is archicad suitable for me?

[Anonymous]

i need a software program for interior and exterior design that shows designs as real as possible. I had a go for some time at chief architect and liked it but i´m spanish, and they only have an english version, which made it a bit harder for me. I feel much more comfortable if i´m learning a program in my own language. That´s when i decided to have a look at archicad. What i need is to be able to design interiors as accurate as possible (as we do up old stone houses), but i want a program that also allows me to design gardens, and even bars and hotels. Is it archicad right for me or is it too orientated towards architects?

[Anonymous]

There is no single program that can really do all that you ask in a way that is be reasonable to accomplish in a realistic workflow. The hard part is what you mean by "as real as possible". There are programs that produce excellent plants and trees, libraries of exceptionally detailed furniture, programs that model drapes, folds (and even wear and dirt), and yet other programs that can use these elements to produce brilliant renderings, but I don't know any single program that can do all this within a capable architectural and site modeler.

There is also a fundamental problem with realistic "photo" rendering that have little to do with the software. It is usually a mistake to use photo rendering techniques in preliminary and schematic design phases. They tend to present the client with the design as a fait accompli and close down the desired feedback to a simple yes or no. By the time the design is resolved enough for quality photo rendering it may be useful for a final approval, public presentation or printing a nice job site sign but it rarely works as design tool. Remember that even once the design is resolved enough to render there is still all the work of storyboarding, propping, lighting, and editing to make material suitable for presentation.

That said, I think your best choice may be the combination of ArchiCAD with Cinema 4D. ArchiCAD can easily produce the building and site models, which can then be populated with detailed landscaping, furnishings and entourage and then rendered beautifully in Cinema 4D.

There are of course other solutions to this same problem (such as Revit to 3DS Max), but I haven't seen them anywhere combined in a single program. I suspect that it may impossible or at best undesirable. When one program tries to do too many things it ends up not doing any of them well.

[Rakela Raul]

mariamo, i think archicad is ok for you..with excellent libraries for interior design, i dought you will find any other soft that at least matches ac libs

[Anonymous]

thanks to you both. I hadn´t found many samples of archicad used to do interiors and had my doubts about archicad being what i´m looking for.

[Anonymous]

mariamo wrote:
thanks to you both. I hadn´t found many samples of archicad used to do interiors and had my doubts about archicad being what i´m looking for.

Look at this site
http://www.architectsjury.com/best

Despite apparent controversy over the competition itself, there are many good examples of both interior and exterior visualizations modelled in ArchiCAD

[Anonymous]

mariamo,

I have used ArchiCAD successfully for retail interior design, working on department stores in the UK, and have done 3D renderings and other computer visuals.

I have used for the renderings, which is no as sophisticated as some rendering programs, but is fairly easy to use.

If you go for ArchiCAD you should consider getting Cigraph's , an add on for ArchiCAD which is useful for making objects, furniture etc. It's not expensive (86,00 €)

[Anonymous]

Mariamo - Archicad would probably suit you well.

There is a possible alternative for you though in another Nemetschek program: Vectorworks Designer from Nemetschek North America (there is a Spanish language version and NNA provide Spanish language support). http://www.nemetschek.net/

Where Archicad is a vertical program focused on architecture, Vectorworks is a horizontal program with capabilities in a number of different areas. There is a basic version named Fundamentals which contains all of the core 2D and 3D functionality, but it also comes in four industry specific versions with additional capability:
- Architect: Architecture + Interior Design,
- Landmark: Landscaping and Land Planning,
- Spotlight: Theatre Design and Entertainment,
- Mechanical: Machine Design and General Modeling.
The Designer version contains all four industry specific versions.

Evaluate both and make your decision based on which best suits your purpose.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your replies. I tried for a few weeks chief architect and found it much easier than archicad. But I´m giving archicad a go because it´s got a spanish version and there are users all over europe. I´m trying to get my head around it but still can´t work out something so simple as having all the dimensions displayed while i introduce doors and windows in walls, so i can know the distances from the walls.

[Anonymous]

By the way, what do you think about archicad start edidtion? would that be enough for interior design? i don´t think i can use archiform with it, can i?

[Dwight]

Don't go cheap. Always get the modern versions.