2020 | 002 – What Are the Best Practices for ARCHICAD?

Hey, welcome, everyone, to ARCHICAD Best Practices 2020.  This is Eric Bobrow, and it’s my pleasure to start the training today with Seven Keys to Best Practices.  Please let me know that you can hear me and that you can see my screen and where you’re calling in from, and we’ll get going.  [0:00:25]

I’m just going to pull up on my screen here your comments and questions.  So, I see Chris says, “Hello,” and Gerald.  Alright.  Susan down in Malibu, James in Lakewood, Colorado, Nick in Pittsburgh, Chester from Iceland.  OK, alright, so do keep saying hello, but I will get started here.  [0:01:02]

Now, let us see.  I wanted to just bring up a couple of things here.  This is the course outline for the classic Best Practices course, which I’m in the process of thinking through to say what I need to change.  Obviously, ARCHICAD is different than it used to be, and that’s the whole point of this course is how to bring all of this knowledge about using ARCHICAD effectively up to date with the latest versions.  [0:01:44]

In the beginning of the Best Practices course, I focused originally on the Seven Keys to Best Practices, and I thought it would actually be very useful to revisit them and see what’s changed in terms of my vision and my understanding and get your feedback as well.  What do you think has changed about the key principles of using ARCHICAD effectively?  [0:02:10]

Now, let’s take a look at the Seven Keys to Best Practices that I defined originally when I was teaching in 2007-2009 as a sort of a way to think about how to use ARCHICAD effectively.  I created a video presentation on it in 2010 and a length article in 2011, and I’ll reference those in the new website.  As I mentioned in last session, I’m going to be setting up the new website this week, and this video recording as well as all future lessons will be placed on it.  [0:02:52]

So, the Seven Keys to Best Practices – I believe we can organize them.  It’s sort of interesting to see them as a circle because they all reinforce each other.  They’re all being done in parallel to some extent, but also, when you do one thing, it makes it easier to do the next.  So, getting organized makes it easier to access things, and we know that’s true, just in general life.  In fact, these Best Practices principles really in general apply to most complex endeavors in life, whether it’s running your practice, learning a new skill, or just having a good life.  [0:03:37]

Being organized will allow you to have quick access to the things that are important.  To the extent that you can do things once rather than having to do them over and over and over – that’s a good idea.  Obviously, in ARCHICAD, we have ways of saving favorite settings, project templates, all sorts of different things that we can set up once and reuse, and that gets into very great detail in ARCHICAD in terms of the settings, and as indicated on this screenshot here, we have Favorites where you can eye drop something or pick up these settings from a Favorites palette.  [0:04:19]

Interactive legends are a kit of parts that I’ve developed as a concept for your frequently-used components.  You can even bring in room configurations – entire kitchens, or office layouts, or garages, or any type of complex design that you would then adapt into a current context.  Working from the general to the specific is a concept that I think is very related to any type of design.  [0:04:54]

When you start a project, obviously, you are thinking in general terms.  What does this building need to do?  How big will it be?  What are the setbacks or limits, requirements, the square foot area for the site?  All of these things, and then you start to drill down into, whether you use a bubble diagram or you immediately lay out partitions.  You’re organizing the space, and then as you go further, you’re making decisions about what type of elements.  What are the wall assemblies?  Where are the bearing walls?  Things like that.  [0:05:28]

Then, as you go further and further, you define more and more details, so you’re starting from the general, and you’re getting more specific to the extent that you can tell ARCHICAD, “Hey, what I care about is the outside of these walls rather than the inside.”  Then, if the walls change thickness, you make this thicker or thinner or redefine it.  ARCHICAD will maintain the reference line.  [0:05:52]

If you’re putting in a door in a carter, and you’re saying it’s midway between these two walls, even if the door changes its size, ARCHICAD will remember that it’s anchored by the center point, or the window is centered between two walls.  Similarly, if the door is a certain distance, like 4 inches from the corner – even if the door changes from 2’-6” to 3’, 750 mm to 800 or 900 or something like that, then it still will be locked on the corner, so you’re talking about your design intent, and using ARCHICAD effectively means understanding or in part will be aided by knowing how to tell ARCHICAD what you intend.  [0:06:39]

Using ARCHICAD’s structure in general, of course, the more familiar you are with this jungle gym that we have and are climbing all over and using, the better, but particularly when you understand the dependencies that, when you create a viewpoint like a detailed drawing or a section.  If you name it in a certain way that you think ahead, “This is what I’d like to call it on a layout sheet as a drawing,” then that name can just be carried forward in the view map and the layout book.  [0:07:14]

On the other hand, if you just name it generically or you don’t think about that, and you get to the layout sheet and it has a funny name or an inappropriate name, and then you change it there, it can get a little bit confusing to find where that particular section or detail or other callout is.  Now, you can work later on and clean that up, but the more that you can set things up in the beginning with the right names or go to the source where the name is set and have it just inherited, the more organized you are.  [0:07:49]

Now,  I think we all understand in general that ARCHICAD is a 3D modeling tool that generated 2D drawings, and the more and better you can model, the less you have to draw in 2D, and this is something that has just gotten developed gradually more and more to the point where there are some people like Tim Ball who essentially say, “I don’t draw in 2D.”  Even their detail drawings are literally 3D cutaways with just some annotation labels and things.  Even then, the annotations and labels are integrated with the building elements.  [0:08:30]

Now, keeping it saved is something that used to be a little bit more of an issue in the sense that we would have crashes in ARCHICAD maybe more frequently back in earlier days, and if you didn’t manually say to save your work every 15 minutes or half an hour or hour, you could have the sort of nightmare scenario where I received calls from people saying, “Hey, Eric, I’ve been working all day on a deadline.  ARCHICAD crashed.  I actually didn’t save today, so did I lose all of my 6 or 7 hours of work?”  Unfortunately, in cases like that, it might have been true that they lost it.  [0:09:14]

Nowadays, ARCHICAD’s default settings are to save in the background every step, which means it’s very rare that I hear about these sorts of things, but understanding how to maintain your work as you move to new computers, as you move to new versions of ARCHICAD and migrate projects forward – even having projects from 10 years ago.  Understanding how to keep it safe so that you can open it in a later version of ARCHICAD years later when a project comes back to life or a remodel – these are things that are important.  [0:09:47]

Now, this document I’ll be sharing, as I said, on the page with this recording, so you don’t have to worry too much about taking notes or screenshots.  You’ll have access to that.  Let me bring up just a little bit of a guide for what I want to talk about as we move forward in this.  So, we have these headings for the Seven Keys, and as I mentioned, I first codified them in just a simple list format in 2009 and developed it further in the following 2 years.  [0:10:25]

As I thought about this, I said, “Have these key principles changed in recent versions?”  Well, if we want to even boil it down simpler, rather than seven, we can just say that perhaps it has to do with organization, optimizing it so it’s easier to work with and more efficient, focusing on describing the building in detail, describing – of course, that’s modeling.  That’s documenting it in terms of sections, detailed drawings, etc.  [0:11:02]

Also, to the extent that you can, describing it for specifications and schedules and quantities, so to the extent that you can do this more and more in detail, you will end up with something that can be more easily built.  It’s just quicker to say, develop and to revise and iterate, so the third part of it is integrating everything as much as possible.  So, in general, less and less I would expect that you would just put a note next to something just manually.  [0:11:43]

I mean, you’ll always want to do that sometimes – always sometimes.  It’s not that you would never put a note that is just a one-off note next to something on the drawing.  However, to the extent that you can say, “This note should be seen also in a schedule or also in another view,” then you want to integrate that into the description of the element so that it can be pulled and can be reviewed easily.  [0:12:16]

So, having the 3D, 2D, and data all integrated is now becoming just much more important, and as you work in the future – perhaps more with consultants with the integrated BIM model, where you’re sharing 3D models for structural analysis, for quantity takeoff, for mechanical, for all different types of purposes, and even for submission for building approval, we are seeing some developments in that area.  The more that you can have everything integrated and described in great detail and know that it’s all consistent.  Let’s say that’s the best practices we aim for.  [0:13:04]

Now, as we look at this, I want to point out that there are many things going on in a building that’s designed and documented in ARCHICAD.  Of course, we could just take this out of this picture and say GraphiSoft is creating a tool kit, and so all of us here on this course have bought into the tool kit, and this tool kit gives us certain abilities to model and describe things and view things and output things.  [0:13:43]

Now, if we look at that tool kit, just like in an architectural design, you could say, “Well, are we talking about the partition plan?  Are we talking about the structural plan?  Are we talking about the site plan?”  All of these things are in parallel.  In fact, in the world, I’m sitting in a chair in an office in a town in the world.  Where am I?  I’m on Earth.  Where am I?  I’m in my chair.  It just depends on the context of what you want to focus on.  [0:14:15]

So, let’s focus for a minute on attributes and just what makes an attribute.  Now, if you’ve been in ARCHICAD for any length of time, then you certainly use these all the time, but sometimes it’s good just to step back for a minute and say, “Alright, let’s look at the structure of the English language.  Let’s look at grammar.  Let’s look at word etymology, etc.”  So, let’s take a moment to look at attributes and say, “What do layers do?”  Well, they determine what is visible and what is editable, you can say.  [0:14:56]

So, you block layers or you hide them, you turn them on.  All elements, with minor exceptions like doors and windows, live on a layer.  They have a layer associated with them, but what are line types?  This is how things are drawn.  Now, obviously there are a lot of things that determine how things are drawn, including the fills and the pens, etc., but this is a basic, atomic level of the line that you’re using and whether it’s dashed or a sketchy line, etc.  [0:15:38]

Now, fills determine our areas of building elements.  Now, what is an area? Well, we can say it’s on the floor plan or the site plan, but it’s also the area that a wall is cut through when you’re seeing it in a partition or a floor plan, etc.  Now, the surfaces obviously have to do with the appearance in 3D or section elevation.  We think about surfaces in general just in the 3D window, but the surface defines also whether there is any line work for brick or siding or dock pattern for a stipple – things like that.  [0:16:34]

The building material is what it’s made from, and this, of course, is the real-world reference to concrete, steel, lumber or timber, gypsum – all different things that things are made from, and there are associated properties such as heat.  If you wanted to do analysis, you could say, “What is the heat resistance, the insulation value of these building materials and their relationship to each other,” in terms of which is stronger and has a higher priority. If things are being assembled together, how do you want ARCHICAD to deal with it? [0:17:21]

Now, composites would be another term for assemblies.  You know that we assemble walls or floors with certain things.  Now, complex profiles are more complex assemblies, and they can represent a lot of real-world construction techniques, just in a very straightforward way, represent what may take many different steps to build.  If you think about a wall being framed and having insulation put in and cladding and painted, and all of those things, the complex profile essentially encapsulates all of that.  [0:18:06]

Now, if we look at this, just in general, this is what we make things out of or the things that we make our building in ARCHICAD use these things.  None of these are actual elements.  In other words, a wall is different than the complex profile that defines the wall.  So, we have instances of complex profiles that are placed.  We have objects that are on certain layers, so these are a framework.  [0:18:43]

Option settings, as we know on the bottom of our work environment in ARCHICAD 20 and above, and in previous versions, they’re still available from menus, but they were also available in a little short menu called the Quick Options bar.  They allow us to quickly switch combinations of things – the ways that we’re viewing our model, so the option settings have to do with viewing the model.  It’s also viewing the drawings, right?  So, viewing the model or drawings, and attributes is how our element’s displayed or – what did we say?  Defined.  OK.  [0:19:43]

So, we go in here, layer combinations.  Again, I’m not going to write all of these things down, necessarily, but layer combinations define which layers are in any particular context in use. The partial structure display defines whether we’re seeing the full body of a wall or just the core of it, and possibly restricting it to things that are just load-bearing.  Model view options determine whether we’re seeing things like the doors and windows in their entirety or what level of detail they are or whether we have a simplified view of them.  [0:20:27]

Pen sets would relate to just how the lines are being drawn, and in some cases, we want to have more differentiation.  In other cases, we want everything to be more similar.  The graphic overrides give us a wide variety of ways of seeing the design and a view of the design for presentation and analysis and just generally to give flexibility to the graphic standards.  [0:21:02]

The renovation filters obviously control what phase of a project is being worked on or looked at.  They have some limitations – serious limitations because it’s only existing to be demoed and new.  We don’t have phase 1, phase 2, phase 3, and we don’t have options, although sometimes you can use the renovation filters to define different schemes or options for a design.  [0:21:33]

Dimension preferences allow us the flexibility to define the dimension annotation for a site plan to be different than a detailed drawing in terms of level of accuracy or the style, like decimal feet versus feet and inches or inches with fractions, down to a very small value or millimeters versus meters, etc.  The 3D styles also affect, then, how things look in the 3D window.  [0:22:09]

Now, all of these things have been enhanced as we’ve moved through ARCHICAD.  The 3D styles used to be manually set.  It’s just that you would make a choice.  Right now, I’d like to have shadows, or no, I don’t want shadows.  I want to move more quickly.  Now you have presets.  Dimension preferences – I can’t even remember the point that they were set as a preference.  That probably goes back to version 6 or 7 or something of ARCHICAD.  [0:22:37]

Renovation filters were introduced into version 15, and so before then, we had to do other workarounds for remodels with layer combinations, primarily, and sometimes just by having multiple versions of a file.  With an as-built file, you’d copy it and work on a new design, and you’d be able to potentially show both by opening two different files.  [0:23:01]

The graphic overrides we never really had.  The options that they introduced in version 20, I think it was, didn’t exist before.  Again, there were manual ways you could just change certain things, but this allows a lot of flexibility.  Pen sets have been around a very long time. They haven’t really changed very much.  Model view options have been around, but they’ve evolved in recent years to separate out some of the things that used to be part of the graphic overrides and get more sophisticated, and the library parts have, in general, more ability to be viewed differently.  [0:23:41]

Partial structure display has been around maybe since version 12.  I don’t know.  It’s been a while.  It could have been earlier than that.  It could have been 10, and of course layer combinations have been around for a very long time.  Now, when I first started using ARCHICAD back in 1989 – in version 3.4, they didn’t have layers and layer combinations. There were 16 layered numbers in a 4x4 grid, and you could say that the walls should be seen on numbers 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 or something like that, and so when you activated a particular combination, which was one of the 16, the elements that were told or were being chosen to be on that number 7, let’s say, would show.  [0:24:31]

So, it was limited to just 16 categories, and it was sort of a different metaphor for the walls being on different things. The furniture would be on a smaller number of things.  So, layer combinations, of course, we use inherently all the time as you’re working and you switch.  Some of these other things you don’t switch as often.  [0:24:54]

Now, these are organizational principles. These are things that you need to understand and use well in ARCHICAD daily life – daily practice.  They all play a role in the view map, primarily, in the sense that the project map defines where we are in a viewpoint of the project.  Are we looking at plans?  Are we looking at sections or details, etc.?  The views define all of these in general – all of these option settings.  [0:25:33]

So, the elements you’re drawing with these definitions – the views of those elements are controlled in the view map.  Now, I know, for most of you, what I’m saying just has become second nature, but I think it’s good to think sort of abstractly at these things because then you can start saying, “Well, what’s missing in your understanding?  What is confusing?  What do you find that you keep on having to play with until you get the right result?”  [0:26:09]

So, to the extent that you really understand it from a theoretical abstract basis and then optimize it to simplify your work.  Best Practices really are simple practices.  Simple doesn’t mean unsophisticated.  In this case, simple means easy.  It means straightforward.  It means the amount of effort that you put in is commensurate with the needs of the task and is a minimum for getting stuff done.  I think we all would agree that, to the extent that you can maintain your creativity, maintain your enjoyment, that the simpler you can make things, the better – to the extent that you can just get things done faster and easier, the better, so that’s what we’re talking about here.  [0:27:06]

So, we’re going to be looking in the Best Practices course this year at the definitions of these attributes so that you know how to control them.  We’ll be looking at the definitions of all of these options so that you know exactly where you would use them and what they’re used for, and of course we’re going to be working with the navigator – all of the sections here, to make sure that you understand the relationships of these things, and I know so many users, for example, still ask me questions about the view map and not really quite understanding how everything relates from the project map through the view map to the layout book.  [0:27:57]

It’s certainly – that’s something that we’ll make sure that you’re really very, very comfortable with.  Now, all of this here has nothing to do with a building, and I’m saying that sort of facetiously because all of you every day are focused on buildings and designing them and managing construction on them and taking to clients about the buildings or the build environment that you’re going to create, but all of these have to do with the structure of the program that describes your building.  [0:28:36]

So, we will, of course, and I don’t have it written down here, and I’m not going to take the time to type it in.  We will be going through, of course, all the different tools.  Now, one of the things that just in general, I’ll say, is that there may be more than one tool for the job, just like in any practice.  I mean, you could use a screwdriver or a power drill with a screw attachment to screw things.  We’re going to, of course, be looking for where we can use powerful tools to do things and powerful commands and methods, to that extent that it will make your life easier, like having a power tool rather than manual tool.  [0:29:29]

That means, for example, that while you can make walls out of composites, we’re going to be moving more and more towards complex profiles.  Why?  Because the complex profiles have more flexibility.  They really represent the real world more and better than simple composites.  So, when you’re designing things, and you’re going into more detail, you’re going to be using some more of these tools, and I know some of you have used complex profiles a lot, and for others it’s been an area that you haven’t quite explored.  [0:30:10]

So, we’re going to be moving in that direction.  When we talk about something like a ceiling grid, you can make a ceiling grid for an acoustical ceiling out of a whole bunch of little elements, or you could use the Curtain Wall tool, even though it’s not a curtain wall – not literally a curtain wall, but it is a grid system that you can use to define that type of framework.  [0:30:42]

So, we’ll be going through all of these things here.  Let me just see some comments.  Alright, so Geraldo asks, “Can lack of memory affect layer combinations?”  Well, if you forget which layer combination to use – if your memory is lacking.  No, I’m just teasing.  I assume you mean lack of memory on the computer.  Alright, I have a user on 21 that seems to have layer combinations right, but sometimes non-2D parts of sections disappear.  Relaunching ARCHICAD fixes this.  [0:31:21]

OK, so I’ve never heard of anything where ARCHICAD basically didn’t actually do what you told it to do in the sense of the classic thing.  Did you give it the right instructions?  When you have low memory on a computer, obviously the computer struggles to keep up with you trying to draw something or bring up something on 3D.  It takes longer than you’d like.  More memory can often speed that up, but in general, ARCHICAD will just soldier along with the resources that you give it and get the job done.  [0:32:07]

So, the issue that most likely, just as a guess from your brief description, would explain that situation is that the person manually changed layers in Layer settings dialog or manually changed the layer combination to see things, and then, at a certain point, double-clicked on a view to bring up a view, and that changed the layer combination or vice versa – they basically had a view intact and then changed the layer combination and then went back to the viewpoint. If you’re looking at the floor plan, and you bring up a section with the same layer combination, it’s going to be lacking some things – possibly the roofs or other element types that you weren’t looking at on the floor plan.  [0:33:00]

So, that’s where I would look as opposed to memory.  Anyway, James says, “That’s me,” so I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, but I guess you could relate to something that I said there, so I appreciate that.  David Lohmeier – “Love the way I’ve abstracted the big picture, making the analogy that language is pertinent in following ARCHICAD structure.”  OK, I’m glad that’s hitting home as well.  [0:33:34]

So, let me see here.  Another document – let’s see if I can find this.  I didn’t quite get this going.  It has to do with templates.  Let me just see here – template, find map.  Let’s see.  My mapping the template concept here, and there we go.  OK.  Let’s see if that comes up.  Alright, so another way that we can think about this, and these are all just different ways of looking. [0:34:24]

Just like when you look at a building, you can look at the outside or the inside.  You could, in theory, look at an x-ray vision of the building.  Of course, you’ve got umpteen bazillion drawings describing the building, and there are all different ways of looking at what, essentially, is going to be the reality of the final design.  [0:34:45]

Now, if we look at an ARCHICAD project file here, we can divide it into two different general areas: the specific building and the general template.  So, we’ve been talking about all of these things.  So, attributes and definitions here, layers and layer combinations, composites, materials, pen sets, schedules – didn’t really talk about that earlier, but these are the definitions of how we describe the building or will view the building.  [0:35:21]

The file structure in relationships include the navigator with the project map and the view map, etc., the markers that define viewpoints for sections, the views, drawings, and layouts that define our ways that we’re going to be viewing and outputting the information, and the structure that gives you quick access to favorite settings and interactive legends, so these are all things that can be in your template file.  [0:35:55]

So, when you start a project, and before you’ve put any walls into place – before you put any site information in, these things are defined.  Now, once you start working on a project, you’re going to be laying out the building using the geometry, so we’re going to have 3D elements that will describe it.  We’re going to be bringing in viewer-designed creativity in the program requirements to ultimately satisfy the client’s needs and the legal requirements and the budget, etc.  [0:36:32]

Now, as we’re designing this, you’re going to be also annotating it.  You’re going to be putting in 2D information, dimensions.  You’re going to be focusing on making it constructible, so you’re describing it with schedule and specifications so that contractors can do it, and you’re going to be dealing with approvals and bids.  So, all of these things relate to the project file.  [0:36:59]

So, understanding everything here is best practices, but understanding the core of how a project is set up will enable you to make these buildings much faster and get documents that just perform better, so that’s essentially a little mini-nutshell on another way to think about your best practices in your office.  OK, now let’s look at a project file.  [0:37:40]

Let’s look at the GraphiSoft standard template here in the U.S.  So, I just actually literally said, “Give me a new file.”  It comes up with this “Welcome.  Thanks for choosing ARCHICAD.”  That is in a worksheet, a 2D working area that you can see right here, and we have the plan representation, and they’ve preset some markers for sections and elevations and wall section down here.  [0:38:11]

Now, as a template, we already have, of course, the navigator with the different parts of the project map, and because there are some sections pre-drawn, they exist in the project map, and similarly, there are 4 elevation markers pre-drawn, and if I right-click on this one and say, select this elevation marker on the home story and zoom to it, then we’ll see that is the marker that it refers to.  So, basically these viewpoints are defined in your story structure by adding as many stories as you need, and by putting in markers, in general, that will create these viewpoints.  [0:38:58]

The view map – again, I know most of you know this pretty darn well, but I think it’s important as we start this course to just talk conceptually about what this is about.  The view map allows us to look at different viewpoints in the project in different ways.  So, in the general drawings, let’s see.  If we go to Plans, obviously we’re going to be looking at different stories.  We’re going to be looking at different variations, existing versus new.  [0:39:37]

So, for all of these views, each one we go to, for example, first floor existing plan, and I go to Settings – it’s going to have all the options we’re talking about here, and the definitions that are appropriate for that particular view.  So, you want to have something that is clearly organized.  So, if I just close this up, this is organized here in the U.S. template with some project phases, so start with schematic, go into design development.  Eventually, create construction documents and then do some supplemental views for various purposes, presentations, and analysis, etc.  [0:40:26]

Of course, in our layout book here, we have a similar set with the different layout sheets, and this structure here – this can be a little bit confusing because we’re talking about a layout book here, so the existing plans, whether they’re numbers A101 here.  Here’s 109, 110, 111.  What’s going on here?  Are we going to have all of these sheets for a simple project that’s in new construction?  The answer, of course, is that if it’s just new construction, you won’t have existing plans, and you won’t have demo plans, but ARCHICAD is smart enough that if you remove these things – if you delete them, that the numbering will change.  [0:41:15]

So, if I go to the settings here, it’s using automatic book and subset ID assignment, so the 109 is not something that was manually done.  It was based on the fact that the previous one was 108, and this group here is set up to continue using the ID assignment of the upper level, so these basically just go in a sequence, so we have definitions in the layout book that are sensible and will make your life easy.  [0:41:57]

So, if I go and say, “Well, we’re not demoing anything.  Let me just X this out,” deleting it, and go here, now this all renumbers.  If we don’t have any existing plans, and I X that out, then these things all just renumber.  So, ARCHICAD, in general, is smart, but you need to understand how autonumbering works and what your options are because sometimes you do want to slip in something.  Maybe there’s going to be – maybe there’s another sheet where you have first floor enlarged plans or something like that.  [0:42:33]

Maybe you don’t want to name it 102.  Maybe you wanted to do 101-E or some other arbitrary thing, so there are ways that you’re going to be able to do that.  So, I’ll be making sure that you’re very comfortable with both the automatic built-in template structures as well as the things that are required to fit your needs in the context of the project.  [0:43:00]

As I mentioned in the emails that I’ve sent out and general course description, this course is accompanies by a coaching program, so as you go through the lessons, and you say, “Well, that makes sense, but my project is different,” or “I see how to do this type of wall, but I don’t know how to do my type of wall,” or “I don’t know how to build this complex structure.  What’s the best way to do it?”  [0:43:30]

So, the coaching program, which is going to be running on Thursdays this year, will be your opportunity to say, “Here’s my project.  How do I get this done?”  That will be the opportunity to apply the Best Practices principles in the context of the real-world projects that you’re working on.  Now, let’s take a look at the sample project that I use so frequently.  [0:43:59]

So, I imagine all of you have seen this more times than you care to, but I like returning to it because, well, it’s familiar.  It’s an old friend, but it really is a very quick way to demonstrate and talk about concepts – small enough that it responds quickly, but with enough intricacy that we can see some detailed 3D and reporting, etc.  [0:44:31]

Now, let me see if any questions here.  So, Ken Brooks says, “It would be nice to have some or all of these organization charts and images.  Can they be made available?”  Yes.  Yeah, I think everything that I’ve presented today not only will be on the recording, so you could watch this again, but also, I will post it on that page in the member area, and one of the things that I’m pleased to say is that I’m going to be getting transcripts done of all of the lessons.  [0:45:06]

I actually did this for most of the original Best Practices course.  This has a number of different functions, but one thing that I didn’t realize until recently is that by having transcripts done by a professional person rather than voice recognition with automated stuff that is prone to errors, these transcripts can be input into the video hosting tools and be used as captions. [0:45:38]

So, if you have any issue with understanding what I’m saying when you hear it – maybe English isn’t your first language, or you have hearing issues or just simply your mind works better when you read things, then you will have the opportunity to turn on captions.  I’ll have a little note about that on the video page.  [0:46:02]

So, you’ll have that option, and of course, as I said, the diagrams that I’ve been sharing – I’ll definitely make them available, in this case, on the same page as this lecture.  OK, so in terms of Best Practices, as I mentioned, I’m interested in this course in saying, “Well, what are the latest best practices, and where have they changed?”  Certainly, many of you have been through the earlier course.  Many of you who have been using ARCHICAD for an extended period, so how can I help you to really focus in on what has changed and what’s different?  [0:46:49]

So, let’s look at some of the things that are in this project that weren’t available or were done differently a few years ago.  So, one obvious thing for me, when I look at this, is that the stair and railing tools, starting in version 21, are now totally different, so this stair element is in a stair tool that just has a very complex environment, and I’m not going to try to explain this.  I’ve demonstrated this in other places, and we will go into stairs later, but basically, what GraphiSoft has done, as it sort of goes around and around with updating this tool, adding that tool, and changing the options in the menu structure.  [0:47:42]

They’ve said, “How can we make the tools, methods, and definitions more connected to architectural practice?”  So, what does that mean?  Well, one concept that was introduced probably around ARCHICAD 18 or 19 – I don’t know, somewhere between 17 and 19 – is the idea that you can link things from one story to another.  [0:48:18]

So, what that has meant, in terms of practice is that you can say, “This wall goes from this story to the next story,” and if you change the height of the stories, then the wall could just elongate or shrink.  The same with the stairs.  You can link the top of the stair in relationship to another story.  Now, when I do that, instead of saying 10’ or roughly 3 ½ meters, we would say that it’s 0, related to that second story.  So, this is linking the concept of a stairwell.  A stair gets you from one place to another, and most commonly, it goes from one story to another.  [0:49:05]

So, now the stair selection and the stair definition are tied into that, and again, the general design constraints and design intent are set at one level, and then the specifics at another level.  So, if we look at stairs just as an example, we set up some general things.  What’s the width of the staircase?  How many steps?  What are the sizes of the steps?  Is the run of the steps locked, or is it sort of flexible based on maybe when you stretch it?  [0:49:46]

Is it linked to the top story, or is it going to be not linked and something that you determine separately where you’re going to have a landing or something like that?  These are overall definitions.  In the same area, something that’s brand new with the Stair & Railing tool is the idea that ARCHICAD is going to enforce rules if you wanted to, which means that you can simply say, “Alright, here’s a general rule.  I want risers to be a minimum of 6”, a minimum of” – what would that be?  150 millimeters, and for the landings, we need to have a certain amount of space if we do have a landing.  [0:50:28]

Now, by putting in these rules or accepting the defaults that GraphiSoft has set up, you now can draw the stair and know that it’s going to be in the ballpark of the right – something legitimate there, and if it turns a corner – if it goes around in a U-shape, it’s still going to maintain certain things.  So, more intelligent, being an assistant in terms of design, and in fact, when you do lay out stairs, in some cases, ARCHICAD will say, “I can’t quite do it that way.  Do you want me to lengthen this little bit over here?  Do you want me to change this relationship?”  It will propose possibly two or three different things.  [0:51:12]

Which way would you prefer?  It’s like an assistant who says, “I get your idea, but we have this issue here.  Which way do you want to work around that issue?”  Now, as we look, even in the stair here, at some other things like classifications and properties, this is data, so in terms of best practices, what we’re seeing in later versions of ARCHICAD is more and more opportunities to assign information to the elements.  So, what do you use information for?  [0:51:48]

Well, in a schedule, you typically put some text information – whether it’s something like “What’s the operation type of the window?  Is it a casement or an awning,” or the manufacturer of equipment or other things, in terms of description? In fact, what you put into these classifications in properties can be used as the basis for specification reports, and we’ll be looking at how all of this data fits in. [0:52:24]

So, generally, what’s the overall idea, structure, requirements, rules, and in this case, at this top level, we’re talking about if we reported on this stair, what sort of information would you have.  Is it fire-resistant?  Different things, and we’re going to be describing it here.  Now, as we go into some of the subcomponents here, stairs are made of structure and finish, so the finish being the steps and the risers, the structure being what supports them, and sometimes they’re integrated.  It’s monolithic, and sometimes they’re separate.  [0:53:07]

Basically, we have a top level, and then we drill down, and then, in this case with the stair, because it’s so complex, we have, “How does it look in plan, and how does it look on the ceiling plan?”  So, all of those – understanding that that is now just totally different than the setup that we had with stairs and railings before.  To get really comfortable with these tools will allow you to more quickly work with them.  If you’re not comfortable, then you’re going to be struggling.  [0:53:43]

Now, if we go to the most basic tool – let’s say we select a wall here, and we go in, what’s changed in recent years with Best Practices for walls?  Well, as things got more and more complex, they separated out what was a list that was potentially combining composites – our complex profiles and composites and building materials here into separate categories.  [0:54:19]

So, we’re thinking first in terms of a category of element, and then we’re choosing a favorite setting, and then we’re choosing some geometry options, including the height and whether it’s linked.  Again, is it linked so that it will adjust with the stories or not?  In case you haven’t worked with this or paid attention to it much, you could say it’s linked to the upper story, but a certain distance below that story – the thickness of the slab, let’s say, or the ceiling, etc.  So, it doesn’t have to be literally linked to that top height.  It can be offset but related to it.  [0:54:59]

As we go down in here, we’re looking at different ways to describe it on the floor plan.  This changed over the years because more of the definitions are now incorporated when we have composites or complex profiles, so there are different settings that are available here.  The idea of surfaces has changed back in version 17, so it used to be that we’d call them materials and say that something had a material appearance.  [0:55:36]

I always told people, “It’s not material like what it’s made from.  It’s the finish.”  Instead of finish, they chose the word surface, but essentially, surface is what it looks like from the outside – what it’s painted, etc., and so things can be, of course, made with stone but ended up looking like it had paint on it, or different variations so you can have something that structurally has a certain appearance and designation but has a different appearance ornamentally, let’s say. [0:56:17]

So, all of these controls in here also get augmented when you do use a complex profile that has this ability.  So, if I go to the footing here, you’ll see that we now have some options for adjusting sizes.  We don’t have a clear preview here, but if you do have something that you are placing, and you do see some previews of these complex profiles like this, each one has the option, potentially, of changing a certain dimension – a certain area or a certain part of the component.  [0:56:57]

So, these are part of the best practices, understanding how these elements work, what the possibilities are, where you would apply them so that you can work more efficiently – in some cases, with fewer elements.  Isn’t it nice when you can have one wall type that can have different instances?  Not just make it taller or shorter, but different thicknesses, different offsets for different things.  I think this is going to make so much more sense because you think about it like it’s a wall.  It’s a 2x6 wall with concrete, etc., but you understand innately as an architect or designer that there are going to be some variations.  [0:57:47]

This one, the façade, the cladding goes down to here because of this design condition, and this one over here, because it’s in a different part of the building, we have some other variation, but it’s really the same type of wall.  So, the complex profiles with the new offset modifiers are going to be important to just really understand.  [0:58:07]

Now, we are at the hour mark, and I want to keep these lessons fairly compact.  In other words, not take two or three hours out of your day.  I want to open it up to questions here, just anything that may be observations about best practices.  One thing I’m always interested in knowing from your perspective is how have things changed for you.  What are the things that you’ve been struggling with or that you found, like, “Oh my God, it’s so nice that I can do such and such”?  [0:58:50]

So, I’m going to look to see if any of you have some comments about this, and if you have any comments or questions about what I presented in this past hour, I’d appreciate it.  So, I’m going to take a sip.  We have a quiet crowd today.  I have 48 people attending.  OK, so Susan says, “Looking forward to more details on stairs and railings.”  [0:59:27]

So, all of you who signed up in this initial period have access to all of the ARCHICAD training materials that I’ve created.  That was part of the launch bonus. If you’re watching this recording later, and you didn’t get it, then you’re going to – of course, if you’re coming in later, then more of this course will have been completed, and you can just jump around and say, “Hey, I’d like to look at the stairs and railings,” but Susan, there is a course in the Masters of ARCHICAD website.  All of this will be integrated into the one website called ARCHICADtraining.com that I’m setting up, but there is a course you can look at for stairs and railings.  [1:00:13]

So, that was done in the fall of 2017, after ARCHICAD 21 came out with the new features.  So, if that’s something that you want to jump into right now, just say, “God, I wish I knew how to work with them better,” please go to that area.  You have logins for the MastersofARCHICAD.com site, and that’s where you’ll find stairs and railings.  [1:00:42]

OK, Eric Gedney says, “I’m having a lot of difficulty getting the Railing tool to do what I’m thinking.  It is not working according to my logic.  Need some help here.”  So, Eric, during the coaching call tomorrow or any Thursday, please come and attend, and if you have a file that you think would make it easy for me to see the problem, then send me the file via Dropbox to support@Bobrow.com, and I’ll take a look on-screen.  We’ll talk about what you’ve got and what you wanted to do, and I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with stairs and railings.  There’s still some things that I trip up on. [1:01:26]

I’m not using it every day.  I think if I used it every day, I’d be fine, but I’ve certainly gotten to the point where I can look at what you’re frustrated with and most likely help you figure out a simple way to get it done.  OK, Andy says, “Had to go out on Monday.  Are they starting to review again, Eric?”  They will be planning on or working on getting the new site set up, and I would imagine by the end of the week or the weekend, I’ll have the new site set up.  You’ll get a login for it, and the new lessons will be placed there, and then over time, I’ll be migrating all of the other ARCHICAD training lessons to this site.  [1:02:09]

I want it to be the mega-site for ARCHICAD training – and not just my own training and the Masters of ARCHICAD, but potentially other people as well.  So, if you want online training with ARCHICAD, you can go to ARCHICADtraining.com and get the best stuff.  That’s my goal for this year is to set that up, but within the next few days, I’ll have these lessons set up for your access.  [1:02:39]

Alright, so Chris says, “I’ve struggled with linking when moving a roof to another floor.”  OK, so we can look at that in a coaching call, but one thing I’ll just say, in terms of linking here – let’s take a 3D view here.  So, if I select, let’s say, this roof here – I’m just waiting for it to be ready here.  Alright, so let’s see.  If I select – OK, I’m getting a spinning beach ball here just because I think I haven’t made any changes to this file, and it’s getting ready to take care of the bookkeeping for Undo and Autosave, so I’m getting a spinning beach ball at the moment.  [1:03:31]

When you have any element that has a reference for a home story, with the exception of doors and windows, which are part of the wall that itself has a reference to the home story.  Now, I’ve done that, and I’ll see if I can select more easily.  Let’s just maybe pick this lower roof here.  Alright, so this lower roof – you can see it in the little pop-up.  It says Story 2, second floor.  So, its home story is the next story up.  It’s covering the ground floor – the first story, but it lives as a home story up on the second floor.  [1:04:15]

This allows us to show, for example, when we’re on the second floor, we can see the shingles – the roof covering, but when we’re on the story below, we can say, “Hey, this is below the home story,” and we may say that when we’re looking at the other story here, we edit this custom setting and can say that down below the fill is not seen.  So, by putting it on the appropriate story or the story like this, we can say that we show the fill for the shingles here, but we don’t show it below, and maybe we don’t show it above because then it’s remote, so it’s only shown there.  [1:04:58]

Now, if we, for some reason, wanted it to be on a different story, if I go here and say its home story is going to be first floor or top plate – we change it here.  It will move up or down in space.  It will actually literally reposition in general.  However, if I right-click on it and say Relink Home Story, then I can choose a different story, and its elevation and height values will remain unchanged.  So, that’s a little tip in terms of just linking elements to the right stories. [1:05:36]

In general, when you draw something on the plan, whatever story you’re on when you’re doing it is going to be the home story, but you can change things to have a different home story. You can link it to a different story, so I’m not quite sure if that is the exact question you’re asking, but it’s useful information, Chris. [1:05:57]

Alright, James says, “Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.  Can you please explain how we can control stair representation from model view?”  OK, so now we’re getting into things that are really more appropriate for the coaching call, where any question like this is welcome.  I want to, just in general, keep this on the focus of Best Practices.  I understand that needing to understand how stairs are represented is currently an issue.  [1:06:34]

I’ll just bring up the one thing here just to give you the 30-second answer, if I can, and that is if I go to the Document menu, and I go to Model View Options, we have many different ways that we can look at the model.  So, in, for example, a standard construction document, the stairs may be shown with certain types of details here on the floor plan whereas in, for example, a reflected ceiling plan, we may have much less detail and a choice that we’re going to be showing it here, so there are some options here.  [1:07:17]

There’s also, for example, this one here in the MasterTemplate.  I think in some of these – OK, so this one shows zones.  There’s an option for showing headroom.  You can see this little diagram here, so in some settings of Model View Options, we may show just the space that may be required for access.  You can see if there’s a problem where the stairwell or roof or something like that is impairing it.  [1:07:50]

Anyway, so in Model View Options, there’s a section for stairs.  There’s a section for railing, and there’s also a section for the detail level of the symbols.  This would be the plan view, so on the construction document here, we’re going to be showing certain things compared to what we would see on a roof plan or something like that.  You can see how things change there.  So, that’s in general where that is.  [1:08:17]

So, Michael Knapp says, “What level of viewing for laptop versus larger screen device for better viewing?”  Not quite sure I understand it, but I’ll just say that in general, you can work on a laptop.  I’m on a laptop here. I have a secondary screen plugged in, and that’s why you may see me turning my head because I’m looking at your questions on the other screen, and I use that so I can have my email or my web browser up while I’m working on ARCHICAD and have these up on the other screen.  [1:08:56]

You can also potentially take parts of your drawing, and let’s say that this sheet here – I’m going to say Undock the Tab, and now it’s a separate window that I can move over.  It actually was on the other screen when I did that, so you can do that.  Now, in Windows, you may have to change the overall boundary of the app to run across multiple screens.   Then you can move the individual windows like this around.  On Mac, it doesn’t have the concept of being locked into a sort of bounded area, so when we undock it, we can move it freely.  If I want to redock it, I think I have to go to the Window menu and then say, “Dock this window,” and that will put it back on there.  [1:09:51]

So, those are a couple of observations about laptops and having an extra monitor there.  OK, so Chris says, “I mean levels,” so my whole thing about the linking the roofs might have been irrelevant.  You’re talking about the level.  I assume you mean the height or elevation.  [1:10:18]

Alright, so James Power says, “Here’s something that takes a lot of my time on almost every project.  In almost every case, I want my dimensions and text with leaders to be in front of everything else, but these elements are often shown behind other elements by default.  Then I need to select all dimensions or notes and move to the front or move forward.  It’s probably a coaching call question, but I thought I would send it just in case it’s a simple answer.”  [1:10:40]

Simple answer is ARCHICAD has some defaults that you can’t change, and let’s say they work a lot of the time.  So, when you draw a line, it will float in front of the walls and in front of the fills, and if you do need the fill to cover up a line, you have to bring that fill forward, but let’s say most of the time, the sequence of stacking works well.  I’m not sure about this thing with the dimensions and text with leaders.  [1:11:09]

I would assume that annotation normally would float in front of the other elements, so if this is something that’s causing an issue, when you send in an example file with the coaching call where you have some stuff that’s not showing up the way you want, I’ll take a look at it.  I’ve not experienced a general issue with annotation being hidden by other elements.  [1:11:34]

Alright, Luis says, “Workflow is very important, but deadlines occasionally disrupt good habits.  Always interested in refining the process.”  OK, absolutely.  Sometimes you have to cut corners just to get things out.  Of course, in general, the more you stay disciplined and follow the Best Practice methods, the faster you’ll be working anyway to get things out, and frequently – even though something takes a little extra effort, you can still fit it in.  That being said, quick and dirty sometimes is required.  [1:12:11]

OK, Tom Downer says, “This is pretty familiar through ARCHICAD 19.  I’m looking forward to moving to 22 by preserving as much of my favorites, complex profiles, layer combinations, etc.”  So, we will be looking at migration strategies.  In general, it’s gotten easier.  You can open up your ARCHICAD 19 in 22, and it will pretty quickly, as soon as you migrate the libraries, look the same.  That being said, favorites that relate to library parts may require being reconfigured, and there are some other things, of course that didn’t exist in 19 that exist in 22, so there are some things that we’ll need to consider.  [1:12:57]

So, we can talk about that a little bit in the coaching calls, but I will be doing a section on project migration, so that will be covered.  Alright, so Andy says, “Fab.  Thanks.”  I guess that might have been related to the question about the recordings.  OK, Dennis says, “So we’ve been talking recently in the office about how ARCHICAD can appear very convincing and complete, but sometimes this makes it appear as if we are more progressed in a design than we actually are.”  That is true.  [1:13:24]

“We’re starting to look at how to make drawings appear less complete.  Have you come across this issue?”  Yes.  So, you may recall having seen some presentations that I did recently about design views and creating simplified views of your building, and so that would be something you’d want to review.  You can turn off the level of detail, so maybe you’re seeing the walls without all of the little skins and all the hatching so it’s just parallel lines, and it doesn’t look like you’ve made big decisions, even though you have put in a certain type of wall assembly as a placeholder for your final design.  [1:14:06]

You can simplify your elevations. You can simplify the way that windows and doors are represented using Model View Options just so they look sort of like basic shapes and not like a highly detailed design.  So, all of these things can help you to communicate better that this is in process.  The actual choices made so far are initial ones and not final or well-developed.  [1:14:37]

Of course, the white model option – if we go back to the 3D here, one of the ones you definitely should be using for things like that is this looks like we’ve chosen to do this type of shingle siding and that we’ve chosen this type of stone, but if we simply change this to a white model here, now no one is going to think that you’ve got a finalized design.  They’re going to think, “OK, so I can see the shape.  We’ve got two stories, and oh, OK, you put this up here.”  So, we’re focusing just on the concept.  [1:15:12]

Alright, Joe Archibald, “Though I haven’t used them extensively, I’m thinking that Favorites may replace the interactive template sheets you’ve created.”  They have different strengths.  Favorites are fantastic, the visual favorites.  The interactive legends still allow a much more extensive set of elements to pick from, and you can zoom around and look in at just the beams or just the landscape elements or things like that, and you can also use the interactive legends for groups of elements like a whole kitchen or a lobby or a garage or anything else, and thereby you can bring in room groupings.  You can’t do that with the favorites.  [1:16:05]

So, they do have different strengths.  OK, Andrej says, “Eric, that tip with railing contours was very good.  I didn’t know that.”  Yeah, it’s definitely a very useful thing.  OK, David Lohmeier.  “Are you going to explore the file structure, and what used to be the supplemental information from the Best Practices course?  I think understanding how to build your own file structure for workflow is critical, too.”  Well, we’ll be looking at file structure in detail.  I’m not quite sure what you mean by what used to be supplemental information from the Best Practices course.  Perhaps you could explain what you mean by that.  [1:16:46]

Stefan – hey, Stefan.  “How do you best draw a roof overhand when the rafters are narrower compared to the ones inside the building?”  So, we will be going over that, and I can certainly show it in a coaching program.  In this particular project here – the sample project with MasterTemplate, we actually are doing that.  We have a main body of the roof here, and these rafters that are visible are actually rafter tails. [1:17:24]

They’re not the structural rafters, and while they might be, in this case, the same dimension as the ones inside, they are ornamental, and they could be any dimension, and so very, very briefly, what you can do is you can have one roof. Let me just put this back to the sort of normal view here.  So, if I zoom in on this, and I’m waiting for ARCHICAD to – there we go.  So, this element that I’m selecting, the roof here is actually a very thin covering over the structural roof, which is underneath it.  [1:18:10]

So, this continuous top part – let’s say it’s the plywood and the shingles here, covers the whole thing, and then the structural roof is inside the building going up to the plate of the wall, and then there is something out here – in this case, the rafter tails, but it could be soffit and fascia, etc.  So, this is one way to do it, and another way that this can be done is demonstrated here in the sample project where I believe I have – this roof here has got a thickness of over a foot.  What is it?  The thickness is 10”.  This is the full body of the element, and the outside of the roof has been cut away with a solid element operation.  [1:19:05]

So, basically, it’s got the body that it needs to for the whole shape, but outside, we’ve carved it away to be able to reveal the ornamental things, whereas this roof – this upper roof here.  When I select it, you’re going to see it’s going to be much thinner.  This thickness of this roof is literally less than an inch.  It’s just the top cover of it.  So, those are two different approaches that you can use for that.  [1:19:36]

OK.  Andrej says, “How can I undock the window when I have Windows 10?”  So, if you have a window, you should be able to undock the tab, but when you do that, it will probably keep it within the boundary of the ARCHICAD working window – the app window, but if you are using the option to minimize or to have a variable size for this, you can pull it over to the other monitor, and so you would take the overall boundary of that app over to the other monitor, and then you’d be able to have the different tabs or windows displayed across.  [1:20:27]

OK.  David Lohmeier.  “The actual file structure you gave us in the older MasterTemplate – how does that apply to the newest ARCHICAD 22?  Is it still applicable?”  The actual file structure?  So, MasterTemplate – each year, I’ve updated it, made it use the new features that ARCHICAD has added.  In version 22, I went the extra mile to really rework a lot of stuff, so I’m not quite sure what you’re asking.  [1:21:04]

I’m going to be talking about in this course how the file structure has changed.  I’ve obviously touched on that in today’s lecture, but we will be going in more detail.  So, I think I’ve gone through all of the questions that you typed in. I appreciate having some interaction, and hopefully you enjoyed having a little bit more specifics after what was an hour of sort of abstract and theory.  [1:21:34]

Tomorrow, we’ll have the next coaching call, so please join me if you have time and you have questions that you’d like to get my help on, or if you simply want to see what the questions are that other people are putting in.  It can be actually pretty interesting.  I’m always fascinated to see what kind of questions come in, and every time it’s different.  Sometimes they’re very basic, beginner questions, and sometimes they’re more complex, and sometimes they’re pretty exotic questions, but I try to have a balance.  [1:22:11]

Thinking of possibly changing the structure a little bit to have a beginner’s section.  I might call it Beginner’s Corner.  Wondering what you think about that.  If you think it would be nice to sort of organize the call into some different topic areas or different levels, maybe you can type that in right now.  I’ll ask tomorrow during the call about that, and I’m also looking at setting up a Slack workspace.  [1:22:43]

Right now, you’ve all been typing into the chat box in GoToMeeting or GoToWebinar, and you can’t see each other’s comments, and you certainly can’t respond very easily to each other’s questions, but I’m going to be setting up a messaging environment that you can use not only during the calls but separately.  It’s using a tool called Slack that is pretty easy to get the hang of, and I think I’ll try to set that up.  Maybe I’ll do it for tomorrow or otherwise try to get it for next week, and that will allow the discussion to go beyond just me reading your comments.  [1:23:27]

So, let us see here.  OK, Joe says, “Looking forward to maybe purchasing some of the setups for the newer features,” and Josef Grzelak – yes, from Australia, just logged in.  “Will this webinar be recorded for us to access and watch again?”  Yes.  Yeah, I’m going to be posting it on the new website within the next few days.  I still have some work to do to get ARCHICADtraining.com set up for that purpose, but it will be there.  [1:23:54]

OK, and hey, Chris Ellis, you just signed up. Chris is one of my old friends – not only one of the original members of the Best Practices course but also has helped present at a Masters of ARCHICAD summit, so I’m glad.  It’s so wonderful to have people like you, Chris, and so many of you who have been with me for a long time, for a variety of reasons.  [1:24:19]

I mean, obviously, now I’ve got something new, and you’re paying me some money so I can earn my keep this year, but also I just love the fact that we’re all still learning.  I mean, every year, I’m learning a lot.  In fact, every week, I’d say there are things I’m figuring out about ARCHICAD, or I’m just learning, so great to have Chris and other veterans here with us.  It also helps during the coaching calls because sometimes I get stuck.  Something isn’t working, and Chris types in, “Did you check that setting there?”  I don’t claim to be totally self-sufficient.  I think we all benefit from each other’s input.  [1:25:08]

So, thank you all, again, for joining me today.  I’m going to try to keep this closer to the 60-minute mark for future lessons, but I think this was an important one to really take the abstract then answer some more practical questions and allow it to go up to this 90-minute mark.  So, Geraldo says, “Great.  I’ll try to catch it.  Thanks.”  Chris Ellis says, “Aww,” so yeah.  Yeah, Chris, you’re one of my favorites.  [1:25:39]

OK, Michael Knapp says, “I would like to have a Beginner’s Corner that also identifies what viewing device is best for actually inputting for design.  All I currently have is a laptop, but do I need a better computer for design development?”  Just as a quick answer, a laptop can be just fine.  Obviously, having more space will allow you to lay things out more easily, but most laptops will be able to take an external monitor. [1:26:13]

External monitors are very cheap.  For a couple hundred dollars or Euros or whatever, you can have a 24” monitor.  You can have a pretty good-sized monitor plugged into your computer, and then you’ve got the equivalent of a desktop. In fact, you have two screens, which gives you a lot of flexibility.  So, I wouldn’t worry about whether you have a laptop or not.  I would just say to learn how to use ARCHICAD effectively.  Do make sure you have more than a 15” screen available, but you can be quite effective on a laptop.  [1:26:54]

Alright, and Ken Brooks thanks me, and Nick DiPietro.  “To undock a tab in Windows 10, you need to use the Max/Minimize buttons at the top of the program, just like any other Windows program.”  Yes, so that’s what I was indicating with that thing at the top.  Here in the ARCHICAD environment on the Mac, we have the Maximize and Minimize here.  If I click that green button, it’s going to take over the whole screen, but right now, we’re in a non-maximized view, so I can change it.  You would use the buttons that are on the windows here in the upper-right there.  So, thanks for that little tip, Nick.  [1:27:36]

I think we’re good.  So, I will see some of you tomorrow and certainly be continuing next Monday.  I’m going to be working on the outline for the whole course and sort of see what we’re going to proceed onto next.  I will be slipping in some lessons this month on MasterTemplate, specifically, so they’re going to be sort of – I wouldn’t say a detour, but they’ll be focused on some of the things that need to be explained for people who use MasterTemplate.  [1:28:10]

If you don’t have MasterTemplate, you’ll still find the useful and interesting.  I’ll make sure of that.  If you do want to get MasterTemplate, I’ll look for an email that I’ll be sending out to this course with a discounted offer.  I want to make it easier for you to get a really fine template, and without going into an advertisement on it, a lot of work has been put into it to make it into an effective working environment, and even if you don’t switch to use that template, there’s a lot that you can just study.  [1:28:43]

For example, this sample project, which I refer to so frequently, is part of the template package, and you can just say, “Well, how was that roof built with that overhang and doing that?”  You can see at least one way, or in this case a couple of ways that that was done.  So, thank you for joining me.  I appreciate the opportunity to work with you, and I’ll be back soon with more.  Bye bye.  [1:29:11]