Resources for new user / learning

[DanA]

I'm looking to move to BIM from Bricscad & Sketchup. Two person office in Los Angeles doing mostly residential remodels & ADUs. I've got 25 years in Auto/Bricscad, and do lots of customization/coding in lisp for CAD, and rudimentary skills in Ruby for Sketchup. As we're doing more and more in 3d presentations via Sketchup, I'm getting tired of duplicating work in 2d & 3d and figure it is time to move to BIM.

I thought to try Archicad as it looks for design & residential friendly than Revit, and the licensing seems friendlier. I worry about lack of experienced people locally using Archicad, but we probably will stay a 2 person firm for the foreseeable future.

For learning the basics of Archicad, is there a list of good resources for tutorials and user forums other than this one? The west coast dealer Archvista has a basics course for $99. Is that worth it or are there better alternatives?

I worry about transitioning from 2d to BIM, and relearning how to do everything. I can't imagine completing self-training in 30 days trial version while also actively keeping the business running. If the trial works out I assume to keep 2d detailing in CAD until I get proficient in Archicad drafting.

I'd appreciate any tips on resources, books, etc.

Thanks,

Dan

[SenecaDesignLLC]

When I moved to ac I just opened the pdf help and started trying to do what I needed 

One thing is to model how it's built and you will have a much better experience

[Mahmoud Qenawi]

There are some basic resources can boost your learning curve: Archicad YouTube channel which has interactive training guide https://youtube.com/user/Archicad ,  Archicad reference guide in pdf format, some experts courses like Eric Bobrow paid courses and YouTube videos https://youtube.com/user/EricBobrow, also Contrabim YouTube channel https://youtube.com/c/ContraBIM and your local distributor courses.

Don’t forget to check 3rd party solutions like Cadimage tools, Eptar and BIM6x.

https://youtube.com/user/CadimageTools
https://youtube.com/user/eptarkft
https://youtube.com/user/BIM6x.

[Richard Morrison]

My recollection is that there used to be a training guide that Graphisoft put out to make the transition from 2D AutoCAD easier. You might ask your reseller if they can get a copy, although it might be slightly dated by now. Archvista's training is good, but I'd also look at Eric Bobrow's QuickStart course. (http://www.acbestpractices.com/quickstart ).  

[jl_lt]

As always, I recommend reading the theory provided by Jared Banks, James Murray and Eric Bobrow, which cover the very basics to more philosophical questions like, why this software works the way it works and what kind of architects we want to be.   

The online tutorials provided by Robert Mann on youtube are very nicely done and cover lots of topics.

Last but not least, i recommend doing the basic and intermediate Archicad trainings you can find on the excelent Linkedin learning web site (formerly lynda.com). 

After doing all that which should take about 2-4 weeks, take one old project you know well and try to do it in Archicad, I guarantee youll be flying in no time.  but be warned, to be really proficient and have a working template to your needs, it should take anywhere from 3 to 6 months.  Also, dont expect to be clicking like crazy like we did in 2d cad.  In Archicad the click rythm do gets slower, but the productivity is like 5 times bigger.

It took me around 4-5 months to feel very confortable as i had to discard old habits acquired from using lesser software. Best of lucks!

[Barry Kelly]

Have a look at this article and others in the Setup & License > Let's Get Started section of this forum ... https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Let-s-get-started/Welcome-to-Archicad/ta-p/304193

Barry.

[DanA]

Thank you & to all posters also. I did find the Linkedin Learning tutorials, with nice bonus that Los Angeles public library includes free access. Before that I started with Eric Bobrow's free videos but was concerned about out dated material before buying the full series. I'm now half-way through Robert Mann's Architectural Design Techniques video series and then realized I want to start modeling a project in parallel. Of course I get stumped immediately trying to figure out the best way to set up references for survey file. I think I would learn faster if I didn't have 25 years of baggage that I will have to unlearn or forget. I think your time frame for getting up to speed sounds realistic.

[mthd]

Have you been able to import your Bricscad & Sketchup files right into Archicad to be able to work on them ?