Having trouble with Archicad? Do you want to save hours of work with a few simple tips? Well our long-time colleague Eric Bobrow, internationally recognised Archicad expert and author, has brought out a new online training course on the most effective methods for working with ArchiCAD and not battling with it.

Just wanted to share a quick video that’s been circulating the web this week by user TheWitalindoz on Youtube, it’s an amazing construction assembly animation of a building apparently created in Archicad and rendered in Artlantis. ‪

image adapted by ArtlantisMembers.com

The time is here again to test your knowledge on an Artlantis Rendering Contest from Artlantismembers.com. Unlike their previous rendering contest, you must create an original design model and render it all the way! It's not too late to submit an original design, but be quick as the contest ends on Nov 30th!

So Graphisoft has finally released the reins on the new free Archicad 14 trials, ranging from the Professional, Student, Teacher, and School versions. They each give you a 30-day free trial + the ability to download and try out a bunch of great add-ons and partnering software

Back in October 2009, Apple surprised us with a new introduction to the mac peripherals, the Magic Mouse the world’s first multi-touch mouse. In the past Apple hasn’t been very successful with its mice, but many are starting to come around now that the company has seemed to have nailed it.

The drawback has been for us CAD users that there’s one tiny thing missing..... the essential middle scroll wheel...! Without it to pan + zoom, and orbit around a model, it just takes ages to model anything really - thus rendering the device quite useuless for 3D design.

Well despair no longer, there is a way.....

Finally I mention the extensive media, shader, and object libraries offered in both versions, as well as where you can download or buy some additional libraries to use in your model, including the Artlantis Media Libraries and ObjectsOnline.com, a virtual product library created by Abvent offering the largest collection of 3D parametric objects dedicated to architecture and design.

I’d like to thank everyone again for all your fantastic emails and comments about the show, on iTunes, Facebook and all the online video sites. Please keep ‘em coming!

If you download the iTunes version, I've added chapters into the video so you can jump to any part you want.

If you’d like to share any tips, or need any additional help I’d be happy to provide some,
just email me at archicadmonkey@gmail.com or from the contact me section.



A quick review on iTunes would be very much appreciated!

Enjoy the show!

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Don't miss my new ArchiMAG article :

the archiPad - mobile CAD in the Post-PC era

all about new and exciting Apps for Architects, Engineers and Designers!

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I’ve gone through a few computers in my time, from basic laptops to building my own super-PC with an NVidia powerhouse, moving onto a Macbook and now even growing slowly out of my superpowerful Macbook Pro. Though I do love my macs - as I am mad with multitasking - I do try and be objective when recommending a piece of hardware, or software for that matter, to be the best fit to the individual. There’s one thing that every designer has in common, we need POWER!

So, what’s the best computer for 3D, CAD and BIM?

David Fano over at Design Reform has written an article about just this subject, putting this question out to the PC and Mac community. Though his recommendations are mostly aimed towards windows users, the general concept of processor power, RAM + hard drive size and such are quite universal. It depends in the end if you feel comfortable with a certain setup and are happy with the final results....while not having to wait 24hrs for an image to render....!

The comments after the article are definitely worth a read, very interesting seeing what other powerCADers use.

This time we get a bit deeper into Archicad and go step-by-step how to draw up a simple building + get used to the tools of the workflow. It's a simple design, nothing very exciting, but a good start to get you on your way to Archicad mastery.

This is the longest video in the series - 22 minutes long - so get a nice cup of coffee ready. If you download the iTunes version you'll see I've added chapters into the video so you can jump back + forwards to whichever part you want.

Enjoy the show!



Stuff mentioned :

The Wall tool | Editing Walls + Settings | Splitting Walls | Material selection | Storeys + Settings | Slabs + Settings
The Roof tool | Polyroof + Manual | Stairs + Slabs | Doors + Windows | The Mesh Tool | Adding vegetation

+

Suspending Groups | The Cursor Tracker | The Pet Palette | The Magic Wand
The Eyedropper | The Syringe | General 2D + 3D views | Show All / Selection in 3D





Useful links
Graphisoft Archicad
Abvent Artlantis

If you found this show useful, a quick review on iTunes would be very much appreciated!
You can contact me if you have any comments, ideas for new shows, or would like to share any tips

”We’ve actually found it fun to go from an extensive but general CAD package
like AutoCAD, to an advanced architecturally intelligent package like ArchiCAD.
Here’s why: a lot of what you had to worry about in AutoCAD
(scale, layers, units, setting limits, trimming walls for door openings, and more)
is handled automatically by ArchiCAD...

... It is also fun for architectural designers to have the immediate visual feedback
of 3D perspectives, sections, and elevations as they are designing,
just as they had when designing with cardboard (only better)...

... Over 80% of ArchiCAD users were AutoCAD users in the past,
so you have a lot of company. We invite you to see what all those
experienced CAD users have discovered in ArchiCAD...”

But never have they had such an “in your face” approach as it seems with Toy Story 3. Over at Macenstein there’s a breakdown of all of Apple’s cameos in the Toy Story trailer, ranging from Safari + iTunes, For the cherry on top, on Cult of Mac there’s a picture of the the Director’s (Lee Unkrich) tweeted screenshot - @leeUnkrich - from his airplane seat, when he was editing the movie on his MacBook Pro!

This comes of no real surprise as Steve Jobs - founder + CEO of Apple - was the owner + big boss CEO at Pixar, having also co-founded it, until it was acquired by Disney in 2005. He is still on the Disney Company Board of Director’s and the largest individual Disney shareholder, playing an active role in the company. Toy Story was Pixar’s big debut film, and though the 3D graphics were revolutionary in 1995, the bar has been significanlty raised by films like “Wall-E”, “Ratatouille” and “Up”, so it will be very exciting to see how they can improve on the classic and how much more Apple may pop up in the film.

watch the movie teaser

DISCUSSION

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Don't miss my new ArchiMAG article :

the archiPad - mobile CAD in the Post-PC era

all about new and exciting Apps for Architects, Engineers and Designers!

---

“...maybe VectorWorks or ArchiCAD” says Randall Newton as they are both established CAD + BIM applications on the MacOS X platform. Both programs are now under the umbrella of Nemetschek - one of the leading companies for the AEC software sector - having matured to a position where it wouldn’t take as much work to get onto the iPad as say the highly anticipated Autocad for Mac which is still in alpha testing. Autodesk is mainly a Windows based company, though their amazing sketching application Autodesk SketchBook Pro was met with great praise on the Mac and the iPhone|iPod Touch. They’ve taken a good step towards possibly edging their way in with Project Butterfly which makes it easy to view + even edit Autocad drawings via an internet browser, making it technically cross-platform.

If Graphisoft could bring out a native iPad application or at least an Archicad project viewer like Virtual Building Explorer, it would become a great tool to show off and describe designs anywhere with a great touch interface easy enough for anyone to understand the design over coffee or on the building site.

In this episode I continue the Archicad series, firstly exploring the educational + professional licenses, downloading the trial versions + installing them, as well as Archicad 12 + 13 compatibility with mac + pc. Following with a tour of the basic interface, and the general workflow logic to get you started, we dive into one of the major parts of the Archicad interface - the “Navigator”, defining the “Project Map”, “View Map”, “Layout Book”, and “Publisher Sets”.



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You can also watch a lower quality version below:




If you found this show useful, a quick review on iTunes would be very much appreciated! Thanks


Useful links

• Graphisoft Archicad
• MyArchicad.com
• Archicad Wiki - Snow Leopard Compatibility
• The Student fact sheet
• The Tutor fact sheet
• Abvent Artlantis

View the show on iPhone

ArchicadWiki is a great resource for all technical info about Archicad - including troubleshooting. Based on the Wiki software - the same as Wikipedia- it allows easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages. Generally it’s a hub of information that anyone can take advantage of and add information

Illes Arvay has produced a very comprehensive article about recommended video cards and relevant drivers for Archicad 13, both for Windows + Mac. Also some test results for Windows XP + 7 with Nvidia Quadro FX , ATI FireGL cards, and Asus Geforce cards.

It’s worth checking out if you’re considering buying a new Mac or PC and running Graphisoft Archicad 13.

> Link to source

In this episode I introduce one of my favourite applications, Graphisoft Archicad the world’s leading 3D parametric design software for architects, interior designers and others in the design industry. It has established itself as a highly intuitive, flexible and mature product, with which over a million buildings have been designed.

The show covers:

• Quick intro to Archicad
• The Virtual BuildingTM | BIM
• Version compatibility with mac + pc
• Award-winning designs
• Virtual TraceTM
• Partial Structure Display
• 3D Document
• Collaboration
• Useful websites

• Graphisoft Archicad
• Abvent Artlantis
• Best of Archicad
• Archicad Wiki
• Architectsjury.com
• Architalk.com

“It’s a new level of virtual reality, meshing the real world with a nonexistent one, but giving the visual perception that an object is real.” (via AppleInsider)

If the Tablet also has a camera on the back as well (doubtful as the iPhone only has one), this concept could pair well with some form of augmented reality apps that have surfaced on the iPhone in the past year, blurring the boundaries between virtual + reality even further.

The rumours keep multiplying every day and will undeniably increase until Apple’s special event. Then, we will be at peace knowing that most of the rumours were actually true ...of course the peace will not last long, the second it’s over we’ll be scouring the net to find any way to guarantee we get our hands on...whatever it is. As fun as it is speculating - don’t get me wrong, as any tech geek may admit I could do it for hours - it seems 2010 is going to be a great year full of more gadget goodies, a year full of possibilities.

acm001 - Sketchup 101 from archicadmonkey on Vimeo.