ArchiCAD Training in Arabic - Layer Settings & Control Box

Hi All!

We had a 3 days weekend and today we are back at the office! Well, a long weekend was very much needed since we have been quite busy lately.

Of course there is a down side of a long weekend. I have around 3 million emails waiting for me to reply. Therefore I don't have much to write today.

I am very lucky though:) My hardworking colleague Fady, recorded some more training videos in Arabic. Today we will be sharing a 26 minutes video about "Layer Settings and Control Box".

Enjoy!
Fady Londy
Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

ArchiCAD - BIM Product of the Year and Product of the Year

Today I have very good news!

ArchiCAD got Product of the Year and BIM Product of the Year awards at Construction Computing Awards, The Hammers.


Don't think this is it!

BIMx got Mobile Product of the Year award!

Very cool, hey:))

Curious ones can read further details below...

                                                                                                         November 27, 2012

ArchiCAD 16 is Product of the Year in the UK

BUDAPEST, November 27, 2012 – GRAPHISOFT, the leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software developer for architects, is proud to announce that ArchiCAD 16 has won three prestigious awards at the seventh annual Construction Computing Magazine Awards in the UK.

Affectionately known as ‘The Hammers,’ the Construction Computing Awards showcase and reward the technology, tools and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance, and modification of commercial buildings, residential and social housing and civil engineering projects of all sizes.  In addition to the main category of Product of the Year, GRAPHISOFT also took home awards in 2012 for BIM Product of the Year for ArchiCAD 16, and Mobile Product of the Year for BIMx; the company was also runner up for the Environmental Project of the Year involving EuroBuild and their M-Labs project.

About ArchiCAD

ArchiCAD 16, the latest version of GRAPHISOFT’s award-winning design software for architects, introduces a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions to ease the creation, sharing, and finding of custom BIM Components. Built-in Energy Evaluation turns ArchiCAD 16 into the “greenest” BIM solution available on the market today.

About BIMx

BIMx is an interactive environment that allows users to explore full BIM models without holding a license of the professional authoring software in which the building model was originally created. With BIMx, ArchiCAD users have been able to publish self-running BIMx models for their clients to run on desktop computers (Win/Mac); on iOS and Android devices, BIMx puts BIM into the hands of all stakeholders not actively involved in the actual creation of the BIM model such as contractors, builders, clients, owners, and principals of design practices as well.

About GRAPHISOFT

GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry first BIM software for architects. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world’s first real-time BIM collaboration environment, and the GRAPHISOFT EcoDesigner™, the world's first fully integrated building energy modeling application. GRAPHISOFT’s innovative solutions have fundamentally changed the way architects around the world design and collaborate.  GRAPHISOFT has been a part of the Nemetschek Group since its acquisition in 2007.

ArchiCAD's Zone Tool for your sophisticated BIM needs

As you know, I am a big fan of the BIM Guru, Zolna Murray.

I even have a signed copy of her book and I feel very cool about it :)

She has a new blog post which I loved. She managed to explain the real "value" of the Zone Tool very well.

I have always been aware of the hidden gems in the Zone Tool but whenever I tried to explain it to someone else, I failed.

Here is the a trailer from the post:

The mighty zone tool – poetry in BIM-ming 

I’ve been besotted by ArchiCAD’s ‘zone tool’ lately.

I had not always been a fan of it, early in my career, seriously disliked it even, mainly because of its ugly, big zone-stamp.

That was when I was still working and thinking as an ‘architect’ and the aesthetics of the drawings I produced were high in life’s priorities.

Have grown out of that stage, thank’ goodness and amongst other more crucial things in life, I rediscovered the ‘zone tool’.

Sadly, the stamp is still pretty unattractive, yet the tool behind it is pure magic.

Not only can you use it for dynamic space planning with instantaneous monetary feedback on design decisions, it is a de facto massing tool too, you can track your shapes in 3D.

And not just boxes, but almost any shape, cut and trimmed to suit perfectly.

Should try it out, sometimes!

Other programs have ‘room’ tools, area calculators or slabs for massing.

Virtual clay to carve your virtual buildings out.

Yet, there is so much more to this (so poorly named) ‘zone tool’.

It sits somewhere between the real and the imagined – tangible and abstract even in the digital worlds of fuzzy reality.

It treats the user as an adult professional with sophisticated needs. 

Click here to read the full post 

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Have a great day!

Diyane Koseoglu

www.bimes.com

How to view 2D Lines in 3D?

A long lasting issue!

Viewing 2D lines in 3D! Some says it is crucial some says no need for such feature...

If you are asking my opinion, my answer is "YES". I didn't know how to do it until Jothi came up with this video.

I hope you enjoyed it:)

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

Why large contractors are switching from other BIM Tools to ArchiCAD?

Recently there is a new trend which is quite interesting.

Large contractors are switching from other BIM Tools to ArchiCAD.

Common things with these contractors are:

• Invested large amount of time and resources on the implementation of other BIM Tools.
• Developed  significant materials on the BIM Tool they implemented initially. These materials include templates, modeling guides and standards
• Have not investigated ArchiCAD before making the decision of implementing other BIM Tools.
• They all have very professional teams who are perfectionists and they check the outputs very carefully. Making dummy models for clash detection is not what they want. They want real BIM. With "I" in the middle.

What I see is after a couple of projects with other BIM Tools, they start searching for other options and start establishing an ArchiCAD team. They run some projects in parallel and finally decide to continue with ArchiCAD.

Here the important question is "Why? Why do they change to ArchiCAD after investing so much in another BIM Tool?"

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's not because ArchiCAD has a beautifully designed interface!
It's not because BIM Server makes life so easy!
It's not because ArchiCAd is a much more mature solution!
(I mean all of above are true but they usually do not justify burning up all the investment done)

The main reason is ACCURATE QUANTITIES in ARCHICAD!

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Quantities are the "Deal Maker" or "Deal Breaker" for contractors. If your BIM Tool does not give you accurate quantities, it will cost you profitability and sometimes even the project. (I wrote a post earlier about getting accurate quantities with minimum efforts actually. You can read it from here.)

This means switching to a ArchiCAD and getting accurate quantities will payoff within the first project even. I am pretty sure the savings on the first project will cover up both the implementation cost of ArchiCAD and the money and time invested on the previous tool.

As you see, it makes sense:)) Wise decision...

Actually they also mention the way ArchiCAD handles large models was also an important criteria! But I don't think it's the main reason. (This is my personal, humble opinion:)))

As my boss always says "Contractor is Contractor" :)))

PS: I haven't seen this trend with architects and consultants. They usually stick with the first tool they implement. Interesting, right?

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

Diyane's Top 4 Most User-friendly Interface Desings in ArchiCAD

For the last few days I am obsessed with connecting my iPad and Blackberry to my car's bluetooth.

Well, it have been quite an adventure actually.

First I tried to do it myself without reading the manual!
It didn't work:(

Second I tried to go to the service center!
I drove around 20km and just after entering the service center I noticed that my phone is enjoying its time at home:((

Third I read the unfriendliest manual ever and try to setup myself.
It worked:)) But only for one day.

The next day if the iPad connects then Blackberry is not found. If the Blackberry connects then not the iPad. If I try to fix the connections then none of them works. I have no idea how and why.

And you should see the interface of the car's bluetooth connection system. Kind of nightmare! I am sure it is not designed for humans.

Actually I hear similar comments from the construction professionals who are new to BIM.

Now, I hear them:)))

Talking about the complex interfaces I wanted to list the most user-friendly interfaces in ArchiCAD. Let's start:

NUMBER 1
Model View Options
I love the previews that shows you every change you make. It used to be a nightmare to teach this feature in the old version which did not have the preview.

NUMBER 2
Object Settings
Good old object preview is a rocker, we all know that. I also love the graphical object settings. It's great to see the image of the tap you are going to use instead of just seeing a text.

NUMBER 3
Standard Steel Profile Database Import
I like the graphics that shows which size belongs to where. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying it's perfect. I think there is still room for development:)) but pretty good even as it is...

 

NUMBER 4

Project Preferences

I think showing the dimension type just with Graphics is very cool and artistic:)) Wow! I made such a strong statement:)))

Well, there are some more but my time allocated to this post is over:))

See you tomorrow.

Cheers,

Diyane Koseoglu

www.bimes.com

Rebar Modeling in ArchiCAD! from Eptar...

During the last Graphisoft Partner Conference, some other BIM Solution Providers also had stands and introduced their solutions to Graphisoft Partners.

At the end of the first break Jothi returned back to the conference room and asked me if I have seen the Rebar Solution for ArchiCAD.

This was a rumor I have been hearing for a couple of years now but to be honest I never taught it was really happening. You know Rebar Modeling is quite a complex subject. There are many software which claims they do Rebar Modeling but only very few of them does it in a reasonable way.

So I decided to meet with the guys who have the guts to take such a challenge.

Well, it's a Hungarian company called Eptar founded by two young entrepreneurs. They basically use some smart GDL objects to create the rebar. These smart rebar objects are also very well connected to the concrete elements and adjust when you modify the geometry of the concrete. They have some  demo videos below:

 

They are still at a very early stage but looks promising!

I wish them all the good luck to and looking forward to see a ground breaking tool:))

Cheers,

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

ArchiCAD Tip: Creating & Publishing Layout in Sequence

Hi Everyone!

We are updating our ArchiCAD Standards Guide these days and what is different this year is the small videos we are adding to the guide.

Recently new team members attended to our BIM Modeling Services Team and unfortunately we could not take them through the orientation period as we had many new and urgent projects.

So we ended up a team with different ArchiCAD knowledge level.

Of course we are doing some on the fly trainings but I am not sure if it is increasing or decreasing productivity:)) Our experienced guys are getting distracted constantly.

So as a solution we decided to add some short videos explaining how to follow our company standards as some of them requires advanced knowledge of ArchiCAD.

One of them is "Creating & Publishing Layout in Sequence". Actually this is the one we had the major problems.

Enjoy Jothi's 10 Minutes video!

Diyane Koseoglu
Jothi Shanmugam!
www.bimes.com

Is it a radio for ArchiCAD fans? No, it isn't!

You know what we went through on the days prior to BIM Conference Egypt 2012 event.

Although nothing serious was happening in the city, media was showing as if it is a war area and we had difficulty to convince our speakers about the safety.

However we were lucky to have very professional speakers and none of them cancelled their speech due to this reason:))

However this doesn't mean everything went as planned.

Some of our speakers had last minute problems with their passports and couldn't make it to the event.

One of the presentations cancelled was "BIM for Facilities Management" and when the rest of the organization team heard it is not going to happen, they started to look at me with big eyes:))

Well, I really don't like this "big eye look"! It usually means "we have a big problem":))

Then I understood the reason behind the "big eye look". There were many Facility Managers attending to the event for this specific presentation.

What to do! What to do!

Image from www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I was never involved in FM part of BIM before. Even when I was a junior trainer for ArchiCAD we were joking about ArchiFM and saying that it is a radio for ArchiCAD fans etc:))) (I know it is not professional and not something to be proud of but I really did not know what it was:))

Now, I am supposed to make an ArchiFM presentation and I have 1 day to prepare:))

I  studied a bit further and learnt that 75% of the project costs are operations and maintenance related.

Then I noticed that I was not paying enough attention to FM but I am not alone:)) Construction professionals always have a tendency to ignore FM part of the project:))

Himm now it is time to learn more about it!

I have to admit that ArchiFM guys were extremely helpful and they provided me some material and a 7 minutes video which I fell in love with. (Thank you very much dear ArchiFM team)

 

I liked the seamless connection between ArchiCAD and ArchiFM. How ArchiFM extends the amount of data that can be added to BIM Model is impressive. 

I loved the fact that furniture or phone numbers can be linked to a person and when you move that person in the model all the related stuff will be moved with him in the database.

I also loved the graphical feedback on the model when you want to filter the rooms smaller than a certain size.

It's pretty nice, isn't it?

Diyane Koseoglu

www.bimes.com

The Lemon Squeezer by Philippe Starck remodeled in ArchiCAD

I assume you all know Philippe Starcks famour Lemon Squeezer!

It's a beautiful design but used to be difficult to model in ArchiCAD.

Please notice I said "used to be":)) It is no longer difficult.

Just a matter of 1 minute 11 seconds:))

Here comes the video showing how to do it:))

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

DWG import using XREF

Good Morning Everyone!

Jothi created a new video! Subject is same! Importing DWG files however this time he is using XREF method which allows you to bring the attributes with it but keep them separately.

Enjoy!

Diyane Koseoglu
Jothi Shanmugam
www.bimes.com

Construction Simulation! For marketing or for managing your project?

Lately I am getting involved with VICO more and more...

I am loving it actually!

Great tool for integrating cost and time to BIM Models.

We were discussing using Vico in one of our client's project recently but all of a sudden I noticed that they are interested in creating a pretty animation showing how columns, slabs are built etc only, nothing more.

Well if you are looking for a pretty presentation you can do it in ArchiCAD by using Construction Simulation Add-on which is free.

It absolutely does the job of creating a pretty animation!

But does it really help you managing your project?

If you are looking for a solution to help you optimize your schedule...

or

If you are trying to impress your client by finishing the project 6 months earlier rather than showing him animations just to show off...

Then the solution I would recommend it is VICO!

Because VICO understands location based quantities drives the schedule. So 5D comes before 4D and makes a lot of sense! At the end of the day changing durations without an affect on resources does not make much sense, right?

Here comes a short video about it:

There is a very nice discussion started by Holly on LinkedIn about this actually. You might want to have a close look;)

"I recently spent a long weekend with my two-and-a-half year old nephew. I was told that when he gets fidgety to ask him to sing the A-B-C’s and practice counting one to ten.

I wasn’t too concerned when letters of the alphabet started disappearing. But for the life of me, I couldn’t get him to include a 4 in his counting. I tried using his flashcards; I tried lining up his stuffed animals for the roll call; but 4 was mysteriously absent.

We have a similar situation at Vico. When everyone learned to count 3D, 4D, 5D BIM, we went and changed the order. We count 3D, 5D, 4D.

Quantities drive the schedule and the estimate, but with Vico Office, the estimator takes the lead in the workflow. Here’s how it works:

With Vico Office Takeoff Manager, we automatically examine the model geometry to generate construction-caliber quantities. Now with the quantities, estimators use Vico Office Cost Planner to create multiple iterations of the 5D estimate as the models’ level of detail increases. "

Read more

How to import DWGs without attributes?

Hi All!

Today's post is a technical tip!

If you want to learn how to import DWGs without attributes, enjoy the video...

Diyane Koseoglu
Jothi Shanmugam
www.bimes.com

How many stars for BIMcomponents.com?

BIMcomponents.com

When I first started working as an ArchiCAD trainer, I decided to download GDL objects from internet and make a library DVD for our clients. It was my mission for 2 weeks in the office. Whenever I was free I was working on my little project.

What was the result?

Well, I downloaded 3-4 thousand objects and made a DVD that we were giving the the clients with the purchase of ArchiCAD. (It costed me red eyes during these two weeks though)

A year after we started delivering this DVD, I went to the software "bazaar" where they sell pirated copies to check how is the demand for ArchiCAD etc:))))

I asked the price of ArchiCAD. It was 20 Lira.

Then I asked the price of AutoCAD. It was 10 Lira.

I asked why this ArchiCAD is so expensive and the reply was hilarious. They said because it comes with an extensive extra library.

Yes, you are right!

They were even pirating my library to add value to their business:)))

That was the day I understood how important content is!

 Now, Graphisoft released BIMcomponents.com and you no longer need a poor little new graduate to stay in front of the computer and download objects, categorize them etc.

Just go to your Object Settings, search for what you want and you can directly download it into your project. I believe the amount of content will be a lot more than before since it is so easy to upload objects now. It is directly from ArchiCAD. I think it is very cool.

The objects will be free. This is another great advantage.

Though I would like to have paid objects in the long run. It can be like iTunes inside ArchiCAD. You make your search and you can filter as per the pricing.

Am I crazy? Why do I want paid objects?

I see a business opportunity here:)))

Airport and hospital projects! They require quite complex equipment to be modeled and the users are ready to pay but they can not find any proper content. So here I see a big opportunity for ArchiCAD experts. They can work with manufacturers, model their content and sell through BIMcomponents.com. Graphisoft can get their share on them as Apple does. Here Graphisoft's role is important. They have to make sure that the paid objects are "quality" objects.

We went through a  lot of headache with hospital equipment in Najaf Hospital Implementation. Curious ones can read it from here.

So how many stars does BIMcomponents.com get?

Well, it is a great feature but not as impressive as Morph Tool. So if Morph tool gets 5 starts, BIMComponents.com would get 4 Stars.

Maybe I will change my mind in 43 days:)))

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

It looks like SkecthUp is in ArchiCAD 16!

Good Morning Everyone!

As you might already know Graphisoft announced ArchiCAD 16 yesterday.

In my previous posts, I mentioned how impressed I was with the new features of ArchiCAD 16 and I am planning to share my opinions on each new feature in the next few days.

Image from 3DVIA

Today's topic is MORPH TOOL!!!!

I knew GS was still working on free form modeling tools but my expectations were nowhere near what they actually came up with.

Watch ArchiCAD 16 - Morph Tool - Pushing and Pulling a MORPH Face Video here
(This blogger is very annoying with Youtube videos. it does not find the videos which are uploaded within the last 8-10 hours. I am sorry but if you want to see how it works you have to click the link and watch it on Youtube)

It looks like SketchUp is inside ArchiCAD!

What else can an architect want?

Please do not say "What is so special about Morph Tool's push-pull surface feature? We already had it in SketchUp?" !

Yes, you had it in SkecthUp but it was a dummy model. It was lacking the "I" in B(I)M.

However in ArchiCAD it is an integrated part of the Building Information Model, a native element.

You can get it's volume, area information or add further data that you might be using for conceptual planning.

I think this features deserves a 5 STAR!

Have a great day and nice weekend!

PS: I received an email from a Turkish architect who was not sure if I am Turkish or not. Let me clarify the confusion created by my strange name. I am 100% Turkish, born in Turkey, grow up in Turkey, studied in Turkey. Basically "Made in Turkey".

Yes, my name is not Turkish since my mother has Circasssian (Cerkez) origins.

Yes, I do speak Turkish very well! Feel free to email me in Turkish:))

One more thing I could not stop myself from mentioning. We do not have any problems with Greeks on the contrary to the general belief:)) They actually have very nice islands:))

Now I feel much better:))

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

I finally learned why they call Artlantis Sexy!

Hi Everyone!

It has been sooo long that I could not write on this blog. I am really very sorry about it.

As you know I was travelling and the last few days were Graphisoft's International Partner Conference in Spain.

We had the opportunity to see ArchiCAD 16 on action. It was very impressive but I am not going to say anything further since the announcement days is very very close.

I also had the opprotunity to see the latest developments on Artlantis.  They clearly mentioned me not to write anything on my blog about it:))) so I can not tell you what are the new features.

But I think there is one think they would not be angry at me if I confess here:))

Well, whenever I spoke to Abvent Team (Artlantis' developer) they always mention how "sexy" is their product.

I never truly understood what they were trying to imply! I was relating it to them being "French" :)) and did not pay much attention.

However I noticed how a "software" can be "sexy" when I saw the new version that they are working on.

Wow!

That's was the best software interface design I have ever seen!

I am sure If Victoria's Secret or Armani was to design a software interface, they would not do any better:)))

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

How to create Component List based on Concrete Grades in ArchiCAD?

Good Morning,

Image from Salvatore Vuono

I was planning to write more about contractual aspect of BIM in the projects but Jothi came up with a new video so I did not want to deprive you from his popular technical tips and tricks.

His latest video is also about quantities and schedules. He explains how to add concrete grades to the columns, beams and slabs.

I know many people uses Layers and IDs for this purpose but Jothi has a different approach. I am not sure which one is handier though. Please share your comments with us...

Enjoy!

Diyane Koseoglu
Jothi Shanmugam
www.bimes.com

Do you want to get more detailed quantities from ArchiCAD?

Do you want to get more detailed quantities from ArchiCAD?

Plaster, structural concrete, light weight concrete  and brick etc....

Image from Rawich

Then you should learn more about Interactive Schedules for Components.

Here comes a 10 minutes video from Jothi!

Enjoy!

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

The BIM Server Blues

Have you seen Graphisoft's recent marketing material?

The BIM Blues!!!

You can watch the latest one from here:

I loved it!

Marketing should not be only about the product! It should also reflect the "personality" of the company as well and BIM Blues does it very well!

In my opinion, it shows Graphisoft
- is good at whatever they do
- has an artistic side
- team is fun
- enjoy what they do

What else can you want from your marketing team?:))

Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com

Dubai Metro Station with Curtain Wall Tool!

Unlike Europe we do not have much of a public transportation in the Middle East. Dubai is the first and only city in the Middle East who has Metro.

I know it sounds strange but it is true.

The first Metro of the Middle East was launched on the 9 September 2009 with beautiful metro stations. Atkins is the designer and they definitely did an impressive job.

I am not able to use it daily since the metro stations are quite far from my house however if I have guests metro is our first option. The metro line is above the ground and it is not very fast so I use it as a sight seeing trip and works very well:))

Not only my guests but also His Highness  Sheikh Mohammed takes the metro from time to time. My colleagues came across with him a couple of times. I think it's pretty cool!

His Higness Sheikh Mohammed in Metro

All my guests loved the interior design of the stations as well. They are as beautiful as the ones on Moscow but with a contemporary touch.

Burjuman Station

Etisalat Station

MOE Station

Why am I talking about the Dubai metro?

Well, our office has the Dubai Metro station view and Jothi found his inspiration on the station for this week's technical video.

He used ArchiCAD's Curtain Wall Tool to re-model the top shell and then further developed the design with different custom panel options:))

The video would be a great tutorial for Custom Curtain Wall Panels!

Enjoy!

Diyane Koseoglu
Jothi Shanmugam
www.bimes.com