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  • Restart your Mac properly

    Overview To keep your Mac running at its best, a restart often helps to set things straight. If your Mac is managed by an IT admin, e.g. via jamf, Mosyle or our own RADAR service, it is crucial to restart your Mac before you leave for the day, so the management system can do its

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  • mACT Smart People

    The mACT Smart People object displays correctly across all viewports – solving a long standing problem with most default people and tree objects in ARCHICAD. Included in the XMAS 2020 Edition of this object are various 2D graphics and 3D shapes of a single style, however given the tumultuous year we had we could not…

  • Contactless Visitor Register

    If your business premises are frequented daily by clients and visitors, you must comply with COVID-Safe business requirements and collect individuals details for eventual contract tracing. This is an essential part of becoming a COVID-Safe business – for details also refer to the following: www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/covid-safe-businesses/qr-codes-and-contactless-record-keeping An easy and zero-cost solution to set this up is…

  • WhatsApp – secure setup

    Below some best practice principles on how to setup and use WhatsApp (by Facebook). [asideguide type=”alert”]If you are concerned about privacy do not use WhatsApp, albeit convenient it is owned by Facebook which has a very bad privacy record… use Apple Messages or Signal instead.[/asideguide] A. Setup the following to avoid your account being hijacked:…

  • Graphisoft BIMx for ARCHICAD

    Alongside ARCHICAD 24 Graphisoft has recently released an updated version of the BIMx app and in addition to the webviewer has also been improved. As before this latest version comes in a FREE or a PRO version, the latter being on a subscription model with monthly or yearly payment options. If you previously paid for BIMx…

  • Archicad GDL Object Sites

    If you know of any other website(s) or wish to be included, please contact us.

  • ARCHICAD 24 replacement icon(s)

    What a change for 2020… Graphisoft has rebranded! So without any further ado here are our alternative / replacement icons for ARCHICAD 24. To ease the transition to the new identity for die hard / nostalgic ARCHICAD users, we have also included a LEGACY version… As usual all icons are available in full Retina Display…

  • Video Conference App Cheat Sheet

    Received an invitation to yet another Conferencing system? Do the below to join an external meeting in a browser, without installing the app or signing up for another account.   Microsoft Teams Copy and paste the meeting link into the google chrome browser. [asideguide type=”alert”]When copying URLs from invitations, make sure to exclude any leading…

  • ARCHICAD Terminology

    Vectorworks ARCHICAD Notes Classes Layers In AC Layers can also be controlled via Layer Combinations Design Layers Stories Scale in AC is controlled via Views. Note that some Elements are scale- sensitive, i.e. they may change their LOD according to the selected Scale. Viewports / Saved Views Views / View Map Sheet Layers Layout Output…

  • Exporting IFC from ARCHICAD

    Exporting IFC files from ARCHICAD can be a lengthy process, which often fails after an extended period. To minimise your risk of wasting your time, consider these tips: Check your ARCHICAD model for 3d errors / invalid polygons. More details how to best do this are available here. Create a specific IFC EXPORT view and…

  • Flexible Work Arrangements

    How do you provide staff the choice / ability to work flexibly either from the office or from home (or even any other place they may choose)? The main risks with such a setup are generally network and data safety. To ensure these are mitigated we recommend a combination of the following: regular online threat…

  • Adobe Acrobat optimisation

    If you find either Adobe Acrobat Reader or the full Adobe Acrobat DC version to be terribly slow adjust the following settings to improve performance: Preferences > General > untick ‘Make Hand tool read articles’ – and whilst you are at it, untick most other items… Preferences > Accessibility > Other Accessibility Options, untick ‘Enable…

  • PDF markups for Architects

    ever since we got our first ipad 2 we have been testing various setups and apps – as usual with the architectural community in mind.

  • iPad for Architects

    ever since we got our first ipad 2 we have been testing various setups and apps – as usual with the architectural community in mind.

  • mACT ARCHICAD Work Environment

    As part of the annual development of mACT our ARCHICAD Template, we also produce a continuously refined Work Environment. Our Work Environment has been optimised for 27 inch displays or larger and includes the following refinements: Workflow based layout > from left to right, putting the focus on Favourites for efficient modelling; Quick menus >…

  • ZOOM – Tips and Tricks

                We recommend ZOOM for video conferencing (either WFH or for general office meetings) as it allows for the following: voice and / or video calls; chat function; screen sharing and a markup / whiteboard tool, that works across all platforms (iOS, macOS, Android and Windows); automatic creation of a…

  • Caller ID blocking (AU)

    When you are expected to return business related calls from your mobile phone and you wish to not share your personal (australian) mobile number for whatever reason, you can do the following: A. Block your number on a call by call basis  From a landline, dial 1831 then the number you are calling From a…

  • Working remotely – WFH

    [18/05/2020 > updated with link to flexible work arrangement post] The main challenge of working remotely or working from home in Architecture is the combination of large file sizes and slow or intermittent internet connections. We find that the following approach typically works best:   INTERNET CONNECTIONS Ideally staff have at least an NBN connection.…

  • Adjust LAN IP Address Range

    For a successful remote server connection via VPN, your home internet router must use a different IP address range to your office network setup. For example, if the office router IP address is 192.168.0.1, your home router IP address cannot be 192.168.0.x To check please do the following: When connected to your home internet, go…