ArchiCAD 10 has been a
free download for students since this past August. The procedure is simple. Better still the product is not a sub-set of the commercial version so it moves along with the regular cycle of maintenance releases. Students don't need bugs either.
While this is, in-and-of-itself, a great thing; wait, it gets better.
Imagine
ArchiCAD as the information hub or documentation centre on all your projects. What about the modeling of complex geometry, organic forms, etc.?
form*Z might be the answer. But, how do you turn a complex form*Z model into a set of live model section drawings? Generally speaking it can't be done.
Enter
MaxonForm. This is the modeling engine from
Cinema 4D adapted for use as a) a standalone complex modeler; and b) a tool integrated with
ArchiCAD to produce sectionable accurate views of any complex geometry created in
MaxonForm and integrated into an
ArchiCAD model. Better yet, the object remains editable throughout its life by taking it back to the
MaxonForm modeler.
So, now we have integrated tools with bi-directional links rather than tools that can't effectively talk to one another. Who needs a disjointed linear workflow?
What about rendering and animation? Abvent's
Artlantis Studio is now also a free download for students. Radiosity shading with a link back to the
ArchiCAD model database. Continuity. The days of a-model-for-this, a-model-for-that are over.
Lets go back to the beginning - the pre-design, schematic phase.
SketchUp can offer structure and massing tools, but what if you're looking for something a little more precise? Something that remains linked to a BIM model.
ArchiCAD can be used to create massing models its true, but the translation of relationship diagrams - the stuff you work on as you develop a design from a functional program or a set of design criteria. A new tool that works with
ArchiCAD might be just the answer.
Affinity, from Trelligence Software creates a pre-design database that once linked to an
ArchiCAD model stays linked and allows you to weigh the design against both quantitative and qualitative criteria.
All of these products are available in student versions - all but
Affinity are free to students and Institutions. And all, but
MaxonForm are available online.
All we need now is a tool for Building Simulation.
Ecotect might just fit the bill. Its not free for students, and we are still waiting for the translators to arrive, but a student could buy
Ecotect and
Affinity take all of the freebies listed above and assemble an integrated design suite for about $149CDN.
That is sweet.
Here's where here to obtain them:
BTW
ArchiCAD is able to import files from SketchUp and import/export files to/from Revit, Google Earth, 3D Studio - well just about anything you can think of.
Labels: Academic, ArchiCAD 10, Artlantis, Ecotect, form*Z, Google Earth, MaxonForm, Revit, SketchUp, Student, Trelligence Affinity
