It occurred to me the other day that the lack of a flexible way of trying out different designs and permutations was one of the main problems I have trying to 'sell' the concept of ArchiCAD to more experienced 2d CAD based colleagues.
In 2d CAD I/we often create several versions of the same elevation just to try out various arrangements of windows or roofs. This can be done quickly and simply by just copying the lines and moving then to one side, making the changes, then visually judging them against each other. In ArchiCAD there are various techniques like moving duplicates of the geometry to one side, setting up special layers, saving stuff to modules, but none of them are quick and simple and give you the ability to immediately assess that particular design
in the context of the rest of the 3d model
. Of course you can set an individual elev as a 'drawing' and make some 2d edits, but you will have lost the ability to design in 3 dimensions - one of the key advantages of software like ArchiCAD.
This lack of flexibility basically means that you have to have a more developed idea of the final design
before
you start trying to model it. Also, useful things like keeping the simplified planning model in the same file as construction model become very awkward.
A secondary layer-based system (mentioned in the middle of
this thread) seems to me to be the ideal solution. The layers that control the visibility of geometry should be separate to the layers that control the design options. This would allow versions of the geometry to exist in the same place and stay on their various geometry layers, but be easily switched with another design.
This feature is essential in my opinion, and if implemented correctly it could really speed up the whole design process.
