• Archicad 10
• Feature Comparison
• Integrated Layouting

Feature Comparison between ArchiCAD 9 to ArchiCAD 10

Integrated Design and Documentation Workflow

Integrated Layouting

1. Contents of Views and their modification

In ArchiCAD 9, to redefine a View, first you need to set your Project to the desired Layer Combination, Scale and Display Options (and Dimensioning Settings in Preferences) that you want to redefine the View with. Then you can choose the Redefine View command of the View Map.

In ArchiCAD 10, this is not necessary anymore, and the redefinition Views has become much more flexible. Simply select a View in the View Map of the Navigator, click on the Settings button and you will have a new interface where you can define the any stored aspect of the View to your liking before saving it. By changing something here will not change it in the Project File; it will only set how this particular View should be saved. You can redefine the ID, Name, Layer Combination, Scale, Model View Options, Dimension settings and Zoom factor for the View. You can also set unique Floor Plan Cut Plane Settings for that View. You also have detailed information on what 3D-related info is saved in case of saving a 3D or Section/Elevation View.

2. Organizer

In ArchiCAD 9 you have a View Editor Palette, plus a Publisher Palette. In PlotMaker 9, there is the Navigator with its list of Layouts.
In ArchiCAD 10, all these are unified into one interface: the Organizer. The Organizer is like a View Editor in appearance: it has two vertical panes. On the left pane, you can display the Project Map, the View Map, the Layout Map or the Publisher, on the right pane, the latter three. It enables you to edit, create, define and organize all above mentioned interface elements of ArchiCAD 9/PlotMaker 9.

3. Update of Drawings

In PlotMaker 9, Drawings placed on PlotMaker Layouts can be updated only manually. You have to select Drawings on a Layout or in the Drawing Manager View of the PlotMaker Navigator, and issue the Update command. At this point, PlotMaker starts a Background ArchiCAD application which opened the source PLN File and regenerated the source Views of the selected Drawings.
In ArchiCAD 10, Drawings can be set to be updated automatically. This is possible because of several things: (a) Layouts are in the same File as their source Views so there is no need to wait for Background ArchiCAD to start; (b) If several sessions of ArchiCAD 10 sessions are running, they are aware of each other and can quickly update desired Views; (c) ArchiCAD 10 can watch out for any modification in source Views of Drawings and update them automatically in the background. The result is that Drawings are always up-to-date and are updated fast.

Drawings placed into Model Views in ArchiCAD 10 can similarly be set to be updated automatically. For example, if pages of a Specification PDF File are placed in a Model View, if their Update Type is set to ‘Auto’, whenever the PDF is changed, ArchiCAD 10 automatically updates the Drawings referencing it.

4. Drawing Usage display

In PlotMaker 9, the Drawing Usage View of the Navigator is the place to organize Drawings placed on Layouts.
In ArchiCAD 10, the Drawing Manager takes over this role. It has increased functionality, lists information on Drawings placed in Model Views or on Layouts, has multi-level sorting possibilities of listed Drawings, and its interface (number of Columns, displayed Column, width of Columns) is customizable to your individual needs.

5. Project/File Hotlinks

In PlotMaker 9, there were two possible ways a View could be placed onto a Layout: Project Hotlink and File Hotlink.
In ArchiCAD 10, File Hotlinks are not supported anymore because of the close integration of the design and documentation interfaces. Therefore, in case of migrating a PlotMaker 9 Layout Book to ArchiCAD 10, you need to convert all File Hotlinks of the Layout Book into Project Hotlinks.

6. Drawing Titles

In ArchiCAD 9, Drawing Titles appended to Drawings placed in PlotMaker 9 are created in separate Windows. These Titles can refer to Autotext entries, but otherwise they are not parametric.
In ArchiCAD 10, Drawing Titles are now GDL Objects with a set of parameters for much greater flexibility in their use and their appearance. When a PlotMaker 9 Layout Book is migrated into ArchiCAD 10, all Titles are converted into simple GDL Object Titles.

CategorySetup, CategoryLayouting, CategoryGdl