GETTING STARTED
Installation, Licensing and User Interface
We have three ways to help you get started with ModelPort…
- Documentation : Open the panels below to review how to install, activate and navigate ModelPort.
- FAQ’s : Open the panels below to review frequently asked questions.
- In-depth Training : Visit our YouTube Channel where you’ll learn how to import, view, edit, manage and organize models.
ModelPort Documentation
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.
With ModelPort’s annual subscription you get access to a robust model importer and editor at an affordable price.
After purchasing a new subscription or upgrading from ModelPort 1.0 you’ll receive a license key. Follow the instructions below to activate your license.
Activation
Open ARCHICAD and navigate to the ModelPort menu. Click on the menu and select the sub-menu Activate License…
The Activation dialog will appear.
Fill out the License key and email field with the license key you received in the registration email. To finish the activation process click the Activate button (note that you need an internet connection for activation).
If ModelPort can not communicate with the license server because the computer is not connected to the internet or the connection is blocked by a Firewall the Activation can be completed in Offline mode as described below.
Offline Activation
In most cases you should be able to activate ModelPort with an internet connection. But in rare cases where the program can not activate your license key automatically follow the steps below:
- After you click the Activation button and ModelPort fails the automatic Activation it will inform you that you can continue the activation in Offline mode.
- The Offline Licensing mode dialog will appear.
- Follow the step-by-step instructions you see in this dialog.
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:
- Select by Object
- Select by Material
- Select Model
Here is how these three selection modes work and how they’re used.
- Select by Object
- Click the Object Selection Mode to move, rotate or scale individual geometries and to manage polygon count.
- Click the Object Selection Mode to move, rotate or scale individual geometries and to manage polygon count.
- Select by Material
- Click the Material Selection Mode to change color, edit the texture or define the graphics for the Floor Plan symbol
- Click the Material Selection Mode to change color, edit the texture or define the graphics for the Floor Plan symbol
- Select Model
- Click an empty area inside any Preview Window and the 3D Model will be selected.
- 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
- Mac User:
- 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)
- Please open the Console application
- Select User Reports on the left side
- Select the latest Archicad crash log in the middle panel
- Attach it to your mail (you can drag and drop it from the Console application)
- Please continue the reading with section Mac & Windows Users
- 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)
- Mac & Windows Users:
- Send your system details
- Operating System (Windows 7,8,10 / OS X Sierra, Mojave, etc.)
- CPU (Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz – 4 Thread, etc.)
- Graphics Card (NVidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, etc.)
- Send step by step instructions how to reproduce the problem.
- In case the problem is something visible (for example texture issues), attaching screen capture to the mail makes it easier to understand it.
- If possible you can send a simplified (contains only the necessary information) Archicad or gdl file, where we can see the problem.
- Send your system details
Documentation by Day8Design
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions. If your question cannot be answered from the FAQ’s listed below click here to send us your question.
Getting Started FAQ’s
Select the ModelPort menu and Open Scene.
- In the Open Scene dialog select the file to import into ModelPort.
- The object will be displayed in the ModelPort Viewer where you can change scale, rotation, materials, reduce polygon count and other parametric editing options.
When you’re ready to finalize the object import and convert into an ARCHICAD object click the “Create ARCHICAD Library Object” button.
- The object can now be placed into your project.
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.
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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.
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File Format FAQ’s

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.
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.
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.
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.
Save Mode & Performance FAQ’s
- 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.
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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.
- 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 Geomet
ry” 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.
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.