelor
First of all, maybe a couple of arch summer sessions in a good school...

There is no need for this rubbish here Philippe, get off your high horse and get back to the topic at hand.

[Anonymous]

LOL
I must say Ray that you r really stupid man and i hope that you will agree with me.
This is bosnian architecture and this is just a little weekend house, 66 m2. Bosnian traditional architecture is small, adjusted to a man, connected to nature - without big oversized rooms ,big oversized glass parts etc. This little house is designed in a traditional way, ISLAM way and you dont need to love it and accept it as a good. I dont crap over wester architecure so plz dont crap over my bosnian. As a matter of fact this house price must be around 20.000 euros so plz shutp the f*** up. You even didnt see plan view and you didnt see how well space is organized. This architecture is worm, with a lot of wood in interior etc

plz shut up Ray, cos you r one confined man