Archicad - Doesnt Do What It Says On The Tin!

[Anonymous]

I am so frustrated with Archicad generally not doing loads of things that I need or doing things that I dont need that I thought I would start off a thread to see what concerns other people have with Archicad. I dont know if Archcad v11 has these features (probably not) but here goes for a starter:

1. This is the most important - a confirmation dialogue to save before you exit a project. I dont know about anyone else but the fact that the DONT SAVE button is so much larger than the SAVE button has caused me to lose countless hours of work. Would it be so much to ask for a confirmation when you click DONT SAVE that asks you whether you really want to do this!! And vice versa.

2. Walls that actually join together correctly. I have major problems with cavity walls and even single block walls not connecting properly when there are three walls meeting especially if one is at an angle. Archicad should have this sorted by now. Its fundamental to the way the program works. At the moment we have to do all our walls black filled becuase they look rubbish otherwise what with all the lousy connections etc. This is terrible in a professional CAD package!!

3. Decent hatching. I really hate the hatching in Archicad - Autocad hatching is so much better. Why cant we flood fill an area with hatching? Why cant we select the hatch for walls etc and change it really easily ie scale, direction etc. Hatching is a nightmare in Archicad.

4. More tools for those of us who dont draw in 3d! Yes none of us here draw in 3d because we have found it doesnt actually work (unless you are a programmer and have loads of time spare). So where are all the tools for us lot who draw in only 2d such as OFFSET for example which was the single most useful tool in Autocad I ever used. To not have it in Archicad is criminal!! There are loads of other tools I could do with like being able to stretch boxes, etc but the most frustrating thing with AC 10 is the sheer number of slections you have to make to draw and alter lines etc. MOVE, COPY, STRETCH, ROTATE etc should all be reachable with one click!

5. Decent titlebox info - what is the point in having date associated with the project rather than each individual drawing? Come on Graphsoft think about these things! When I do a drawing I want to have the date on the ttile block when I actually did the drawing not when I started the job! Same goes for pretty much all the rest of the project info - its completely useless.

6. Zones that flood to boundary lines whether 3d or 2d. At the moment zones only flood out to walls but this is really dependant on having the whole drawings drawn in 3d which we dont - ie stairs are usually drawn in 2d becuase they dont work properly in 3d (ie it takes ages to get one to look right and the balustrades never link up correctly).

Thats all that I can think of for the moment but there is a lot more! I know this sounds like a rant but I think its about time Graphsoft got its act sorted in terms of getting a decent flexible product not just adding daft little flashy addons and calling it a new version. And just for the record to release a new version of the software and expect everyone to buy it a year after the previous one is pretty criminal in my book.

Personally I would not recommend anyone buys Archicad with problems in it like the ones above. I hate the software myself as you can probably tell, give me something straight forward like Autocad anytime!

[Aaron Bourgoin]

Be prepared for a flood of responses.

Some of them will be earnest attempts to help you; others might be all out flames.

A bit of RTFM might solve some of the problems I understand you to be having from my brief skim of your post.

[TomWaltz]

I don't see a single problem there that a little knowledge and training would not fix. Some of them are very simple and in the user manual (like offset), others a little more involved.

My first question about your "most important point"... how many times do you touch a hot stove before you learn where the right button is? If you lose data once or twice for not reading the prompt, I have no mercy. If you do it multiple times, I'd wonder why you still work there. At some point, you might try learning which button is right and developing the habit of clicking it. Never mind that "Save" is the default and has either a box around it or glows blue depending on your OS.

If you're going to rant about a feature being missing, you might try at least opening the manual to see if Archicad has it or not. Just like "stretching a box." I can think of a couple meanings for that... I'm assuming you mean to window an area and stretch it. Yes, you can do that in Archicad. Flood an area with fill? Yep, you can do that...., look up the Magic Wand tool. It's useful for more than just hatches.

If you don't like more than one click to get to a command, you have options. You can either edit your work environment to move the commands some place you can get to them faster, you can use a keyboard shortcut, or you can use a toolbar.

It seems like many of your issues are more in the "template and standards" realm that require a little more depth of knowledge than the average user has. You can learn them if you are really interested or buy them online (either through a standard template like Eric Batte's or work with a consultant like Link or Matthew).

As always, I recommend anyone buying Archicad consider formal training at some point in their usage. Not immediately, because I think it's better to work through a few tutorials and attempt to create a project with it first so you have a better idea of what you have difficulty with and what you may need outside help with.

I think it would be great if Archicad were easier to use, though I realize that it's a program for use in an industry that requires a 5-year degree and several years of internship before you can practice it on your own. The program may need to be somewhat complex in order to take in all the aspects of architecture.

I agree that some parts of the program are needlessly complex, especially when it comes to template creation and (seemingly) simple tasks, like cleaning up composite/profiled walls in plan. Cleaning up walls can be tricky, since you usually have to set up composites/profiles with proper intersection priorities. Still, I have two dozen users who can do it and (usually) get them right.

You're right about the date in the title block. It would be nice to automate that, or at least have a separate field for each sheet. Still, nothing is preventing you from placing your own text there.

You do have a couple valid complaints (and believe me, there are a lot more you could make), but you should try getting your facts straight before you complain about things that do exist not being there. You've been complaining about it for almost a year now and it does not sound like you've learned much in the mean time.

[owen]

[EDIT: I have just posted this and it may be a little over the top but i will let it stand as i think it is deserved after 12 months+ of this sort of thing]


O how it hurts! If it weren't for previous postings I would suspect the work of an under-bridge dweller here.

ArchiCAD is such a pain after AutoCAD!

Help! I just want to draft!

If any of this sounds harsh .. well its meant to, and it really should shouldn't it? I mean 12 months later .. c'mon!? Why are you STILL banging on about this?

nats wrote:
1. This is the most important - a confirmation dialogue to save before you exit a project. I dont know about anyone else but the fact that the DONT SAVE button is so much larger than the SAVE button has caused me to lose countless hours of work....

Dont work so fast and get into the habit of hitting Ctrl-S before you quit rather than relying on that dialog. Or get use to telling one's self 'It was my own stupid fault' .. I do it every day.

nats wrote:
2. Walls that actually join together correctly..At the moment we have to do all our walls black filled becuase they look rubbish..

Well i kinda agree many multi-wall connections are a pain-in-the-arse but i think you may be slightly over-exagerating with the need for black fills everywhere. I could send through a few thousand sheets of CD's we've done with ArchiCAD walls if you need proof. I'm sure the others on here could contribute the odd forrest here or there as well.

nats wrote:
3. Decent hatching..Why cant we select the hatch for walls etc and change it really easily ie scale, direction etc. Hatching is a nightmare in Archicad.

Erm you can change these pretty easily using the Fill Types.. menu command. I don't know it could get much easier.

nats wrote:
4. More tools for those of us who dont draw in 3d! Yes none of us here draw in 3d because we have found it doesnt actually work (unless you are a programmer and have loads of time spare). So where are all the tools for us lot who draw in only 2d...

I remember this type of discussion a while back. I don't mean to be rude but this type of post is just plain absurd. You (and allegedly your whole office) seem to be having difficulty using ArchiCAD in the way it was designed, and in the way the rest of us seem to be able to do. I know a previous-and-soon-to-be-current office has, since they started using AC, produced construction documentation for projects approaching $1 Billion in value. And all of it was modeled to varying complexities in 3D. So it can be done and is being done. By pretty much everyone using AC. You obviously just don't get it.

nats wrote:
5. Decent titlebox info...

Again, whilst there certainly are some improvements to be made to sheet-specific information (Revisions!!) in general the tools available to create Titleblocks are good - and whilst i haven't used AutoCAD in 8+ years I'm pretty sure they kick the pants off what it can do for automating information? Project Info is just that - common Project (Titleblock) information. Anything specific to sheets (Revisions, dates) you stick on sheet by sheet. Can you do it any other way in AutoCAD?

nats wrote:
6. Zones that flood to boundary lines whether 3d or 2d. At the moment zones only flood out to walls but this is really dependant on having the whole drawings drawn in 3d which we dont..

I agree the zone boundary recognition methods are a bunch of crap - ok for a square but not much else, certainly not complex rooms with holes (voids) in them. I resort to manual boundary method as at least it works consistently.

Having said that you do seem to be using this feature much to my surprise. If zones are not recognising lines as a boundary, try selecting the lines and selecting 'Zone Boundary' checkbox.

nats wrote:
Personally I would not recommend anyone buys Archicad with problems in it like the ones above. I hate the software myself as you can probably tell, give me something straight forward like Autocad anytime!

If you are having such a hard time of it then perhaps you should consider a move back to an office which uses AutoCAD? I must congratulate you for your persistence with it though. There is surely a reason your office is using ArchiCAD? - it cannot be as a 2D replacement for AutoCAD. If they are .. well then it explains a few things...

[Anonymous]

I would very much like to hear how you would manage to do these things as I disagree with you really - they are not available unless you are willing to learn programming and we are not (we are simple architects not IT specialists, just getting a PDF drawing plotted is often at the limit of our knowledge).

Offset by the way is not available - only for polylines, not normal lines, so its pretty much another useless feature ie I have yet to find a reason for it. Offsetting single lines on the other hand (ie as in Autocad) would be immensely useful as it frees you from having to use a skewed grid all the time or endlessly dragging copies etc. It is also amazingly useful for drawing slates, tiles and bricks on elevations which again we have to do becuase we do not generate elevations (as we do not do 3d models other than minimal walls for doors/windows) and this is required because the hatch command is so difficult to use unlike Autocad where it is a five second job to get hatching on an elevational drawing.

I just dont think 3d is the way to go and I know Ive said this before. I think (and so do others here) that 3d in architectural cad is just a 'fad' that will last a few years. It just doesnt work where you have architects who cannot programme rather than it specialists. Perahps for very large firms or single practitioners it may work but for most firms I see 3d being completely irrelevant.

Ive seen the fancy seminars with the 3d model being used for heat and light modelling etc and yeah it looks great (I know many use this argument for 3d models) but can I invest the time required to enable me to do all this modelling - no I can not. My boss would have a fit if I spent three months doing a 3d model to do heat loss modelling etc or visuualisations and ended up with the visuals that come out of Archicad. Yes you can get some good visuals eventually but again the time required to get these is massive. And again you have to know about specialised areas such as computer lighting and texture creation etc etc.

Hello, Im an architect here, I do drawings and design buildings, I dont know 3d modelling, and if I had the time I would learn 3d Autocad & 3dmax or alternatively Sketchup for quick renders - but definitely not Archicad!! When will this sink in??

[Jere]

nats wrote:
I am so frustrated with Archicad generally not doing loads of things that I need or doing things that I dont need that I thought I would start off a thread to see what concerns other people have with Archicad. I dont know if Archcad v11 has these features (probably not) but here goes for a starter:

1. This is the most important - a confirmation dialogue to save before you exit a project. I dont know about anyone else but the fact that the DONT SAVE button is so much larger than the SAVE button has caused me to lose countless hours of work. Would it be so much to ask for a confirmation when you click DONT SAVE that asks you whether you really want to do this!! And vice versa.

I won't comment on the other items as other have already responding. Simply, if you're losing hours of work you just aren't saving enough. I make it a habit to save my work everytime I get up from my desk, or if my mouse is inactive for 10 seconds, or I turn to look something up in a code book...etc, etc. When ever the computer crashes, power goes out, or the drawing is accidently closed without saving, the most I've ever lost is 5 minutes of work. This isn't a function of ArchiCAD, it's of getting yourself in good "data safety habits."

[Anonymous]

owen wrote:
If any of this sounds harsh .. well its meant to, and it really should shouldn't it? I mean 12 months later .. c'mon!? Why are you STILL banging on about this?

I remember this type of discussion a while back. I don't mean to be rude but this type of post is just plain absurd. You (and allegedly your whole office) seem to be having difficulty using ArchiCAD in the way it was designed, and in the way the rest of us seem to be able to do. I know a previous-and-soon-to-be-current office has, since they started using AC, produced construction documentation for projects approaching $1 Billion in value. And all of it was modeled to varying complexities in 3D. So it can be done and is being done. By pretty much everyone using AC. You obviously just don't get it.

Again, whilst there certainly are some improvements to be made to sheet-specific information (Revisions!!) in general the tools available to create Titleblocks are good - and whilst i haven't used AutoCAD in 8+ years I'm pretty sure they kick the pants off what it can do for automating information? Project Info is just that - common Project (Titleblock) information. Anything specific to sheets (Revisions, dates) you stick on sheet by sheet. Can you do it any other way in AutoCAD?

I agree the zone boundary recognition methods are a bunch of crap - ok for a square but not much else, certainly not complex rooms with holes (voids) in them. I resort to manual boundary method as at least it works consistently.

If you are having such a hard time of it then perhaps you should consider a move back to an office which uses AutoCAD? I must congratulate you for your persistence with it though. There is surely a reason your office is using ArchiCAD? - it cannot be as a 2D replacement for AutoCAD. If they are .. well then it explains a few things...

Its not my fault I work in an office that is using Archicad and should by all rights be using Autocad. Yes you are right I banged on about this for ages when Archicad v10 came out and I guess the new release has done nothing to satisfy my problems with the software.

I have tried using 3d but just dont get anything worthwhile out of it elevations are rubbish, sections are nonsense, plan walls dont connect right and stairs/roofs are a nightmare.

[TomWaltz]

nats wrote:
I would very much like to hear how you would manage to do these things as I disagree with you really - they are not available unless you are willing to learn programming and we are not (we are simple architects not IT specialists, just getting a PDF drawing plotted is often at the limit of our knowledge).

You don't need to program for anything you've complained about. I've got two dozen users doing them all day long, not one can program.

Offset by the way is not available - only for polylines, not normal lines, so its pretty much another useless feature ie I have yet to find a reason for it. Offsetting single lines on the other hand (ie as in Autocad) would be immensely useful as it frees you from having to use a skewed grid all the time or endlessly dragging copies etc.

Yes, it is available. Try looking for "offset" in your user manual PDF. MAN, are you insistent on not learning! You can offset ANYTHING, walls, lines, fills... anything that is linear or polygonal in nature. The sequence is a little different from Autocad, but it works really well. It's not just the "offset" button on the Pet Palette. It's also a button on the Control Palette and the Standard Toolbar. Try learning something. You might like it,

Your post would be better labeled "Archicad - I cannot do much in it because I do not want to learn!"

[TomWaltz]

nats wrote:
Its not my fault I work in an office that is using Archicad and should by all rights be using Autocad.

Yes, it is. I'm pretty sure you're not an indentured servant and you can leave to find a new job any time you want.

You're fortunate that you do not use your full name in posts so future prospective employers cannot see your lack of willingness (ability?) to learn.

[Djordje]

Software never does anything. We do.

If we know how.