GETTING STARTED

It’s a simple process 🙂

Copy the “ModelPort” folder with its contents into the Archicad “Add-Ons” folder. To locate the Add-ons folder follow the path below for your computer operating system:

• Mac : Applications > Graphisoft > ARCHICAD 25 (or 24, 23, etc.) > Add-Ons
• Windows : Programs > Graphisoft > ARCHICAD 25 (or 24. 23, etc.) > Add-Ons

Please note that none-English Archicad versions may call the "Add-Ons" folder a different name!

Once the ModelPort folder is placed into the “Add-Ons” folder it will be automatically recognized by Archicad.

When you open Archicad the ModelPort menu will appear next to the Help menu as shown below:

Uninstall ModelPort

If you need to uninstall ModelPort (of course we hope this will not be necessary) just remove the “ModelPort” folder from the Archicad “Add-Ons” folder.

 

The ModelPort Editor fits seamlessly into the standard ARCHICAD user interface with new features that offer better control of imported models and an interactive model viewer.

Overview of the Interface

There are 5 major components to the ModelPort user interface:

• Menu Commands, Type Selection and Detail Level
• Preview Windows
• Interface & Preferences
• Item Selection and Visibility
• Property Editor

Dockable Palettes

The ModelPort Editor and Browser are dockable ARCHICAD palettes. A dockable dialog is very beneficial but can also be problematic when it jumps to a different layout position when the palette is moved.

To help you manage the dockable feature we added a “switch” to the ModelPort Editor that sets if the dialog is dockable or not. You can click on the top/right corner of these palettes to toggle this switch ON or OFF.

Switch color is grey – palette is not dockable

 

Switch color is blue – palette is dockable

 

Numerical edit box with spin control

Our numerical edit field uses spin controls allowing you to work faster with inputing values. To change a numeric value you can set it with the mouse wheel rather than writing in the value number.

Click and Hold the left mouse button on the spin control and move the mouse up and down to quickly adjust the value.

Pop-up Properties Palette

When you use the mouse for a right-click inside the ModelPort 3D area, the Properties will appear as a Pop-up palette. This can be especially useful if you work in the Layout mode where the Properties panel is hidden by default.

This Pop-up palette will automatically disappear when you click outside the palette. To make it remain active click on the blue area near to the top/left corner of the palette.

Navigation (3D) / Selection

Navigate in the 3D view of ModelPort

• Rotate view: Click and hold and move the Left Mouse
• Pan view: Click and hold and move the Middle Mouse
• Zoom view (A): Click and hold and move the Right Mouse
• Zoom view (B): use the Wheel of your Mouse
• Zoom to Fit: click on the left Magnifier icon at the bottom of the 3D View
• Zoom to Fit Selected: click on the left Magnifier icon at the bottom of the 3D View

Selection

ModelPort has three selection modes:

1. Select by Object
2. Select by Material
3. Select Model

Here is how these three selection modes work and how they’re used.

1. Select by Object
   1. Click the Object Selection Mode to move, rotate or scale individual geometries and to manage polygon count.
      
2. Select by Material
   1. Click the Material Selection Mode to change color, edit the texture or define the graphics for the Floor Plan symbol
      
3. Select Model
   1. Click an empty area inside any Preview Window and the 3D Model will be selected.
      

The Item List view of the ModelPort editor reflects the current selection mode. But even in Object Selection Mode, as an example, you can tweak the materials by simply selecting the material from the item list.

If Archicad crashes during a ModelPort operation or something doesn’t work as expected in ModelPort, please let us know the problem so we can work on a solution.

To help us determine the problem follow the steps below so we can get the right information to the development team.

Sending information to the Developer

1. Mac User: 
   1. Send us the crash log which was generated automatically by your system. (It is not the same log that’s generated by the Archicad bug tool)
      1. Please open the Console application
      2. Select User Reports on the left side
      3. Select the latest Archicad crash log in the middle panel
      4. Attach it to your mail (you can drag and drop it from the Console application)
      5. Please continue the reading with section Mac & Windows Users
2. Mac & Windows Users: 
   1. Send your system details
      1. Operating System (Windows 7,8,10 / OS X Sierra, Mojave, etc.)
      2. CPU (Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz – 4 Thread, etc.)
      3. Graphics Card (NVidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, etc.)
   2. Send step by step instructions how to reproduce the problem.
   3. In case the problem is something visible (for example texture issues), attaching screen capture to the mail makes it easier to understand it.
   4. If possible you can send a simplified (contains only the necessary information) Archicad or gdl file, where we can see the problem.

 

Importing an object into ARCHICAD is a simple process using the following steps:

1. Select the ModelPort menu and Open Scene.
2. In the Open Scene dialog select the file to import into ModelPort.
3. The object will be displayed in the ModelPort Viewer where you can change scale, rotation, materials, reduce polygon count and other parametric editing options.
4. When you’re ready to finalize the object import and convert into an ARCHICAD object click the “Create ARCHICAD Library Object” button.
5. The object can now be placed into your project.

 

The ModelPort Viewer has two editing modes:

• Selection by Sub-Object
  • Edits the object as a whole
• Selection by Material
  • Allows you to select individual elements in the object

To use these two options select the green buttons in the upper left of the ModelPort Viewer. Once selected click on the model to edit it as a whole or to select individual elements.

• Example of Selection by Material:
  • An individual pillow can be selected and then the material color, texture, texture size and other options can be edited.

 

 

.

In the ModelPort Viewer select the top level of the Item List to view the Properties of the object.

At the bottom of the Properties panel you will see controls for Re-Scale and Re-Orient. Use these two options to change the object scale or rotate it around the XYZ axis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

When you import objects into ARCHICAD using the demo mode of ModelPort a watermark is placed onto the object. To remove this watermark you need to purchase ModelPort and then re-import the object into ARCHICAD.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that each 3D file format is specialized for a certain task (ie: visualization, animation, printing, CNC or games). So there is no one format that is the best for importing to ARCHICAD. The good news is that with the release of ModelPort 2.0 users now have access to a wider range of file formats such as MODO, Lightwave, Blender and DXF in addition to the popular OBJ and DAE formats as well as the standard FBX format. FBX and DAE are both full scene formats which means they carry more information with the file. FBX is a proprietary Autodesk format while DAE is an open format. The OBJ file format is a simple data-format.

FBX® is a proprietary file format developed by Kaydara and now owned by Autodesk. FBX data exchange technology is a 3D asset exchange format compatible with many 3D tools. FBX facilitates higher-fidelity data exchange between several Autodesk content creation packages and supports certain third-party and propriety applications. With FBX in your pipeline, it’s easier to transfer files, retain more data, and work more efficiently.

PROS: A modern format that retains more information during an exchange as well as the only exchange format that holds rigging and animation information. Since it is a newer format it holds more complex material information than OBJ. Quad topology is retained.

CONS: Older versions of the FBX format often exchange model information better than newer versions.

The OBJ file format is a simple data-format that represents 3D geometry alone — namely, the position of each vertex, the UV position of each texture coordinate vertex, vertex normals, and the faces that make each polygon defined as a list of vertices, and texture vertices. Vertices are stored in a counter-clockwise order by default, making explicit declaration of face normals unnecessary. OBJ coordinates have no units, but OBJ files can contain scale information in a human readable comment line.

PROS: The most popular exchange format for 3D models, OBJ can be exported and imported by just about every 3D application. Quad topology is retained.

CONS: The OBJ format is a unitless file type so getting the correct scale is sometimes a problem. It also does not hold rigging or animation information.

Collada files are XML files with a .dae extension which stands for “Digital Asset Exchange.” It is a 3D interchange file format used for exchanging digital assets between multiple graphics programs; based on the COLLADA (COLLAborative Design Activity) XML schema, which is now owned and developed by Autodesk.

PROS: If you want to import SketchUp objects from the 3D Warehouse there is usually a DAE format option in addition to the standard SKP format.

CONS: The DAE format is not as heavily used as the OBJ, FBX and Alembic formats.

3DS is one of the file formats used by the Autodesk 3ds Max 3D modeling, animation and rendering software.

It was the native file format of the old Autodesk 3D Studio DOS (releases 1 to 4), which was popular until its successor (3D Studio MAX 1.0) replaced it in April 1996. Having been around since 1990, it has grown to become a de facto industry standard for transferring models between 3D programs, or for storing models for 3D resource catalogs (along with OBJ, which is more frequently used as a model archiving file format).

Despite its popularity there are some disadvantages:

• The 3DS format is an old format that can be buggy.
• Lost data often occurs when importing a 3DS object into ARCHICAD.
• Texture’s applied to an imported 3DS files can often be corrupt.
• The number of vertices and polygons per mesh is limited to 65536.
• The 3DS format only stores 3 sided polygons and ARCHICAD does not handle 3 sided polygons very well.
• ARCHICAD has problems applying texture display on 3 sided polygons.
  

Yes, MODELPORT uses the Autodesk FBX SDK which is the same code used by Autodesk to create a bridge between their popular 3D software programs: Maya, Softimage XSI, 3DStudio MAX, etc. Using the FBX SDK means we can provide a reliable connection to these and many other 3D programs.

Yes, you can export FBX files from Revit and import these files as 3D objects in ARCHICAD.

No, the 3DS format is just an object format for 3DS Max. The 3DS Max file is a scene file…not an object file, and contains all the scene information. Quite often 3DS Max users will use OBJ and FBX object formats rather than the 3DS format because OBJ and FBX are far more robust and have less limitations.

ModelPort 2.0 introduces a new “ModelPort” format that creates a smaller file size compared to the standard ARCHICAD GDL format. Here is how the three Save Mode options compare:

• ModelPort : This NEW Save Mode significantly reduces the file size of imported objects and models.
  
• GDL : Standard ARCHICAD format but doesn’t store the extra ModelPort information and creates a larger file size.
• GDL+ModelPort : Provides all the benefits of both options above but creates the largest file size of the three options.

 

 

 

 

.

In order for other team members to view objects in the ModelPort format in 3D they will need to download the ModelPort plug-in on their computer. With the plug-in they will be able to view ModelPort objects in 3D but not edit or change them without their own license. It can be downloaded for FREE at this link:

• Download ModelPort >>

If a team member does not have ModelPort the Floor Plan symbols will be maintained but the imported objects will show the warning “Requires ModelPort Plug-in” in the 3D Window.

The ModelPort format stores additional information in the object and significantly reduces the size of imported files. If you do not want to use the ModelPort format you can switch to the GDL Save Mode but it doesn’t store the extra, editable ModelPort information and creates a larger file size. If you switch to the GDL+ModelPort Save Mode this option will maintain the additional stored information but would create a larger file size for the imported object.

Some objects can have high polygon counts which can decrease the performance of your project. ModelPort offers a Polygon Editor which can be used as follows:

• Object Polygon Reduction
  • Choose the “Select by Object” green button in the upper left.
  • In the Item List select the item that shows an Object icon (blue cube)
  • In the Properties select the Poly Reduced option from the pop-up menu and set a number for the Decimation Steps.
  • When you’re satisfied with the polygon reduction click the “Freeze Poly-reduced Geometry” button.
  • The final step is to click the “Update ARCHICAD Library Object” button.

Note: When using the Polygon Reduction you’re altering the geometry of the elements in the model. The more you reduce the polygon count the greater impact of change to the object.

ModelPort opens the door to a world of new objects but some objects may create a performance issue with ARCHICAD. Models with a high polygon number can slow down ARCHICAD so we recommended moderate or low polygon density for imported models. While there is no optimal value for a polygon count, since performance will vary depending on hardware, our testing shows that a moderate polygon count is between 25,000 to 50,000 polygons. We also found that models with up to 100,000 polygons generally work well without any issues.

When importing a model you can view the Import Statistics in ModelPort before importing into ARCHICAD. In this panel you can view the number of imported items, number of polygons, vertices and the size of the scene Bounding Box.

TurboSquid has an excellent search option that allows you to refine a search by setting a polygon count. The search can be set to the following polygon count options:

• Low: Up to 10k polygons
• Moderate: 10K to 50K polygons
• High : 50K to 100,000K polygons
• Very High : Over 100K polygons

The majority of objects on TurboSquid are available under 100,000 polygons.