New Product - Archicad Residential Released!

[archislave]

I can't believe no one has spotted this but a new product from Graphisoft has been released for the US market. Here is a link to the Cadwire.net press release: http://go.cadwire.net and http://graphisoftus.com/

The cadwire press release indicates that it will only be available for windows initially. As a Mac user this has me worried unless they are waiting for the Tiger Mac OSX 10.4 release.

I hope it will be available for Mac since a residential solution is what I need!

[Anonymous]

How is it different from regular ArchiCad9?

[Eduardo Rolon]

It mentions an option manager that keeps tracks of versions of projects. The example they give is for the design of projects where there are different versions of a design like a housing development where you have a basic model and three other models based on it. It looks as having a set of tools for handling view sets, layer combinations and intersection priorities but I can be wrong since I have not seen it. Ffrom the description I don't see why regular AC should not have a specific tool/menu/palette to handle this, since that would lead to the ability of saving the model characteristics for preliminary design, schematic or be able to explore different design options.

[archislave]

One difficulty we face here in the US is the wide range of residential elevation styles that buyers will choose from, though the plan might be virtually the same. It's like a little a little colonial here a little craftsman there etc. It's kind of like 'fusion' cusine that is so popular.

Also, Archicad does not have very good parametric tools to apply various facia and molding styles. We often have to do a basic model and convert the elevations to 2d because modelling the details is just to difficult. Then again drawing all that detail in 2d is a nighmare in itself and if the model or roof pitches change then it negates the BIM concept and you might as well be drafting in Autocad.

I hope this will help solve the problem.

[Anonymous]

Sounds encouraging.. Looks like they are addressing the organizational end of things.. features which are useful all over the world anyway.. Not enough to call it "US Residential"... It must handle facade elements such as crowns, rakes, eaves, bands and mid-wall finish transitions, jack Arches, better windows and doors.. etc. to earn such a title. These are what every user in the US yearn for. I'll be very disappointed if US Residential is released only as the PR outlines.

[archislave]

I agree Rashid! It would not be worth creating a whole new product unless it has all these things. From the press release the features look quite minimial. That is why I can't understand why there will not be a Mac version initially.

Are they waiting for Tiger?
Will it be called Archicad Residential v1 or v9?

I am hoping v10 will be a complete renovation of the underlying technologies and simplification of the interface etc.

[Anonymous]

archislave wrote:
I agree Rashid! It would not be worth creating a whole new product unless it has all these things. From the press release the features look quite minimial. That is why I can't understand why there will not be a Mac version initially.

Are they waiting for Tiger?
Will it be called Archicad Residential v1 or v9?

I am hoping v10 will be a complete renovation of the underlying technologies and simplification of the interface etc.

This is indeed encouraging and exciting, Can anyone from HQ tell us when the International versions will arrive (even ballpark) and when the mac version is due? Also is there an upgrade cost going from ArchiCAD 9?

So many questions. so little info! Where is Bence when you need him?

I do not think that the non release of a mac version is Tiger related, im sure when it does come out that it will run on Jaguar & Panther

[Bence Kovacs]

Bence is here...
ArchiCAD Residential is a US-managed product but I will try to give as much info as I can.
At this point we are not planning an international release (this is why we do not advertise at graphisoft.com), but - provided the product is a success in US - I do not exclude it. Anyway, "international" is not the right word as in that case it must comply with the local standards.
This is a Windows-only product, but indeed, it has nothing to with Tiger. It is a marketing decision based on the fact that the US builders use Macs in a much lesser extent than architects and therefore we feel the development/marketing/sales investment needed to make this product available for the Macs is not sufficiently justified. Again, "never say never"; Macs are on the roll now, but for the time being we have no plans for Mac release.
Before somebody asks: YES we still have our unwavering commitment to support the Mac platform with ArchiCAD on our main market: the architectural design. You will continue to see great things happening on the Mac with ArchiCAD (actually, even more!).
As for your question of upgrade path, my US colleagues will answer you.

Bence Kovacs
VP, Product Management

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bence, I think that has covered most of my initial queries.

Here is hoping that it is a great success for Graphisoft, and is rolled out Globally soon - to mac users as well of course

[archislave]

I think this is a mistake because many builders except the largest ones hire the services of outside Architects to develop their housing products. I'm sure that many of these small to medium size firms use Macs or would love to use Macs if a powerful parametric product like this was available. Anyone using archicad knows that out of box Archicad does not provide parametric tools for modeling complex residential roofs and trim. One has to manually extrude and place them or have an add-on like eavemaker. Therefore, the promise of automatic documentation for elevations and sections is not true.

This seems like the first extensively parametric and integrated iteration of Archicad. It's starting to look like like a viable competitor to Revit with their parametric hype. Too bad such parametric features are now only for US Builders who use windows. This is what all residential architects have be praying for - but no go!

Could someone from Graphisoft US explain whether the design parts will be available for Archicad Standard Mac/Win Users?