INT AC Training Series Vol.2

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
2
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
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. 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
4
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
5

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.
6
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.
7
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.
8
Creating a Base Geometry

Lets 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.
9
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.
10
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.
11
4 Pick the left face.
12
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.
13
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.
14
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.
15
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.
16
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.
17
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.
18
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.
19
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.
20
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.
21
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.
22
Additional Site Geometry

Lets 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.
23
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.
24
5 Set the Editing Plane to horizontal if necessary.
6 Set a distance of 1000 and press ENTER.
25
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.
26
Click OK.
27
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.
28
3 Make sure that Subtraction with upward extrusion is used as an operation and click
Execute.
4 Close the palette.
29
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.
Lets 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).
30
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), lets 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 Lets 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.
31
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.
32
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.
33
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 lets 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.
34
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.
35
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. Lets see how the latter one works.
1 Lets 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.
36
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.
37
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.
38
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.
Lets 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.
39
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
40
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.
41
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.
Lets 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
42
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, lets 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
43
3 Turn on Sun Shadows.
Click OK.
44
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.
45
6 Click into the Scene rolldown list and choose Select and Manage Scenes....
46
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.
47
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.
48
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.
49
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
50

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ARCHICAD Training Series

Volume 2 - Conceptual Design

ARCHICAD Training Series Vol. 2

Contents of the training material

How to use this training material?

How to get ARCHICAD?

Conceptual Design in ARCHICAD

Creating Site Geometry

Creating a Base Geometry

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

Copying an Existing Edge

4 Pick the left face.

Offsetting Faces of the Morph

4 Push the new upper face by 1200.

Creating Another Morph

4 Type 2200 to define the radius and press ENTER.

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

Splitting the Morph

8 Deselect the plinth.

Additional Site Geometry

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.

5 Set the Editing Plane to horizontal if necessary.

6 Set a distance of 1000 and press ENTER.

7 Repeat with the other edge as well.

Cleaning Up Intersecting Geometries

4 Close the palette.

Creating a Morph in Sections/Elevations

4 Activate the Morph tool and choose Polygonal geometry method.

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

Modifying All Edges Simultaneously

Placing Objects in the Surroundings

3 Turn on Sun Shadows.

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

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

Learn More About the Morph Tool

The GRAPHISOFT Team

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