All my projects are under control. One is being permitted, nine are just starting or about to start construction, three are nearing the end of construction, a handful are in pricing or paused, and the rest are all in early stages of SD. I haven’t heard anything definitive from the three proposals I have out, I’m ignoring the two prospect emails that arrived today, and my next lecture is still two months away. Yes, you read that right. Nine are about to be under construction-six of those are within a half mile of my house. My walks this fall are going to be so awesome and full of site visits.

Instead of diving into all the schematic design I should be doing or reading those prospect emails, I decided to update my template this week. I figured if I didn’t get this shared now, it’d be months before I had another moment of quiet equilibrium. Fortunately-or unfortunately depending on how you look at it-Archicad 25 really didn’t have any new features that required major template revisions. Updating my Archicad 24 template to Archicad 25 was basically making sure everything translated properly then adding all the items I’d collected over the previous months that needed integration into the template. Which might not sound like a lot, but it’s taken me two full days, plus another day to record videos, write this blog post, etc. The result is something I’m exceeding proud of. The template is mature enough that I get to spend my time refining, streamlining, and experimenting with new ideas rather than replacing and fixing old mistakes.

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Ready to download the template? Click the big support button or go to the template page. As always the template is free; clicking the PayPal support button (below or on the template page) is optional. If you support my template with a contribution of $100 or more and send me an email with your address, I’ll ship you an 8 oz tumbler as a thank you.

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I did two videos on my latest template and Archicad 25. The first video talks about updates to the template and the new texture fills open in Sections and Elevations. The second video is on the new cabinet Objects. I think we are all going to have a love-hate relationship with the new cabinet Objects in Archicad 25. Hopefully the video will help you understand how to get the best functionality out of them. In general I like the new cabinets, though I am frustrated by some inane behavior when editing the settings. If you have more questions about the cabinets, let me know. I’m happy to dive deeper when I have time.

Shoegnome Open Template v25 changes:

1. Fills: Added Fills 179 Stonework Gravel and 180 Stonework Ballast Stone from the OOTB template. Reindexed Parallel – 09 inch – Horizontal and Parallel – 09 inch – Vertical to index numbers 191 and 192.
2. Fills: Added Fills 156 04 | Brick – Solider Bond and 157 04 | Brick – Stack Bond from the OOTB template. Reindexed 09 | Glass – Glowing and 09 | Decking to index numbers 164 and 165.
3. Surfaces: Misc minor tweaks to Material images. I didn’t want cataloging changes to slow down my tweaks.
4. Publisher (REVISED): Update translators for DWGs in the Publisher Sets (so that they link to Archicad 25 translators) and renumbered. Also updated default export names
5. Publisher (NEW): 3 | 3D Views to JPG for exporting 3D views as images
6. Object (REVISED/RENAMED): Roof Slope Symbol SG25
7. Object (NEW): Freestanding Tub SG25 (just some #morphbarf)
8. Favorite (REVISED): updates to sizes of default window and doors, also updated window head height default, and removed rough opening extra space for all door and window favorites.
9. Favorite (REVISED): Thermal break @ slab
10. Favorite (REVISED): Updated railing favorites for proper floor plan display (hone story only for railings used for things that aren’t railings)
11. Favorite (REVISED): Roof Slope
12. Favorite (REVISED/NEW): Finish & Trim – Exterior and Finish & Trim – Interior folders
13. Favorite (NEW): Freestanding Tub, Freestanding Tub – Oval, Freestanding Tub – Rectangle
14. Favorite (NEW): Property Line (Grid)
15. Favorite (NEW): Building Description [Label for site plans]
16. Favorite (NEW): Fence [2D line for site plans]
17. Favorite (NEW): Landscaping – Generic Planting
18. Favorite (NEW): Landscaping – Generic Shrub/Tree, 2D
19. Favorite (NEW): Landscaping – Grass, 2D
20. Favorite (NEW): Landscaping – Gradient Fill
21. Favorite (NEW): Interior – Trim, Horizontal
22. Favorite (NEW): Interior – Trim, Vertical
23. Favorite (NEW): Cove
24. Favorite (NEW): Dimensions (blue)
25. Favorite (NEW): Drain – Linear
26. Favorite (NEW): Drain – Square / Round
27. Favorite (NEW): Railing – Segmented Beam (Example)
28. Favorite (NEW): All new cabinet favorites (in Millwork subfolder of Favorites)
29. Favorite (DELETED): Wall Oven – w/ cabinet (this Object wasn’t replaced in the Archicad 25 library)
30. Favorite (NEW): Shower Glass – Sliding Door
31. Favorite (RENAMED): Shower Glass – Swing Door
32. Favorite (RENAMED): Header – (2) 2 x 8
33. Favorite (RENAMED / REVISED): Drain (Beam Tool)
34. Favorite (NEW): Header – (2) 2 x 8 + rigid insulation
35. Complex Profile (NEW): 5 | Framing – 2x (double) + rigid insulation
36. Complex Profile (NEW): 5 | Framing – 2x (single) + rigid insulation
37. Complex Profile (RENAMED): 5 | Framing – 2x (single)
38. Complex Profile (REVISED): 2 | Thermal Break @ Slab
39. Properties (NEW): Operation Types – added Twin Single / Double Hung and renamed double casement/awning to Twin casement/awning
40. Schedules: Vertical Glazing Window and Door Schedule (conditioned space) wasn’t sorting by ID.
41. Schedules: update all schedules to remove hotlink and element ID. replace with Element ID (hotlink and element ID isn’t editable in the schedule).
42. Layout Book: New subset: SD 8.5 x 11 for SD / as builts
43. Layout Book: Sheet A012 Schedules, added the following note (which I’ve needed to put regularly on drawings permitted in Seattle, WA:
    • Skylight Notes- Inboard pane of glass to be laminated glass (with not less than a 0.015-inch (0.38 mm) polyvinyl butyral interlayer), outboard pane to be tempered. 
44. Other Stuff, I’m Sure: There are definitely little tweaks that I didn’t document.

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What are you waiting for?

Go download the Shoegnome Open Template for Archicad 25! 

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If you aren’t using the current version of Archicad, you can download older versions of my template. If you use my template, I highly recommend you use my Work Environment as well. The two work together well and the Work Environment is designed to reinforce the best practices of the template. You can download my Work Environment here.

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