Back to basics...?

[March_ Bruce]

Reiterating & clarifying an earlier post, and to suggest improvements in what seems the most simple, basic functionality in what has become a now very complex application:

1.) Logical default pen weights accessible from the info box for every tool & that have some comprehensive rationale - we do produce drawings after all & archicad has great graphic potential that has seemingly been crippled by illogical, limited & obfuscated pen setup especially with library parts. There are only 3 pen weights in the first 10 pens & the majority of library parts. (Doh!)

I used to set up pens 1-10 as black from 0mm to 2.0mm weighting which offered WYSIWYG onscreen, numeric correllation to weight & scalability for small page output but the inefficiency of having to adjust every library part's penweights wore me out. Global resetting & referencing might assist yet every library upgrade or replacement might face similar issues.

That being said v9 did make some progress with the remaining pen allocations, whic show some sense of graphical order beyond what I assume is the modulo 8 pen plotter & autocad legacy.

2.) Slab edge material editing: I don't know of a building that doesn't have a hole cut in a slab somewhere - this is a most basic operation - usually for stairs - yet the material inside the cut remains as the exterior edge, for example if the exterior edge is brick - this wishlist item is so obvious it was emphatically communicated back when I was using 4.1, and is manifest in the beam tool so 'it is possible' but to no avail...

3.) Slab trimming to roof: Another most basic operation when doing an overhanging roof against the edge of a ceiling slab, sections could actually render with clean lines allowing detailing & prevent slabs from 'piercing' roofs - again very basic operation asked for in the early days (doh!)

4.) Functional stairs that actually work & are legal (ie meet codes) & have some precedent in the real world - honestly don't know how one could even walk up some of what stairmaker produces, especially winders... Simple stairs that don't need 45 parameters set up would be helpful...

5.) Windows: Limit faulty parameter settings (SE edition that give errors) as well as with a shallow arch window header & concrete/stone sills as are found in so many residences around the world - workaround for sills is 0" mortar but clumsy.

6.) Legacy Libraries: I find myself going back to v6.5 for things as basic as a wooden dining room table - why some parts are 'discontinued' I know not why - but library part management is for me one of the great liabilities of ArchiCAD...

Architects have enough to worry about without spending increasingly non-billable hours on this kind of tedious overhead... Reuse of past work is one of the essential rationalizations of the investment in CAD in the forst place...

7.) Mesh data import: While the mesh tools is a welcome improvement it would seem obvious that it should import xyz text survey data (station points) rather than users doing this manually. Offering 3d building modelling without easy 3d site modelling has always seemed somewhat ironic as a site is usually a component of a building (Doh! again)...

8.) Material selection: Basic if 3D rendering is a core activity, referencing materials by numbers that are hidden in the selection pop-up seems to increase selection difficulty - I don't know enough about limitations to suggest a fix, yet I know I am constantly seemingly battling material selection, legacy material management & custom surface mapping - and BTW what do C01-C14 represent?

9.) Legacy support: Constantly I find numerous flaws (bugs aren't usually that obvious) are never fixed, while Graphisoft pushes ahead with the 'next new version' I assume to generate upgrade cashflow - this trend seemed to increase with PC development & has inspired me to skip update cycles - this time v9 mac users will apparently get no Rosetta or Wintel support - I assume to encourage us to upgrade yet again while so many of basics per the above remain unresolved.

Two profitable colleagues I know who are still using ArchiCAD are on v6.5 & v7 in Mac OS-9 and the former with numerous keys is planning to move to AutoCAD as existing stations require replacement...

In summary I find some of the most basic construction tools & functions still have major flaws or room for improvement. Many of the above suggestions are longstanding concerns & leave me frustrated & scratching my head at many of the 'high end' archicad features (some of which I love) when I can't even easily put together a basic building model or adjust pen weights 'on the fly'...

As an early ArchiCAD user the question I keep asking is where is 'ease of use' now in Graphisoft's priority list...?

[Anonymous]

I FULLY agree with you.

Pen weights (and many other parameters of library parts) are very difficult to adapt to company standards as it is. Each new release is accompanied by new parts, and the work of customization must begin anew. Not to mention parts which have pens and materials hard coded!

I will reiterate a few complaints I made YEARS ago:

Archicad does not have the tools to complete some BASIC drawings without breaking the virtual building...

- The interior elevation tools are severely inadequate
- There is no way to draw a reflected ceiling which is part of the virtual building
- Unless the scheduling system has been overhauled, it's not useable as it is for door or finish schedules without a lot of work and an in house expert.

On top of this, Teamwork functionality is not always thought through too well. Editing a door schedule, as it stands, essentially requires complete access to all wall layers and stories... not exactly a practical solution if others want to do work at the same time! Similarly, a single layout book sounds like a nice idea until several people need to set up or edit sheets in alarge project (maybe the integrated plotmaker will adress this, but maybe not).

There are other concerns I'm sure, but it's been a while...


Miguel

[March_ Bruce]

Now I'd say kitchen cabinets are pretty basic?

The v10 straight base cabinets have different plan dimensions than the 'L' shaped ones by 13/16" - the corners do not line up with the straight sections in plan (doh!)... If I hack the plan then 3d is wrong... How does something like THIS happen?!

The default pen weight also seems too thick for 1/4" (1:48) plans?

So within less than of a minute of starting a kitchen design I have 2 problems requiring drilling down to solve that is not only non-billable but less efficient than drawing manually...

This seems typical of extremely frustrating issues I repeatedly experience with ArchiCAD...

SHORTCUTS:
Another disappointment are the shortcut changes such as no up/down display level change, command 3 no longer brings up the 3d window (seemed intuitive to me?) & using my laptop now requires 3 keystrokes (vs 2) for moving up or down a story (one of my most common uses), & more often brings up apple's screen res change panel...

I suppose the intent was improved logic or use but I have yet to discover ANY benefit, and yet I must relearn or reprogram the shortcuts, again taking more non-billable time for no apparent (yet) gain...?

Any enlightening comments would be greatly appreciated, or at least a number of preset shortcut options to restore the shortcuts we know & that seemed to make some sense...

Don't forget to VOTE!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for listing out these continually plaguing issues; it's sad to see none has been addressed in 10. I am hoping the 10 window error messages at least have been corrected. Still, AC10 is amazing with major workflow improvements.

Another disappointment are the shortcut changes such as no up/down display level change, command 3 no longer brings up the 3d window (seemed intuitive to me?) & using my laptop now requires 3 keystrokes (vs 2) for moving up or down a story (one of my most common uses), & more often brings up apple's screen res change panel...

This was most disconcerting for me as well. If you print out the list of revised keyboard shortcuts, you will see optional commands for going up/down Cmd+up/down arrow (cmd+left/right arrow toggles between layouts). Rekeying shortcut commands will be very painful, but using my custom shortcuts overrides some important new ones. At least the keys above F7 are available. Also, in Work Environment, the new keyboard shortcuts are highlighted.

[March_ Bruce]

Second 'back to basics' design category stairs...

What might one find odd about this?
03 Concrete\Stairs\Stair Elements\Wooden Stairs\Stair Straight Wood
02.gsm

Of course my 'first need' was for the straight wooden stair, o of course I would look in the concrete section! And it seems the stair still needs work as I can't get it down to 5 risers (problems resetting heights) and the library guide isn't available currently on the web... While I can try & be understanding for bugs, I have far less tolerance for obvious flaws...

More non-billable time troubleshooting!

So far kitchen cabinets & stairs (pretty basic) have been problematic...

[TomWaltz]

Miguel wrote:
Archicad does not have the tools to complete some BASIC drawings without breaking the virtual building...

I guess I'd better tell all the people I work with to stop doing it then!!

To address a few points:
- Yes, the default pen weights are flat-out goofy. They have never made much sense and do not seem to work with any template system I have seen.
- As odd as it may sound, I sometimes think the object libraries included with Archicad are meant to be generic, not specific, so they rely on the user to determine what the options need to be set to (like cabinets and stairs). I have LONG requested a batch-editing tool so that a company/person could set the entire library to the defaults that THEY want and would meet their needs best.
- The cabinets I always felt needed a "schematic" mode of some kind, where you could get a basic cabinet without entering all the information you might later want for actual construction documents. That said, I have not experienced the "off by 13/16" problem you described. Is that in the AC10 library only?
- The schedules are not that hard (I've posted several ways to make easy schedules that are not hard at all). Most people I have taught schedules to were surprised at how easy it was.
- If you use the Section tool for interior elevations, they turn out fine. I wish GS would just dump the IntElev tool instead of pretending it works.
- The shortcuts that come with AC10 are strange, but why would you not just keep the ones from AC9 if you prefer them? The Work Environment will let you import them.
- I make ceiling plans that are part of the virtual building all the time. What about them are you having problems with?
- It takes non-billable time to can upgrade a CAD program (or any major business tool/application) for installation, learning, and upgrading projects. I thought that was a given.
- The object organization has always been weird. I complained about it for a while, then just started using "Object Search" more often.
- Stairs, sadly, have never been great. I'm not sure they match the design methods and building codes anywhere.

There are a lot of things GS could improve upon, even after AC10, but often times a little training goes a long way (which also speaks to the idea of easier program usage and better documentation).

[KeesW]

This discussion has exposed long standing flaws in Archicad that I had hoped would have been fxed. Yet no matter how often we complain, nothing is done. Does it need a user survey to confirm the obvious? Instead, we get fancy graphic background shaders and other exotic enhancements that add nothing to basic productivity. Or is Archicad primarily a presentation tool?

Stairs, cupboards, library object linework, etc., are all much more important and must be gotten right! Revit seems to have these under control - when will Graphisoft's apologists stop accepting work-arounds for basic items that should just work out of the box?

Why don't Graphisoft respond or defend their priorities? Please say something!

Despite the above, it seems that there are worthwhile iprovements in AC10 and I am looking forward to getting it. Maybe a drop in market share is the only way that users will be able to send a message that counts. Trouble is, we like the product and don't want to change!

[Rob]

If you use the Section tool for interior elevations, they turn out fine. I wish GS would just dump the IntElev tool instead of pretending it works.

my words... The internal elev tool is a bad joke and I doubt if anyone has ever used it for a real documentation.