Virtual Building Blossoms with Archicad® 6.o

June 2, 1998

Major Upgrade Demonstrates Productivity Enhancements Including 3D Editing

Budapest, June 2, 1998
Graphisoft® announces the release of
Archicad® 6.o, the most comprehensive upgrade to Archicad since its
launch in 1984. New features ­ including direct 3D editing, database
links, an open API, and a multitude of 2D drafting tools ­ address every
facet of architectural practice.
Building upon Graphisoft’s 15 years of leadership in 3D modeling, object
technology and graphic user interface, Archicad 6.o was developed in
response to the demanding needs of its over 45,000 worldwide users.
“With its enhanced 2D drafting tools and 3D editing capabilities, 6.0 now
meets virtually all of our clients’ needs,” said beta tester Tom Simmons,
president of Archview Media, content developers providing digital media
integration services. “Graphisoft’s responsiveness to user needs is
reflected in this dynamic new version.”
One of the most visible improvements in Archicad 6.o is its ability to
create, edit and navigate directly in the 3D window. Several interface
innovations make working in perspective manageable for even complex
structures. Archicad 6.o introduces a concept of “gravity” to CAD which
automatically places walls and columns on the floor beneath them without
having to set a Z coordinate. Fast “ghosting” techniques provide
real-time feedback of movement. New working planes can be set by just
clicking on any surface.
3D editing works in wireframe, hidden line and shaded modes, and ­ with
Archicad’s fully integrated “virtual building” ­ any changes made in the
3D window are updated in the floorplan and other windows as well.
Archicad 6.o includes all of the drafting basics ­ ellipse, offset, bring
to front/send to back as well as numerous innovations including custom
hatches and fills, 2D Boolean operations, temporary hotspots, and an
object “patch” for intelligent detailing. A new interface quickens work
using drag & drop to pull objects directly from the desktop onto the
floor plan; Quickviews to save and access sections of a project including
layers, stories and scale settings; and a special “Pet Palette” which
follows the cursor and carries the most important tools for the selected
action. Users can create their own keyboard shortcuts as well.
Long known as the most efficient building modeling program available,
version 6.0 introduces a new Mesh tool for quick terrain modeling or
making free-form shapes. Wall types have been expanded to include both
non-parallel and irregular walls, and any wall shape can be trimmed to
complex roofs while retaining their intelligence as a wall and staying
tied to the component list. Boolean operations now work on 3D shapes
such as floors and roofs, and entire matrices of columns can now be
created with just two mouse clicks.
Architects work increasingly in teams that cross the office, cross
disciplines and cross oceans. Archicad 6.o supports them in several ways
including its award-winning TeamWork functionality. TeamWork is updated
in 6.0 allowing work spaces to be changed on-the-fly. Archicad 6.o also
supports web publishing in the Simplified Vector Format (SVF) available
as a free plug-in for Netscape Navigator and Windows Explorer. Archicad’s
VR virtual reality scenes have long offered a solution for communicating
a project’s design through the web, but the SVF format support adds the
additional ability to publish working drawings.
Archicad 6.o translates DWG files up to r14 and preserve any Xref files
within Archicad for later re-export to AutoCAD. Conversely, Archicad’s
intelligent building elements such as walls and floors can be preserved
in the DWG translation and re-appear in Archicad even after the files
have been opened and used in AutoCAD. Graphisoft is also introducing an
open Application Programming Interface (API) which allows other software
developers or in-house CAD managers to create custom applications
optimized for Archicad for a particular project or type of work. The
Software Developers Kit (SDK) for the Archicad API will be available
later this summer for a small fee.
“Archicad 6.o represents a milestone for Graphisoft,” says Támas Hajas,
president of Graphisoft U.S., Inc. “It is the ‘fruition’ of many themes
begun as far back as our version 4.5: the virtual building, database
communications, working in multiple views and add-on customization.
Working with our users, we’ve developed each of these themes to create
the most comprehensive and mature Archicad upgrade ever.”
Archicad 6.o is scheduled to ship on both Windows 95/NT and Macintosh
operating systems in the United States and Germany in early-July and in
localized versions throughout in the rest of the world by the end of the
year. Hardware requirements remain the same as previous versions. Users
should contact their local Archicad distributor or Graphisoft at
for upgrade and new product pricing.
Honored by the Software Publishers Association (SPA) with its 1997 Codie
Award for Best Groupware product, Archicad is sold in more than 80
countries and 22 languages. Graphisoft, ranked by Dataquest as the
world’s third largest AEC CAD software developer for personal computers,
and more than 1,000 value-added resellers (VARS) provide service and
support to over 45,000 users worldwide.
Partial list of new or enhanced features of Archicad 6.o
Drafting & Productivity

  • Drag & Drop objects into floor plan
  • Ellipse
  • Enhanced intelligent cursor
  • Fill patterns defined by user
  • GDL “patch” objects for intelligent detailing
  • Menu shortcuts defined by user
  • Multiply by matrix
  • Offset of any construction element, fill or polygon
  • Quickviews saving layer, story, scale configurations
  • Repeat last command
  • Resize selection while selectively preserving text, markers and labels
  • Rotatable grid
  • Send to back/bring to front
  • Boolean union, subtraction and intersection on fills and polygons

Modeling & Working in Perspective

  • Create elements in perspective and axonmetric views
  • Edit elements in perspective and axonmetric views
  • Rotate and navigate 3D view on screen
  • Change working plane by clicking on any element
  • Ghosting to preview 3D movement
  • Gravity to automatically place walls and objects at correct height
  • Surface mesh tool with optional skirt for fast terrain creation
  • Irregular and non-parallel walls
  • Trim walls and objects to any complex roof shapes
  • Boolean union, subtraction and intersection on polygon slabs and roofs

Data Connectivity & Customization

  • Building components listed in single database with references to Archicad objects
  • Door, window, finish schedules tied to model
  • Schedules and component lists defined by end user
  • Open API (Application Programming Interface) allowing extension of Archicad functionality

Collaboration

  • Change TeamWork work space on-the-fly
  • DWG r14 translation preserves Xref structures in Archicad and preserves intelligent objects in AutoCAD
  • Export to SVF (Simplified Vector Format) to publish drawings on the web

Graphisoft is a leading provider of computer-aided design (CAD) software
solutions for the architectural profession and the building industry.
Founded in 1982, Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD
software developers in the world, with 12 offices all over the world in
addition to its headquarters. Graphisoft’s flagship product, Archicad, is
used by more than 75,000 architects worldwide and distributed in 25
languages and 80 countries. Shares of Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange Neuer Markt under the symbol GPH. More information about
Graphisoft is available at www.graphisoft.com.