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

@Jim Allen Yes this is the way the Detail tool works. BUT the Worksheet was added later but works the same way BUT should really be a live view of the model, a viewport if you like.

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

It is a reference to horizontal detail sections, but aimed at delivering live view room fit out plans where if the client moves the door, the plan & dimensions update automatically, rather than having to rebuild & re-associate or manually edit the view. It also gets away from managing overlapping graphics if for example you need to annotate two adjoining rooms.

 

AC Details are are a bit archaic, unstable and out of touch with BIM data workflows. We put a lot more into our models these days. The current AC Details process destroys much of that data and are not Live to respond to changes in design or BIM content. If your PDF used AC details how much work would there be to adjust for a change of roof pitch or rafter depth etc?

Apple iMac Intel i9 / macOS Sonoma / AC27UKI (most recent builds.. if they work)

Okay, that makes sense! I have never used the Worksheet function for that.

 

[Edit: I had to look up what these are used for, so the request makes more sense. In effect it's adding a live update update to Worksheets then I guess.]

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

Google Sheet updated under Misc section!

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

@Jim Allen As far as I know the worksheet was intended to be use as a callout from the floor plan being a clipped view of the model but with associated dims section markers etc captured (but again a snapshot like the detail tool)

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

4. I just think it would be nice to have the ability to use the "split" command to split a multistory wall with a horizontal plane. A lot of times we begin massing the model with multistory walls before we know what the materials will be. Then, later we may want to make the first-floor brick and the upper floors stucco. Currently, to do this we have to change the wall settings to edit the height, then copy/draw a new wall for the second material. Not hard to do, I work on a lot of 300 unit, 4-5 story, multifamily projects, and being able to split walls with a horizontal plane would be beneficial.

5. Again, I work on a lot of multifamily, so I just think it would be nice to be able to lock ortho so only draws parallel to the x and y axis. Holding shift works, but if object snap is on shift will also project perpendicular to the object you snap to.....which can be difficult when you have multiple CAD files referenced into your project. Right now, I toggle object snap off with a hot key and use shift to accomplish this, but i think it would be nice to have a dedicated way to lock ortho a draw only on the x and y axis. I use it in plan and 3d.

6. I have tried this. It does work, but it also says that you need to update your hotlinks in the hotlink module manager every time you save the file. Since I do a lot of multi-family, we rely heavily on hotlinks, and the ability to see which hotlinks need to be updated in the hotlink manager is vital to my workflow. Also, you still have to jump to a new story, make the change, then go back to the building plan and update the hotlinks to see the change in the building. I know this is not hard, but when making changes to multiple unit types each day, the back and forth from unit story to building plan still takes time and decrease efficiency slightly.

7.This is more so for QACA. Again. its not hard to edit the view, then go to the sheet and update the drawing. It does however, add a lot of time over the course of a day just waiting on Archicad to open views, then update drawings. The ability to edit the content of the model view through a drawing placed on a layout would us to make minor adjustments more easily and efficiently as we go layout by layout reviewing during QAQC.

4. From my original Archicad training, I was taught that using multistorey walls is not the Archicad workflow. I do know that it's a Revit workflow though 😉

In Archicad, you are apparently supposed to duplicate the walls on each storey, which is easy and quick to do. For multiple materials on a single storey, you have complex profile walls. I don't think this is a reasonable request to add actually, but if we get lots of people asking for the same thing, it's a different matter.

5. I'm not sure why you need this because only certain tools (meshes, barriers, openings and beams - I think) allow snapping to 3d points when creating elements in 3D. I guess you know you can show only selected objects in the 3D window which makes working in it much easier. Let's see what others think about this.

6-7. In-place editing of hotlinks without leaving the file will be a major change, and I honestly don't think GS will consider implementing this.

I do think that hotlinks need some work (I hate using them) but I think this needs a much wider discussion to potentially define a more comprehensive approach. We are pushing for an option which works more like AutoCAD blocks, which might make your request obsolete. 

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

I too have been in Archicad since version 19 and I am one of the BIM Managers at my office. A lot of these do come from things that other programs do, but that does not make them irrelevant. I love Archicad and am fully on board with using it as my preferred BIM software, but these things are what I frequently hear people complain about or say another program does better. We are in an office of 80+, and a lot of them come in with experience in other programs. We do our best to train them and keep expanding our template, but we also need to be open to places for improvement.

 

1. Other BIM software such as Revit have tools that allow you to draw a window in plan view and change the floor plan cut height just in that window. This would allow you to show a single floor plan with different cut heights on different areas of the building all inside of one singular view.

2. We work on fairly large projects and end up with several different drawing types that all look at the same story to generate the different views (Overall plans, Area plans, enlarged detail plans, Life safety, Addressing plans, RCPs, etc.). Even with a template that has extensive annotation favorite and premade views via clone folders, it can be a lot for someone to take in. Well trained staff have no problem navigating the template and making it work, but new hires have a much harder time. If we had the ability to generate plan views from the model in a similar fashion to how sections and elevations work, it would greatly reduce the amount of annotation layers and favorites we need and cut down on the training required to teach which ones to use and when to use them.

3. I work on a lot of multifamily projects, and we have a pretty extensive workflow/template set up for tracking unit types. We use hotlinks for the Indvidual units, excluding the exterior walls so that we can tweak the exterior elevations as needed to make the design work. Grouping individual doors and windows together would help our workflow as unit plans change and we need to make corrections to the elevations.

4. I just think it would be nice to have the ability to use the "split" command to split a multistory wall with a horizontal plane. A lot of times we begin massing the model with multistory walls before we know what the materials will be. Then, later we may want to make the first-floor brick and the upper floors stucco. Currently, to do this we have to change the wall settings to edit the height, then copy/draw a new wall for the second material. Not hard to do, I work on a lot of 300 unit, 4-5 story, multifamily projects, and being able to split walls with a horizontal plane would be beneficial.

5. Again, I work on a lot of multifamily, so I just think it would be nice to be able to lock ortho so only draws parallel to the x and y axis. Holding shift works, but if object snap is on shift will also project perpendicular to the object you snap to.....which can be difficult when you have multiple CAD files referenced into your project. Right now, I toggle object snap off with a hot key and use shift to accomplish this, but i think it would be nice to have a dedicated way to lock ortho a draw only on the x and y axis. I use it in plan and 3d.

7.This is more so for QACA. Again. its not hard to edit the view, then go to the sheet and update the drawing. It does however, add a lot of time over the course of a day just waiting on Archicad to open views, then update drawings. The ability to edit the content of the model view through a drawing placed on a layout would us to make minor adjustments more easily and efficiently as we go layout by layout reviewing during QAQC.

8. We are only modeling to about an LOD 200. Definitely not to much detail. Non of our consultants are in BIM either. We are only modeling what is needed to produce the drawings in the set. Most of our details and details added in wall sections are 2D drafting over the more simplified model.

9. I think linking attributes would allow us to more easily split large projects into several files to help with the speed/performance of the software. Some of our projects consist of multiple buildings, and each building consist of multiple unit types. We have tried separating models in the past and it always comes back to bite us (the BIM managers) because people cannot easily maintain their attributes. In and office of 85+ people, projects will always have a gap in the range of experience people have, and attribute management is a complex thing for some people to grasp.

10. Again, office of 85+ and too many projects for us to be worried about spelling and grammatical errors. Not a big item, but this is a wish list, right? I would much rather spend my time on design and architecture, and less time looking for spelling errors during QAQC.

11. Correct. That is my point. I wonder why they are not there for storefront.

I used to constrain my mouse to 45 deg increments in past versions of AC to avoid using the shift key.

 

I think we can still do it now without using the shift key ?

 

Please see this help guide on how to set mouse constraints and see if it helps ?

 

https://help.Graphisoft.com/AC/18/INT/AC18Help/Appendix_Settings/Appendix_Settings-8.htm

 

My memory is not too good these days.

AC8.1 - AC27 ARM AUS + CI Tools
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max Chip 10C CPU
24C GPU 7.8TF 32GB RAM OS Ventura

@Mlm082 You have made  couple of references to the speed of Archicad. Can you give me the specs for the machines you use CPU RAM Video card etc and for the BIMsever

Thanks

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