Pimp My Career

This is our second year running PMC ( PIMP MY CAREER), this time we had 2 classes , Interior  and architecture . Architecture students filled the place, ahhh... I always thought that world have enough architects , Make love not Architecture !

any how I really enjoy working with the students, so for the students reading this .. Thank you...and If you are not going to use archicad after all that effort in the training I am going to haunt you for the rest of your lives using the tracker to locate your position and I guess I will use the ghost story ( storey ?) against  you... ooops ! just remembered ! you don't really know what is a ghost story .. well ..its like the grandpa of Virtual Trace.

Free CadimageTools Tracking Curve Tool

I wish that this tool was available when I was hitting the roads with my truck signing Born To Be Wild ! 

The description says :

The Vehicle Tracking Curves tool allows you to insert tracking curves quickly & easily into your ArchiCAD projects.

Simply set the vehicle shape & size, and your curve radius. You will get an accurate forward tracking curve for that setup, and you will be able to drag the vehicle to anywhere on the curve to see how it follows it.

to download visit the product webpage click here 

Going Green

last week, we launched EcoDesigner  in AbuDhabi.  don't have pictures ..sorry my bad !

anyhow ... the event was successful, many new faces, and every one liked EcoDesigner . 

Now talking seriously ? I am an architect my self, and being an old school guy .. sustainability  and stuff wasn't really an issue that we are worried about in those days, ( we had an environmental designing course... but it was one of those ..arrrrgh lets skip the day  courses )  and to be honest, we the teenagers felt that its kind of Gay ! sorry ... but this is how we felt back in those days.

now the thing that I want to talk about, that now as a grown up - kind of responsible person ( yeah..right ! ), I understand that helping mother earth is a must. 

and when Ecodesigner came, as a user I didn't get the concept immediately, as I was expecting more of those tiny details and complicated things.

but after the first demonstration I understood the concept, that this a tool for me ! not for the Green and sustainable specialist which can talk and talk for days... and I will be just listening  without actually understanding a word! 

its a tool that an average architect can use, the product is designed as a tool to enhance your design ... as simple as this !

hmmm.... off the record ? I still prefer a nice design rather than an environment friendly one ! don't get me wrong ... still we support the product :D but its just me !

so kermit was not 100% correct when he said : "its not easy being green "

Your Personal ArchiCAD

No matter If you are an advanced user or a beginner , there will be always a point where you stop, and try to find a way to do something that the normal tricks didn't achieve .

I remember the first time I used AC ( AC 6.0) I think ? or earlier , anyhow back in those days I didn't have the SUPER LOVELY POWERFUL MARVELOUS AWESOME ROCK STAR LEVEL support from atOne ( ok .. ok .. just kidding ..take it easy (-_-) ) . so I didn't actually have any proper training and I had to find my way, I remember the first project had some sort of  canopy that is half circle, just a flat half circle slab , well .. now I can say that its JUST a flat circle slab ! back then it was a nightmare , no clue what is magic wand , so actually I did it in small rectangles , part by part till I got something similar to what I am looking for, and back then I thought .. maybe ArchiCAD doesn't handle curves well !

but the funniest use I've ever seen , was from a friend of mine that was creating a residential building , and he was trying to create some round flower pots by the windows , and the best way in his opinion was to use the basin (sink) object ! and there was no way to convince him that this is not what the programers expected when they did this object !

the point is ... what we always most of the users keep telling , mostly its not about the software , mostly its about you !

Back to university

after spending almost 2 weeks doing workshops at universities in the region, I have couple of things to say :

- Professors these days ARE different from the ones we used to have !

I remember that we spent our years in the university just trying to prove that a computer will never do a design for you ! ( will not sure about future though)

- Students ARE still the same 

yes, this part will never change I guess, I ve seen the same roles , the extremely excited student, the student that attends the thing just to be there ( in case the professor noticed) , and the student that is not that into this but why not trying ( hmm..that was me in the old days ) !

and another thing that is the same , that actually they all love ArchiCAD because it will give them better presentation and more hours to sleep ( again that was where I was hooked into the ArchiCAD world , more sleeping hours !)

- Its always a pleasure to work with students :

"And how much does it cost?", never hear that question when you go to universities , because simply its FREE for them ! so its all about how good is the software . I like that , feels like utopia , I know I know .. if its that way always  I would never get paid , but I am just saying that it is nice not having the "how much" conversation ,thats all .

-It feels like payback time ! :

I guess that this would be the evil side of me saying that , but when I have a workshop with professors ( sorry professors if you are reading this ) but it feels like payback time ! watching the professors in the students seats, is nice after all !  

First post ...test ..test..123

ok...is this thing on?

Welcome to Club atOne , well .. its the ArchiCADers gathering place, Not quite sure what I will post form time to time, but for sure it is not so formal ( looking at Homer on top banner  gave you a hint already !) , but anyhow I will try to make it more focused on the ArchiCAD side of things , and I really must stop typing "ArchiCAD" and get more of those normal "archicad" ... well... after joining the company for almost 2 and half years now ... I am so programed to type ArchiCAD as the official way of typing it !.

anyhow , most of u have already heard of Club atOne ? "yes..you there with glasses?" ... no? u didn't ? I  wonder where u got ur license from ! ...have u heard of the term ...dongle? ooh.. ok we will discuss this later.

Club atOne is a mix of a community and a reward system, community where we can all talk ... chat .. and even complain ( oh god ! ) . which not exactly what I can do when I am wearing my atone- ArchiCAD super hero costume , and also we can share news...

and also it is a reward system for all Archicaders , I hope you already got some information on that in the newsletter . and more details will be published here soon . anyhow its easy to earn points , just shooting two A-CAD users .. will get you couple of years in prison. fair enough eh ?

well.. no really its easy .. good deeds gives you points , sending us your friends contacts to we can introduce ArchiCAD  gives you points , submitting your work to the newsletter gives you points , a case study gives you points ... and so, and later on you can use those points as discounts when you are buying new stuff , or just get instant gifts !

well...lets get this thing up and running !