This blog is about using BIM on a day to day basis. I cover ArchiCAD tips and tricks, BIM and management thoughts, and occasionally how this all relates to the Minnesota ArchiCAD Usergroup (which I started in 2009). The specifics are about ArchiCAD—that’s the software I use and sell—but the overall themes are relevant regardless of your software. Programs are just tools. BIM is a mentality.
Did you know you can make a ramp using just a slab and nothing else?
Recently I’ve had opportunities to model quite a few schematic designs and imaginary buildings for the creation of renderings and walk-through movies. I love working on these types of models in ArchiCAD. A part of me would be happy to just get paid to design and model imaginary structures (take that as a hint). You don’t have to worry about how the building goes together. It’s just about surfaces, feelings and prettiness. Maybe that’s why I’m such a fan of Steven Holl’s phenomenological approach to architecture (and yes I know that’s an over simplification).
Because I’ve been focusing on the experience of viewing the models, I’ve learned a ton of cool new tricks in ArchiCAD. When working on presentation models one needs to create a lot of objects and elements that are typically ignored in a model built solely for construction documents. Many I’d never have found in my regular work. Take this post for instance. Or this one. Both are some of my favorite posts.
So here’s some cool stuff about slabs now that they can have custom edge conditions.
It’s time to demystify walls AND make your coworkers think you have magical ArchiCAD powers…
Do you hate when walls don’t join properly or when hatch patterns in elevation randomly don’t align? In this video I talk about the Modify Wall menu and how it demystifies those issues. I won’t promise that the Modify Wall menu will solve every one of those problems. BUT once you are familiar with its abilities, you will always understand WHY those problems are happening.
In all these videos I try hard not to do too much with key commands. I want everything I do to be clear. But I have to admit I use two key commands a lot in this video without mentioning what I’m doing. One is Intersection (for me CMD+I), which will extend or shorten two walls so that they connect. The other is Undo (and redo, probably). Sorry about not mentioning that. So when you see things happening on screen as if by magic, it’s probably one of those two commands. Hopefully it just highlights the importance of key commands!!!
Making these videos reminds me of how I first learned ArchiCAD. I spent a fair amount of time sitting behind one of my coworkers, just watching him work. It was very enlightening. And as I rewatch my videos, I notice a bunch of little techniques that I take for granted, but are probably as enlightening as the main focus of the video. The first video doesn’t discuss everything about complex profile creation, but it covers what I feel is one basic, one intermediate, and one advanced tip (the white dotted line trick). The second video takes some of those techniques and applies them to creating a complex profile stair. Both the videos ran a little longer than I was expecting, I think one is 7 minutes and the other is 9 minutes. Adding screencasting to my repertoire is definitely a process, so maybe in a few months I’ll find myself rerecording these original videos so they are more polished…
Either way, expect more videos and more talk about Complex Profiles. Watch all my videos and subscribe to Shoegnome’s new YouTube Channel.
ArchiCAD Tip #3: Complex Profile Creation techniques
Over the past year and a half of blogging I’ve had many small ArchiCAD tips and tricks that I wanted to share, but could never find the proper way to write about them. The aggregate of these tricks help me to easily problem solve within ArchiCAD and produce the quality drawings I desire, but these techniques don’t readily lend themselves to a blog post of a few hundred words. They are often purely utilitarian. Simple ways of using ArchiCAD in a more clever way.
So instead of writing about each one, I’m going to start sharing them via short screencasts both on the blog and on Shoegnome’s new YouTube Channel. FYI, the videos might be easier to view on Youtube (screencasting is a new adventure for me…).
Video #1: Two quick and simple graphic tricks to enhance your sections in ArchiCAD.
Video #2: A quick and simple way both to create clean air lines around an interior elevation and simultaneously mask off all the garbage you don’t want to show up in your drawing.
Wisdom from the Crowd