Should I upgrade to v11 now, or wait for v12?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I work for a small residential firm and we were advised to upgrade to v11 for the added curved profile tools, but now that v12 is on the horizon, my boss is wondering whether we should wait for it to come out before upgrading our v10. We currently use AutoDesk2007 but I am ready to change now to ArchiCad. We have had ArchiCad v10 in a box on the shelf for almost a year now. It is mocking me silently as I continue to use AutoCad.

Should we:
1. Upgrade to v11 now and get started or,
2. Wait for v12

What improvements will v12 have over v11 and exactly when is it coming out? I thank you all for your help.

[Laura Yanoviak]

My advise is to use your AC10 now, get up-to-speed with AC, and then upgrade to AC12 in the spring.

gorilla_monsoon wrote:
What improvements will v12 have over v11 and exactly when is it coming out? I thank you all for your help.

No one really knows (or is allowed to say) -- but rumors are that it will finally address some long-standing issues and will be a worthwhile upgrade.

[Anonymous]

Laura,

Thank you for your quick reply.

I have a friend who works in a firm upstairs and he advised us to get v11 so that we can use the curved profile tool. Our houses usually have watertables/curved profiles, etc. and he claims that these are difficult to do well in v10. Our next project is for the president of a large international corporation and we do not want to use v10 for this project if there were going to be problems like this. It is a difficult situation to be in but I would rather get v11 now and begin this project with the curved profile tools rather than wait til the spring for a version that may or may not be worth waiting for. I was hoping that Graphisoft would be promoting v12 by listing the new improved features, but I have found no source for this kind of info, so I have no idea if it is worth waiting for. Thank you again for your help.

Jason

[Laura Yanoviak]

gorilla_monsoon wrote:
Our houses usually have watertables/curved profiles, etc. and he claims that these are difficult to do well in v10.

Only you can answer whether this feature is important enough to sway your decision. In AC10, you can do segmented "curved" profiles, but would that be an acceptable solution for you? Are you talking about a couple of curved elements, or a design that relies heavily on curves?

gorilla_monsoon wrote:
I was hoping that Graphisoft would be promoting v12 by listing the new improved features

This won't happen prior to AC12's release. AC11 has some nice improvements over AC10, but knowing what I know now, I probably would have waited until AC12 to upgrade.

[Anonymous]

Laura,

We have a few curved areas, but nothing radical. He just said that we would have problems dealing with watertables. He said that we would have to create multiple walls instead of being able to create a single complex wall with a watertable. Is this something that is fixed in v11? I had one semester of exposure to Archicad v8 in school but now I have to learn how to generate construction docs for a 12,000+sqft. house on the run. Our support locally has been expensive and dismal. We are going to have to pay my buddy upstairs to help us set everything up and provide tips.

I am just sick of drawing everything in 2D and am ready to change over to Archicad. I know it will be difficult and was hoping to make the switch on this upcoming job, but if there are to be significant improvements in v12, then I would be willing to wait. Thank you again.

[Laura Yanoviak]

gorilla_monsoon wrote:
He said that we would have to create multiple walls instead of being able to create a single complex wall with a watertable. Is this something that is fixed in v11?

It is true that you would have to create a segmented curve with multiple walls in AC10, but a single curved wall in AC11.

Another important thing to consider: are you more likely to have the time and/or money to invest in implementing new software at this time or in the spring?

[Anonymous]

Well, I think we have the $ to do it now, but I didnt want my boss to upgrade to 11 now so we could get started, but then have v12 come out with features that we couldnt turn down and be forced to upgrade twice in 4 months. I have been pushing my boss to convert to ArchiCad, and he bought a seat, but we haven't really found the perfect time to switch. I want to switch now and i think that any time "wasted" on getting up to speed will be recouped in time saved when implementing design changes in our drawings. I was naive to think that there would be an easy answer to our dilemma. I think we will probaly go ahead and upgrade to v11 and then we can decide in the future whether to go to 12. The experience I gain in the meantime will help to make that determination once 12 comes out. Thanks Laura for sharing your knowledge.

[Richard Morrison]

V10 is a perfectly good release, and you should get started using it ASAP. However, there are a few things in V11 that I would not be willing to give up:
1) Ability to use a linked marker to any drawing in layout. This has made coordination of detail references SO much better.
2) Virtual trace is VERY handy, once you learn how to use it properly.
3) Pen sets in views is much better than pen sets in layouts only.

There's nothing earth-shattering in the upgrade, but the cumulative benefits are, to me, definitely worth the upgrade price. (I am a small residential firm, too, BTW.)

[Stephen Dolbee]

If you already have v10, use it. V11 has some nice features, but nothing earth-shattering, imho.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Stick with AC 10, i must tell u archicad 11 is "not" better then ac 10 ! Its better for u to buy some addon which will be much powerfull then curved profiles in ac 11./less money/ C.P. in AC11 is not perfect, still missing some features and i can promise u that u can finish all your tasks in ac 10.
I know 4 architect which return to AC10 and thats never happned before !
If u need any help with modeling curved stuff just say i will gladly help u but dont buy AC 11!