Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

StairBuilder 3 from CadImage

Anonymous
Not applicable
Anyone using StairBuilder 3 from CadImage that would like to comment on the product? I'm about to purchase and would like to get a quick opinion or two.

Thanks,

Mark Hendricks
19 REPLIES 19
Bruce
Advisor
Go Revit!

It's stairbuilder equivalent is FAR superior. I cringe every time I have to create a stair in ArchiCAD. I just hate it because every single tool available is inadequate. When will Graphisoft address this issue?
Bruce Walker
Barking Dog BIM YouTube
Mindmeister Mindmap
-- since v8.1 --
AC27 5060 INT Full | Windows 11 64 Pro | 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H 2.30 GHz | 64 Gb RAM | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 32 Gb
TomWaltz
Participant
Bruce wrote:
Go Revit!

It's stairbuilder equivalent is FAR superior. I cringe every time I have to create a stair in ArchiCAD. I just hate it because every single tool available is inadequate. When will Graphisoft address this issue?
I wouldn't hold my breath.....

The stair object I tinker with once in a while will probably be done and for sale before then.... and I would not expect that to be within 12 months!
Tom Waltz
Bruce
Advisor
Well, they should

If I was starting up my own practice I would probably go for Revit - and one of the main reasons is its stair builder.
Bruce Walker
Barking Dog BIM YouTube
Mindmeister Mindmap
-- since v8.1 --
AC27 5060 INT Full | Windows 11 64 Pro | 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H 2.30 GHz | 64 Gb RAM | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 32 Gb
Anonymous
Not applicable
Bruce wrote:
Well, they should

If I was starting up my own practice I would probably go for Revit - and one of the main reasons is its stair builder.
There's been a lot of talk. Perhaps if they take my advice on the assembly editor we'll see some real action.
Bruce
Advisor
We can live in hope.
Bruce Walker
Barking Dog BIM YouTube
Mindmeister Mindmap
-- since v8.1 --
AC27 5060 INT Full | Windows 11 64 Pro | 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H 2.30 GHz | 64 Gb RAM | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 32 Gb
Haneef Tayob
Booster
Haneef wrote:
What I like about Stairbuilder is that its an editable gdl object and not a plug in, which means I could use it in future versions of archicad
I was wrong about not having to upgrade .
I am having problems using my old version of StairBuilder & WindowBuilder in ArchiCad10. I haven't been able to upgrade them as yet.
Now I remember why I'm not a fan of plug-ins and add-ons.
Haneef Tayob
Aziz Tayob Architects
AC23 INT rel 3003, OS X 10.14.6 iMac 3.3ghz i5 dual monitor, 24GB RAM
Gerald Hoffman
Advocate
Haneef,

I don't use Stairbuilder so I can't speak about it but I do use Door & Window builder and Cadimage has provided a free upgrade for it although I notice that their site is down again today. They seem to be having problems lately.

Cheers,
Gerald Hoffman
“The simplification of anything is always sensational” GKC
Archicad 4.55 - 27-6000 USA
2019 MacBook Pro-macOS 15.0 (64GB w/ AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU)
Anonymous
Not applicable
Using StairBuilder v10.1 with AC10 build 1010, and having trouble with the following:
2D pen colours - there seems to be no way to modify travel arrow colour
3D pen colours - can't alter any, problems with balustrade pen colour being big fat light blue colour (pen 50 which in my current pen sets is 1.5mm thick)
Bottom rail to balusters - want one above the stair pitch line and landings but no settings appear to work (top rail below handrail is fine)
Newel extensions - not trimming correctly or consistantly (one side different to the other
Arrow on landing - I have a simple one-flight stair with L-shaped landing at top. I do not want to display the arrow on the landing
Stringer (channel) does not return around landing
Would like to alter landing return width (i.e. different width return than main stair width) but cannot.
Are there solutions to any of these that I am overlooking? This is the first time I have used StairBuilder. I think it is a nice product, but for these problems. If any SB users can advise, I would appreciate it.

Cheers
Bruce
Advisor
Yes, those are problems. Cadimage are working on a new release that will hopefully resolve these issues.

To work around a couple of the issues:

- I found I had to turn off the objects pens and choose one pen under Floor Plan and Section.
- If you have the stringer turned off, the newel will still trim to the base as if it was there. To work around, turn the stringer on, set depth to 0, turn off. The newels should trim properly now (mostly).
Bruce Walker
Barking Dog BIM YouTube
Mindmeister Mindmap
-- since v8.1 --
AC27 5060 INT Full | Windows 11 64 Pro | 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H 2.30 GHz | 64 Gb RAM | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 32 Gb
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks Bruce, that's Super.

Took your advice with the pen colour, and turned the arrow off and drew a line for the flight only.

Good to hear they're working on a new release. I'll keep my eye out for it.

Cheers