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Welcome to the GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD Training Series!
You are watching volume one of the training series, called: "The ArchiCAD BIM Concept".
This is a hands-on training material, created to help you with the modeling and documentation
concepts of ArchiCAD. This guide is developed for new ArchiCAD users and prospects as well
as students and teachers.
This guide contains a PDF e-book that includes detailed explanation of every step presented,
with several screenshots. It also contains a pre-set ArchiCAD project file to help your
learning process. Narrated movie clips - such as this clip -- are also included in the guide
on the ArchiCAD YouTube channel, providing step-by-step instructions for each step of
the training guide.
The ArchiCAD YouTube Channel can also be accessed from the Help menu of ArchiCAD. Enter the
name of this Training Guide in the search field to play the related videos.
The full content of this guide can be downloaded free of charge from the Learning page of the
Graphisoft website at: www.graphisoft.com / learning
Please note, that you should have ArchiCAD 17 or later version installed on your computer
to open the pre-set ArchiCAD project file of this guide. If you do not have ArchiCAD
yet, please visit the myarchicad.com site to obtain a free, fully functional ArchiCAD
educational or a 30-day trial license. Please contact a GRAPHISOFT Partner near you to purchase
a commercial ArchiCAD license at: www.graphisoft.com / info / where to buy
We hope you will find this training useful and share the opinion of architects worldwide:
ArchiCAD is easy to learn and fun to use! We wish you success for your future ArchiCAD
projects!
Please extract the "The ArchiCAD BIM Concept" ZIP archive file into your computer. A PDF
and a PLA files are created.
To start exploring ArchiCAD we will open an example file first. Let's start ArchiCAD by
clicking on the application icon. First we encounter a dialog box, in which we can choose
between creating a new project ... or working on an existing one.
We'll do the latter, so we click on the "Open a Project" radio button. Then in the second
section of the dialog box we select "Browse for a Solo Project". Choose "Standard Profile"
for the Work Environment and click on "Browse". In the browser dialog box, locate and open
the NHS OFFICE project achieve file on the location of the extracted files..
If you are running an educational version of ArchiCAD, a message appears warning you
that you have to convert the project into EDU file format. In this case, please click
on the "Convert to EDU" button.
Since we are opening a so-called archive project that contains all the external elements used
in creating the project, we are asked how we wish to handle these elements. For the
time being we ignore this and keep all the project elements in the archive file; ... so
without changing the radio buttons simply click "Open".
The project file opens. Let's take a closer look at the ArchiCAD interface. This application
was designed by architects for architects. The easy to understand graphical interface
and the visual feedback will help you to quickly get familiar with the program's capabilities.
The central part of the interface shows the Floor Plan of our project. At the bottom of
the screen, a set of icons help to navigate in this view, and set the drawing scale and
zoom factor. To the left, the Toolbox contains all the tools necessary to build the 3D model
and complete the documentation. To the right, the Navigator lists all aspects of the project
-- here we can jump from story to story or to different 3D views, sections, elevations
and details.
At the very top, the Menu bar lists all the available commands, logically grouped. Commands
for File operations, Editing and Viewing functions can be selected from the corresponding menus.
Since Design and Documentation are separate processes in architectural practice, tools
and commands supporting these processes are also located in separate menus. Commands in
the Options menu regulate basic settings and the Work Environment. The Teamwork menu supports
collaborative work, and the Window menu sets the visibility of the toolbars and palettes.
The Standard Toolbar contains some of the commands and functions available from the
menus. It can be found right below the Menu bar and can be fully customized. The whole
user interface can be arranged into so-called schemes to fast-track repetitive work, but
this is outside the scope of this training guide.
The Info Box shows the current settings of the selected tool or the characteristics of
the selected element. Try it by selecting a different tool from the Toolbox. Look at
the changes in the Info Box. Changes in the Info Box are immediately reflected in current
settings or the attributes of the selected element. The Info Box can be resized, ... similarly
to all boxes and palettes, ... to reveal more information than in the basic settings.
Let's take a closer look at the Floor Plan. From the icons at the bottom of the Floor
Plan, let's select the "Increase Zoom" icon.
The cursor changes to a magnifying glass. Let's draw two corners of a rectangle around
the upper right entrance area of the building. After the second click, you will see a zoomed-in
view of the Floor Plan in the main window. Try the other icons for Panning, Reducing
Zoom, Fitting in Window the contents of the Floor Plan, or switching between Previous
and Next Views.
There is an even faster way to navigate in all views. With the cursor in the main window,
press the mouse scroll button to pan around the Floor Plan in real-time. Remember to keep
the scroll button pressed! Rolling the scroll button away from you will zoom in and rolling
it toward you will zoom out in real-time. In these cases, the cursor position will act
as the center point of the projection. This technique will let you move from one location
of the Floor Plan to another very quickly. Try it!
In ArchiCAD, every building element is instantly represented in 3D as well. Naturally this
sample project includes not only the 2D documentation but the entire 3D building model as well.
So what does our sample project look like in 3D?
The 3D model can be shown in an axonometric or a perspective view. We'll try an axonometric
view first. To access the 3D representation of our building, go to the 3D section in the
Project Map of the Navigator and double-click on Generic Axonometry.
Within the 3D view, the real-time navigational tools, ... Zoom-In, Zoom- Out, Pan, ... function
exactly as on the Floor Plan. Use the scroll button of the mouse to move from one part
of the image to the other. Select a view where the building more or less
fills the main window. There are two fundamentally different ways of navigating in a model ArchiCAD:
Orbit and Walk. Let's see how they work. From the bottom Toolbar select the "Orbit" icon.
The cursor changes to a little orbit sign. Click and keep the left mouse button pressed
and move the mouse around to view the building from all sides. While in Orbit mode, real-time
Zoom and Pan can still be used. Try them both to explore the whole model. To get out of
Orbit mode, press the "Escape" key.
There is an even more exciting way of getting around the building. In order to see this,
let's double-click Generic Perspective from the 3D section of the Navigator.
In this view Orbit, real-time Zoom and Pan work as we have seen already. The only difference
is that here they affect the camera position rather than the projected image. Let's try
and move around a little. For a different way of exploration, let's
get into first-person "shooter" mode by selecting the "Explore" icon at the
bottom toolbar.
The appearing dialog box explains how movement can be controlled, very similarly to F.P.S.
computer games. If you are sure you have the controls right, click 3D Explore and start
flying inside the building and navigating around. Walls will not stop you in this "game",
but to get the hang of it you should try to use the doors. To get out of Explore mode,
just click into the 3D view.