BELAJAR ARCHICAD 20

UNTUK PEMULA
 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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 The ARCHICAD Interface

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. Let’s 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.
We’ll 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.

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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.

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 The ARCHICAD Interface

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.

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 The ARCHICAD Interface

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.

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 The ARCHICAD Interface

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.

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 The ARCHICAD Interface

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.

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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.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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

Let’s take a closer look at the floor plan. From the icons at the bottom of the floor plan, let’s select
the Increase Zoom icon.

The cursor changes to a magnifying glass. Let’s click two corners of a rectangle around the
upper right entrance area of the building.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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 bar’s 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.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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 Navigator’s 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. We’ll try an axonometric view
first. Go to the 3D views section in the Project Map of the Navigator and double-click on Generic
Axonometry.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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. Let’s 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.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

There is an even more exciting way of getting around the building. In order to see this, let’s
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. Let’s try
and move around a little.
For a different way of exploration, let’s get into ‘first-person shooter’ mode by selecting the
Explore icon from the bottom toolbar.

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 Navigation in ARCHICAD

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.

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 The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 2nd Video (“The ARCHICAD BIM
Concept - Video 2/3”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
So how is it possible that we’ve seen a single floor plan, yet we could explore the whole building
right away? Let’s see a short introduction of the GRAPHISOFT’s Virtual Building™ Concept - first
introduced in 1984 -, or BIM (Building Information Modeling), to use a more recent term.
Let’s 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.

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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? Let’s 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.

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 The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

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.

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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.

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 The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

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.

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 The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

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. Let’s check whether all aspects of the BIM model are covered: double-click Wall List in the
Element Schedules section of the Navigator.

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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).

Let’s 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 don’t 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.

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 The ARCHICAD BIM Concept

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Arrange the floor plan so that the windows on the first floor of the building become clearly visible
next to the floor plan view.

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Now zoom in at the right side, to have a closer look at the windows.

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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.

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Now you can see how the elevation follows the changes.

Now select Switch reference with Active command in the Trace menu

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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.

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 The Documentation Workflow

The Documentation Workflow

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 3rd Video (“The ARCHICAD BIM
Concept - Video 3/3”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
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
we’ll 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.

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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.

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 The Documentation Workflow

Let’s 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.

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 The Documentation Workflow

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.)

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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 scale–sensitive, 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

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• 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.

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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.

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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

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ARCHICAD Training Series
Volume 2 - Conceptual Design
 Credits

Visit the GRAPHISOFT website at http://www.graphisoft.com for local distributor and product
availability information.

ARCHICAD Training Series Vol. 2

Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD
(International English Metric 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

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 Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction _______________________________________________4
Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD _____________________________6
Starting ARCHICAD _____________________________________________ 6
Creating Site Geometry _________________________________________ 7
Creating a Base Geometry _______________________________________ 9
Copying an Existing Edge _______________________________________ 11
Offsetting Faces of the Morph ___________________________________ 14
Creating Another Morph________________________________________ 16
Splitting the Morph ____________________________________________ 20
Additional Site Geometry _______________________________________ 23
Cleaning Up Intersecting Geometries_____________________________ 28
Creating a Morph in Sections/Elevations __________________________ 31
Modifying All Edges Simultaneously _____________________________ 34
Placing Objects in the Surroundings _____________________________ 39
Applying Surfaces _____________________________________________ 42
Visualizations _________________________________________________ 43
Learn More About the Morph Tool _______________________________ 49

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 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. 2 – Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD, a comprehensive hands-on
training to familiarize you with the conceptual modeling and massing 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
• Video clip on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel to help your learning process
• Narrated movie clips are available on the YouTube channel for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD
(https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=E4D3pgKZhmk&list=PLnXY6vLUwlWUoC7E_YQ34nPiY2FpobBRt) 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 ARCHICAD
• Follow the instructions in this PDF guide
• Start the related video clip on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel

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 Introduction

This training does not require any specific ARCHICAD versions*. The e-book was made with the
INT (English) version of ARCHICAD, therefore we recommend you to download and use the same
version for practicing, but it can be used with any other language version of ARCHICAD.

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 claim for an education license from https://myarchicad.com/.
• If you are a professional architect, download a fully functional version of ARCHICAD and claim
for a 30-day trial license from https://myarchicad.com/. Projects saved with this version can
be automatically upgraded to full versions when purchasing a commercial license.
Please contact your local distributor for purchasing commercial ARCHICAD licenses 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

* above ARCHICAD 16

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Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD

To watch a short introduction about this training guide, please start the introduction video (“1 -
Introduction”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 2nd Video (“2 - Mass Modeling with
the Morph Tool”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.

Starting ARCHICAD
Double-click the ARCHICAD icon to launch ARCHICAD. The startup soon will prompt with a
dialog box. We would like to use the default settings of ARCHICAD, so select Create a New
Project, choose ARCHICAD 20 Template and Standard Profile 20 work environment.
Click New.

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Creating Site Geometry

We will use the 3D window for defining a basic site geometry using the Morph tool.
1 Open Generic Perspective in the Navigator – Project Map.

2 Activate the Morph tool, choose Box geometry method from the Infobox.

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3 Click the Origin for the first corner and start moving the opposite corner of the base
rectangle. Type 40000, the value will appear in the Tracker as Dimension 1. When done, press
the DOWN key, type 28000 for Dimension 2 and press ENTER to finish the input.

4 Move the cursor upwards and set the height of the morph by typing d1000.

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Creating a Base Geometry

Let’s create the base of our massing, we will use a simple cube and form it according to our needs.
1 For precise positioning we can use Snap Guides. Move the cursor over the bottom-left corner
of the site morph, where a blue circle appears indicating the corner. Drag the cursor to the
upper right corner, while a diagonal snap guide line appears, and type X and 14000, and Y and
9000.

2 Click the Morph tool in the Info box to open its settings.
3 Activate the surface override by clicking the Surface button on the Model panel.

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4 Choose Paint – Titanium White and click OK to close the settings.

5 Click the intersection point of the Snap Guides and create a box geometry of 10000/10000/
10000 by using the Tracker inputs as for the site.

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Copying an Existing Edge

It is always possible to divide existing faces into smaller ones by creating new edges. We can draw
new ones or simply copy an existing one.
1 With the Morph tool being active, keep the SHIFT key pressed and select the morph.
2 Click the vertical edge, the Pet palette appears. Choose the Offset Edge command, the
Editing Plane appears on one of the faces (If the Editing Plane does not appear by default,
deselect the morph and choose View/Editing Plane Display).
3 To be able to move the selected edge along the left face, change the editing plane. Right-
click to enable the context menu and choose Editing Plane/Pick Plane.

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4 Pick the left face.

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5 To create a copy of the edge, press either the ALT or the CTRL key (a plus sign will appear) and
move the edge into the middle of the face. Move the cursor along the top edge, the cursor will
snap to the midpoint. Click to create the new edge.

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Offsetting Faces of the Morph

Start forming the cube by simple extrusion commands as the fastest way of sketching in 3D.
1 Hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys and click the small face on the left closer to you.
2 Use the Push/Pull command of the Pet palette and push it by 1200.

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3 Create a new edge again by CTRL+SHIFT+clicking the upper edge and use either the ALT or
the CTRL key and Pet palette commands as before. Change the Editing Plane to vertical if
necessary. Move the new edge by 3400.

4 Push the new upper face by 1200.

5 Press ESC to deselect the morph when finished.

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Creating Another Morph

It is always possible to create additional extensions to the existing geometry and then merge
them so we can work with them more easily. We would like to create a curved extension to our
building mass.
1 Activate the Morph tool and choose Polygonal geometry method.

2 Draw a new edge along the existing bottom edge starting from the corner on the right to the
midpoint.

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3 Choose Arc by 3 Points from the Pet palette and click the corner you started from. After the
click you can curve the edge drawn.

4 Type 2200 to define the radius and press ENTER.

5 Select the newly created morph face with CTRL+SHIFT+click. Hit TAB to toggle between the
site morph and the curved face.

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6 Click the face itself and use Push/Pull to extrude it upwards by 6000.

7 Select both morphs. Use SHIFT to add the second element to the selection.

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8 Right-click to enable the context menu and choose Boolean Operations/Union.

This way the two morphs will be handled as a single element from now.

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Splitting the Morph

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 3rd Video (“3 - Editing Morphs,
Solid Element Operations”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
One option to create a plinth is to simply split the bigger volume into two at a specific height. This
will not only separate the geometries, but we can then add different colors to the different parts
of our conceptual model.
1 Select the Editing Plane local palette, and choose Offset.
2 Move the cursor upwards and enter 1000 in the Tracker.

3 Hover your cursor over the apparent intersection line of the morph and the Editing Plane,
until a blue Snap guide appears.

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4 With the Morph tool active, select the morph, and activate the Split command of the Standard
Toolbar.

5 Click one of the blue Snap Guides to select an edge of the cutting plane, and then click on the
point where the other Snap Guide intersects the vertical morph edge.

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6 Click below the plane with the eye-cursor to keep that part selected after the splitting action.

7 Open the Morph settings from the Info Box and change surface override to Paint – Sand
Beige. Click OK.

8 Deselect the plinth.

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Additional Site Geometry

Let’s add an extra part to the site as a terrace and see how we can fine-tune its appearance.
1 Draw another Box type morph, starting from the midpoint of the curved part to the
midpoint of the offset face in the bottom. Before clicking the second corner however, type
d10000 and press ENTER to extend the rectangle.

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2 Set height (1000) by clicking on the top edge of the plinth.

3 Keep CTRL+SHIFT pressed, this will enable temporary sub-element selection.

4 Select the shorter fully visible top edge of the last morph. Click again on the selected edge to
make the Pet palette appear and choose Offset Edge.

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5 Set the Editing Plane to horizontal if necessary.

6 Set a distance of 1000 and press ENTER.

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7 Repeat with the other edge as well.

8 Now select the corner ridge only and apply Fillet/Chamfer… from the Standard Toolbar (also
available on the Pet palette), using a radius of 1000 for Fillet.

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Click OK.

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Cleaning Up Intersecting Geometries

We will use Solid Element Operations for cleaning up the geometries (to remove the common part
of the terrace and the building). SEO commands work similarly as Boolean Operations but can be
applied to all types of elements.
1 With the filleted morph selected, activate Connect/Solid Element Operations... from the
context menu.

2 Since the morph was selected, it will be automatically marked as a Target Element – the
operation will be carried out on these types of elements. Select the plinth geometry only
(with the palette still opened) and click Get Operator Elements – the operation will be
carried out by these elements.

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3 Make sure that Subtraction with upward extrusion is used as an operation and click
Execute.

4 Close the palette.

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An icon will appear informing you about the smart connection of the related elements. This way if
one of the connected element changes the connection will be automatically updated.

Let’s modify this terrace now and say we want to modify the height of the morph.
1 Use CTRL+SHIFT to select the top face.
2 Use Drag and elevate the face by 500 (keep SHIFT pressed to maintain vertical movement).

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Creating a Morph in Sections/Elevations

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 4th Video (“4 - Working in Sections/
Elevations, Modifying Multiple Morphs”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
Morphs are 3D elements even if they are created in a 2D viewpoint. Since in some cases it is better
and easier to create them in 2D (either because of the view or the complexity of the desired
shape), let’s see how we can create a simple rooftop geometry in an elevation view.
1 Open 1. Story from the Navigator by double-clicking on it.

2 Let’s drag the East Elevation marker (and the view itself at the same time) to the right side of
the building. The morph we create will use the vertical plane defined by the elevation
viewpoint.

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Select the elevation marker and drag it by either using the Drag command of the Pet palette,
the CTRL/CMD+D hotkeys or the Move/Drag command of the context menu.

3 When placed, use the Open with current settings command from the context menu (with
the marker still selected).

4 Activate the Morph tool and choose Polygonal geometry method.

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5 Start drawing the polygon from the top right corner of the building with the values of 2700,
6000, 200, 1500 and as the last point click the starting corner to close the polygon itself and
achieve the following result (keep the SHIFT key pressed to maintain perpendicular
directions and move counter-clockwise).

6 Deselect the polygon and press F5/Fn+F4 to go back to 3D.

7 Select the polygon and extrude it by 4000.

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Modifying All Edges Simultaneously

We can simply modify all edges of a face or even the morph itself. We would like to use this
method to create an attic wall on the roof tops, and terraces but to avoid overlapping geometries
again let’s unify some of the existing morphs first.
1 Select the building and the roof extension (exclude the plinth) and apply the Union
command from the context menu, Boolean operations.
2 Pick the top plane of the roof.
3 Select the morph and click one of the edges of the roof face to make the Pet palette appear.
Change the Editing Plane to horizontal if necessary. Choose Offset All Edges and press ALT to
create copies of the edges. Move the cursor inwards and define a value of 400, press ENTER.

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4 Now repeat with the curved extension, pick its top plane, use Offset All Edges and copy
the edges inwards.

5 With the final morph selected click on the edges that are duplicates along the roof
extension and at the curved part and use Offset Edge to push them into the vertical
surfaces, making them disappear.

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6 Select the two polygons along the edges of the roofs with CTRL+SHIFT+click. Extrude them
together upwards by 500 in a single step.

We can either copy the existing edges of the terrace to achieve a similar result or draw a
completely new edge using the Add Polyline/Rectangle/Box/Revolved Morph command of the Pet
palette. Let’s see how the latter one works.
1 Let’s create Guide line segments 200 from the outer terrace edges. Select the Create Guide
Line Segment from the Guide Lines menu of the Standard toolbar.

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2 Hover the Cursor over the upper-right corner until a blue circle appears, and move the cursor
to the left. Type 200 and hit ENTER. Click the opposite edge perpendicular as the Snap guides
indicate to finish the guide line segment.

3 Repeat these steps to create another Guide Line parallel to the longer terrace edge.

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4 Select the morph, and click Add Polyline/Rectangle/Box/Revolved Morph command of the
Pet palette.

5 Select the Rectangular creation method on the Info box, and draw a rectangle from the
upper-left corner to the intersection point of the Guide lines.

6 Select Remove All Guide Lines from the Guide Line menu to remove the Guide lines.

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7 Select the face only and use Push/Pull to extrude it upwards by 1000.

Note: Any elements of the project can be converted to morphs. Simply select the
elements and choose Convert Selection to Morph(s) from the context menu. This
way all elements can be freely edited, however they can not be converted back to
their original element types.

Placing Objects in the Surroundings

To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 5th Video (“5 - Placing Objects,
Applying Surfaces”) on the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
Let’s add some objects to our conceptual model, like trees, people or vehicles. ARCHICAD
contains a vast amount of parametric GDL-objects.
1 Turn off the Editing Plane Display by using the View/Editing Plane Display command, as
we will not need precise inputs from now on.
2 Double-click the Object tool in the Toolbox to open its settings.

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3 Click into the search field and enter people, then press ENTER. The results will contain both
3D and 2D elements. Choose one of the 3D people and place the object in the model.

4 Place more instances of people, you can either place the same object and change them one-
by-one later or place different types of objects.
5 Do the same with cars, use vehicle as search term and use the Orbit option to rotate the
model and place the objects on the other side of the building volume. The objects will

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automatically recognize the input surface. Use the context menu/Move commands for
refinements.
6 Search for tree and use Tree Model Detailed 20 objects. Note that there are many default
variations of the object and all of them can be further modified via their parameters. Feel free
to try a few options and place them on the site.

Note: Any selections can be saved as GDL-objects. The Morph tool is often used to
create smaller custom objects besides massing. Select all three morphs that
represent the building and choose File/Libraries and Objects/Save Selection
as…/Object…. The object then can be freely used as any other objects, this way
multiple instances of the same geometry can be placed easily for modeling the
surrounding buildings.

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Applying Surfaces
To make our model more realistic, we can quickly apply surface materials.
Select Document/Creative Imaging/Surface Painter to open the palette. Here, you can see all
available finishes with previews, and simply drag and drop them to any surfaces to apply
overrides of the original. As you drag a new finish to the model, highlights will help to override a
particular surface or the entire element. You can use the search field to find the appropriate
surface easily in the list.
Let’s apply some overrides on the model, like:
• Plinth: Stone – Limestone
• Straight terrace and Rooftop: Tiles Tan 30x30
• Arched rooftop: Insulation – Solid Brown
• Ground terrace: Grass - Brown
• Wall at the straight terrace: Glass – Blue

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Visualizations
To watch the recorded version of this chapter, please start the 6th Video (“6 - Visualization”) on
the ARCHICAD YouTube channel.
As a final step, let’s create some quick renderings of our sketch model.
1 Find an appropriate 3D view using the navigation tools of ARCHICAD (Orbit, Pan, Zoom).
2 Right-click in the 3D window and select 3D Window Settings…

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3 Turn on Sun Shadows.

Click OK.

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4 To change sun direction, open 3D Projection Settings… from the context menu. Change the
Sun Azimuth value to 315. Click OK.

5 Open Document/Creative Imaging/PhotoRendering Settings, a palette will appear

providing various rendering options.

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6 Click into the Scene rolldown list and choose Select and Manage Scenes....

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7 Choose Koh-I-Noor from the list, and click OK. Hit Render in the bottom of the palette, the
final image will be ready within a few seconds.

8 Try other sketch scenes and play with their settings to explore the different representations.
You can also add paper backgrounds to the rendered images on the Background panel of the
palette.

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9 Try Outdoor White Model Fast and Outdoor Cardboard Sepia Fast scenes for fun. Check
the Use ARCHICAD Sun Position checkbox on the Environment tab to keep the custom sun
settings.

Note: Most of the rendering scenes contain special environment information by

default that includes light information as well, this can be different than the sun
settings specified for projections.

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Learn More About the Morph Tool

The purpose of this short guide was to teach you the basics of Morph, so you can get the hang of
creating free form elements easily. For more information on the Morph tool, check the 
video playlist introducing all aspects and features of it on the ARCHICAD Youtube Channel. Learn
how to use Morph to express any kind of design intent quickly and simply and see how it was
used to model some great architectural classics, like the Sagrada Familia or the 
Munich Olympic Stadium in Germany.

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Congratulations!
You have completed this Training Guide! We hope that you have learned many new and exciting
things about the possibilities of BIM and understood how ARCHICAD supports the conceptual
design workflow. Please check the other volumes of this training series for more details about
ARCHICAD.
The following web page provides additional free training guides in other areas of ARCHICAD,
including building object creation, collaboration and modeling:
www.graphisoft.com/learning/training_materials.
Should you have any questions regarding ARCHICAD or other GRAPHISOFT products, please visit
the GRAPHISOFT Help Center, our online knowledge base at helpcenter.graphisoft.com.
Feel free to contact GRAPHISOFT and its worldwide partners with further questions at
www.graphisoft.com. We look forward to seeing you in the ARCHICAD user community.

The GRAPHISOFT Team

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