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Modules (Archicad), Groups, (Archicad & Sketchup) and Components (Sketchup)

4hotshoes
Advisor

I just completed a project using hotlinked modules for an apartment building in Archicad. I have had a good experience in setting up and managing the modules. But I also have experience working with Sketchup. Both AC and SU use Groups to help select multiple objects.

 

Archicad uses external files for modules and those modules can be repeated in a host file.

 

Archicad uses groups and you can group several groups into groups, but you cannot access nested groups as you can in Sketchup. I wish we could.

 

Sketchup can turn its groups into components. These components are somewhat like Archicad modules or Autocad blocks. However, in Sketchup components can have nested components and groups that can easily be edited in any instance and any nesting level. If any part of the nested component is modified all instances in the model file are also updated. Components are not like modules as they are not external files. Another nice thing about Components is that they can be animated by scripting and interactivity. In Sketchup I can double click any instance of a component and edit it or keep double clicking deeper into the component to edit. It is really easy to use and manage.

 

I wish that Archicad had Components to function as they do in Sketchup. The Modules have their place, as do library parts. But Components would fill a gap of easier functionality that is missing. (And while you are at it, update the Morph tool to function like Sketchup modeling. Morphs are too clumsy and difficult to use)

 

Groups in Archicad are not that helpful and nesting groups is nearly useless since the nesting is not accessible.

 

My wish is that Groups in AC would be improved and that named components as in Sketchup would also be incorporated. Such components could do much of what modules try to do only better, while allowing to edit the component in the model. 

 

If you know what I am talking about, feel free to add some clarity to this. I speak too briefly here to be helpful to explain this wish.

28 Comments
hrovat
Contributor

@Shaun Coomber, what does it mean that it's "on hold"?  Can you please explain a bit?
MMN_Swe
Booster

Does Graphisoft really not understand the importance of this? It's a fundamental feature when working in large-scale projects with many repetitive units! This has been the most requested wish amongst me and my co-workers ever since I started using Archicad 11 years ago (I've worked i 3 offices).

menantol
Contributor

If there is one reason to keep going back Sketchup it is the difference in component handling between Sketchup and Archicad. The lack of this feature in Archicad is baffling. There must be some software limitation regarding this, otherwise we would have seen it by now...

 

Using components saves sooo much time that it is a required feature for sketching and modelling. Right now (and the last 11 years) this has been difficult to do in Archicad.

Shaun Coomber
Graphisoft
Graphisoft

Thank you for your comments. The "on hold" status means that while we have other focuses right now it can still be revisited at a later time - it doesn't mean that we don't intend to investigate the wish, or value the importance of a topic. The current focus includes other wishes, including renovation of skins, calculations in schedules etc. However, we are always investigating improving existing workflows, including hotlink management. 

@Karl Ottenstein 

"I just want to make sure you realize that modules do NOT have to come from a separate file.  Self-linking has always been possible"

 

Yep that's true, however there major problems with "self linking"

 

1) you have 0 control over which modules you wish to update. If I link modules directly from the source file, there will be only a single source of modules in the hlm manager, therefore everything gets updated. 

That's quite dangerous. You dont want to update half baked work in progress modules.

2) in teamwork it gets even worse. You never know if avteammate is working on something that you don't yet wish to update.

3) since the self link works off the entirecsource module, it is very-very slow.

Keeping this feature "on hold" is insane.

I know the buzzword today is AI, so attach  AI to it, like AI Mods or multiplAI ...

 

It would make more I just want to make more sense to use resources to develop user friendly AI solutions to deal with repetitive modeling/documentation tasks than the almost entirely useless AI development in AC29.

furtonb
Advisor

I'm pretty sure I voted for this before, yet I could vote for this now. What happened with the previous results? ...

Now the counter is at 78, and I alone can name more people that would find this feature useful.

 

Using blocks in Rhino is the reference for the ease of use that I would expect from Archicad.

This is a nice capture from C. F. Møller Architects how easily they can iterate and build detailed models:

https://youtu.be/zMp5KtqKWQA?si=VrwZh1qxlzYJS-nG

 

Lingwisyer
Guru

Probably from the old wish list Furton...

Status
On hold

with 79 Votes

Wish details
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