Make Modules Great Again - 1: In Place Module Management

[Karoly Horvath]

Modules are a great productivity tool to manage repetitive complex elements in Archicad,

however the current Hotlink Module technology is extremely outdated and thus Archicad is lagging behind all other BIM authoring tools.

The first - and most important - step to Make Modules Great Agaain is to make it possible to create and edit modules in place.

What does it mean:

Imagine an apartment complex that consists of several identical apartment types.

These apartments consist of a few bathroom / kitchen / laundry etc types.

These projects (just like Hotels / Hospitals / Prisons / etc) typically can be imagined as Lego. Each module is a Lego piece that you put together smartly.

Currently the most effective method to use Modules is the so called Iceberg Method.

In this method we create a module in a negative storey, then we publish these modules to .mod files and then assemble the building using the .mod-s.

While this method was smart 10 years ago, today users would expect to be able to

- select a bunch of elements in plan or 3D,

- call it a module and

- start placing the modules in plan or 3D as needed.

If something needs to change, users would expect to just

- select any of the placed modules, unwrap it,

- make the changes and instantly update all placed instances of that module.

This is how it's done in the competitor tools, so Archicad must adopt this technology before it's too late.

In fact, pls GS learn from others and make Archicad work better!

Note:
Modules are not necessarily used as whole building elements.

I often use modules for complex furniture or furniture assembly, complex, repetitive facade arrangement, repetitive window arrangement etc.

Also refer to:

Modules: required improvements 

Make Modules Great Again - 2: Embedded Library Management 

Make Modules Great Again - 3: Attribute Management 

Make Modules Great Again - 4.0: Schedule Modules 

Make Modules Great Again - 4.1: Schedule Mirrored Modules 

Make Modules Great Again - 5: Modules Source Storey 

Make Modules Great Again - 6: Labels in Mirrored Modules 

[raph88]

Thank's hrovat ! I’m glad to see this topic getting such strong support. You’re right, Graphisoft really needs to rethink its development priorities. I hope they’ll listen to us.

[Karoly Horvath]

@Stan_Rostas 

No, in principle I do not save out .mod files to manage file size.

The reason for not linking the negative stories directly back into the model is simple:

By saving individual .mod files, I can control individually which module I want to update.

In other words, in the HLM update window you see a list of modules and you can chose which one you wish to update. 

If I link the negative stories directly, there will be only one module listed, which is the entire source file, and when you update modules, all modules will get updated.

In theory, always updating all modules is good, because (obviously) all is up to date, so what could go wrong?

Actually, a lot could go wrong, especially if you are in Teamwork.

For example you work on Apartment Type A, you finish it, but you did not work on Apartment Type B. You don't know if B is modeled correctly, but you have no choice to exclude B from the update process.

Not to mention, that always updating all modules takes a lot longer than only updating selected modules.

If you are using BimCloud, that's OK. You can export the.mod files to a dedicated folder there.

Having said all the above, this is all just a workaround. Instant internal editing of modules is a must.

[Karoly Horvath]

@SeaGeoff 

I understand that in your view Object components and Modules are the same (or could be) but I don't think we should mix the two.

For object creation, the Library Part Maker is quite OK, with some develoment it could be built in as a standard tool.

Modules are typically assemblies of multiple complex elements and geometries.

The reason for trying to not mix Object creation and Modules is just my fear, that if we wish for such a complex task, Graphisoft will never get to it.

[Karoly Horvath]

This wish is practically the same as the series of "Make Modules Great Again" wishes
Make Modules Great Again 

In order to not waste votes, it would be best to merge this wish to the above mentioned.

[SeaGeoff]

Hi @Karoly Horvath, happy to continue the discussion.

To my mind it is not the level of complexity that should determine how Internal Modules are developed but the functionality we want from this new tool. I would certainly look to Modules to construct custom furniture, for example, which might be as simple as few slabs. What distinguishes Modules is easy, global editing of all placed instances. So while I could use LPM to make a simple bookcase, if it is specific to one project, and subject to change, then Internal Module would be so much easier and faster. Same for custom object components. If I need a custom door leaf for a specific project then I’d sure like the capability to open and edit that component instead of having to rebuild and resave it.

Of course as soon as you need that bookcase or door leaf in multiple projects then saving them as objects is best practice. But when they are non-parametric objects built from simple elements wouldn’t it be great if we could just edit them back in the same environment in which they were created?  What we are hoping for with Internal Modules is essentially the same interface we’ve been dreaming about for basic object creation / editing since the beginning. The Module tool could become what Param-o should have been and supersede LPM at the same time.

Another good fit for Internal Modules is defining door and window instances. We can already include door and window objects in modules and globally edit their parameters. But we can’t do so independently of their host wall. If we could then modules would enable Types.

Your fear of asking too much form Graphisoft is well founded. Internal Modules aren’t even on the roadmap, let alone the expansive version I am proposing. And Graphisoft has shown zero ability to take on a project of this magnitude in a decade. But developing Archicad in little bits over a long time can lead to disjointed workflows. Just look at how many ways Archicad performs boolean-like operations. It is staggeringly difficult to achieve (or teach) watertight modeling.

The Module Tool an opportunity to not just add a nice feature but re-evaluate and improve an entire aspect of the work we do, managing repeating elements and assemblies. 

[stan-rostas]

@Karoly Horvath, "By saving individual .mod files, I can control individually which module I want to update." We understand this reasoning, but for our workflow, we have documentation in these lower stories for these Apartments, Units, whatever, that could be drawing-linked but adds complexity. The organizational complexity for users, especially those with only a few years of use of ArchiCAD, is daunting enough. Our quest is to add capability, without adding complexity. Present BIM tools' complexity, compared to other commonly used software, is a factor of 10 or more.

Being able to directly edit in place, 2d and 3d, all object types is the ideal.