Wishes
Post your wishes about Graphisoft products: Archicad, BIMx, BIMcloud, and DDScad.

Archicad Future, 27 Poll

bouhmidage
Advisor

Archicad 26 was released yesterday, personnally i'm disappointed of how Archicad is slowly developped in the last 4 years, the pandemic has it' effects on business for sure, but we expected more since earlier versions used to bring nice and cool features, 

 

I created this tread for users who have ideas, suggestions, propositions for the next release, we may express our thoughts, and give guidelines for development team, Graphisoft is listening, i'm sure, 

 

For me, the most important thing to in an urgent way is to stop this multilingual installers strategy, 

Archicad 26 is released, all the world can download it with a multilangual installer,  : 

1 - download and install in a preferred langue, 

2 - open Archicad using your template, or download a template from the website, almost of us migrate tempaltes from older versions, resellers template  are useful for new users, 

3 - libraries also can be dowloaded from website, this will help in 2 things : lignter installers, and libraries are accessible for everyone especially when user works for foreign companies, .

 

this way, development and bug fixes will be focused on 1 installer, not 10, 

 

----------------------------

 

Archicad strategy is to implement several disciplines, let's admit this, 

For users , Architects, engeneers, drafters, commands and disciplines should be seperated and organized in different way, so we don't feel abused with unecessary command, 

yes Archicad offer possibility to organise commands in the work environnment, but the saved commands layout will be a mess when upgrading to newt version wich contain new commands, 

why not,  from a buttons menu you can activate ad desactivate disciplines commands.

 

----------------------------

 

You said in the webinar, Focus on design, Archicad tools are really good and that's why we stick to Archicad , BUT aren't fully baked, workarounds and illogic solutions are always there to disturb the workflow, think about new users, workarounds make them feel uncomftable, saying, " this simple situation needs a workaround, whatabout complex ones ?? " 

 

each tool have major / minor things to update, tweak , to get a good design toolbox for daily work, 

to attract users, Archicad should easily be able to help designing a residentiel or midscale projects without workarounds, this kind of project is where users start exploring the software, if it fails, users will start searching around for alternatives, 

make the product a complete solution for architects, 

 

----------------------------

 

i think , Archicad 27 should be the " NO workarounds version "   ,make architects life easier, to focus on design , then you can go ahead for structural and MEP workflows, 

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM, RTX 3080 10 GB
Archicad 25
Windows 10 professional
https://www.behance.net/Nuance-Architects
227 REPLIES 227

Exactly right.

 

David in particular is struggling with the need/usefulness. it's something I think that if you have used, you really can't understand how you can work efficiently without it. If you haven't you will struggle to understand the relevance.

 

I don't like to speak for David, but this is his position - I think.

 

It also depends on how you work, and what you work on. most of my work is large commercial stuff. Schools and commercial buildings. Lots of repetition.

I also like to start the design process with some rough sketches, take them into Archicad and start playing around from there.

 

I'm going to illustrate my point with a real example. I'm going to warn everyone that it's not concise - sorry!

 

One thing I've been modelling recently, is canopies over car parking bays. Here in the UK, the rush towards net zero carbon means every new building my office designs, is to NZC standards. We are designing to net zero embodied and operational carbon. What this means (for now at least) is timber construction where possible, with huge PV arrays and battery storage. Our roofs aren't big enough for all the PV we need, so we need to find other ways to expand the provision. PV canopies over parking bays is a quick win.

I start by defining a notional column spacing, then creating columns and beams for the structure. If I had a parametric array facility I could adjust this very quickly indeed. There are different options for configuring these elements, they can be double-banked or single-banked, and ideally, for maximum efficiency, you need a double plane at the optimal angle facing the sun. Getting this to look right and function properly takes a bit of trial and error with the beam angle, shape and size. It's not just an arbitrary arrangement of beams and columns that sort of work, you need to make them look right as well. You can have tapered beams for example.

If I could have a master definition of a single structural bay element, I could quickly iterate between a lot of 'what if' design scenarios.

Opening a group, changing, some beams, changing some angles, multiplying the group, then doing the same thing over and over again is so time-consuming. The ideal is to define a master element, array it, and then tweak the master definition (or substitute it for a different version) and have every one change automatically.

It's not just the time, it's also maintaining the creative flow. If every time you want to try a different design option, you have to mess around with a lot of simple manual operations, it gets in the way of design development.

 

It's my personal belief that we spend more time modifying things we have drawn, than drawing them in the first place - at least on commercial buildings.

Quick modifications and the ability to propagate changes to similar groups/objects elements is a huge bonus.

 

Hotlinks do this, but apart from the fact they don't work with Solo, they are like the equivalent of AutoCad Xrefs, when what we actually need is the equivalent of AutoCad blocks.

 

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

Light has dawned. Many years ago a friend of mine with his own practise was documenting a high rise residential building for a client. 30 stories or so. All the balconies 6 per floor and on every floor so a lot of balconies. When the client saw the elevations they wanted to redesign the balconies. Luckily the balconies had been created as an object. So change the balcony elements (saved for just this eventuality) 20 mins, resave the object with the same name (overwrite) and rebuild the 4 elevations and go to lunch whilst they rebuild. 

Its that what you mean by instances?

 

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone

Sounds like it.

 

In effect it's a bit like a permanently embedded hotlink, without all the aggravation involved in managing them.

 

Except it's a bit more complex in the sense that it would allow objects (like doors for example) to have the property of being 'instanced' while still being able to be inserted in walls and appear on schedules.

 

I keep using this term which is unfamiliar to many because it's a neutral one, and not linked to any specific software.

 

It just defines a thing which can become a typology, whose properties when created, can automatically be updated.

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

Now thats where I understand instances. One of my big gripes with properties is that properties are not locked to an individual placement of each (say) object. For example a gas cooktop with the  properties adjusted is placed and then in the next unit I place an electric cooktop. Both cooktop instances will have the same properties because properties are not linked to the element, nor are objects linked to layers.

Just thought i'd mention that

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone

Maybe some common definitions could be useful, like a rosseta stone for block/instances concepts. Please correct me if im wrong in any of these.

 

 copy. (Aplication:universal)  I think this is the most basic concept. You have any single element or any number of elements and you can repeat them any number of times, creating independent copies of themselves, which you can later edit and manipulate independently, unless you are copying blocks (see blocks below)

 

Instance. (As in some 3d nurb modelling sofrware and twinmotion). Similar to copy, but instead of being independent, the copies are "instanced" or linked to the original and sometimes, among themselves (that is, among the copies). Any change in the properties of the original or in some cases in any of the instanced objects reflects in all the other instances. Another VERY important diference is that it works for elements you can access all its properties, so an instance only works when copying/instancing SINGLE elements.

 

-group. (Most 2d and 3d software). An arrangement of elements that are grouped together but retains all their core properties. You can copy groups, but they become independient copies. Modifying a group does not modify any of the other groups. I

 

-block. (As in some 2d cad software). Another of the basic and probably the one that everyone has used.  Its an entity that can be created out of a single element or any number of elements either similar of disimilar, all of which elements are part of your current files (although they can also be referenced to other files). A block can be copied any number of times and placed anywhere in your drawing. In its most basic form it cannot be edited unless You access it within your drawing.  Any change in any of the blocks you have copied affects all the other blocks. There can be nested blocks (blocks within blocks). Afaik, there is nothing like this in Archicad, although its behaviour can be mimicked with hotmodules (minus in place editing) or the process described by mr david shorter.    A block is a group (but not the other way around) and it also behaves like an instance (one change in any block reflects in all other copied of said block), but an instance is not a block, because an instance is only a single element that can be modified through its properties NOT a group of disimilar elements which can compose a block.

 

Side note: the Archicad process described by mr david shorter to update an object by resaving it is a crude combination of a block (group of objects), instance (You modify the original elements and save it as an object with the same name), minus in place editing.

 

-parametric block (2d cad software, Archicad and others) its the ability to add parameters to a block that can be modified independetly from each other. Thus the block retains core features (like the name or type for example), but its properties can be modified independently or even in groups, if the elements are similar.    As i understand it, basically every Archicad element is a parametric block.

 

Family. (A revit concept). As i understand it, families are independient variations out of the same object (for example a single door, out which you create different iterations with diferent dimensions, like 75cm door, 80cm door, and so forth). If the family does not contain the dimension you want You have to create it to be able to insert it in your project.  Once inserted, all the elements placed using that definition within the family are linked to that definition.  Thus, if You change the definition, you change all the objects that have that definition. This is sort of what jim allen is looking for.   There can also be families within families, parametric families, etc. So in a way, families behaves like an all in one concept: like a block that you can manipulate globally or locally, but lacking the flexiblity Archicad objects can have.

 

Component (sketchup and maybe others). Groups within groups within groups, that could also be blocks, and that can be hierarchically opened and edited in place. Very useful for things like custom made doors and windows. Archicad does have something more or less similar, but only for curtain walls and railings, as noted by mr dgsketcher.

 

Favorite. (Archicad and maybe others). Definitions that can be applied to objects, but once applied the objects retain independency, thus can be further edited without changing other elements that were applied the same favorite.   Here lies the crux of the dilemma for Archicad i think. Up to what point is it desirable to retain independency of the objects??

 

Xref (as in 2d cad and Archicad).  referencing an external and placing it in your current file, which can be composed of any number of elements. In some software the edition of this external reference can be done within your current. in Archicad it has to be done from its base file.  As i understand it, archicads modules are Xrefs that cannot be edited in place. Although modules do behave like blocks, they cannot be considered one, because their ability to be modified resides in another file.

 

Modules. Archicads me too attempt at managing xref and blocks, minus flexiblity and in place editing. 

 

I think this is it..so, guys, what do we want? Personally i would like an in-place hierarchical nesting system for certain elements that are made out of different parts or layers (like in sketchup), all of which can either function as a block or as an independent entity.  

In place editing for modules with graphical cues for  (everything else is greyed out when editing) is a must.

 

 

 

Er, I think this has made things more complicated actually 😀

 

Your group definition is correct.

 

Blocks are 2D or 3D objects and originated in AutoCAD. In effect they are like special versions of groups which propagate changes to duplicates. They are not parametric in the original AutoCad form.

 

Instances are almost the same as blocks. They definitely aren't just simple individual elements. It's an abstracted term and doesn't relate to being parametric or not.

 

Components are SketchUp's version of Autocad's blocks. SketchUp has Dynamic components which a bit are like Favourites combined with blocks, but are parametric.

 

Favourites are Archicad elements with predefined properties, a bit like preformatted groups. They are parametric, but not instances.

 

Families are similar to SketchUp's Dynamic Components in that you get a core definition which allows some properties to be individual and parametrically-driven. They have a core definition (which I believe -but may be wrong, that) automatically propagates changes) which allows pre-configuration and parametric overrides.

 

Xrefs are 'blocks' in terms of the above definition which exist outside the project file and are loaded in. Hotlinks are Archicad's version of Xrefs. They function like families, or instances but can't be edited in place and live outside the project file.

 

My preference in Archicad would be for Favourites which act like Autocad blocks.

That means that core Archicad elements can be predefined and parametrically driven, but with a core definition whereby changes automatically propagate to the copies. Let's call this a Dynamic Favourite for now.

 

If I have say 6 window types in a building and want to change the configuration and maybe add an opening vent, increase the width by 50mm, and change the frame width, I can edit one of the copies, redefine the favourite and everything updates automatically.

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey
bouhmidage
Advisor

here is a google sheet document, 

you can create a table, and each one fill it in the specified field, 

it's empty , we have to define the table structure first

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sLmm1nuhd4LJ2mJWQIXTZSzwkOCn97Utdhvspqm0H8Q/edit?usp=sharing

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM, RTX 3080 10 GB
Archicad 25
Windows 10 professional
https://www.behance.net/Nuance-Architects

You're a bit late for that 😀

 

Been there, done that, here you go:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1doTzgjqEsRr50sxszCNXrTLC17SvaemHxo_zfCFR6GE/edit?usp=sharing

 

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey
Jim Allen
Expert

Shouldn't we create a new thread entitled Archicad Community Wishlist or whatever?

 

Seems obvious to me, but some of you may have some valuable observations before we start.

We should probably set up a surveymonkey facility as well...

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

At this point, if GS really wants to solicit user feedback for this kind of thing, "they" should start the list so we know it's something that they would take seriously. Not saying our starting a list isn't a good idea, but I don't think it would be something they'd feel they should commit to implementing.

Rex Maximilian, Honolulu, USA - www.rexmaximilian.com
ArchiCAD 27 (user since 3.4, 1991)
16" MacBook Pro; M1 Max (2021), 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 32-Core GPU
Apple Vision Pro w/ BIMx
Creator of the Maximilian ArchiCAD Template System