Thanks for your positive feedback. I will definitely keep the longer version available so that people who are interested may see the complete step by step.

Eric, this is definitely a great "reference" video. thanks.

I watched for about 20 min. and lost interest. It's too slow. Besides, the entire approach I saw demonstrated is fundamentally wrong in my view.
With an original .dwg to use, there is no need to trace anything. Use Magic Wand!
Model it right in the original .dwg or Copy and Paste things to a fresh ArchiCAD template if you like to use them. Personally, I don’t find templates very useful. I prefer to just copy and paste from similar projects, then tweak as needed.

Perhaps I did not watch long enough to see optional ways of doing the same thing faster.

Steve -

Yes, watching someone draw a whole building can be tedious, which is why I plan to condense this down to show and explain the important steps in the process; I'm sure you'll find this more to your liking.

Regarding your comments about using the magic wand to automatically trace the exterior - this sometimes works very well, but I often find that it breaks up walls on either side of windows or doors, or continues walls from exterior to interior, or makes other "mistakes" because of the way it interprets the sequence of lines. It may work in some contexts, but not others, and often requires extensive cleanup. Drawing the outline manually allows me to judge when the wall continues and when it doesn't, and requires less cleanup.

Copying and pasting from a similar project is an excellent approach. It is a quick way to bring in elements that are appropriate for the new design.

The visual favorites that I demonstrated from MasterTemplate were only minimally used in this video because they were not the focus, however they can be an excellent time-saver in other parts of the process. Also, MasterTemplate (and other well thought out templates) can embed a lot of reusable structure to simplify the work of setting up the project Views and Layouts. There is a LOT more to a good template than you can achieve by copying and pasting.

After tracing the plan, the video goes on to demonstrate how to use the Elevation drawings as a background for quickly setting the window and door heights, operation types and glazing patterns, as well as coordinating roofs and trim elements. This method is an excellent way to apply Virtual Trace.

By the way, you can jump ahead in the video to see other parts of the demonstration. I believe you have to wait until the download has reached that point, but once it's in your browser cache, you can jump around at will.

Steve,
I think it's great that Eric posted the video. I've seen Eric demonstrate many times at the local user group (he is my local reseller) and have learned a lot from him over the years. There is a lot to learn watching how someone else works.

Often when I go into other offices, people have time and again commented about how just watching me,another person, work is beneficial.

I have not watched the video yet ... think I'll wait for the abridged version, but very glad that Eric has done this for the community.

Eric wrote:
Regarding your comments about using the magic wand to automatically trace the exterior - this sometimes works very well, but I often find that it breaks up walls on either side of windows or doors, or continues walls from exterior to interior, or makes other "mistakes" because of the way it interprets the sequence of lines. It may work in some contexts, but not others, and often requires extensive cleanup. Drawing the outline manually allows me to judge when the wall continues and when it doesn't, and requires less cleanup.

I agree completely for all of the reasons that Eric gives. To add one more: frequently there is a 'wall type' change as you go around the building. Snapping around manually allows you to switch wall construction as needed without having to go back and figure out where to break walls and modify them.

Erika wrote:
Often when I go into other offices, people have time and again commented about how just watching me,another person, work is beneficial.

I hear that as well. This is another reason that user groups can be such a valuable experience - even if the topic is something that the listener 'knows', the way in which something is done can often be an eye opener. 😉

Cheers,
Karl;