Some
other new features at a glance:
|
|
New
Feature
|
Description
|
Benefit
|
|
Palette Docking
|
The most important Palettes
of ArchiCAD 9 can now be docked (on Windows) or snapped
together (on Mac). This includes the Info Box, The
Toolbox, the Navigator, the Navigator Preview, the
Coordinate Box, the Control Box and the Favorites
Palette. These Palettes can be docked to any side of the
ArchiCAD Window.
|
Customize the Work Environment to work the way you want.
|
|
LightWorks Rendering Engine |
LightWorks introduces
ray tracing to ArchiCAD. Ray tracing works by tracing
the path taken by a ray of light through the scene, and
calculating reflection, refraction, or absorption of the
ray whenever it intersects an object in the world,
giving much more realism to rendered images. |
The
LightWorks Engine will understand ArchiCAD materials and
it will convert their Transparency, Emission, Reflection
and Glowing values to its own format. Reflective glass
surfaces can now be rendered direct in ArchiCAD.
LightWorks shaders can also be used. |
|
Search
Library Part by Name
|
The
Find library part option in the Object Settings
Dialog lets you enter search criteria, including
wildcard characters, to locate Library Parts by name.
|
In
addition to browsing for Library Parts in folders and
subtype hierarchies, ArchiCAD 9 offer a third
possibility for locating a Library Part
|
|
Revised Selection Methods
|
The Quick Selection button is the one on the right among
the three buttons of the Arrow Tool’s Info Box. Quick
Selection is optional in 2D and Section/Elevation &
Detail Windows; it is automatic in the 3D window. By
default it is enabled. |
When
this option is enabled, you can select all construction
elements, Doors/Windows, as well as Fills, Zones,
Dimension Texts and placed Figures by simply clicking
anywhere within the boundaries of their enclosing
polygon/rectangle on the Floor Plan. This means you no
longer have to find an edge or a node of an element to
be able to select it.
|
|
Standardized Escape "Esc" Logic
|
The
functionality of the Esc key has been slightly modified
with ArchiCAD 9. It now provides four levels of escaping
the current operation one is involved in
|
Quitting an operation, deselecting objects, removing the
marquee, and changing back to the arrow selection can
now be done with the click of the Esc key.
|
|
Improved Pet Palettes
|
In
ArchiCAD 9, the two Pet Palettes became unified in one
two-row Pet Palette that displays all available buttons
for the current element type.
|
This eliminates the need for switching between these two
Pet Palettes, thereby speeding up element editing
operations. |
|
New
Editing Enhancements
|
Polygon
editing has been enhanced in ArchiCAD 9. It applies to
all elements created by drawing a polygon (Polygonal
Wall, Slab, Roof, Mesh, Zone, Fill).
|
More control and faster results in editing 3D elements
and 2D Polygons.
|
|
Keep
Section/Elevation Zoom after Rebuild
|
ArchiCAD 9 keeps the zoom factor previously zoomed to
even after a rebuild
|
Saves you the trouble of having to recreate the desired
zoom. |
|
Create Independent Details
|
In
ArchiCAD 9, it is possible to create and independent
Detail that is not linked to a Detail Marker placed on
the Floor Plan.
|
Creating
an independent detail is quick and easy with a different
icon in Navigator for Independent Details.
|
|
Advanced Fill Categories
|
In
ArchiCAD 9, created Fills may belong to three distinct
categories. A new panel has been created in the Fill
Settings Dialog for this purpose. It is called the
Advanced Settings Panel.
|
Quick associations of elements such as slabs, roofs,
zones, and meshes can be made and Display Options can
control how the different fill categories are displayed.
|
|
Project Reviewer Enhancements
|
There is a new set of tools integrated, called the
Surveyor Toolbar. It contains tools for length, area and
angle measurements.
Reviewer
now has mouse wheel support |
To
allow clients to navigate among drawing sheets faster
and more easily, while reviewing and redlining, the
Project Reviewer web environment’s tool set has been
enhanced.
|
|
PDF
Output Enhancements
|
The PDF format is integrated into the Publisher Save
method. PDF format appears as an option for file format
of saved Layouts. |
More and more architects are now archiving their drawing
sheet in PDF format. Therefore, publishing view sets
from ArchiCAD and PlotMaker in PDF has been greatly
simplified and improved in ArchiCAD 9 to speed up the
archiving process. |
|
Grid for Drawing Numbering in PlotMaker |
PlotMaker enables you to
import a set of Views onto a Layout, and automatically
create drawing numbers for them in their title based on
settings specified in this Dialog
and their location on the sheet.
|
This feature may be especially useful when publishing
standard-sized details or large documentation sets.
Automation of detail numbering streamlines the process
for quicker output. |
|
DWG/DXF Enhancements |
ArchiCAD 9 has a new DXF/DWG Add-On that is based on the
DWGDirect third party DXF/DWG Translation code
library. It can read all DXF/DWG files from R12 up to
DXF/DWG 2004 formats. It can save data in DXF/DWG 2000
and 2004 formats. |
Drag and drop enabled from
AutoCAD formats and IDrop from the internet. Increased
import and export tools with the latest version
formats. |
