Archicad GUI and the Future?

[archislave]

Being a relatively new user of Archicad since v9 I have noticed a few things about the interface. It seems to adhere to the independent document window mode pioneered ( I guess) and until recently adhered to by Apple. So we find a drawing in a floating window that can be maximized and is surrounded by the palettes and toolbars. One advantage of this is that you could shrink a floating window and have another one beside it to compare or work in both.

I have noticed in v10 that when you click another save view window that it updates according to the previous window view settings thus messing up the display ie: floor plan settings get updated with the section view settings you were just working with. This seems to confirm that GS want you to double-click in the navigator each time you change views. This way of working almost eliminates the posibililty of the floating multi window approach. I also does away with the advantage of Expose on the Mac where you can select the shrunken image of the window you want - because now upon selecting and it resultant full to the front window get updated - again with the wrong view settings.

This is why I am wondering if it would be better if GS would consider making Archicad into the 'all in one' interface Apple seems to be adoping for it's iApps and Pro Apps. I think this type of interface first appeared in Outlook and can also be found in Revit I think. Autocad, 3dStudio and others offer the ability to divide up the single window viewport into two or four viewports. This allows you to work in and compare up to four window at a time.

The advantage of this is that the GUI is much more organized and there are less things to have to size and drag. With the right thinking you can make a truly simple and beautiful interface. The screenshot shows the beauty of Apple Aperture.

I wonder if GS would consider implementing such a GUI since the one now is so cluttered. The lack of clarity and ease of use really bites GS in the long run. Their laziness and being on the cutting edge of interface design means people give up during the trial period.

[Link]

OT:

...and can also be found in Revit I think....

'Revit I think' - you should trademark that, they may buy it off you soon.

[Sorry, couldn't resist.]

Cheers,
Link.

[Eduardo Rolon]

I don't know why people are complaining about the GUI when all you have to do is look at the new Icon, does that icon looks as if it belongs to a forward looking, design trendsetter company or is it another variation on AUtoCAD's icon?

[henrypootel]

It's not really the same type of application, but i really like the interface of Jahshaka. It has a sort of button bar on the side and it shows the contents of each when you select them in a kind of tree organization. Hard to explain, so look at the screenie.
Aso, what about Lightroom?
mmm, lightroom

[stefan]

henrypootel wrote:
It's not really the same type of application, but i really like the interface of Jahshaka. It has a sort of button bar on the side and it shows the contents of each when you select them in a kind of tree organization. Hard to explain, so look at the screenie.
Aso, what about Lightroom?
mmm, lightroom

Jashaka looks like Combustion and other Compositing software. But for ArchiCAD I would prefer a small basic toolset, taking little space and leave as much room as possible for the viewports. I find r9 and r10 to be two huge improvements in getting more pixels freed up for actual work.

Many of the "pro" design applications provice a fullscreen mode, where you get little interface and almost fullscreen viewports. But you need to know your shortcuts and have good context-menues.

[Anonymous]

I suggest to look at blenders UI. It is totally flexible. I really would like to have some of it implemented in AC. I especially love possibility to save different layouts (drafting, detailing, etc.) and ease of switch between then. Sweet.

[Rob]

well, considering the speed of redeveloping the UI by GS (it has taken 3 versions - 8,9 and 10 over 4-5 years?) I would keep this interface rather untouched for a while allowing for development in another more important areas. In my opinion it's flexible enough.

I agree that Archicad in Windows is much better than on OSX which is ironic. All the apps I use is OSX are better looking and acting except for Archicad. I think they just don't take advantage of the latest Apple API's or whatever....

true, somehow AC does not look so slick on OSX as other apps do

[stefan]

Rob wrote:
well, considering the speed of redeveloping the UI by GS (it has taken 3 versions - 8,9 and 10 over 4-5 years?) I would keep this interface rather untouched for a while allowing for development in another more important areas. In my opinion it's flexible enough.

I agree that Archicad in Windows is much better than on OSX which is ironic. All the apps I use is OSX are better looking and acting except for Archicad. I think they just don't take advantage of the latest Apple API's or whatever....

true, somehow AC does not look so slick on OSX as other apps do

ArchiCAD uses the Carbon interfaces and not the Cocoa interfaces to generate user interfaces. Cocoa has more "nice" features but makes it almost impossible to develop a cross-platform application.

I am satisfied with the Windows GUI, but the OSX GUI is a mess of windows floating around, blocking eachother.

It can improve, but I think the renewed 3D modeling freedom has introduced enough conflicts in the Virtual Building to focus the attention on fixing the Core issues first!

[Anonymous]

I would hate to be limited in my window placement especially when spread over 2 monitors. I consistantly have a full-screen plan and a mostly full-screen 3D view or Ortho view open at the same time. I would like to see the GUI refined a bit, but dont limit us.