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

Standard settings for all ArchiCAD tools.

Geoff Briggs
Mentor
I gave a big thumbs up to Karl's poll question on fills for slabs and roofs. Meanwhile sam66 wants an elevation pen for slabs. And how many times has someone lamented the inability to show walls on adjacent stories?

So here's my wish: All the tools are updated so each has the same great set of attributes.

All the 3D tools would have Plan and Section pens and fills (with the option for composites of course), Elevation pen, and the options to show on other Stories.

All the 2D tools would have the show on other Stories options, including Text and Dimensions, plus fills for closed shapes, including Text boxes and Circles.

Please let your vote be counted.
Regards,
Geoff Briggs
I & I Design, Seattle, USA
AC7-27, M1 Mac, OS 14.x
10 REPLIES 10
Anonymous
Not applicable
Okay, let me see if I can take a stab at this...

1. Show on multiple stories for all model elements. I see no reason why this should be selectively applied to some elements and not others. I would also like to see the feature expanded to allow more than one story above and/or below. I'm not sure I would want the 2D elements to show on multiple stories. What would the advantages be. I would also like to be able to see what story a selected element is on (in the info and settings dialogs).

2. Consistent pen attributes. All model elements should have definable 3D pens. Doors and windows should have standards for pens in plan for primary, swing, & glass line, and in 3D for primary, detail, opening lines and glass lines. These latter could be handled as global or standard GDL variables.

3. Reference symbols for all views and the ability to place those references in any view. I can understand not being able to place a detail source view inside another detail (just as we can't cut a section within a section) but there is no reason we shouldn't be able to reference a section in another section. in an enlarged plan, or other detail view; or reference a detail in another detail as it can now be referenced from plan and section.

4. Plan and section fills for all model elements Besides the obvious need for plan fills for roofs and slabs, it would be nice to have it for library parts as well. The anomalies here are walls and columns since they use a section fill in plan. If there were a definable plan cut height then low walls and columns might need a plan fill as well.

5. Consistent default order in the Info palette. Put them in the order that they most commonly occur, group all related attributes, etc. This has been done to some extent but if there is some thorough organization I haven't figured it out yet.

Well that's all I can manage tonight. Anyone else?
Rob
Graphisoft
Graphisoft
dear Graphisoft we should really start from here before adding any other wish in your internal queue of wishes.
::rk
Geoff Briggs
Mentor
Thanks for reviving this thread guys. Matthew your list is solid as usual. Clearly GS needs to study how people actually use ArchiCAD, not just how they imagine people should use it.
Matthew wrote:
I'm not sure I would want the 2D elements to show on multiple stories. What would the advantages be.
In a perfect world this may not be necessary since everything would be a hybrid object with 2D and 3D expressions. But in the real world this could be very useful. I would use this for simple things like notes, dimensions and grid lines that are identical on multiple stories. Vertical chases, plumbing and ducts that don't require 3D. I'd use it for temporary layout lines, roof overhangs, landscape symbols. All kinds of little drafting things that help align and define.
Regards,
Geoff Briggs
I & I Design, Seattle, USA
AC7-27, M1 Mac, OS 14.x
James B
Graphisoft
Graphisoft
I'm probably going to repeat some of the things other people have said so bear with me.

I would like to see:
Floor Plan tab in each tool, pen, fill
Section tab in each tool, pen, fill
Elevation tab in each tool, pen, fill
(the above could have option to make settings as per plan or something)
Model tab to have pen in each tool
Show on Story setting in each tool

Cut to roof seems to be now replaced with the Solid operations tool (which will update the cut when the roof is changed). Lets get rid of Cut to Roof feature as it doesn't update.

Rotation of text, why can't I Apple+E text so it's upside down? I don't want it to auto flip the right way. something I want text in other directions.

Layers - edit of the name via the field at the base of the window
Layer Combo - edit name by clicking on the name
This should be consistant. Possibly double clicking a name allows me to edit it.

Elevation/Section - can only copy doors/windows, can't edit anything else. A 3D object placed in a section doesn't appear in plan or in 3D.

Door, window, corner window buttons should be placed under the wall tool (like the end wall tool).
The Skylight button should be placed under the roof tool.

Stairmaker - very difficult to find the Create New Stair (those of us who have used AC for age are fine, but it's not intuative). Also, the Stairmaker interface isn't consistant with any other tool - I realise this is cause of the history of stair maker, but it should be intergrated not to appear to be just an add on when it's in the tool palette.

Camera/VR Settings, is a bit odd. Doesn't seem to link/fit in with any other tool. Again, seem like just an add on that's not that integrated. ie doesn't have OK/Cancel buttons.

3D Perspective Settings, to switch between Perspective and Parallel you click a button, maybe this should be two tabs - which is more consistant with OSX.

That's all I can think of at this time.
James Badcock
Graphisoft Senior Product Manager
Rob
Graphisoft
Graphisoft
exactly James,
just simple, uncomplicated interface and thorough CONSISTENCY of tools and the user interface items (layer combos, PROPER!!! palette docking, maybe tear-off menus for example: wall-door-window-corner window-wall end tool bar, or roof-skylight, or all dimensioning stuff, or lines-arcs-polylines-splines...)

oh god I really wish to have that done when explaining 'AC new-comers' in our office why they have to use the separate tools for creating and editing hatched area of a slab and why we can see it only on 3 consecutive storeys...
::rk
Anonymous
Not applicable
I have a couple of comments - bear with me...
Matthew wrote:
1. Show on multiple stories for all model elements...
3. ...place those references in any view...

I've seen the above issues before. What about an option for the section tool to show the section line also in sections & details (like a "show on all drawings" option or so). You can always turn off the layer with the section if you don't want to see it. Seems to me a couple of birds would be killed with one stone this way.
5. Consistent default order in the Info palette. Put them in the order that they most commonly occur, group all related attributes, etc. This has been done to some extent but if there is some thorough organization I haven't figured it out yet.

How about "borrowing" a feature from M$ Office? The most common changed options would show up in the info box. Or alternately, you could configure which ones to show (though this might be a bit too much).
James wrote:
Elevation/Section - can only copy doors/windows, can't edit anything else.

I think this feature would confuse more than help. We need a bit of consistency. Either you can change everything or nothing... I think.
Door, window, corner window buttons should be placed under the wall tool (like the end wall tool).

How about just customizable and dockable toolboxes? That should resolve everything, cuz I wouldn't want to have to go through the submenu for every little thing, nor have a fully expanded toolbox with all these tools (and I feel the number might go up).
Camera/VR Settings, is a bit odd. Doesn't seem to link/fit in with any other tool.

I just needed to do some quick work with this tool and I couldn't agree more. Took me a good amount of time until I remembered how everything worked again.
3D Perspective Settings, to switch between Perspective and Parallel you click a button, maybe this should be two tabs - which is more consistant with OSX.

... and convenient for all especially if you have quite a large project to render.
Daniel Lindahl
Contributor
James wrote:
...so bare with me..
I'll join you in a flash!
He wrote:
Cut to roof seems to be now replaced with the Solid operations tool (which will update the cut when the roof is changed). Lets get rid of Cut to Roof feature as it doesn't update.
....
Elevation/Section - can only copy doors/windows, can't edit anything else.
....
Door, window, corner window buttons should be placed under the wall tool (like the end wall tool).
The Skylight button should be placed under the roof tool.
James

I still very much want the trim to roof tool even though we now have SEO.
For one thing, it is more stable than SEO's, and is more stremlined in it's use. Also, SEO's do not act on doors or windows, and in my designs I frequently have high windows in walls that are conveniently trimmed to the roof.

In the elevation/section you can select walls and modify their height from the info box. Very useful for accurate adjustments when you want specific walls to finish horizontally, just below a raking roof.

As for merging button functions, I can not agree with that one either, for the same reasons someone has already mentioned.
cheers
Daniel
-------------------------------------
Daniel Lindahl Architecture
AC24 | Dell Inspiron 16+ | Windows 11
James B
Graphisoft
Graphisoft
Daniel wrote:
James wrote:
...so bare with me..
I'll join you in a flash!
He wrote:
Cut to roof seems to be now replaced with the Solid operations tool (which will update the cut when the roof is changed). Lets get rid of Cut to Roof feature as it doesn't update.
....
Elevation/Section - can only copy doors/windows, can't edit anything else.
....
Door, window, corner window buttons should be placed under the wall tool (like the end wall tool).
The Skylight button should be placed under the roof tool.
James

I still very much want the trim to roof tool even though we now have SEO.
For one thing, it is more stable than SEO's, and is more stremlined in it's use. Also, SEO's do not act on doors or windows, and in my designs I frequently have high windows in walls that are conveniently trimmed to the roof.

In the elevation/section you can select walls and modify their height from the info box. Very useful for accurate adjustments when you want specific walls to finish horizontally, just below a raking roof.

As for merging button functions, I can not agree with that one either, for the same reasons someone has already mentioned.
I might have not explained the buttons idea very well. I don't think the buttons should be merged, I was only suggesting the order in the order in the tool palette could be better to like items are closer together.

Regarding trim to roof, I was meerly saying that the Solid Operations has similar operations to Trim to Roof, so maybe the Trim to roof could be updated (with the solid operation more integrated in the everyday operations - and not just a menu). I twould be nice to link a wall to a roof, so when the roof changes the wall cut changes as well. It's really annoying if I change a roof then I have to select all the roofs and undo trim then redo the trim. Possilby it could be an option near this button under the wall tool to auto adjust to suit roof.

Thanks
James Badcock
Graphisoft Senior Product Manager
Anonymous
Not applicable
James wrote:
Regarding trim to roof, I was meerly saying that the Solid Operations has similar operations to Trim to Roof, so maybe the Trim to roof could be updated (with the solid operation more integrated in the everyday operations - and not just a menu). I twould be nice to link a wall to a roof, so when the roof changes the wall cut changes as well. It's really annoying if I change a roof then I have to select all the roofs and undo trim then redo the trim. Possilby it could be an option near this button under the wall tool to auto adjust to suit roof.

Thanks
This is an interesting point. Trim to roof is fundamentally different than the SEOs. In the trim to roof the cutting planes become incorporated into the cut element so that the roof can be moved or deleted without affecting the cut whereas the SEOs (as I am sure everyone knows) maintain the relationship between the operators and operands (targets).

I have assumed that the trim to roof function is due to become a "legacy" feature, with the SEO expected to completely replace it eventually.

An interesting alternative to this would be to incorporate the function of trim to roof into the SEO by allowing the resulting operations to be embedded into the target elements.

I think this deserves it's own spin-off wish topic:
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=12439#12439