pixpast wrote:
I know I am only starting out with archiad, but it seems a little shocking how much users have to fight the software to create organic shapes, sorry usable organic shapes.
I cant really understand it. So many other software companies have made this organic creation their bread and butter business but try to create something vers organic in archicad, you will soon start pulling your teeth out.
I just cant believe it really.
A big software company and product that so many architects use and if i was just building apartment layouts every day or a nice 2 stoey garage, then i would be a happy camper, but my bosses want wild and modern shapes and form, walls and roofs flowing like melting cheese over the roof.
and the only tool i have is archicad.
so when is this being done with archicad ?
Thanks.
Ian
The simple answer is that it sounds like you're using the wrong tool. for the job.
If you want a software that is dedicated and specialized in designing and conceiving flowing organic shapes, then you're better off investing your time in learning and using something like Rhino3D (which is also limited in terms of just how organic you can create your forms - although they now have plugins like T-Splines and Grasshopper that help a lot in this regard), and more likely software like Maya, Cinema4D, 3DS Max and those kinds of software which specialize in creating those kinds of forms.
However, the caveat in using those particular software is that you're probably going to struggle like hell getting those organic forms out of the software into a form that they can be fabricated or which would make sense to a digital fabricator.
Often times a combination of one of the above mention software with Rhino3D (which is great for translating organic forms into digital formats for CNC fabrication) is what you would end up using.
As for ArchiCAD, in as much as the developers did a fantastic job in extending the modeling tools in the software to include all the new shell modeliing tools, ArchiCAD was simply never meant to be the type of software that generates those kinds of forms.
These new modeling tools are to help their customers, - majority of whom still have to worry about actually building in the real world these forms and majority of whom still work with conventional forms - get better tools for working with and to extend their creativity.
ArchiCAD 16 (which should arrive sometime next year around mid to late Spring, if they follow their current cycle) will possibly come with some more tools but I highly doubt it will come with the type of tools you're seeking.
I would strongly suggest you look into getting or learning Rhino3D (which is much easier to learn and more intuitive than those others and which also plays well with more software than I know) if that is really your focus and desire to get those kinds of forms.
p.s. Sketchup also has a plugin to allow users to generate FreeForm organic shapes but like those others I mentioned, you're going to run into problems trying to get that form out of Sketchup and into a fabricatable format.
And then there's the issue with the high polygon count that freeform/organic forms usually tend to generate and which usually tend to bring most software to their knees.
