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ArchiCAD 12 (Cadalyst Labs Review)
1 Oct, 2008 By: Jerry LaiserinGreat BIM solution just keeps getting better.
Like fine wine and close friendships, some things just get better with age. Graphisoft's ArchiCAD, which has been around for 25 years, falls into that category for me. Back in the mid-1990s, it was one of the first software products I reviewed, and that first review was a revelation. ArchiCAD was far ahead of its competition at the time — almost anyone who wanted a PC- or Mac-based modeling, drafting, and visualization solution specific to architecture would have otherwise had to buy and integrate two, three, or more programs to accomplish all that ArchiCAD could provide by itself. The product has improved consistently ever since.
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Down Memory Lane
Although ArchiCAD was a top contender for many U.S.-based architects in the mid-1990s, the product had a few limitations back then — limitations that for some prospective purchasers tipped the scales in favor of one or another competing product and kept ArchiCAD from becoming more dominant. For example, early versions of ArchiCAD lacked sophisticated means of sharing the work among project team members, a problem long since solved by ArchiCAD's TeamWork function — still, in my opinion, among the market's most robust and flexible solutions for project workload sharing. The ArchiCAD of yore lacked true reference-file capability, an oversight long since fixed by its HotLink capability, something that has been even further enhanced in ArchiCAD 12. Users of older versions had to access a separate, albeit bundled, program — PlotMaker — to generate printed output, an inconvenience long since solved by integrating PlotMaker's functions directly into ArchiCAD itself. These and other perceived shortcomings of the past were corrected well before the current release of ArchiCAD 12, thereby keeping the product more than competitive as a top contender for architectural design and documentation.
 ArchiCAD 12 BIM Software |
As a historical footnote, Graphisoft used the label "virtual building" long before I popularized an old academic/research term — building information modeling (BIM) — to describe this new generation of technologies. In many ways, I thought and still think virtual building is a better descriptor, but Graphisoft asserts proprietary trademark rights to that name, so a multivendor consensus wouldn't have been possible. Hence, virtual building is Graphisoft's preferred term for its BIM approach, and ArchiCAD deserves credit for being the longest-running BIM product currently on the market.
Graphisoft's product development philosophy seems to strive not merely to keep up with its competition, but to actively seek out and provide innovative solutions for customer problems of which many competitors appear only vaguely aware. For example, ArchiCAD's VirtualTrace function, introduced in version 11, is an extremely elegant technique to help users comfortably make the transition between a 2D-based and a 3D-based mode of thinking about workflow for architectural design and documentation. Graphisoft has not only supported interoperability initiatives such as International Alliance for Interoperability/Industry Foundation Classes (IAI/IFC, see September's "AEC Insight" column for more information) but has consistently backed up its participation in standards efforts with real-world projects and use cases that go beyond the mere prospect of interoperability to demonstrate here-and-now reality.
 Figure 1. ArchiCAD 12's new system-editing capability starts with a hierarchical format for creating and editing curtain wall components, including a user coordinate system to extrude paths along multiple axes for curved and compound curved elements. |
Where We Stand Today
Turning to the version at hand — ArchiCAD 12 — a company spokesperson told me that in planning this release, Graphisoft looked at the industry and recognized a shift from leading-edge users to general adopters as users begin embracing the BIM concept on a large scale. The VirtualTrace feature, along with the BIM Experience Kit training tool also introduced in version 11, helped smooth the transition for early adopters, and version 12 aims to further enhance this experience for a broader class of users.
In response to evolving BIM adoption, Graphisoft's goals for version 12 seem to be focused on three areas of product improvement:
• Speed. Model-based design methods consume more CPU and graphics resources and impose more complex file, data storage, and retrieval requirements than 2D drafting-centric work flows; therefore, software performance must be optimized.
• Design. Users of model-authoring tools increasingly demand the ease of predefined content and the flexibility to create any new systems and content they desire; therefore, software tools must provide both.
• Documentation. Model-based work flows require new approaches to distributing and viewing project information for effective team communication; therefore, software representations must be adaptable to BIM work flows.
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About the Author: Jerry Laiserin
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