INT AC Training Series Vol.1

ARCHICAD Training Series
Volume 1 - The ARCHICAD BIM Concept
NHS Office Complex, Los Angeles, California, US

Architect: PAAstudio, US
Credits
Visit the GRAPHISOFT website at www.graphisoft.com for local distributor and product
availability information.
ARCHICAD Training Series Vol. 1

The ARCHICAD BIM Concept
(International English Metric/Imperial Version)
Copyright 2016 by GRAPHISOFT, all rights reserved. Reproduction, paraphrasing or translation
without express prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Trademarks
ARCHICAD is a registered trademark of GRAPHISOFT.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Credits
Courtesy of GRAPHISOFT
2
Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction _______________________________________________4
The ARCHICAD Interface _____________________________________6
Navigation in ARCHICAD __________________________________ 13
Navigate the Floor Plan_________________________________________ 13
Navigate the 3D Model _________________________________________ 15
The ARCHICAD BIM Concept _______________________________ 20

The Documentation Workflow ______________________________ 36
3
Introduction
Introduction
Welcome to the ARCHICAD Training Series!
This Guide is part of the ARCHICAD Training Series, which currently includes the following
materials:
Vol. 1 - The ARCHICAD BIM Concept
Vol. 2 - Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD
Vol. 3 - Intermediate ARCHICAD
Vol. 4 - Advanced ARCHICAD
Vol. 5 - Using Teamwork
You are now reading Vol. 1 - The ARCHICAD BIM Concept, a comprehensive hands-on training
to familiarize you with the modeling and documentation concepts of ARCHICAD. This guide is
meant for new ARCHICAD users, prospects, as well as students and teachers using it as part of the
BIM Curriculum Exercises.
Contents of the training material

PDF guide an e-book including detailed explanation of every step with screenshots
ARCHICAD project files - preset training files to help your learning process
Narrated movie clips are available on the YouTube channel for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD
(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnXY6vLUwlWVOYV1cRDAS7hOcxskFbjLz)
providing step-by-step instructions for each step of the training guide. The ARCHICAD
YouTube channel can also be accessed via the ARCHICAD Help menu by entering the title of
this training guide into the search field.
How to use this training material?

Install the required ARCHICAD version
Follow the instructions in this PDF guide
Start the related video clip on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel
4
Introduction
You must have ARCHICAD 20 installed on your computer to use this guide. The e-book was made
with the INT (English) and US (Imperial) version of ARCHICAD, therefore we recommend using the
same version for practicing. Please use the NHS Office 20_imperial.pla file with ARCHICAD
version 20 USA and please use NHS Office 20_metric.pla file with ARCHICAD version 20 INT.
How to get ARCHICAD

If you do not have ARCHICAD yet, please visit http://www.graphisoft.com/downloads/ to obtain
a FREE installer:
If you are a student, a teacher or a representative of a school, download a fully functional
version of ARCHICAD and apply for an education license from myarchicad.com.
If you are a professional architect, download a fully functional version of ARCHICAD and apply
for a 30-day trial license from myarchicad.com. Projects saved with this version can be
automatically upgraded to full versions when you purchase a commercial license.
To purchase commercial ARCHICAD licenses, please contact your local distributor at
www.graphisoft.com/info/where_to_buy.
We hope you will find this training useful and wish you success with your future ARCHICAD
projects!
Good luck,
The GRAPHISOFT Team
5
The ARCHICAD Interface

To watch a short introduction about BIM, please start the introduction video (What is BIM?) on
the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 1st Video (The ARCHICAD BIM
Concept - Video 1/3) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
To start exploring ARCHICAD, we will first open an example file. Lets start ARCHICAD by clicking
on the application icon . First we encounter a dialog box in which we can choose between
creating a new project or opening an existing one.
Well do the latter, so click on the Open a Project radio button.
In the second section of the dialog box we select Browse for a Solo Project. Choose Standard
Profile 20 for the Work Environment and click on Browse.
In the browser dialog box, we locate and open the NHS Office 20_metric.pla or NHS Office
20_imperial.pla project file (depending on the system of units of your location) from the
extracted training project folder.
6
If you are running ARCHICAD 20 Student version, a message appears warning you that you have
to convert the project into Education format.
Click the Convert to Education button. Since we are opening a so-called archive project that
contains all the external elements used in creating the project, we are asked how we wish to
handle these elements. For the time being we ignore this and keep all the project elements in the
archive file: so, without changing the radio buttons, simply click Open.
If we are opening the NHS Office 20_Imperial.pla project file with ARCHICAD version 20 INT, the
program might start to refresh all the drawings in the project file. If the Update Drawings dialog
appears, please click Skip All button, because we do not want to update drawings now.
7
The project file opens. Let's take a closer look at the ARCHICAD interface. This application was
designed by architects for architects. The easy to understand graphical interface and the visual
feedback will help you to quickly get familiar with the capabilities of the program.
8
The central part of the interface shows the floor plan of our project. At the top of the screen, the
Tab bar shows the other open views. At the bottom of the screen, a set of icons helps to navigate
in this view and set the drawing scale and zoom factor.
To the left, the Toolbox contains all the tools necessary to build the 3D model and complete the
documentation.
To the right, with the Navigator icon, we can show the Navigator, which lists all aspects of the
project here we can jump from story to story or to different 3D views, sections, elevations and
details, just as in ARCHICAD 19.
9
At the very top, the Menubar lists all the available commands, logically grouped. Commands for File
operations, Editing and Viewing functions can be selected from the corresponding menus.
10
Since Design and Documentation are separate processes in architectural practice, the tools and
commands supporting these processes are located in separate menus. Commands in the Options
menu regulate basic settings and the work environment.
11
The Teamwork menu supports collaborative work, and the Window menu sets the visibility of the
toolbars and palettes.
The Standard Toolbar contains some of the commands and functions available from the menus.
It can be found right below the Menubar and is fully customizable. (The whole user interface can
be arranged into so-called schemes to fast-track repetitive work, but this feature is outside the
scope of this training guide).
The Info Box shows the current settings of the selected tool or the characteristics of the selected
element. Try it by selecting different tools from the Toolbox. Look at the changes in the Info Box.
Changes in the Info Box are immediately reflected in current settings or the attributes of the
selected element. The Info Box can be resized or moved (similarly to all boxes and palettes) to
reveal more information than in the basic settings.
12
Navigation in ARCHICAD
To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please continue the 1st Video (The ARCHICAD BIM
Concept - Video 1/3) starting at 6:30 on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
Navigate the Floor Plan

Lets take a closer look at the floor plan. From the icons at the bottom of the floor plan, lets select
the Increase Zoom icon.
The cursor changes to a magnifying glass. Lets click two corners of a rectangle around the
upper right entrance area of the building.
13
After the second click, you will see the zoomed-in view of the floor plan in the main window.
Try the other icons to reduce its Zoom, to Fit in Window, or to switch between Previous and Next
Views.
There is an even faster way to navigate in all views. With the cursor in the main window, press the
mouse scroll button to pan around the floor plan in real-time. Remember to keep the scroll
button pressed.
Rolling the scroll button away from you will zoom in and rolling it towards you will zoom out in
real-time. In these cases the cursor position will act as the center point of the projection.
This technique will let you move from one location of the floor plan to another very quickly.
14
Navigate the 3D Model

In ARCHICAD, every building element is instantly represented in 3D as well. Naturally this sample
project includes not only the 2D documentation but the entire 3D building model. You can use
the Tab bars pull-down menu or the Navigator items to navigate between projected and 3D
views of an ARCHICAD model.
The Tab bar is visible by default at the top of our ARCHICAD workspace, and it has only one Floor
Plan and one 3D window open. The Tab bar lets us navigate easily among open ARCHICAD
windows. We just click on the tab of the window we want to activate. As a rule, even after we
switch from one tab to another, the view or viewpoint settings on each of them remain as we left
them. We can change the tab opening preference in Options / Work Environment / More Options.
To turn it on and off, use Window / Show/Hide Tab Bar.
Shortcuts are also available to help us to switch among windows.
15
These shortcuts are:

Floor Plan window: F2
3D Window: F3
Generic Perspective: SHIFT + F3
Generic Axonometry: CTRL + F3
last Selection window: F6
last Layout: F7
In this example, we will use the Navigators views in the Project Map. So what does our sample
project look like in 3D?
The 3D model can be shown in axonometric or perspective view. Well try an axonometric view
first. Go to the 3D views section in the Project Map of the Navigator and double-click on Generic
Axonometry.
16
As a result you will see something like this:
Within the 3D view, the real-time navigational tools (zooming and panning) function exactly as
on the floor plan. Use the scroll button of the mouse to move from one part of the model to the
other.
Stay in a view where the building more or less fills the main window. There are two fundamentally
different ways of navigating in a model: Orbit and Walk. Lets see how they work. From the
bottom Toolbar, select the Orbit icon.
The cursor changes to a little orbit sign. Click and keep the left mouse button pressed and
move the mouse around to view the building from all sides.
While in Orbit mode, real-time zoom and pan can still be used. Try them both to explore the
whole model. To quit Orbit mode, press ESC.
If we use a three-button mouse, we can zoom and pan easily with the middle button of our
mouse. Zoom in and out works if we scroll the middle button. If we click and hold down the
middle button, we can pan our 3D model.
17
There is an even more exciting way of getting around the building. In order to see this, lets
double-click Generic Perspective from the 3D section of the Navigator. The result is something
like this:
In this view, the orbit, real-time zoom and pan features work as we have seen already. The only
difference is that here they affect the camera position rather than the projected image. Lets try
and move around a little.
For a different way of exploration, lets get into first-person shooter mode by selecting the
Explore icon from the bottom toolbar.
18
The appearing dialog box explains the controls, which are very similar to FPS computer games.
After getting familiar with the controls, click 3D Explore to start the fly-through inside the
building and navigate around.
Walls will not stop you in this game but to get the hang of it try using the doors.
To quit the Explore mode, just click into the 3D view or press ESC.
19

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 2nd Video (The ARCHICAD BIM
So how is it possible that weve seen a single floor plan, yet we could explore the whole building
right away? Lets see a short introduction of the GRAPHISOFTs Virtual Building Concept - first
introduced in 1984 -, or BIM (Building Information Modeling), to use a more recent term.
Lets double-click on 0.1 floor in the Stories of the Navigator or simply click on (!) the 1st Floor
Plan [0.1 floor G] of the Tab bar. Instantly we get back to the initial floor plan. If necessary, you can
adjust the content to the floor plan window by clicking Fit in Window from the bottom Toolbar.
One fundamental concept of BIM is that the 3D model is made of real building components like
walls, beams or slabs. Let's take a closer look at the ARCHICAD walls as an example.
Double-click on the Wall tool in the Toolbox. The dialog box for the Wall settings appears.
20
In the Geometry and Positioning panel we can specify the geometry of the wall, including
height and shape information as well as its vertical position.
In the Floor Plan and Section panel we can set how the wall will be represented in 2D views,
such as the floor plan or a section. We can set the attributes of the wall (or its representative
symbol) to control its display. Here the structure of a composite wall or other view-dependent
characteristics can be selected.
In the Model panel, we can determine how the wall should look in 3D views. Surface materials
and textures can be specified here.
The Categories and Properties panel allows us to assign properties to our elements. These are
important when collaborating with different disciplines or different softwares.
The point is that the element we either draw on the floor plan or place in 3D in a perspective view
is not merely a 2D symbol or a collection of parallel lines or just a 3D shape. It is all that and much
more: it is an environment-sensitive building block of the Virtual Building that knows how to present
itself within the different aspects of the architectural documentation.
Hit Cancel or ESC to close the dialog.
What does that mean in practice? Lets make some changes and see what happens.
To see changes instantly in other views, let's use ARCHICAD's unique Trace and Reference tool. To
open the 05 South Elevation view, select it in the Navigator, right-click, and choose Show as
Trace Reference.
21
Referenced views have many user options for positioning, rotation, or display. Let's open the
Trace and Reference palette for quick access. Click the icon on the Standard Toolbar, and
select Trace and Reference or choose Window/Palettes/Trace & Reference. Position the appearing
palette to the upper-left corner of the graphic screen. Use the Drag Reference command to drag
the elevation view below the floor plan.
Re-color the reference to its original by clicking the Reference's color icon.
22
Zoom in so you can see the reference south side of the building. Select the wall next to the
entrance, and open its settings.
On the Model tab, change the Outside surface to Stone - Sandstone 1, and click OK. Click the
Rebuild Reference button to update the elevation view.
The elevation is updated and reflects the change we made in floor plan view. Open the 3D view.
As you can see, the wall now shows the surface material correctly.
23
Return to Floor plan to explore another useful feature of the Trace Tool. You might need to see the
arrangement of other stories, while working on a particular floor plan. Right-click on the 1. 2 floor,
and display it as Trace reference. Change its color to red. Click the Show/Hide Splitter button to
display the virtual splitter lines on each side of the graphic area.
Drag any of these to hide the content of the active view, and make the content of the trace visible.
24
Close the Trace and Reference palette, and turn it off by clicking its icon on the Standard toolbar.
One of the major advantages of the BIM concept is that non graphical-information, such as
quantities, element inventories and schedules can be automatically extracted from the 3D
model. Lets check whether all aspects of the BIM model are covered: double-click Wall List in the
Element Schedules section of the Navigator.
25
An interactive list appears including all the walls placed in the project so far. We can quickly find
the wall on the first floor that we have just modified. Some parameters (like the height or the
composite structure of the wall) can be changed using this view as well. These changes will be
reflected in all views (floor plans, sections/elevations or in 3D).
Lets get back to the initial floor plan again, double-click 0.1 Floor Plan in the Navigator, or just
click (!) 1st Floor Plan [0.1 floor] on the Tab bar. Zoom out in order to see the entire floor plan.
Having a BIM model also means that we dont have to set up complicated layer sets for the
different stories within the project. Stories, sections and elevations are just separate views of the
virtual building model. In ARCHICAD, the Navigator allows us to easily toggle between the
different views and representations of the BIM model. To make it even easier, we can use the Tab
bar to navigate.
26
Double-click on the different stories (2 Floor, 3 Floor, etc. in the Stories section) and on the
different sections below Sections, Elevations or Details.
27
All these views are merely derivatives of the BIM model. Any number of them can be generated
and they are all linked together, so if anything changes in one view, the changes are also reflected
in all other views throughout the entire project. This is a huge advantage compared to the
traditional 2D drawing based documentation method where coordination of the drawings had to
be done manually. It is not only more productive but also more reliable, as it minimizes the risk of
coordination issues.
28
Let's see how we can work with the different views linked to each other. The revolutionary Virtual
Trace technology in ARCHICAD allows you to see and compare two different views of the BIM
model. Return to the floor plan of the 0.1 floor. Right-click on 06 East Elevation in the Navigator
and choose Show as Trace Reference from the context menu.
The elevation appears on the referred side of the building floor plan.
29
The Trace icon becomes active in the Standard toolbar. Click on the small arrow next to the Trace
icon and choose Drag Reference from the menu.
Drag the elevation view to the right.
30
Arrange the floor plan so that the windows on the first floor of the building become clearly visible
next to the floor plan view.
31
Now zoom in at the right side, to have a closer look at the windows.
32
Select one of the windows on the floor plan.
Change its size to 7'x11' (2000x3000 mm) in the Info Box.
Click on the Rebuild Reference command in the Trace menu.
33
Now you can see how the elevation follows the changes.
Now select Switch reference with Active command in the Trace menu
34
Now click Fit in window from the bottom Toolbar.

As you can see, the layout changes automatically according to the active view.
Zoom in to the area of the modified window, select it on the elevation view and reset the size to
5'x8' (1520x2440 mm). Choose the Switch reference with Active command again to return to
the floor plan. Press the ESC button to deselect the window and finally switch off tracing with the
Trace toggle button.
35
The Documentation Workflow

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 3rd Video (The ARCHICAD BIM
Of course the job is far from done, even if a substantial amount of information can be entered and
stored within the BIM model. Architectural documentation, however, includes many
interpretations of the same view of the building. For example, for a given story of the building
well have to generate construction plans, reflected ceiling plans, plans of floor finishes, structural
plans, furniture layouts and so on.
In addition, collaborators involved in the projects like the structural engineer, the electrical
engineer, HVAC, plumbing, etc. all need different documents from us. ARCHICAD supports the
documentation workflow with so-called views.
So far we have only utilized one part of the Navigator, the Project Map part. First of all, please
turn on the Pop-up Navigator.
36
We can do this from Window menu (Window / Palettes / Navigator), or just simply click on the top
left corner of the Pop-up Navigator and choose Show Navigator.
37
Lets click on the icon to the right of the Project Map. This is the View Map part of the Navigator.
As you can see, this part lists plans instead of stories. Of course a plan can show any model view
(stories, sections, elevations, details, etc.). Double-click on 1st Floor Plan in the RCP folder of the
View Map.
38
The Reflected Ceiling Plan of the ground floor is shown instantly.
How is this plan different from the floor plan we have worked with up till now? One difference is
obvious: we see the tiles of the reflected ceiling and the lighting elements. These must have been
on a layer that was switched on when changing to the views of the RCP folder. (Layers are like
vellums of old times, layered on top of each other. If we pull one out of the stack, it will be
invisible. Elements that have common characteristics like exterior walls, interior walls, furniture,
etc. should be placed on a common layer, so that their visibility can be regulated together.)
39
The other significant difference is only visible if we zoom in to the interior of the building. Doors
are shown with their openings only (as is usual on a reflected ceiling plan).
There are seven differentiating factors for a view.

Layer Combination determines which layers are switched on or off for that particular view.
Here, layer combinations were set up and named in advance. The one that is used here is
named Reflected Ceiling Plan.
The other factor is the Scale of the drawing. For instance, plans that are submitted to the
municipality for approval have a smaller scale than construction documentation. In
ARCHICAD, objects like doors, windows or other custom elements are scalesensitive, that is,
their 2D representation depends on the current scale of the drawing.
The third factor is the Structure Display. This function allows us to display construction
elements in various ways depending how we define the components of elements. We can
choose one of these options:
- Entire Model
- Without Finishes
- Core Only
- Core of Load-Bearing Elements Only
40
The fourth factor is the Pen Set. We can define different line weights for the different colors.
The following factor is Model View Options. These settings control the behavior of
ARCHICAD elements beyond merely toggling visibility on and off. These combinations were
also set up and named in advance. The one for reflected ceiling plans can be viewed when
selecting Document/Model View/Model View Options from the menu.
The sixth factor is the Graphic Override. We can recolor the elements based on certain
properties.
The last factor is the Renovation Filter. We can provide visual feedback on the status of each
element at a particular stage of a renovation project.
A view is defined by these factors, plus the current zoom and the dimensions. Right-clicking View
Settings... in the 1st Floor Plan in the Navigator RCP folder provides access to all these settings.
41
In the Quick Options section just below it, you can change these settings for the current project
representation. To activate the Quick Options palette, click on the Window/Palettes/Quick
Options command.
Click on any of the buttons and see what changes occur on the floor plan when the settings are
changed.
42
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed this Training Guide! We hope that now you understand the
fundamental concept of the BIM workflow in ARCHICAD. Please check the other volumes of this
training series for more details about the design workflow.
Should you have any questions regarding ARCHICAD or other GRAPHISOFT products, please visit
GRAPHISOFT Help Center, our online knowledge base:
www.graphisoft.com/learning/training_materials.
With further questions, please feel free to contact GRAPHISOFT and its worldwide partners at
www.graphisoft.com. We look forward to seeing you in the ARCHICAD user community!
The GRAPHISOFT Team
Should you have any comments, requests or bug reports regarding this training material,
please submit them to training@graphisoft.com
43

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ARCHICAD Training Series

Volume 1 - The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

NHS Office Complex, Los Angeles, California, US

ARCHICAD Training Series Vol. 1

The ARCHICAD BIM Concept _______________________________ 20

Contents of the training material

How to use this training material?

How to get ARCHICAD

The ARCHICAD Interface

Navigate the Floor Plan

Navigate the 3D Model

Shortcuts are also available to help us to switch among windows.

These shortcuts are:

As a result you will see something like this:

The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

Drag the elevation view to the right.

Select one of the windows on the floor plan.

Change its size to 7'x11' (2000x3000 mm) in the Info Box.

Click on the Rebuild Reference command in the Trace menu.

Now click Fit in window from the bottom Toolbar.

The Documentation Workflow

The Reflected Ceiling Plan of the ground floor is shown instantly.

There are seven differentiating factors for a view.

The GRAPHISOFT Team

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