With every
new release of ArchiCAD, Graphisoft tends to put the majority of its effort on
one new facet of the program. This time in ArchiCAD 18, the software firm spent
the effort on rendering -- also referred to as visualization. The other
improvements are in the areas of modeling, revision management, workflow, Teamwork
and BIM Server, OPEN BIM, and library enhancements. In this article, I will
review the new features that I believe are most significant, based on my
experience.
I don’t
proclaim to be much of a rendering expert, because it was never my job to
create renderings. I have, however, a bachelor’s degree in fine art and so I
have played around with creating renderings for my own entertainment; in 20+
years of drawing production, I just never took on the role. To be successful in
the visualization arena, we need to understand our software, the limitations of
our hardware, and we should have an artistic eye. And, we need a lot of
patience. This is why I looked forward to ArchiCAD 18’s new rendering
functions.
Rendering
The common
belief in architectural design is that after we model our building in one
software package, such as ArchiCAD, we need to export it to a program geared
specifically to rendering. Then we spend hours in Photoshop tweaking the output
to make the rendering look beautiful. This new release of ArchiCAD greatly lessens
the need to export models to something else to get “professional grade”
renderings. This is because it has the C4D physics engine built in that is
friendly to camera users, and to those that don’t want to deal with abstract
rendering parameters. In other words, it’s a lot more user friendly than
before.
The Photo
Rendering palette has a nice little thumbnail preview screen with which we test
views before creating renderings. (See Figure 1.) It is modeless, so that we
can keep it up while we work on other things. For instance, we can make
adjustments to settings while a rendering is running. We can even work on other
ArchiCAD tasks while it is rendering.
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Figure 1:
Photo Rendering palette in ArchiCAD 18 previewing the rendering result
I explored
the new rendering functions in ArchiCAD 18 as a new user would, and so began
with the default settings, then playing with some options to get a better
quality result. The palette illustrated above shows the standard options with
all basic settings. The thumbnail preview image is generated at the Low Rendering Quality and Low Shadow Quality settings. When I did the full rendering at 800x600
pixels, it took 1:35 to complete. (See Figure 2.)
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Figure 2:
Basic rendering generated at 800x600 resolution
For the next
rendering, I changed the rendering and shadow quality settings to Medium, set
the Illuminating Surfaces setting to 100%, and changed the background to show
one of the sky scenes included with the package. This one took 7 minutes and 53
seconds to complete. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 3: : Higher
quality rendering, with sky background
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This new
interface in ArchiCAD 18 gives beginners basic preset scenes (a.k.a. factory
default scenes for various internal and external conditions) with which to
work. But when we click the Detailed Setting box, the palette morphs into a
multitude of setting options. There are way too many to discuss here, so let me
say that it will take a while for you to master it all.
There are
some fun graphic effect features there, such as the white model effect (see Figure
4), along with graphite or crayon effects, and others. See Figure 5.
Figure 4: Rendering
made with white model effect
Figure 5: Rendering
made with graphite crayon effect
The new rendering
engine uses multiple processors at the same time. Figure 6 shows all four cores
being fully utilized on my laptop’s CPU. In contrast, most CAD operations can
employ only a single core
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Figure 6:
Rendering calculations take advantage of all cores in today’s CPUs
Another
improvement made by Graphisoft is to the new surface settings interface. It
gives us several hundred ready-to-use surfaces in the standard library.
Specifically, there are 300 on the CD, 500 more downloadable from the Web for customers
on maintenance contracts, and several thousand available through C4D, which is
compatible with ArchiCAD 18.
Modeling
The coolest
new modeling feature that I found in this new release is known as “Edit Multiple
Elements.” Here, we can edit multiple floor slabs or even other types of
elements simultaneously. For instance, we can create a rectangular shaft hole, and
then modify the opening in each slab and in the roof and the ground – all with
one action.
There is a
video of this in action on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjbnsPfzJyQ. I really like the push and pull
modeling freedom it gave me. We can also get to the videos via the Help menu in
ArchiCAD, which is a nice touch. ArchiCAD YouTube Videos are, however, listed
twice in the menu. (See Figure 7.) The first one opens the default Web browser,
and then and goes to the ArchiCAD channel; the other one opens what appeared to
me to be a proprietary video browser. It does not function like a traditional
browser in that there are no buttons to go forward or backwards, and there
appear to be fewer videos from which to choose.
Figure 7:
Two ways to access online video from ArchiCAD’s Help menu
PDF-based Collaboration Workflow
One great
feature that has been in ArchiCAD for a while is its ability to embed PDF files
in drawing views. You might think that this is pretty normal, but it turns out
that not all BIM programs do it; in fact, I find it frustrating that this
function is missing from that “other” BIM programs.
In ArchiCAD
18, the function is improved in that it now converts line work from the PDF
file into ArchiCAD entities -- lines, arcs, and circles. This is really
awesome! So when we have cut sheets or PDFs of details that we want to put on
our sheets, we can turn them into actual drawing entities, and then get rid of
the PDF to lighten the load inside the model. Sure, the rendering improvements
are quite advanced and comprehensive, but this new functionality will save
production time for us common folk, and so is my favorite new feature.
When it
comes to exporting drawings to PDFs, there is a new function, too. ArchiCAD 18
now had the ability to export project information data stored by the Project
Info command. In addition, we can change the image resolution, compress images
or retain lossless image compression, where possible through the user of PNG
formats. And we can export layer information to PDFs, although it appears to me
that the feature is disabled when saving layouts/sheets. (See Figure 8.) Almost
there, I guess.
Figure 8:
Plans exported to PDF with layers
Attribute Handling
If you have
ever worked on big projects with multiple models hotlinked in models, you may
have dealt with composites or profiles that have the same name but a different
index number. This can result in walls that should be identical in multiple
models, but display differently. A new feature in the Attribute Manager gives us
more control over how to import and export attributes between models, and
should give more control to model managers.
Composite
behavior in profiles and building materials has also been improved.
Teamwork and BIM Server
The BIM Cloud
Manager interface is now a Web-based portal. This is nice especially when we
work in an office or firm that is very strict about installing software. This
means all we need is a Web browser; no special installation is needed.
(That other BIM
program has always had the browser-based interface, but its functionality pales
in comparison to ArchiCAD’s Teamwork and BIM Server administration abilities.)
Hotlink Management
With
ArchiCAD 18, we can relink single instances of modules easier than before. For
instance, I have many different system furniture arrangement modules. When I
need to change some from one module to another, instead of deleting and
replacing them, I select the modules, right click, choose Hotlinked Module Settings,
Change
Hotlink button, and then select a different hotlink.
As an
alternative, I can create a new module with the File Save As function: from
the right-click context menu, I choose Edit this model in separate ArchiCAD
and then make my changes to the new module. Granted, this is not ground
breaking stuff, but it is sure to save us some production time, depending on the
types of project workflows.
Interior Elevation Improvement
The new
function in the interior elevation tool is nice. It provides us with better graphical
feedback when sizing the depth. I found, however, that when I used the magic
wand, I needed to be careful when working with rooms that had multiple facets.
Revision Management
I had seen
the new revision management tool demonstrated, and it looked good. I have not,
however, had to deal with revisions in an ArchiCAD project for a long time that
I didn’t even know it was lacking in earlier versions!
The new
Layout Revision looks good, because it is a smart object that displays the
revisions in the title block automatically. The revision tool is tightly
integrated in the BIM project, and so revisions are automatically updated on
layouts -- both in the layout titles and the revision callout lists.
Mark-up Feature
The mark-up
tool has been improved in ArchiCAD 18. It looks pretty comprehensive, but once
again this is something I have never used (mark-up tools). So I cannot comment
on it, other than to note its presence.
It’s one of
those functions that seems like a good idea, but it demands a certain skill
level that more often than not is possessed by designers who are purported to be
the ones using the tool.
Elevator Design Enhancement
I found that
the interface and options for designing elevators is better in ArchiCAD 18. Configuring
the direction of the second opening and the counterweight position is easy to
understand, as are the story settings, the car, and the shaft. (See Figure 9.)
Figure 9: Defining
parameters for elevator design
Other library
object improvements include expanded options in Zone Stamp 1, new 2D trees, two
new types of ventilation frames, a new vent window sash, and new multi sash
windows.
Model View Options
There is
greater control over the way door openings are displayed via the Model View
Options command. See Figure 10.
Figure 10: Specifying
door openings
Conclusion
From all the
new functions added by Graphisoft, I would say that this ArchiCAD 18 is a good
solid new release, especially when you are involved with visualization. The change
in visualization is very impressive.
If you are
not, however, concerned with rendering, then you will appreciate the finer
points that lead to design efficiency, such as the new way we can edit multiple
elements simultaneously, or take advantage of the new PDF integration, and even
the improved attribute management.
