ArchiCAD Training – (Quick Start Course – 1-5)
This 16 minute video covers typical problems and challenges you may encounter as you start working in ArchiCAD and try to follow a training demonstration. The screen configuration of palettes may be different than what I’m showing, so I go over both the manual resizing and placement of palettes and windows, as well as how to set the Options menu > Work Environment > Palette Schemes (and also Work Environment Profiles) to default or standard configurations.
I also cover typical issues that come up when the Edit menu > Grouping > Autogroup command is turned on, which will (when it’s activated) automatically group elements that are drawn using certain commands such as Polywall or Rectangle Walls. The use of the Suspend Groups button in the Toolbar or the Edit menu > Grouping > Suspend Groups command will allow you to select and modify individual elements of a group.
Additional tips are included for the use of the Escape key, right-clicking and Control-clicking (when you don’t have a multi-button mouse) to get the context menu, and the use of the Shift key for selection.
| Thank you for visiting the Best Practices Course website. The video lessons on ArchiCAD and certain other materials are available for members only. If you would like to watch the ArchiCAD training video on this page, please login to the website. If you are not already a member, please visit the following pages for more information and to sign up for the Best Practices Course, the QuickStart Course or for the Best Practices ArchiCAD Coaching Program. Eric Bobrow, Creator of the Best Practices Course |
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Aloha Eric,
In this video it sounds like there is some way to dock ArchiCAD palettes in a Windows computer.
I’m using a Windows Vista computer and I don’t seem to have any docking features for my palettes. I can line them up next to each other but they just seem to float and not snap to each other.
I don’t think that it is my computer because in my Adobe programs palettes do snap and dock to each other.
Please explain how the ArchiCAD palettes can be docked in a Windows computer.
Mahalo,
John.
[Reply]
Eric Bobrow Reply:
November 2nd, 2011 at 10:36 pm
John -
On ArchiCAD Windows version, the palettes will dock to the sides, top or bottom of the screen. Grab the title bar to move them, or hover over any of the edges to stretch that side, and move the cursor close to the edge of the screen (or another palette that is already docked) and you will see them snap into place.
On the Mac side, they snap to each other, rather than docking to the edge of the screen. I can’t really explain or justify the difference in behavior; I believe Graphisoft has stated that “this is what users expect on PC or on Mac – we’re just making the palettes behave like other ones on that platform.”
Eric
[Reply]
John Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 9:40 am
Aloha Eric,
For some reason the ArchiCAD palettes do not dock on my computer. Can you tell me if there is a setting somewhere (work environment?) that controls whether palettes dock or not?
[Reply]
Eric Bobrow Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
John -
I do not know of a setting that controls this behavior. As I wrote, this behavior is different on PC vs. Mac. On a PC, when you drag a palette to the side or top or bottom of the screen, you should see it dock into position. If you have multiple monitors, you may need to be at one extreme end or the other, rather than to the “seam” between them. To get the docking action to happen, your cursor must be within a few pixels of the edge; you’ll then see a visual change as the palette ghost image “grabs” onto the edge of the screen; let go at that point.
You can return all the palettes to their default, docked positions by using the Options menu > Work Environment > Palette Schemes and selecting the Default Palette Scheme and clicking Apply, then OK. Then you’ll have the palettes in their “original” arrangement, which may be a good starting point for your experimentation.
Eric