ARCHICAD 21 UPDATE 5010: ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

With this solution, we provide a complete, bi-directional workflow between ARCHICAD and any standard PDF reviewer tool, such as Adobe Acrobat or Bluebeam. The solution improves communication and collaboration among architects, engineers and other project stakeholders during PDF-based project management. Bi-directional means that all the markups created in the PDF editor can be imported back to ARCHICAD, where they are transformed into Markup entries which appear in the correct location, helping the user to understand and solve the issue.

See Export/Import Markup Using PDF.

Link Rhino (.3dm)

We have further improved collaboration between ARCHICAD and Rhinoceros – a popular free-form modeling tool – by adding new import options.

The user can link Rhino source files (.3dm) into ARCHICAD, and update, relink etc. in the usual way, similarly to the Link IFC feature introduced in ARCHICAD 21.

Also, Rhino files can be imported into ARCHICAD as an Object, so the new command directly imports Rhino models into ARCHICAD’s Embedded Library as a GDL Object. This command replaces the "Rhino-GDL Converter" add-on, released for ARCHICAD 18, 19 and 20.

See Working With Rhino 3D Models.

Country Specific Features

Merkmalserver Connection (Add-On product, AUT+GER only)

This solution will connect ARCHICAD and Merkmalserver (the Austrian specific classification database solution) to ensure that the freeBIM classification standards – which are amended regularly – can be imported and mapped very easily into an ARCHICAD project to support a smooth BIM workflow.

The interface of the add-on, the Merkmalserver Manager, provides a preview of the freeBIM database, including property visibility by stage, and additional property information.

It is possible to fill in property values in the Interactive Schedule, as well as in Excel Sheets – exported from the IS – for outside consultants.

The add-on also creates freeBIM-specific IFC translator presets for exchanging these data between ARCHICAD and other BIM software.

See freeBIM Manager Add-On.

‘Flächen- und Volumen-Berechnung’ Add-On Enhancements (Add-On product, AUT+GER only)

In Germany and Austria, local regulations require the architect to provide area and volume lists of different rooms. For this purpose, ARCHICAD has an add-on that has been further developed with the following:

•Option to set a page break by zone

•Option to save generated reports directly as an excel worksheet

•When the Project Info dialog is brought up from the List Areas Setup dialog box, the appropriate item is selected

•The List Areas Setup dialog is resizable to allow display of more elements

•The data in the report header is configurable by the user

•Multi-page lists always have page numbering in the footer

•On multi-page lists, the sub-total of the area/volume is written at the bottom of each page, and the top of the following pages

•The rounding correction value is shown in a table format report as well.

Bluebeam Reviewer Tool Connection (Add-On product, USA only)

This is an additional palette for the general PDF Reviewer Tool connection, containing the most important commands for bi-directional workflow between ARCHICAD and Bluebeam.

See Bluebeam Connection.

ARCHICAD-Grasshopper Live Connection – Update 1

We introduced the following new features in ARCHICAD - Grasshopper connection:

•GDL element (static library content) creation from Grasshopper

•Option to define/modify the home story of ARCHICAD elements from Grasshopper

•Stored parameter value feedback in Grasshopper

•Any ARCHICAD element can be referenced in to Grasshopper and broken down into components, such as basic reference geometries, parameters and properties. Thus, this information can be extracted from the existing BIM model, allowing the user to use certain parameters of these elements in other Grasshopper based simulation software.