The Little Things - TABS, WINDOWS & MULTIPLE VIEWS

[gavinNZz]

The whole process of how tabs are used to view the BIM model needs to be overhauled. A tab should be independent of the view that it is showing. Any tab should be able to show any viewset. Right mouse click in a tab and have the project map available to select what view you want to see in that tab.

Tabs should also be independent of the main archicad window and behave more like chrome tabs which can be pulled to become a stand alone floating window or full screen on another monitor. I know that you can window tabs currently but they are still fixed to a planview, or a section, or a worksheet and the smaller windows are restricted to main archicad screen space.

This aspect of archicad is just another one of those things that hasn't really been pushed in development but actually forms a huge part of how efficiently we use the software. Graphisoft, please just stop and look at what you have and improve on the base functionality of AC rather than spending all your time adding new stuff.

The BIM environment we build our models in should not have a fixed window associated to it. It should be a model in 'BIMSPACE' that we use tabs(windows) to view in whatever fashion we want to. If the model is updated in one window then the other window is updated instantly. No 'rebuild' when a different window is selected, why should there be, all it is is a view of the live BIM model with certain view settings applied.

There just needs to be a change in thinking away from the 'drafting board' mentality by thinking that we are working within a BIMSPACE and all drawings just come from selected views of the model. Maybe 2D aspects like labels/dimensions/lines are just placed on the view plane in BIMSPACE that the model is being viewed with, like you see when switching from section views in BIMX.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Looks like you want AC to be Revit
I think one of the strengths of AC is what you want removed and that is keeping the drafting board concept were items can have a symbolic view which is different from a 3D projected view amongst other things.

[henryL]

ejrolon wrote:
Looks like you want AC to be Revit
I think one of the strengths of AC is what you want removed and that is keeping the drafting board concept were items can have a symbolic view which is different from a 3D projected view amongst other things.

Totally agree, symolic view is essential. Not every kind of documentation can be a projection of 3D elements.

[gavinNZz]

I agree the symbolic view is important but that is just a way of looking at the elements in the view. Surely a view setting can be applied to the view that indicates that you are wanting a symbolic floorplan style of view.


What is more frustrating is the fact even with the current system we can't have 2 live plan views of the same storey with different view setting applied and those views can't be in their own floating pallete which can be moved outside of the main archicad window. This is something that hasn't changed for over 10 years which is an age in software design.

I just believe that the way in which we are currently able to view and work on our BIM models is just too prescribed. The graphic over-ride system was a nice step but that is just tweaking what is already there. I challenge GS and AC users to think beyond what we know and develop ways of being more efficient in our BIM workspaces.

The building industry will eventually not need drawings to build from so how will we be designing & supplying the information then?