int_ac training series vol.1

5/20/2018 INT_AC Training Series Vol.1

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The ArchiCAD BIM Concept

ArchiCAD Training Series

Vol. 1


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Credits

ArchiCAD Training Series Vol. 12

Visit the GRAPHISOFT website athttp://www.graphisoft.comfor local distributor and

product availability information.


The ArchiCAD BIM Concept

Copyright 2013 by GRAPHISOFT, all rights reserved. Reproduction, paraphrasing ortranslation without express prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

TrademarksArchiCAD is a registered trademark of GRAPHISOFT. All other trademarks are the property

of their respective holders.

Credits

The following ArchiCAD project is used in this training material:NHS Office Complex, Los Angeles, California, US

Architect: PAAstudio, US
http://www.graphisoft.com/http://www.graphisoft.com/


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Contents


CONTENTS

Introduction ___________________________________________ 4

The ArchiCAD Interface __________________________________ 6

Navigate Around the Floor Plan __________________________11

Navigate in 3D ________________________________________13

The Virtual Building Concept ____________________________17

The Documentation Workflow ___________________________39


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Introduction


Introduction

Welcome to the ArchiCAD Training Series!

This Guide is part of the ArchiCAD Training Series, which currently includes the followingmaterials:

Vol. 1, The ArchiCAD BIM Concept

Vol. 2, Basic ArchiCAD

Vol. 3, Intermediate ArchiCAD

Vol. 4, Advanced ArchiCAD

Vol. 5, Using Teamwork

You are now reading Vol. 1, "The ArchiCAD BIM Concept" a hands-on training to familiarize youwith the modeling and documentation concepts of ArchiCAD. This guide is meant for newArchiCAD users and prospects as well as students and teachers.

This guide is also suitable for using as BIM Curriculum "Exercises" - for Hands-on Practice in

universities where ArchiCAD is taught to students. Lecturers who would like to use this guide as aBIM Curriculum should visit the educational sites of the GRAPHISOFT website(http://www.graphisoft.com/learning/education/) where, after registration, they will be entitledto obtain a full set of training materials suitable for seminar lectures.

Contents of this guide:

Training guide e-book: The PDF guide includes detailed explanation of every step, with severalscreenshots.

ArchiCAD project file: The pre-set training file will help your learning process. Pre-set projectviews help you to navigate between different steps thus you can focus on the core knowledge.

Movie clips: Narrated movie clips are available on the YouTube channel for GRAPHISOFTArchiCAD (www.youtube.com/user/Archicad) providing step-by-step instructions for each stepof the training guide. The ArchiCAD YouTube Channel can also be accessed from the Help menuof ArchiCAD. Enter the name of this Training Guide in the search field to locate the related videos.
http://www.graphisoft.com/learning/education/http://www.youtube.com/user/Archicadhttp://www.youtube.com/user/Archicadhttp://www.graphisoft.com/learning/education/


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Introduction


You must have ArchiCAD 17 or later version installed on your computer to use this guide. This e-book and the movie clips were made with the English language version of ArchiCAD. For yourconveniance we recommend you to download and use the same version for practicing.

If you do not have ArchiCAD yet, please visit https://myarchicad.com/to obtain a free ArchiCADinstaller:

If you are a student, a teacher or a representative of a school, register and download a fullyfunctional Education Version of ArchiCAD for Students and Teachers.

If you are a professional architect, register and download a fully functional 30-day trial versionof ArchiCAD. Projects saved with this TRIAL version can be automatically upgraded to FULLversions upon purchase of a commercial license.

Please contact your local distributor for purchasing commercial ArchiCAD licenses:http://www.graphisoft.com/purchase/

How to use this training material?

Install the required ArchiCAD version

Open the PDF Guide

Open the related movie clips from the GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD Youtube Channel

Follow the instructions given in the PDF guide and the videos.

We hope you will find this training useful and wish you success with your future ArchiCADprojects!

Good Luck!

The GRAPHISOFT Team


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The ArchiCAD Interface



Please extract the AC_Training_Series_Vol_1.ziparchive file into your computer.

To start exploring ArchiCAD we will open an example file first. Lets start ArchiCAD by clicking onthe application icon. First we encounter a dialog box, in which we can choose between creating anew project or working on an existing one.

Well do the latter, so we click on the Open a Projectradio button. Then in the second section ofthe dialog box we select Browse for a Solo Project.Choose Standard Profile 17 for the WorkEnvironment and click on Browse.In the browser dialog box, we locate and open theNHS Office 17.plaproject file, which is located in the folder where you extracted the zip file.


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If you are running ArchiCAD 17 Student version, a message appears warning you that you have toconvert the project into EDU format.

Click on the "Convert to EDU" button. Since we are opening a so-called archive project that

contains all the external elements used in creating the project, we are asked how we wish tohandle these elements. For the time being we ignore this and keep all the project elements in thearchive file; so without changing the radio buttons simply click Open.

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The project file opens. Let's take a closer look at the ArchiCAD interface. This application wasdesigned by architects for architects. The easy to understand graphical interface and the visualfeedback will help you to quickly get familiar with the program's capabilities.

The central part of the interface shows the Floor Plan of our project. At the bottom of the screen,a set of icons help to navigate in this view, and set the drawing scale and zoom factor.

To the left, the Toolboxcontains all the tools necessary to build the 3D model and complete thedocumentation.

To the right, the Navigatorlists all aspects of the project here we can jump from story to story

or to different 3D views, sections, elevations and details.

At the very top, the Menubarlists all the available commands, logically grouped. Commands for Fileoperations, Editingand Viewingfunctions can be selected from the corresponding menus. Since Designand Documentationare separate processes in architectural practice, tools and commands supportingthese processes are also located in separate menus. Commands in the Optionsmenu regulate basic

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settings and the Work Environment. The Teamworkmenu supports collaborative work, and theWindowmenu sets the visibility of the toolbars and palettes.



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The Standard Toolbarcontains some of the commands and functions available from the menus.It can be found right below the Menubar and can be fully customized. (The whole user interfacecan be arranged into so-called schemes to fast-track repetitive work, but this is outside the scopeof this training guide).

The Info Boxshows the current settings of the selected tool or the characteristics of the selectedelement. (Try it by selecting a different tool from the Toolbox. Look at the changes in the InfoBox.) Changes in the Info Box are immediately reflected in current settings or the attributes of theselected element. The Info Box can be resized (similarly to all boxes and palettes) to reveal moreinformation than in the basic settings.

Navigate Around the Floor Plan


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Lets take a closer look at the Floor Plan. From the icons at the bottom of the Floor Plan, lets select

the IncreaseZoomicon.

The cursor changes to a magnifying glass. Lets draw two corners of a rectangle around the upperright entrance area of the building. After the second click, you will see a zoomed-in view of theFloor Plan in the main window.



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Try the other icons for Panning, ReducingZoom, Fitting in Windowthe contents of the Floor Plan, orswitching between Previousand Next Views.

There is an even faster way to navigate in all views. With the cursor in the main window, press themouse scroll button to panaround the Floor Plan in real-time. Remember to keep the scroll buttonpressed!

Rolling the scroll button away from you will zoom inand rolling it toward you will zoom outinreal-time. In these cases, the cursor position will act as the center point of the projection.

This technique will let you move from one location of the Floor Plan to another very quickly. Try it!

Navigate in 3D


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Navigate in 3D


Navigate in 3D

In ArchiCAD, every building element is instantly represented in 3D as well. Naturally this sample

project includes not only the 2D documentation but the entire 3D building model as well. Sowhat does our sample project look like in 3D?

The 3D model can be shown in an axonometric or a perspective view. Well try an axonometricview first. To access the 3D representation of our building, go to the 3D section in the Project Mapof the Navigator and double-click on Generic Axonometry (as shown below).

Navigate in 3D


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Navigate in 3D


As a result you will see something like this:

Within the 3D view, the real-time navigational tools (Zoom-In, Zoom-Out, Pan) function exactly as

on the Floor Plan. Use the scroll button of the mouse to move from one part of the image to theother.

Select a view where the building more or less fills the main window. There are two fundamentallydifferent ways of navigating in a model ArchiCAD: Orbit and Walk. Let's see how they work. Fromthe bottom Toolbar select the Orbiticon.

The cursor changes to a little orbit sign. Click and keep the left mouse button pressed and movethe mouse around to view the building from all sides.

While in Orbitmode, real-time Zoomand Pancan still be used. Try them both to explore the wholemodel. To get out of Orbitmode, press Esc.

Navigate in 3D


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There is an even more exciting way of getting around the building. In order to see this, letsdouble-click Generic Perspectivefrom the 3Dsection of the Navigator. The result is somethinglike this:

In this view Orbit, real-timeZoomand Panwork as we have seen already. The only difference is thathere they affect the camera position rather than the projected image. Lets try and move around alittle.

For a different way of exploration, lets get into first-person shooter mode by selecting theExploreicon at the bottom toolbar.

Navigate in 3D


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The appearing dialog box explains how movement can be controlled (very similarly to FPScomputer games).

If you are sure you have the controls right, click 3D Exploreand start flying inside the building andnavigating around.

Walls will not stop you in this game, but to get the hang of it you should try to use the doors.

To get out of Exploremode, just click into the 3D view.

The Virtual Building Concept


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So how is it possible that weve seen a single Floor Plan, yet we could explore the whole building

right away? To explain, lets see a short introduction of GRAPHISOFTs Virtual Building Conceptalso known as Building Information Modeling or BIM.

Lets double-click on 0.1 floorin the Stories section of the Navigator. Instantly we get back to theinitial Floor Plan. You can adjust the content to the Floor Plan window if it is necessary by clickingon the symbol Zoom (Fit in Window)

One fundamental concept of BIM is that the 3D model is made of real building components likewalls, beams or slabs. Let's take a closer look at the ArchiCAD walls as an example.



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Lets double-click on the Wall tool in the Toolbox. The dialog box for the Wall settings appears.

In the first section we can specify the geometry of the wall, including height and shapeinformation as well as its vertical position.

In the second section we can set how the wall will be represented in 2D view such as the FloorPlan or a section. We can set the attributes of the wall (or rather its representative symbol) tocontrol its display. Here the structure of a composite wall or other view-dependent characteristicscan be selected.



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In the next section we can determine how the wall should look in 3D views. Surface materials andtextures can be specified here.

In the last section we can link different properties that are necessary to build bills of material for

this type of wall. In list type views, the wall behaves as a group of basic building components thatforms this composite structure.

The point is that the wall we either draw on the Floor Plan or place in 3D in a perspective view isnot merely a 2D symbol or a collection of parallel lines or just a 3D shape. It is all that and muchmore: it is an environment-sensitive building block of the Virtual Buildingthat knows how to presentitself within the different aspects of architectural documentation.



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What does that mean in practice? Lets make some changes in our Virtual Building and see whathappens. First of all lets change the current Wall settings to this:



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Set the wall height to 13'-1"under Geometry and Positioning. For the Composite Type (which isgoing to be the representation of the composite wall structure on Floor Plans and sections) letsselect the Wall Conc. Stone Tilestructure. To do this click on the Composite button and from theappearing dialog choose the required composite type.



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In the Model section lets click on the little chain icon on the right. Click on Override Surface button.The list of available surface materials comes up. Select Brick-Common Bondfrom the list. All threesurface material settings (wall exterior, interior and edge) will be updated.



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After changing the settings, lets click on OK.

Back on the Floor Plan lets zoom in to the wall on the right side of the lobby area and select the InjectParameters tool from the Standard Toolbar.

The cursor changes to a little syringe. This tool injects the current settings of the active design ordocumentation tool to existing elements.

When we move the cursor above the wall we zoomed in on, the wall will be highlighted, showingthat it is selected for the injection. Lets click anywhere inside the wall body.



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The wall changes instantly, showing the composite structure we selected in the Wall dialog box.

Now lets see what happened in other views of the Virtual Building.



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First, lets select and double-click 04 D_D Sectionfrom the Sections/Elevations part of theNavigator.

The section opens instantly. On the right side of the Lobbys first floor we see the wall we havejust modified. It shows the structure we have just selected for it.



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Now lets select Generic Axonometryor General Perspectivefrom the Navigatorand using thepreviously described navigation techniques go to that part of the project, which includes themodified wall.

As you can see, the wall now shows the surface material that has been set in the dialog box.

One of the major advantages of the BIM concept is that non graphical-information, such as

quantities, element inventories and schedules, can be automatically extracted from the 3D



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model. Lets check if all aspects of the Virtual Building really are covered: double-click Wall Listinthe Element Schedules section of the Navigator.

Instantly, an interactive list appears of all the walls placed in the project so far. We can quickly findthe wall on the first floor that we have just modified. Here some parameters (like the height or the



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composite structure of the wall) can be changed again. These changes will be reflected in allviews (Floor Plans, sections/elevations or in 3D).

Lets get back to the initial Floor Plan again (double-click 1 Floorin the Navigator). Zoom out inorder to see the entire Floor Plan.

Having a Virtual Building also means that we dont have to set up complicated layer sets for thedifferent stories within the project. Stories, sections and elevations are just separate views of thevirtual building model. In ArchiCAD, the Navigator window makes it easy to toggle between

different views and representations of the BIM model.



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In the Navigator,double-click on the different stories (2 Floor, 3 Floor, etc. in the Stories part)and on the different sections in the Sections/Elevations part or in the Details part.



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All these views are merely derivatives of the Virtual Building. Any number of them can begenerated and they are all linked together, so if anything changes in one view, not only is thatparticular view modified, but the changes are also reflected in all the views throughout the entireproject. This is a huge advantage compared to the traditional 2D drawing based documentationmethod where coordination of the drawings had to be done manually. It is not just moreproductive but also more reliable, as it reduces the risk of coordination issues to the minimum.

Let's see how we can work with the different views linked to each other. The revolutionary Virtual

Trace technology in ArchiCAD allows you to see and compare two different views of the BIMmodel. Return to the Floor Plan of the 0.1 floor. Right-click on 06 East Elevation in the Navigatorand choose Show as Trace Reference from the context menu.



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The elevation appears on the referred side of the building Floor Plan.

The Trace icon becomes active in the Standard toolbar. Click on the small arrow next to theTrace icon and choose Drag Reference from the menu.



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Drag the elevation view to the right.



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Arrange the Floor Plan so that the windows on the first floor of the building become clearlyvisible next to the Floor Plan view.



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Now zoom in at the right side, to have a closer look on the windows.



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Select one of the windows on the Floor Plan.

Change its size to 7'x11'in the Info Box.



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Click on the Rebuild Reference command in the Trace menu.

Now you can see how the elevation follows the changes.



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Now select Switch reference with active command in the Tracemenu

Now choose Fit in window.



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As you can see, the layout changes automaticallyaccording to the active view.

Zoom in to the area of the modified window, select it on the elevation view and reset the size to5'x8'. Choose the Switch reference with active command again to return to the Floor Plan. Pressthe Esc button to deselect the window and finally switch off the Trace button.

The Documentation Workflow

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Of course the job is far from done, even if a substantial amount of information can be entered and

stored within the Virtual Building. Architectural documentation, however, includes manyinterpretations of the same view of the building. For example, for a given story of the building,well have to generate one construction plan, one reflected ceiling plan, one plan for the floorfinishes, one structural plan, one plan for the furniture, and so on.

Not to mention all the communication with all the professions well have to collaborate with: thestructural engineer, the electrical engineer, HVAC, plumbing, etc. all need different documentsfrom us. ArchiCAD supports the documentation workflow with so-called views.

So far we have only utilized one part of the Navigator, the Project Mappart.

Lets click on the icon to the right of the Project Map. This is the View Mappart of the Navigator.

As you can see, this part lists plans instead of stories. Of course a plan can show a floor or a

section or a detail. Double-click on 1 Floorin the RCPfolder of the ConstructionDocumentationsection of the View Map.


The Reflected Ceiling Plan of the ground floor is shown instantly


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The Reflected Ceiling Plan of the ground floor is shown instantly.

How is this plan different from the Floor Plan we have worked with up till now? One difference isobvious: we see the tiles of the reflected ceiling and the lighting elements. These must have beenon a layer that was switched on when changing to the views of the RCP folder. (Layers are likevellums of old times, layered on top of each other. If we pull one out of the stack, it will beinvisible. Elements that have common characteristics like exterior walls, interior walls, furniture,etc. should be placed on a common layer, so that their visibility can be regulated together.)


The other significant difference is only visible if we zoom in to the interior of the building Doors


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The other significant difference is only visible if we zoom in to the interior of the building. Doorsare shown with their openings only (as is usual on a reflected ceiling plan).

There are sixdifferentiating factors for a view.

One is the Layer Combination, which determines which layers must be switched on or off forthat particular view. Here, layer combinations were set up and named in advance. The onethat is used here is aptly named Reflected Ceiling Plan.

The other factor is the Scaleof the drawing. For instance, plans that are submitted to themunicipality for approval have a smaller scale than construction documentation. In ArchiCAD,objects like doors, windows or other custom elements are scalesensitive, that is, their 2Drepresentation depends on the current scale of the drawing.

The third factor is theStructure Display. This function allows us to display constructionelements in various ways depending how we define the components of elements. We canchoose one of these options:

Entire Model

Without Finishes

Core Only

Core of Load-Bearing Elements Only


The fourth factor is the Pen Set We can define different line weight to the different color


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The fourth factor is the Pen Set. We can define different line weight to the different color.

The following factor is the so-called Model View Options Combination. These settingscontrol the behavior of ArchiCAD elements beyond merely toggling visibility on and off.These combinations were also set up and named in advance. The one for reflected ceiling

plans can be viewed when selecting Document/Set Model View/Model View Options from themenu.

The last factor is the Renovation Filter. We can provide visual feedback on the status of eachelement at a particular stage of a renovation project.


A view is defined by these factors, plus the current zoom and the dimensions, as shown in the


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A view is defined by these factors, plus the current zoom and the dimensions, as shown in thePropertiespart underneath the Navigator.

In the Quick Optionspart just below it, you can change these settings for the current projectrepresentation. In order to activate the Quick Options palette click on the Window/Palettes/

Quick Optionscommand.

Click on any of the buttons and see what changes occur on the Floor Plan when the settings are

changed.


Note that the current quick option settings are not saved to the views automatically.


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q p g yFor this you have to open the view settings dialog and there launch the Get CurrentWindows Settingscommand.

Now that we know how to navigate in the model and in the project, let's see how we can

construct new elements. Lets close the example file. Select File/Closefrom the menu. Choose"Dont save" in the "Save changes" dialog box.

Congratulations!

You have succesfully completed this Training Guide! We hope that you have learnt many new andexciting things about the possibilities of BIM and understood how ArchiCAD supports thearchitectural design workflow. Please check the other volumes of this training series for moredetails about ArchiCAD.

Should you have any questions regarding ArchiCAD or other GRAPHISOFT products, please visitGraphisoft Help Center, our online knowledge base: http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/.

Please feel free to contact GRAPHISOFT and its worldwide partners with further questions atwww.graphisoft.com. We look forward to seeing you in the ArchiCAD user community.

The GRAPHISOFT Team
http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/http://www.graphisoft.com/http://www.graphisoft.com/http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/

int_ac training series vol.1

Documents

ac training series

handson training

training guide ebook

basic archicad

intermediate archicad

advanced archicad

archicad interface

preset training file