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How to Create ArchiCAD Working Drawings without Drafting Details

Earlier this week I interviewed Tim Ball, an advanced ArchiCAD user in the UK, to learn more about how he develops his ArchiCAD model in a way that virtually eliminates manual 2D drafting of Details.

The 10 minute video shows the evolution of his project workflow over the past few years, from independently created Detail drawings through model-based Details and now pure-model Details.

How to Create ArchiCAD Working Drawings without Drafting Details – Interview with Tim Ball

Tim has also figured out how to embed textual data into his elements in a way that makes it possible for ArchiCAD to automatically generate and compile accurate specification documents that are fully based on the model.

I believe his workflow is a bit tricky to master, however ultimately much more efficient. In addition, it increases the consistency of the drawings, since everything (even details and specifications) is based on the intelligent 3D Virtual Building model.

MASTERS OF ARCHICAD TRAINING SERIES STARTS NEXT WEEK

Tim will be teaching how to implement his methods in the upcoming online training course Working Drawings Without Details, which kicks off on April 15.

Tim’s course is part of the Masters of ArchiCAD Training Series, a set of five short courses running over the next 6 months taught by carefully chosen ArchiCAD experts.

I’m looking forward to sharing these training courses with ArchiCAD users around the world. Sessions will be broadcast live once each week, and recorded and posted for easy, permanent reference in the website member area.

I hope you can join us on this journey of discovery along the path of mastery. When you implement some of these strategies of the Masters of ArchiCAD, you’ll become more efficient, productive and profitable.

Plus, you’ll be able to enjoy your work more.

As Tim says: “You can focus on the fun, sexy part of ArchiCAD – the 3D modeling and design – and virtually eliminate the boring 2D stuff.”

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or feedback.

Eric

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Masters of ArchiCAD Training Series launches with 5 short courses by ArchiCAD experts

I’m delighted to announce the Masters of ArchiCAD Training Series, a set of five short courses running over the next 6 months taught by carefully chosen ArchiCAD experts.

These trainings are visionary yet supremely practical; advanced yet highly approachable.

They will enrich your understanding and help you implement some of the powerful ideas and methods shared in the recent Masters of ArchiCAD Summit.

Each master brings something unique to the table. Every one of them is a practicing user who pushes the limits of ArchiCAD and has figured out how to get more done with less effort.

Take one course and you’ll advance your practice.
Go through all 5 and you’re going to be unstoppable.

The first class starts next Wednesday April 15 as Tim Ball shares how he creates “Working Drawings Without [Drafting] Details”.

When you use Tim’s approach, you’ll be able to focus most of your time on the cool, fun part of ArchiCAD (designing and modeling in 3D) and virtually no time at all on tedious Detail drawings and Specifications (they come directly out of the highly detailed model).

Yes, it is truly possible, not overly hard, much more efficient (and fun) and Tim will show you how.

Tim’s course kicks off the series.

MASTERS OF ARCHICAD TRAINING SERIES

The Masters of ArchiCAD Training Series is offered as live one-hour webinars, with one session per week through October.

You don’t have to attend the live sessions. They will be recorded and made available in the website member area for permanent reference. These video recordings will make a great addition to your reference library.

These training resources follow up on the Summit presentations of each Master, and will take you deeper and guide you along the journey so that you can easily integrate their methods in your office:

• Tim Ball – Working Drawings Without Details (6 lessons)
• Andreas Lettner – Cinerender Methods, Tips and Tricks (4 lessons)
• Eric Bobrow – ArchiCAD 19 Upgrade Training (4 lessons)
• Gary Lawes – Practical, Parametric Object Making Using GDL
• Roderick Anderson – ArchiCAD and BIMx Strategies to Optimize Design and Construction

The Training Series page provides a complete description for each of the courses.

Each course has a standard price of $197, except for Tim’s longer course, which is $297.

To encourage you to jump in with both feet (and be off and running) we’re offering a Training Series bundle for only $597.

This is an amazing value. The retail prices of these courses total $1085. Yet even more important, the impact on your practice and how efficiently you run your projects is far larger. When you implement the methods pioneered by these Masters, you’ll use ArchiCAD in a much more optimized and powerful fashion.

• YES, I want to learn from ALL the Masters of ArchiCAD and optimize my work with ArchiCAD!

NOTE: Don’t let cash flow get in the way of grabbing this offer: you can choose our extended payment plan option available at $97 per month.

EXTRA BONUS: YOUR TICKET TO THE ARCHICAD SUMMIT RECORDINGS

When you sign up for the full bundle, you’ll get complimentary access for the Masters of ArchiCAD Summit recordings – 12 dynamic presentations by grand masters from around the world, an extra bonus value of $197!

The Summit was an inspiring, community-building event attended by over 300 ArchiCAD users. One advanced user wrote to me after the Summit saying he had “filled his idea basket.” Others used terms like “fabulous”, “awesome”, and “winner” to describe the conference.

• “The [Summit] sessions were some of the very best I have experienced.” – Lew Bishop, Santa Rosa CA

I’m delighted to be able to share all of this ArchiCAD goodness with you!

Please let me know if you have any questions, feedback or comments.

Best regards,
Eric

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Celebrating and Learning from Masters of ArchiCAD

I have an exciting announcement about a ground-breaking ArchiCAD community event, the MASTERS of ArchiCAD SUMMIT.

If you use ArchiCAD, and want to take better advantage of its INCREDIBLE power to get your work done faster (and better), it’s an event that you can’t afford to miss.

The Summit is an online conference on February 5 & 6 in which expert users from around the world share their inspiration and passion for ArchiCAD as well as practical tips, tricks, methods and strategies that you can use in your practice.

There will be a dozen presentations over a two day period that you can attend live AND/OR watch as video recordings later. Add them to your reference library to study and integrate into your workflow.

Read this post to discover:

• how this conference came to be and why it HAD to be created
• why you absolutely NEED to join us (if you care about your work)
• plus a special offer to make this an even more incredible value

WHY AND HOW THIS STARTED

Last summer I invited architect Timothy Ball RIBA from the UK as a visiting lecturer to present a lesson for my ArchiCAD Best Practices Course. Tim showed us how he efficiently models projects in such great detail and accuracy that every cutaway shows the actual construction. His detail drawings as generated from the model need little or no cleanup, and he supplements them with 3D details as well as BIMx models to communicate the intricacies of the design even more clearly.

Tim pushes the limits of the software, and reaps tremendous rewards. His projects are built with fewer problems, and his design solutions are optimized. At first, it seems like he’s doing extra work, then one realizes that it really is much more efficient use of his time, allowing more intelligent design study while producing drawings more quickly and accurately, with better data and integration.

• One of the attendees commented enthusiastically that sitting in on Tim’s presentation and our discussion seemed like “graduate school for ArchiCAD”.
• The feedback from other course members was equally positive. Everyone said that they were inspired by Tim’s work, and now understood much better how to optimize their own modeling process.

It was at that point that I realized that Tim’s knowledge and experience NEEDED to be shared with the larger ArchiCAD community, to increase the depth of knowledge and skill of users everywhere. We started talking about creating something around the theme “Masters of ArchiCAD”.

CELEBRATING AND LEARNING FROM MASTERS OF ARCHICAD

Tim is not unique among ArchiCAD users. There are many masters of this complex and powerful software, people who push the limits and reap the benefits.

While Graphisoft features firms as “success stories” in short videos, press releases and occasional webinars, no one has ever given these expert users an online platform from which to teach other users what they’ve learned through hard-fought experience.

Local user groups and regional events such as the ArchiCAD Users Association retreats spread the knowledge of experts with a limited number of in-person attendees. Online forums such as ArchiCAD-Talk and the LinkedIn ArchiCAD group foster discussion, however this is limited to posting comments and linking to screenshots and occasionally to videos.

Worldwide, we have such a deep pool of knowledge that has not been shared effectively.

Our ArchiCAD user community has passion and expertise that can be, and needs to be, shared in a form that maximizes the benefit from everyone involved.

THE MASTERS OF ARCHICAD SUMMIT

I have hand-picked a dozen ArchiCAD masters to give presentations that combine inspiration and practical training in equal measure. You’ll see case studies and actual project files, often with live demonstrations inside ArchiCAD (not just slides).

As a community event, it is ground-breaking – the first time that experts of this caliber have gathered together in an online conference to give their knowledge to other ArchiCAD users.

If you’re the type of person who strives for continual improvement in your life and your work, if you want to master ArchiCAD so you can get the most benefit from the software, this event is for you.

• For more information including a description of each summit presentation as well as profiles of the presenters, please visit the Masters of ArchiCAD website.

I see these experts as “unsung heroes”. They are well known and highly regarded among their colleagues, peers and clients, however they deserve to be celebrated by our larger worldwide ArchiCAD community.

Their hard-earned treasures are going to be multiplied as they share them with us. The wisdom of their experience will become our common knowledge.

I will be telling their stories over the coming weeks in a series of posts. Let’s celebrate their work and learn from the efforts of these ArchiCAD Masters.

Eric Bobrow

P.S. This is a “commercial event” in that there is a charge for registration. Each presenter receives a share of the proceeds in the form of an honorarium. There are advertising and production costs as well.

Fees will cover these costs and pay for my time, allowing me to put in a huge effort to make this project a success. I will be working with the presenters to help them plan and optimize their talks, and will host and produce the online webinars as well as the recordings and website.

The registration fee of $197 is very economical when compared to the cost of attending a live conference. You’ll be able to attend the sessions live, and ask questions of the presenters, and also have full access to the recordings for permanent reference after the Summit.

However, as one of my valued clients and email subscribers, you deserve an even better deal:

• Sign up for the MASTERS of ArchiCAD SUMMIT for only $97 – SAVE $100!

Simply visit the MASTERS of ArchiCAD website and click the registration link to go to the secure checkout page.
Enter BOBROW-WEBSITE in the Special Code field in the upper right area and click the Apply button.

You’ll see the registration fee discount applied, so you’ll pay only $97.

This conference will be a history-making event, and the recordings will be an important resource that you can add to your reference library to treasure for years to come.

Questions? Feedback? Problems? Ideas?
Drop me a line at support@bobrow.com.

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Masters of ArchiCAD Summit

I have some very exciting news to share.

It’s something that will enrich your ArchiCAD experience for all of 2015.

For the first time ever, I am bringing together ArchiCAD Masters from around the world in a virtual conference to share their knowledge and experience with the ArchiCAD user community.

MASTERS OF ARCHICAD SUMMIT – FEBRUARY 5 & 6, 2015

In the Masters of ArchiCAD Summit each expert will give a one hour presentation on a topic they are passionate about, that they focus on day to day, and bring the wisdom of real world experience to their vision.

These masters bring tremendous depth to their subject, often pushing the limits of the technology and breaking new ground in their personal explorations. I will be working with each of them to refine their ideas and materials to make the presentations accessible and understandable to the average ArchiCAD user, while still retaining advanced components and strategies.

The sessions will be broadcast as well as recorded, so you’ll be able to attend live and ask questions, or watch videos of the presentations later.

[UPDATED January 14] Here is the lineup of ArchiCAD masters and topics:

• Timothy Ball, UK – Hyper-Efficient, Detailed 3D Modeling
• Roderick Anderson – Costa Rica – Design-Build: Luxury Residential done better with ArchiCAD and BIMx Docs
• Ben Wallbank, UK – The Data in Your Model is Priceless
• Djordje Grujic, UAE – ArchiCAD Beyond Architecture
• Gary Lawes – UK – Hacking GDL – Practical Parametric Object Making
• Andreas Lettner – Austria – CineRender Tips and Tricks
• Erika Epstein – US – How to Successfully Implement BIM, Improve Your Workflow and Better Serve Your Clients
• Shawn B. Hopkins – South Africa – Activating Your Local ArchiCAD Market for Informed Design Solutions
• Andrew Passacantando – US – How a One Man Office Does Large Complex Projects using ArchiCAD from A to Z
• Karoly Horvath – Australia – Modular Design and Teamwork Strategies for Multi-Unit Projects
• Eric Bobrow – US – ArchiCAD Best Practices and The Ultimate Template

The conference is affordably priced at $197 with early bird tickets on sale for $127 through January 20.

More information (including descriptions of each session) and registration are available at http://www.mastersofarchicad.com

I invite your comments and questions.

 

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My ArchiCAD Thanksgiving Gift to You: A New Tutorial Video on YouTube

It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and I’m immensely grateful to you and all ArchiCAD users. Thank you for being in my life as a client, colleague, student, friend and/or fan.

I love my work, and love helping you get the most out of ArchiCAD. For 25 years I have had the special pleasure of working with talented design professionals and seeing you learn and become more skillful, productive and capable.

For many of you, there has been a breakthrough to a profound sense of freedom, in which the tool bends to your will and imagination, allowing you to share your unique gifts and vision in new ways.

I see the light come into your eyes, a smile on your face, and I know why I continue to do this year after year.

MY GIFT TO YOU

As a small token of my appreciation, I offer you a new ArchiCAD video tutorial for your enlightenment and enjoyment.

ArchiCAD Tutorial | More Realistic Interior Views Using Backdrop Photos for Context

Make views from inside your ArchiCAD model feel more natural by showing the actual site as you look out the windows. This brand new lesson from my Best Practices Course (comprehensive ArchiCAD training) shows you how to create a surprisingly realistic visual context for your model.

You’ll learn how to place a backdrop image on a large distant surface, similar to what is done in movies. The illusion is highly effective for interior scenes in which the backdrop is seen through the windows.

In this 15 minute quick tutorial, you’ll learn how to:

1. Create a new surface material using a graphic file
2. Apply that surface to a curved wall, and set the origin, scale and repeat pattern to suit your needs
3. Use a simple method to force the 3D view to update when you adjust the surface settings
4. Add emission to the surface to brighten the image
5. Tweak the position of your backdrop while looking from inside the building using the Filter Elements in 3D command to temporarily remove the windows and doors

Please add your comments and questions to the YouTube page, and LIKE and SHARE this video too!

Eric Bobrow

November 27, 2014 – Thanksgiving!

P.S. My second annual Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale starts tomorrow, with super special offers on the Best Practices Course, the QuickStart Course, and MasterTemplate. I’ll be announcing it here, on www.bobrow.com!