amazing archicad tutorial

Amazing ArchiCAD

Start Now

Amazing ArchiCAD Start Now

1. In “What would you

like to do?” section, select Create a New Project.

2. In “Set up Project

Settings” section, select Use Latest Project Settings.

3. In “Set up Work

Environment” section, select Standard Profile 12.

4. Click New button to

start a new project

Objective The objective of this training guide is to help the trainee to understand and use the tools available in Archicad to produce Building Information Model

Copyright © CONSOFT ASIA PTE LTD of 41


The structural grid tool is use for setting-up the model correctly and for documentations. Create structural grid by going to the menu Design > Grid System (marked as 1 in the picture).

1. In the Grid settings dialog box click on the Grid Elements tab.

2. Select the desired sides for the

bubbles placement in Markers section. The suggested values are shown in the figure..

3. Select Grid Element Settings

for further settings.



4. In the Grid element settings dialog box under Floor Plan Menu, click on the Grid line type tab (marked as 1 in the picture). The suggested values are shown in the figure. Uncheck the Lower Bubbles on the Markers on the same menu (marked as 2) and on Section/Elevation Menu. (3)

5. Click OK (marked as 4) to go back on the main dialog box. (Grid System Settings)

6. Click Grid

Positions (marked as 1 on the lower picture)

Click on the values of the grid to grid distance (marked 2 & 3, highlighted in blue) and change all of them to 3000.

Make sure there is only 5 grids (A-E) in the Horizontal Grid Lines and 9 grids (1-9) in the Vertical Grid Lines as shown in the figure. In case if the number of grids is not correct then use the buttons marked as 4 in the figure and Add (+) or Delete (-) as necessary. Click on the OK button marked as 5 in the figure.



Once the OK button is being click, the screen will looks like the figure above. The intersection of left most vertical grid line and bottom most horizontal line (marked as 1) should be placed in the cross mark marked as 2 (project 0, 0, 0). To place the gridline as mentioned above, move the mouse towards the cross mark until the pencil attached to the intersection turns black with white top then click the mouse button. Once the gridline is placed and zoom all is selected ( ) the plan window will look like the figure shown below.



Story Settings in ArchiCAD is used to organize building elements based on story (Ex. A wall in the first story of the building must be placed in the first story of the model). Go to the menu Design > Story Settings… (Marked “1” in the picture) to do the settings of the Story.

The default ArchiCAD project comes with 3 Story (0, 1, 2). We need 4 Storeys for the project we are going to do. Insert one more story. Use the buttons marked as 3 to manipulate the number of Story. To insert one Story on top, select the 2nd Story and click on the Insert Above button. Click on the values of the Name and Height to Next column and change them as shown in the figure (Marked as 1 and 2).

Its not necessary to change the Elevation as its controled automatically. After completing the settings click the OK button (Marked as 4 in the figure). Note: Please check the projects Title Bar to find out which story we are in at the moment. This will give us the information project name / Story name.

To navigate between stories, use the shortcut keys Shift + F2 and Ctrl (WIN)/Cmd (MAC) + F2 to go up and down the stories respectively or double click on the story name in the Navigator – Project Map palette.



Before adding in any elements please make sure you are in the correct Story by looking at the title bar. Next we need to do the settings for the element. Double click on the tool in the toolbox palette will open the settings dialog box of the coresponding tool. As we Need to add in columns now, double click on the column tool (marked as 1 in the figure) and do the settings for the column.

In the Geometry and Positioning tab of the column settings dialog box set the values as shown in the figure on the right (marked as X) In the Model tap of the column settings dialog box use Surf-Pored Concrete or something nearly white in colour (the user can choose their own colour if they do not want to follow the book). Once the settings were done click on the OK button on the bottom right of the column settings dialog box and place the columns in the grid intersections of A/1, C/1, E/1, A/3, C/3, E/3, A/5, C/5, E/5, A/7, C/7, E/7, A/9, C/9 and E/9 with help of the intelligent mouse cursor (When the cursor is moved near the intersection it will turn to tick mark or a cross mark then you can do a mouse click to snap to that point).



The Next building element we are going to add to the BIM is the Slab Double click on the slab tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings. Select single material (example Structural Concrete) for the field marked as 1 in the figure below by clicking and holding on the arrow next to the hatch pattern preview. Set the thickness to 150 for the field marked as 2

Once the settings were done click on the OK button on the bottom right corner of the slab settings dialog box. Choose the rectangle geometry method in the info box(marked as 1 in the figure below)



Draw the slab from Point 1 to Point 2 (marked on the figure below). The slab should cover the entire column foot prints as shown in the figure.



The next building element we are going to add to the BIM is the Beam

Double click on the Beam tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings.

First we are going to draw the beam along the perimeter

Set the values for the fields as shown in the figure below (marked as X) and click on the ok button on the bottom right corner of the beam settings dialog box.

Choose the rectangle geometry method in the info box(marked as 1 in the figure below)



Draw the beam from Point 1 to Point 2 (marked on the figure below). You can use the intelligent mouse cursor.

When the cursor is moved near the top left corner of the column at grid E1 and the bottom right corner of the column at grid A9, it will turn to tick mark then you can do a mouse click to snap to that point.

Next need to draw the intermediate beams from column at grids E/3 to A/3, E/5 to A/5, E/7 to A/7 and C/1 to C/9. Before drawing the beams please select single beam geometry method in the info box(marked as 1 in the figure below)

Once the beams where drawn the plan will looks like the figure below and the 3d model will looks like the model next to it. If your drawing does not look like the one below then try to redo from the beginning to get it right.



The next building element we are going to add to the BIM is the Wall Double click on the Wall tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings. First we are going to draw the perimeter wall. Set the values for the fields as shown in the figure below (marked as X) and click on the OK button on the bottom right corner of the wall settings dialog box. In the model tab the material Brick-White is optional and if you wish to choose others then go ahead.

In the info box choose the polygonal geometry method (marked as 1 in the figure below) and the reference line to the bottom of the wall (marked as 2 in the figure below)

Start drawing the wall from the Point 1 and follow the direction of Point 2, 3, 4 and 1 as shown



in the figure below with the help of intelligent mouse cursor.

Next we need to draw the intermediate walls Double click on the wall tool to change the wall settings. Change the values of the fields marked X in the figure below and click OK. Draw wall from middle of the column at grid C/7 to the middle of column at grid E/7 with the help of intelligent mouse cursor.



Double click the wall tool again and change value of field marked X in the figure below.

Click OK and draw wall from Point 1 to Point 2 and Point 3 to Point 4 as shown in the figure below.



Next building element we are going to add is the Door Double click on the Door tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings. Select the folder from which we need to select the door. Browse to the folder Wood Entrance Doors 12 in the window marked as 2 in the figure below. Select the door marked as 3 in the figure below. Set the height and width as shown the fields marked as 4 in the figure below. Customise the parameters in the Parameters window 5. While changing the

parameters you can visualise the door in the preview window marked as 6. You can also choose different preview of the door by selecting different buttons marked as 6 in the figure below. Once the door is ready to be placed in the model select the Anchor Point: (7) (Middle point for doors placed in the center of the wall and Edge for doors placed near the corner) and click OK to place the doors.



Windows and Doors can only be inserted into Walls; they cannot be placed independently in the project. Before placing the doors you can zoom-in to see clearly. Click on the wall between columns at grids C/9 and C/7 at Point 1. Once clicked the mouse cursor will change to double

eyeball . Now click on Point 2 (the empty space on the top right side of Point 1).

This determines the position of the door in the wall with reference to the anchor point.

Now the mouse cursor will change to single eyeball . Click on Point 3 (the empty space on the top left side of Point 1). This defines the swing of the door. In this case the door swings towards Point 3 from the wall (anchored at Point 1). Similarly place three more doors using D1Entrance 12 on the Wood Entrance Door 12 folder as shown in the figure below.



The next building element we are going to add is the Window Double click on the Window tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings. Select the folder from which we need to select the window. Browse to the folder Fixed Windows 12 in the window marked as 1 in the figure below.

Select the Window marked as 2 in the figure below. Set the height, width and sill height as shown the fields marked as 3.

Customise the parameters in the Parameters window similar to door. (marked as 4) Once the window is ready to be placed in the model select the Anchor Point: (5) (Middle point for windows placed in the center of the wall and Edge for windows placed near the corner) and click OK to place the windows.

Windows and Doors can only be inserted into Walls; they cannot be placed independently. Before placing the windows you can zoom-in to see clearly. Click on the wall between columns at grids C/1 and C/2 at Point 1 with the help of intelligent mouse cursor. Once clicked the mouse cursor will

change to a double eyeball .



Now click on Point 2 (the empty space on the below right side of Point 1). This determines the position of the window in the wall with reference to the anchor point.

Now the mouse cursor will change to single eyeball click on Point 2 again. This defines the orientation of the window to the wall. In this case the window is placed flush with the external face of the room. See the figures below to insert the other windows based on the Point 1 and Point 2 marked on the respective figures

2nd Window

3rd Window

4th Window



5th Window

6th Window Once the windows were inserted the 3d model will looks like the figure below



Next building element we are going to add is the Staircase Double click on the Stair tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the settings. Select the folder from which we need to select the stair. Browse to the folder Complete Stairs 12 in the window marked as 2 in the lower figure. Select the Stair marked as 3 in the figure below. Set the sizes as shown the fields marked as 4 in the figure below and customize its parameters on marked 5 if you want. Once the Stair is ready to be placed in the model we need to select the anchor point. Select the plan view for the preview by clicking the button marked as 6 in the figure below. This is slightly different from the Door and Window anchor point selection. The anchor point need to be selected from the preview window marked as 7. Click on the bottom right corner of the staircase in the preview window (marked as 7 in the figure below). Click OK to place the Stair.

Stairs can be placed independently. Before placing the stair you can zoom-in to see clearly the anchor point. Click on the top left corner of the column at grid A/9 with the help of intelligent mouse cursor.



We shall place some furnitures to make the floor complete. Double click on the Object tool (marked as 1 in the figure on the left) and do the Object settings. Select the folders from which we need to select the objects and customise them with the help of the Parameter panel and Preview panel similar to doors, windows and stair. Once ready to be placed click OK to place the objects one by one.

If necessary you can follow the furniture layout shown below in plan and 3D view.



We have completed the 1st Story, Now we need to add the building elements to the 2nd Story. To navigate between stories, use the shortcut keys Shift + F2 and Ctrl (WIN)/Cmd (MAC) + F2 to go up and down the stories respectively or double click on the story name in the Navigator – Project Map palette. We can copy the elements from the 1st Story and modify them instead of creating everything from scratch.

To do so follow the steps below. 1. Go to 1st Story.

2. Select the from the tool box. 3. Zoom all by clicking on the on the bottom of the plan window 4. Press Ctrl (WIN)/Cmd (MAC) + A to select all the elements in the 1st Story. 5. Press Ctrl (WIN)/Cod (MAC) + C to copy the selection to the clip board. 6. Go to 2nd Story. 7. Press Ctrl (WIN)/Cmd (MAC) + V to paste the selection from the clip board. 8. Two scenarios can be happened.

Scenario 1: The elements were shown inside a marquee box. This is basically asking you to confirm the location. Click out side the box to confirm the location. Scenario 2: The below dialog box will appear.

Select the fields marked X and click paste. This goes back to the Scenario 1. So, do the same as Scenario 1. Once pasted the plan will looks like the figure shown in the next page.



Select the furniture and press Del key to delete the furniture from the 2nd Storey. Delete the Slab too as the floor profile of 2nd Storey is not the same. Move the wall along Grid C to Grid B by following the steps below 1. Select the wall along Grid C (if the wall is in a group with other walls then suspend the

group by selecting the menu Edit -> Groupings -> Suspend Group to temporarily suspend the group).

2. Select the Drag command from the menu Edit->Move->Drag. 3. Click on the bottom line of the wall. 4. Move the mouse cursor near the Grid B. Keep it more or less perpendicular to the grid

line. The mouse cursor will change to angle symbol ( ). Click on the line. Change the Height of the moved wall to 2850 mm.

Select the walls along the Grids 7, 8 and 9 and select Adjust command from the menu Edit->Reshape->Adjust. Click on the wall that’s just moved to Grid B. All the selected walls will be extended to the wall along Grid B The layout is ready and the next thing is to draw the slab below the floor. Select the Slab

tool from the toolbox and do not change any settings. Select the polygonal

geometry tool ( ) from the Info box palette and draw the slab following the Points 1, 2, 3, 4 (inline with staircase), 5, 6, 7, 8 and 1 as shown in the figure below with the help of intelligent mouse cursor and guide lines.



Let us add some curtain walls to the building façade to make it look better.

Double click on the object tool ( ) to go on the Curtain Wall Default Settings dialogue box . We can select Curtain Wall Components (marked as 2 on the figure below) and customize its parameters on the field marked as 3 under the Frame Type and Geometry tab.

For this training we will use the Curtain Wall Default Settings and click OK. In the Info box, Click and Hold the Geometry Method to select Chained Line (marked as 1 on the figure below)

Zoom-in to place exactly to the location of the Curtan Wall’s first node. Enter the first node of the Curtain Wall to Point 1 and move the cursor to Point 2 and Point 3. Double click to end up the location where the curtain will be place. (Refer to the figure on the next page.)


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Once Double Click the cursor will change to sun figure ( ) to define the External Side. Click at Point 4 to place the curtain wall.

On the Place Curtain Wall dialogue box change the Curtain Wall Height to 3000 same as the height of the building for every floor levels. (Marked as 1 on the left figure.)

After placing the Curtain Wall your model will look like the figure on the next page.


We have completed the 2nd Story, Now we need to add the building elements to the 3rd Story using the same method as what you have learned earlier when copying the 1st story ot the 2nd storey. After the copy process is complete delete the staircase in the 3rd Story and leave the rest of the elements as it is because the layout is going to be the same. Go to the Story Roof to add the roof slab

Press Alt (WIN)/Opt (MAC) + F2 to enable the Ghost Story. Ghost Story will show the Story below for reference during adding in additional elements. Select the Slab tool from the toolbox and do not change any settings. Select

the rectangle geometry tool ( ) from the Info box palette and draw the slab from Point 1 to Point 2 as shown in the figure below (covering the entire 3rd Story Plan) with the help of intelligent mouse cursor.

We have completed the required Building Information Model with ArchiCAD. In the next chapter we will create the documentation and presentation drawings.



The anotations are necessary to help the readers of the drawings to understand the information provided in the printed drawings. Use the following tools to add in the annotations, dimensions and 2D informations that you think its necessary in the printed drawings.

The settings for these tools can be done in the same way as any other tool in ArchiCAD 11.



Let us add in some sections to the project.

1. Go to the 1st Story. 2. Select the section ( ) tool form the tool box. 3. Draw the section line from Point 1 to Point 2 as shown in figure below. Once the second

point is clicked the mouse cursor will change to a single eyeball ( ). 4. Click on the upper side of the line just drawn. 5. A section line will appear in the plan window. 6. Select the section line and right-click (Win) or Ctrl + click (Mac), this will open a menu.

7. Choose Open Section/Elevation will open the section as shown in the figure below



8. Similarly draw one more section to cut

through the building vertically and get the section as shown in the figure in the right.



Let us do some renderings.

1. Go to 3D window. 2. Adjust the view using the navigation tools Explore and Orbit ( ) in the bottom right

corner of the 3D window (you can try to get the view something like the view shown below or as per your wish).

3. Go to the menu Document->Creative Imaging->PhotoRendering Settings… this open

the dialog box as shown in the figure below.

4. Set the Size: as 800 by 600 pixels and the Resolution: as 300 dpi. Leave the settings of Light Works Effects as it is.

5. Choose a nice sky (day light) background. This can be done by choosing the Picture radio button in the Background panel as shown below.

6. Go to the menu Document->Creative Imaging->PhotoRendering Projection to get the rendering shown on the next page.



7. Once the rendering is completed, save the image on the local folder for later use (as jpeg format)

Let us repeat the same steps again but this time to do a sketch rendering.

1. Go to the menu Document->Creative Imaging->PhotoRendering Settings… to get the Settings dialog box.

2. Select Sketch in the Engine: select box, set the Size: as 800 by 600 pixels and the

Resolution: as 300 dpi.

3. Select Aquarium in the Sketch style: select box and leave the rest of the settings.



4. Click on the Background panel and set to Colours in Background image: radio button.

Choose white color by clicking Sky Color… and Ground Color… button. 5. Click OK and proceed to do the rendering. You will get the result as shown below. Save

the image as jpeg format for later use.



1. Click on the button in the navigator palette. 2. Right-click (Win) or Ctrl + click (Mac) on the node

Masters and select new layout. This will open a Create New Master Layout dialog box.

3. Give a meaning full name and click OK. This will open a new master layout sheet and create a node under the Masters node.

4. Right-click (Win) or Ctrl + click (Mac) on the newly create node (master layout) and you can adjust the settings of the master (make sure the sheet is of A1 size).

5. Double click on the new master to open the layout and zoom all (double click on in the left bottom of the window).

6. You can use the line tool, text tool and other 2d tools to create your title block. If not then follow the steps below to create a new title block.

a. Choose the line tool and select the polygonal geometry method in the info box palette.

b. Click on the left top corner of the sheet and drag the mouse to the bottom right corner of the sheet to draw the sheet border.

c. Zoom to the bottom right corner of the sheet to draw the title d. Choose the line tool and polygonal geometry method. e. Click on the right bottom corner of the sheet and drag inside the sheet. f. Dynamic input box appear next to the mouse cursor. g. Start typing 200 the value will goes to the Dimension 1 input textbox

automatically then press tab key to switch to the Dimension 2 value and type 100 as shown in the figure below.

h. Select the text tool and click the first and second point with in the box

as shown in the figure below.’



i. A dialog as shown below will appear. Select the text alignment marked as 1,

Enter the text height as 10.0 (marked as 2). Select the style as bold by clicking the button marked as 3. Type the project name Ex. ArchiCAD Start and click out side in the drawing area to finish the text input.

j. Add in one more text below it with values same as before for 1, 5.0 for the text

height and take away the bold for the style. Add in the text as Start Now. k. Draw a line below the text as shown below.

l. Add in a text below the newly drawn line with left alignment, text height 10

and normal style. The text value is going to be a auto text. Click on the button

marked as X.

m. The previous step will open Insert Auto text dialog box. Select Layout in the Category: Choose Layout Name in the Auto text Item: and click on the Insert button on the bottom right corner of the dialog box. That will insert a link for layout name and it will show the actual name when used in the layout. Before finishing the text input, press enter to go to the next line and add in the Layout ID, Layout Number and File Path in a similar way.

n. Insert one more Auto Text on the bottom with left alignment to show the file path. The file path can be found in the Category: System

o. Go to the menu File->External Content->Place External Drawing… and select the sketch rendering we did earlier in the Rendering chapter.

p. Click near the title to place the image (you can place your logo also). The image will comes with a title. Right-click (Win) or Ctrl + click (Mac) on the image and go the Drawing Selection Setting in the menu that pops up that will opens the settings dialog box where you can do all the settings for the drawing.

q. Go to the Title tab and select No Title as show in the below figure.

r. Select the image and adjust to the correct size and location as shown in the

layout in next page using the tools from the pet palette as shown below (click and hold on the black color dot of the selected image to get the pet palette)



7. The layout master is ready. Let us add new layouts. Right-click (Win) or Ctrl + click

(Mac) on the Layout book name ( ) in the navigator palette and choose New Layout. This will open the Create New layout. Give a meaning full name and choose the layout master that we created in the previous step.

8. Now a new layout is added to the layout book. Place the floor plans from the project navigator (click on the to open the project navigator)

9. Drag and drop the 1st and 2nd storey plan and adjust them as shown in the figure below.

1st Story and 2nd Story Plan

10. Add two more layouts. Name them as 3rd Story and Roof Plan and Section and Rendering respectively. Place the corresponding plans and sections from the project navigator; place the rendering as external content. You can follow the layouts in the next page to arrange the drawings positions.



3rd Story and Roof Plan

Sections and Rendering


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