Thanksgiving Gifts for ArchiCAD Users

The Thanksgiving holiday period provides an opportunity to pause and give thanks as well as to think ahead to next year.

It’s also a good time to share gifts with people you care about.

I am immensely grateful to all ArchiCAD users who share my passion for this amazing technology created by Graphisoft. Your support and encouragement allows me to make “an honest living” by teaching and mentoring architects and building design professionals. I am inspired by the designs you create as well as your intellectual curiosity and dedicated interest in developing your skills and abilities.

I launched the Masters of ArchiCAD Summit this year to provide a venue for experts from around the world to share their insights, experiences and tips and tricks with the larger ArchiCAD user community. It was a fantastic success, with over 430 users participating in this virtual conference. A dozen ArchiCAD veterans showed us their projects and talked at length about their working methods.

As I put together next year’s Masters of ArchiCAD Summit I want to make sure that every interested ArchiCAD user can benefit from this project. As one step towards that goal, I’m making available a free Guest Pass for three of the 2015 training presentations.

You’ll learn from three power-users who share their skills, tips and tricks for getting the most out of ArchiCAD.

Click here for your free Masters of ArchiCAD Training Pass – over 3 hours of free training to help you optimize your use of our favorite architectural software.

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL OFFER:
Save 75% on Summit Recordings

Here in the U.S., Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is a time for special offers and bargain shopping.

In keeping with this tradition, for the next week (through Friday December 4), you can save $150 off the standard price for the complete set of 12 Summit videos.

• Click here to grab the complete Masters of ArchiCAD Summit recordings for only $47!

I’ll be back on “Cyber Monday” with another valuable gift for all ArchiCAD users, something I’ve never given away before. This set of training materials will only be given away free for 5 days, so be sure to check your inbox (if you’re on my email list) and come back here next week.

I’ll also announce some really cool bargains on my extensive collection of the finest ArchiCAD training and tools. You can go Christmas shopping for yourself early!

New ArchiCAD video tutorial: Specifications Tips & Tricks with IFC Fields (Part 3 of 4)

I have just posted another in my continuing series of free ArchiCAD tutorials on my YouTube channel.

ArchiCAD Tutorial | Specifications Tips & Tricks with IFC Fields | Part 3 of 4

Perhaps you’ll want to watch it between Thanksgiving courses?

(Then again, maybe it’s better to wait till later in the weekend.)

In this 27 minute video (part 3 of my 4 part series on the innovative use of IFC fields) I’ll show you how to:

• Add clickable web links into your schedules and labels
• Use a “link shortener” to provide a short version of the URL for web pages and PDF documents
• Create a durable, reliable web link for construction document references using Dropbox
• Add a Cost field that can be used as part of budgeting
• Learn a few variations of IFC Mapping to pull precise, current BIM information into your associative labels and schedules

Please add your comments and questions to the YouTube page.

I’d love to know what you think, and whether you feel this will be useful in your practice.

THANKSGIVING AND BLACK FRIDAY GIFTS AND BARGAINS

Almost everyone here in the U.S. is getting ready to gather with family or friends tomorrow for the big Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a time to be thankful and express gratitude, and FEAST!

I am so thankful that YOU are an active member of the ArchiCAD user community, and that I can make an honest living by sharing my training materials with you and your colleagues.

As a small but earnest gesture of thanks, I’m going to give all of my email subscribers a gift on Friday. As you probably know, we have this strange “new tradition” in the U.S. of shopping for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving. Anyone know when this actually started?

Anyway, look for it in your inbox on “Black Friday”.

I’ll also be announcing my biggest sale of the year (in case you’re in the shopping mood).

Eric

New ArchiCAD Tutorial Video: Specifications Report Tips & Tricks Using IFC Data Fields (part 2 of 4)

Want to generate a nicely formatted and organized Specifications Report on your project directly inside ArchiCAD?

My latest ArchiCAD video tutorial continues the exploration of how you can set up Specifications Reports using Interactive Schedules based on IFC field data.

In the first video of this series (released earlier this month) I demonstrated the basic concept: adding special IFC fields for automatic labeling of elements as well as inclusion in Interactive Schedule reports.

In my new 28 minute video (part 2 of 4), I show how to organize your report into trade categories (e.g. Masonry, Carpentry, Roofing, etc.) or a multi-level hierarchy such as the U.S. standard CSI Divisions and Subdivisions.

Specifications Report Tips and Tricks Using IFC Data Fields

I also share methods that help you to speed up the process, quickly adding category information based on layer or element type.

My favorite tip is to define a special schedule that gives you immediate access to the schedule fields directly in the Info Box.

Without this trick, you need about 10 clicks and go through multiple dialog boxes each time.

If you’d like to easily and quickly create a specifications report inside ArchiCAD, watch this 28 minute video.

Note: you’ll understand it better if you watch part 1 first:
Generate Specifications and Optimize Annotation using IFC Data Fields (Part 1 of 4)

Questions? Comments? Feedback?
Email me or post your comment on YouTube.

– Eric

P.S. All this Specification Reporting and IFC stuff is fully implemented in MasterTemplate 19.
“We set it up, so you don’t have to.”

New ArchiCAD Tutorial: Generate Specifications and Optimize Annotation using IFC Data Fields

In my latest ArchiCAD video tutorial, you’ll learn how to generate detailed specification reports from your ArchiCAD 19 model using standard interactive schedule tools. Easily place drawing notes linked to the exact same BIM data, fully integrated into each element. All notes and specifications update automatically as you work on the model.

Generate Specifications and Optimize Annotation using IFC Data Fields (Part 1)
(36 minutes)

Step by step instructions are provided to add special IFC fields to enter or edit text and other data that will be shown in the reports or placed as notes in your construction documents.

In the standard ArchiCAD templates there is no location where you can add this BIM data to all building elements regardless of type. Fortunately, these IFC fields can be quickly added to your project to provide a common framework for the data.

The new Label options in ArchiCAD 19 make it much simpler to pull the data from the building elements and use it in your drawings. This tutorial also shows how to create Favorites for your frequently used labeling styles.

UK architect Tim Ball generously shared one of his actual projects so I could demonstrate a real specifications report and associated labels in context. His pioneering work opened my eyes to the potential of this approach.

In ArchiCAD 19, it is relatively easy to implement this system and it will allow you to annotate your drawings and compile reports in a consistent and highly efficient manner.

In part 2 (coming soon), I’ll continue the demonstration and show how more data fields of different types can be added to the Specifications Report, and how this report can be organized based on trade categories or CSI Divisions and Subdivisions. I’ll also show how to export the IFC data structure to easily add it to other projects or your office template, as well as additional shortcuts to speed up your workflow.

Questions? Comments? Feedback?
Please post them here or on YouTube.
Thanks!

Ideas for ArchiCAD Tutorial Videos

I’m ready to start creating some more of my free ArchiCAD tutorials, and am interested in your suggestions.

Here are a few topics I’ve already got on my list:

• Guide Lines in ArchiCAD 19 (how they’ve changed compared to previous versions)
• Creating Specifications Using Interactive Schedules and Custom IFC Fields
• Joining Roofs and Walls – From Conceptual Modeling to Detailed Connections
• A Quick Guide to Tabs, Palettes and Windows in ArchiCAD 19
• Cut and Fill Calcs Using Solid Element Operations

I’m also planning to rework my QuickStart Course on the ArchiCAD basics to bring it up to date with the current interface for version 19.

Have any other ideas, suggestions or requests?

What do you find most confusing, challenging, or tricky? I love trying to make things clear, straightforward and (where possible) easy!