new user: creating custom walls

[Anonymous]

if someone could point me to a good tutorial for customizing/creating my own walls i would greatly appreciate it. i assume taking an existing wall from the base Archicad walls and modding them would be the easiest way? I dont have the manual since we purchased the cheapest version with a set amount of "pre-paid" hours on the key.
Thanks again.

[Erika Epstein]

In the Documentation folder where you installed Archicad you will find pdf versions of all the reference manuals, there are 7 in the AC13 folder.

These pdfs are available under the HELP menu when archicad is open.

When I first looked at Archicad, I too bought a pay-per-use key. I drove my reseller nuts by how long I was able to make that key last as I was very quick to realize when I was stuck or stumped. I closed AC, and reopened it in demo mode. I practiced, practiced, practiced until I knew how to do what ever it was and only then put the key back in

p.s. I'm not sure I understood your wall question.
Also, there is no printed manual for 13.

[Karl Ottenstein]

tkolt wrote:
I dont have the manual since we purchased the cheapest version with a set amount of "pre-paid" hours on the key.

You have the same manual that everyone else has: it is one of the PDF files available from the Help menu. Also, you have the Help itself, which contains slightly different content than the PDF guide.

There is no 'cheap' or other version of ArchiCAD. All are the same - only the license differs, in that your pay-per-use key will expire.

The manual describes 'capturing' multiple walls and turning them into a single complex profiles wall, as well as modeling complex profiles.

Also, try some of these:
http://www.archicadwiki.com/FrontPage?action=fullsearch&context=180&value=complex+wall&fullsearch=Te...

as well as all kinds of threads in these forums (use the Search function)

You might want to play/learn with the key unplugged so that you can learn in demo mode (although you cannot save results) without using up any of your license hours. (Edit: I see Erika posted while I was reading/typing ... so, yeah, what she said.)

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

thanks for the help. what i meant to say was this:
i THINK it would be easier to create custom walls by taking what comes with the base Archicad package and just add/remove materials and then save it as a favorite. I've printed the Archicad 12 reference guide but being an AutoCAD user for over 15 years i'm finding it VERY hard and frustrating to get used to archicad. not only are the processes different but the terminology is as well. i guess i was wrong in assuming that things would be easy or as easy to do in archicad as it is in autocad.
thanks again.

[Dwight]

It is often said that Autocad users make bad Archicad users.
Perhaps you would be more comfortable returning to Autocad.

[Laszlo Nagy]

tkolt wrote:
thanks for the help. what i meant to say was this:
i THINK it would be easier to create custom walls by taking what comes with the base Archicad package and just add/remove materials and then save it as a favorite. I've printed the Archicad 12 reference guide but being an AutoCAD user for over 15 years i'm finding it VERY hard and frustrating to get used to archicad. not only are the processes different but the terminology is as well. i guess i was wrong in assuming that things would be easy or as easy to do in archicad as it is in autocad.
thanks again.

This is going to be very subjective (obviously):
I remember when I first looked at ArchiCAD 15 years ago. I was working with AutoCAD 12 at the time (AutoCAD 13, the first Windows version had just come out).
I did not like ArchiCAD soooo much. It was so different: the background was white, everything worked differently than in AutoCAD.
Then I started working with it and quickly realized that this is something completely different so of course you do thing differently and the terminology is different. One has to learn a new program. But after a while I fell in love with it and I still am.

[Karl Ottenstein]

tkolt,

Also ... your frustration might not be as great if your reseller had provided an introductory day of training as he/she should have. As said many times over the years in these forums in situations identical to yours: there is no substitute for having an experienced user sit down with you for a few hours or a day.

Good luck,
Karl