The ARCHICAD feature that saves the most time

[Laszlo Nagy]

GRAPHISOFT has created a very short, one-question survey that asks you to tell them the ARCHICAD feature/trick/workflow that helps you save the most time.
You can fill out the survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MLD8WG9

[Barry Kelly]

mthd wrote:
Looks like Solo is slightly better than Start Edition.

It looks to me like it has the same main feature limitations - just that it is version 20 and not 19.

I am not sure if 'Solo' and/or 'Start' are available in all markets.

Barry.

[Karl Griffith]

ArchiCAD 20 Solo is the same as ArchiCAD 20 except it does NOT have:

1. Cine Render

2. Teamwork

3. Hot Linked Modules.

4. X-ref functionality is limited.

I did the 30 day trial with 19, then bought 19 Solo. Looks pretty much the same except for the above. I am now on 20 Solo, and from viewing the videos on the new features, I'd say 20 Solo is the same as 20, less the 4 items noted above. I'm a relatively new user, so this is not an in depth analysis.

Relative to the original topic, I suppose the answer as to what saves the most time is relative to what you compare it to. But comparing to the software I used for the last 6 years or so (a BIM type software with a very small user base), I would say that there are a whole host of ArchiCAD features that significantly save time. In 3 months I could model faster in ArchiCAD than I could in the previous program. And while I have not produced a lot of 2d documentation yet, the Project Map/View Map/Layout Book and Publisher have proven very intuitive and efficient.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't the survey be on which item takes the *most* time???

Also a very broad category, but at least then GS might get an idea of what issues users are struggling with rather than focusing on features that already exist...

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't the survey be on which item takes the *most* time???

Great one.
I've got another -
What's the main feature missing or stopping us from doing our jobs more efficiently or accurately?

[Rex Maximilian]

Not necessarily a feature but Graphisoft's history of "borrowing" Windows system features that were lacking on macOS and implementing them internally inside of ArchiCAD.

Two that come to mind specifically is having the interface be contained inside of a dynamically resized frame (something only Windows had) and being able to run a second instance of ArchiCAD. Both of these items were handled by the Windows operating system as a whole, but were introduced to the Mac version of ArchiCAD internally.

Using the two together allows for running two ArchiCADs side by side in split screen and not having to constantly switch between the two apps, especially if the two files are linked and need to be work on together. An added bonus is using split screen and having your markups running in the other split screen. It is advisable to create a special Workspace Environment specifically for split screen view.

(see screen caps)

[Steve Jepson]

The ARCHICAD feature that saves the most time?
Copy and Paste

[Bricklyne Clarence]

Rex wrote:
Not necessarily a feature but Graphisoft's history of "borrowing" Windows system features that were lacking on macOS and implementing them internally inside of ArchiCAD.

Two that come to mind specifically is having the interface be contained inside of a dynamically resized frame (something only Windows had) and being able to run a second instance of ArchiCAD. Both of these items were handled by the Windows operating system as a whole, but were introduced to the Mac version of ArchiCAD internally.

Using the two together allows for running two ArchiCADs side by side in split screen and not having to constantly switch between the two apps, especially if the two files are linked and need to be work on together. An added bonus is using split screen and having your markups running in the other split screen. It is advisable to create a special Workspace Environment specifically for split screen view.

(see screen caps)

As an adjunct (or B-side,.....or remix,...or followup) to this, it would be great if in one of the future versions (sometime in our lifetimes hopefully,......please...) Graphisoft went the other way and borrowed or got a MacOS feature (or ArchiCAD operating in MacOS environment) feature and found someway to integrate it into the Windows side as well.

And that feature would be TRUE multi-monitor usage capability like they currently have on the Mac side and which is still conspicuously visibly missing and lacking on the Windows side of things.

Especially when you consider the fact that the impediment to having this on Windows side of things isn't actually,.....Windows.
Most of ArchiCAD's other competitors (quite possibly all of them at this stage) are fully true Multi-monitor capable on Windows including those that are dual platform.
So clearly Windows isn't the problem here.

[Rex Maximilian]

A few years ago while I was still a reseller/trainer, I was helping a client get setup for efficiency, etc. He was a Windows user and he purchased a monster machine with two monitors. He had to "stretch" the app window across two monitors. I just cringed!

Bricklyne wrote:
As an adjunct (or B-side,.....or remix,...or followup) to this, it would be great if in one of the future versions (sometime in our lifetimes hopefully,......please...) Graphisoft went the other way and borrowed or got a MacOS feature (or ArchiCAD operating in MacOS environment) feature and found someway to integrate it into the Windows side as well.

And that feature would be TRUE multi-monitor usage capability like they currently have on the Mac side and which is still conspicuously visibly missing and lacking on the Windows side of things.

Especially when you consider the fact that the impediment to having this on Windows side of things isn't actually,.....Windows.
Most of ArchiCAD's other competitors (quite possibly all of them at this stage) are fully true Multi-monitor capable on Windows including those that are dual platform.
So clearly Windows isn't the problem here.

[Rex Maximilian]

I would also have to say the "Trace" tool (added in v11 I believe) and its rich feature set is one the hall-of-fame feature enhancements of an older feature (ghost stories). It revolutionized my workflow.

[Bricklyne Clarence]

Rex wrote:
A few years ago while I was still a reseller/trainer, I was helping a client get setup for efficiency, etc. He was a Windows user and he purchased a monster machine with two monitors. He had to "stretch" the app window across two monitors. I just cringed!

LOL!!

I can relate to that.
But in a slightly different way.
Not that long ago I saw a colleague I was working with having to similarly "stretch" Vectorworks across two monster (4K) monitors he was using to get the most out his hardware purchase investment.
I similarly cringed at that.
But that was Vectorworks version 2011 (an 8 year old version).

Vectorworks has been fully and truly multi-monitor capable now for a couple of versions already, I believe.

Which is where I got my second cringe when I realized that the latest version of ArchiCAD is no better than the 8 year old (FORMER former former....) version of Vectorworks in this specific regard.

I don't see how Graphisoft developers see something like this and not feel totally, or to some degree just embarrassed by it.
I know I was for them, and just sad for myself and other ArchiCAD users on Windows (which would be the majority of ArchiCAD users).