ArchiCAD Training | Coaching Call July 10, 2012

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Eric Bobrow, Creator of the Best Practices Course

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ArchiCAD Training Session Notes

QUESTION	ANSWER SUMMARY AND NOTES	START TIME
Morph tool	Eric talks about how good the new morph tool is, and says he will eventually demonstrate the tool in the Best Practices Course. He doesn’t demonstate the tool on this occasion though. If anybody needs a demonstration of the tool now, then they should look up the morph tool on YouTube (see link on right).	0:00:00
Issue with the transparency setting in elevations	The questioner has created an elevation and wants to be able to see tiling on an interior wall when looking through a window. He is able to see the tiling (through the window) in the 3d window, but when he creates a 2d elevation for some reason he is unable to see the tiling through the window. Eric demonstrated a workaround to this problem: he created an editable line/fill snapshot and pasted it in the 2d elevation (see below for more details at time 0:19:10)	0:06:55
	Eric demonstrates how to alter the transmittance of glass (transparency settings) in the material editor.	0:13:31
	ArchiCAD tip: If you need to see a true elevation in the 3d window, then click on view>3d navigation extras>look to perpendicular of clicked surface.	0:15:40
	How to take a snapshot of something in the 3d window, and bring it into a 2d elevation as editable fills/lines. Note: you can also use this procedure to export something to another programe such as PhotoShop. Note: before you do this create a true elevation in the 3d window; the procedure is shown above.	0:19:10
	Eric shows how to not have items that are behind a window showing up. Open up an elevation>right click mouse and elevation settings>model display>uncut elements>and from here turn off transparency	0:30:46
	ArchiCAD tip: you have made some alterations to an object such as a window, and you want to change it back to the default window settings, but are finding that the undo button won’t go back far enough.Then use the info box palette (window settings) to change your window to a different type of window; using the backward and forward arrows, you can then get it back to your original default window. If this explanation is confusing watch Eric demonstrate it.	0:38:50
3d documents	Eric shows how to make a 3d document. 3d documents allow you to place text, labels and dimensions on created views from the 3d window; once created the 3d view can’t be rotated.	0:40:28
Ideas for creating 3d planting e.g. hedges	Issues with the hedge being too straight and regen time left this questioner frustrated with ArchiCAD planting objects. Eric showed how to make your own personalised hedge using the slab tool with a leaf material, and then he turned it into a (curvy) complex profile, and finally he used solid element operations to create an attractive natural shape.The biggest advantage with this method is when a lot of hedging is needed, because it is all just one object the rendering time won’t be affected. ArchiCAD tip: save the profile as a wall object and this will enable you to create a curved hedge if needed (using the curved wall setting of the wall tool). And if you create a few different hedge profiles you then will have a completely random pattern that has a fast rendering time. A caller also comments that the new morph tool may help in creating random patterns, but this hasn’t been tested by anybody as of yet.	0:46:37
Issue with scaling when bringing in a DWG. into ArchiCAD	There was a problem when bringing in a DWG into ArchiCAD the drawing was about a 1000 times to big. The issue was ArchiCAD was getting information from the DWG that was in paper size.The strategy for dealing with this issue is to import it whilst paying attention to what the drawing unit size is (is it a mm or an inch) then when you brinh it in measure if it is correct. If it is not correct make a note of the ratio (is it for example a 1000 times to big or small), then undo the import and import it again with the correct number.	1:12:57
	Eric demonstrates how to manually resize a drawing. Note when doing a manual resize make sure that “grouping” is turned off, as this will prevent resize from working.	1:15:50
	Eric demontrates using the ArchiCAD translator for sending back the DWG file (at the correct scale) when you have finished editing it in ArchiCAD	1:38:28

Coaching Call – July 19, 2012
In the layout book menu, is there a way of putting master sheets in a sub-set folder?	Unfortunately when you point at something in the masters area there is no option for organization. As a work around you could consider alphabetizing the masters list (it is also a good idea to move the ones you use least to the bottom of the masters list). If your masters list is still too long, you may like to consider deleting the ones you don’t need, and importing them back from another project as you need them. Eric demonstrates how to do this at time 0:09:10	0:01:34
Eric shows how to get back to a standard palette set up	If you have messed with your screen set-up and find yourself wanting to get back to a standard set-up this is the procedure to follow.	0:02:39
Using the organizer to bring in a layout or view from another project into your current project.	This is useful on a complex multi-building project. You could maintain the basic design model for building (a) in one file, another file for building (b), and perhaps in a third file you might have a site plan, and you might want to bring into the site plan layout book, the layouts for buildings (a) and (b).	0:12:40
The best practice for group, ungroup, autogroup and suspend groups		0:14:40
Magic wand settings	How to create various polygonal wall shapes using the magic wand	0:24:20
Can you delete layouts that are part of a clone folder without losing the rest of the clone layouts	Eric demonstrates how to create a clone folder, and shows what happens when you delete part of a clone folder. You can’t delete just a part of a clone folder, but you can change the title of any views that you no longer need, to something such as N/A (not applicable). This highlights what views in a project that you no longer need.	0:31:06
How to find and replace text in a drawing	If you have a or many miss-spelt words, or you have say text in a drawing that for an example says 2×4, and you want to change all the instances to 2×6, then use this option. Search and replace appears to be useful when many text items need changing at once, but if just one or two items need changing and you know where they are on the drawing then it would probably be quicker to do it manually.	0:45:45
How do you create a sketch rendered view that will automatically appear in a layout set.	Eric shows how to create a view, and he then changes the settings of the view from the 3d window to the photorendering window. This will enable the view to automatically render every time it is clicked on (with the current photorendering settings). If you have updated the 3d model and you now want to update your created view, all you have to do is click on the green update button in the navigator.	0:58:11
What is the best way to demolish a roof plane or slope and proceed with alteration by adding the roof of an extension or addition	Eric first demonstrates how to set up the renovation filter correctly. He then puts the original roof on existing status, and draws the new roof shape and puts it on planned status. The extension building causes the roof shape to change considerably, and it is best to view the recording to see how Eric gets around the difficulties.	1:10:50
How do you change a penset in a layout	The caller explained the quick options palette was greyed out, so it wasn’t possible to change the pensets from here. Eric explained that is possible to change the penset by going to document>pensets>pens and colors.	1:25:00
Can a 3d document be a hidden line drawing rather than a shaded drawing	Eric first demonstrates how to create a 3d document. It is possible to make alterations in a 3d document, but it is not possible to rotate the view. Eric then shows how to dimension the document. Unfortunately it is not possible to create a 3d document with a hidden line drawing (not true, see July 25th coaching call below). Eric did try, and used open GL and the internal engine, but both failed to work. There may be a sort of a work around, and this would involve changing the materials of elements. For speed Eric recommends using the attribute manager. Eric has made a video about changing material schemes and put it on YouTube (see link to the right)	1:33:29
Demonstration of the editing plane that appears in the 3d window of ArchiCAD 15 and 16		1:44:35

ArchiCAD Training – Coaching Call – July 10, 2012

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Let us know how you feel... (2 comments so far)

leduc
172 days ago

this site existing in français ?

[Reply]
Eric Bobrow Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Hello Leduc -
I am sorry, but the lessons are in English only at this point. We are working on a Spanish translation for the Best Practices Course (available through http://www.acbestpractices.es), and may do a French translation next year if there is enough interest. There are PDF versions of each lesson (in English, of course) which may make it easier, since you can read the lesson contents (or have it translated roughly using http://translate.google.com), and refer to this PDF while you watch the videos.
Eric

[Reply]