Posted: January 8th, 2012 | Author: Jared Banks | Filed under: Long Posts, Product Reviews | Tags: Add-Ons, Objects, Templates, Tutorials | 1 Comment »
So I had an idea a few weeks ago. I’d create a second website. It’d have a comprehensive list of websites that had ArchiCAD content on them –objects, add-ons, templates, tutorials, etc. It’d be great. Maybe eventually I could become a reseller for some of the products, create a one-stop shop for paid and free content, and turn the second website into an ArchiCAD mall. I had a great name for the site: The Cobbler’s Workbench. In my weird world of bizarre names it fits perfectly. Shoegnome is about improving process. The Cobbler’s Workbench would be about getting access to better tools. I love the expansion of my mis-remembered Brother’s Grimm Mythos.
But then I started doing research and compiling lists. There is a LOT of ArchiCAD content out there. Some is new and current, some is stagnant or a few years old. Much of it is in English, but a lot isn’t. All together it is WAY too much for me to organize and manage. And I’m not the first person to try something like this.
So instead I’m going to do something smaller. I’ve created a curated list of 20 or so websites that have objects, tutorials, templates, add-ons, etc. that I think have high value to the community. Most of it is stuff you have to pay for, but within each site is some free content. And there are at least two sites which are completely free.
Some Disclaimer Language
I’m not including blogs or ArchiCAD websites without downloadable content as a main feature. Graphisoft has a list of ArchiCAD blogs here. If I included your site, but you’d rather I describe what you offer in a different manner, or if you think there’s a site I should include, e-mail me. This list is a work in progress and my intent is not to fuss about perfection. It’s a labor of love, like the rest of this site. Perhaps a future version of the page will have pictures, reviews, lots of fancy stuff.
I don’t have any official connection to any of these sites, except as follows: like many ArchiCAD resellers, agents, and content providers, I’m an affiliate of Bobrow Consulting. This means if you click on one of my Bobrow links and then buy one of his products I get credit. It’s a nice little perk for me and doesn’t effect your cost. As of 02/19/12 I’m also an affiliate for Vaneshrie Sullivan’s book as well.
You’ll notice that I now have an Amazon Affiliate widget on the site. I’m trying this out for two reasons. First, I’d like to share books that influence and compliment what I’m writing about. Perhaps it’s a book on leadership that’s informing some blog posts about how to manage elements in an ArchiCAD file or maybe it’s a book on videogame critic that got me thinking about why some people succeed at ArchiCAD and others don’t. Additionally there are a handful (not enough in my opinion) of ArchiCAD books and resources that you can buy on Amazon. And much like the resource page, I want to help share them. So that’s the altruistic reason. Point Two is this: towards the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to monetize the blog in non-annoying ways. Having Amazon Affiliate links is one experiment. If you click on one of the Amazon links and then buy that book, or anything else on that visit to Amazon, I get a referral commission. That’s great for me and, like my links to Eric Bobrow’s products and Vaneshrie Sullivan’s book, has no material effect on you. Hopefully it’ll generate some income and free up some more time for me to add even more content to the blog.
Posted: September 26th, 2011 | Author: Jared Banks | Filed under: Product Reviews | Tags: Endless Path of Improvement, GDL, Objects, Templates | 2 Comments »
An interesting offer…
I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this review for weeks. Okay months. Jeroen de Bruin of Master Script first contacted me about writing a review for Total Zone and Total Marker on July 26th. I was flattered and thrilled. I warned him it’d be a little while. I wanted to use Total Marker and Total Zone in a project. Flipping through features and dreaming is fun, but it’s when objects and tools and tricks are used in projects with deadlines and demanding clients and bosses that the truth comes out. Isn’t that half the point of this blog? Theory AND Practice.
In the Meantime…
Jeroen is infinitely patient with me. He’s a new parent again too, so he understands the girls didn’t sleep this weekend and we’re all sick excuses. We chat a lot via e-mail, discussing life and his work as a GDL scripter. I definitely get the sense that Jeroen and I are kindred spirits in our efforts to help the ArchiCAD community. I ask him to write a blog post about his experiences as a GDL master. He does. I start looking at Total Zone and Total Marker. I’m instantly impressed, which is not typical for me. I notice one or two things I wish Total Marker could do and mention it to Jeroen. His reply? Oh that’s easy. Here’s a new version of Total Marker with that functionality. I go from impressed to amazed. Let me repeat that. Not only did he fix a glitch I found, he ADDED AND IMPROVED to his objects because of a suggestion I made. Now that’s awesome.
Total Marker and Total Zone, let’s finally get to the review
What makes these two objects essential, once you experience using them, is how they both add to and build on the core functionality of ArchiCAD. Each object mines the data already within your project and allows you to leverage that information with new Model View Options.
Why’s that so awesome? Let’s look at a few examples from total marker.
With Model View Options you can set all interior door markers to read differently from exterior door markers. Same goes for windows. In this example I set interior doors to automatically show leaf sizes and exterior doors and windows to show their ID, which is referenced on my exterior door, window, and skylight schedule. Not only is it all automatic, I was able to EXACTLY match the aesthetic of how I used to do it, which was all manually done using object ID. Typing in 2′-8″ x 6′-8″ as the ID of a door to get it to read properly on plan sucked. It wasn’t linked to the actual size, there were often mistakes, I often hit the limit of ID length, and it wasn’t living up to the BIM ideals. Total Marker easily allows me to replicate everything I used to do, but smarter and prettier.
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So mimicking aesthetics and dabbling in BIM functionality is great, but let’s go farther. Now that I’m using Total Marker, I can set up doors to show rough opening sizes on a framing plan. This screen capture shows the same entry with different a different set of MVO criteria. Same marker, same door, same project, different MVO, different data displayed. Nothing overridden. A step down the path of BIM.
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The variability of MVO has got me thinking about what else I could use the markers for. What other information I can embed in my doors and windows and display on the plan? A good object (or program) should encourage creativity, should get you thinking about other possibilities. What about fire rating? That option has been a parameter for years and years. It’s easy to access, change, and include in a schedule. But what about on a life safety plan? Before this information had to be added as text. But that’s no good. And that’s not coordinated. I want to have the fire rating show up everywhere that it would be useful (schedule/plan) and have it linked. Done. And because it’s done with Model View Options, all these different options can be setup and added to my template. Once that’s done every project is ready to have all this data displayed automatically.
Total Zone works much the same way for zones. Model View Options galore, great aesthetic options, and wonderful at helping you mine all the data already in zones. But this post is already getting long and reaching my preferred max word count. You can learn more by following the links for Total Zone and Total Marker. Perhaps I’ll write more about Total Zone in a separate post. But then again, I’d end that theoretical post the same way I’ll end this one.
I love these two products. They make me wish for more Model View Option Enhanced Objects.
Graphisoft should give Masterscript a nice chunk of money and incorporate them into the standard library for ArchiCAD 16. There I said it. But that probably won’t happen, so go buy them. At 40 € each both objects are a bargain.
Wisdom from the Crowd