One of the main need of the ArchiCAD users designers is the possibility to create free shapes or custom objects. In order to fulfil these needs, Cigraph developed ArchiForma 1.0, the successful object modeler tool for ArchiCAD.
Then Graphisoft released ArchiCAD 8.0 that provides the users with the Solid Element Operation issues (Boolean functions).
With these tools (ArchiCAD 8.0 and ArchiForma 1.0) the user can create whatever he may need to but, as usual, Cigraph tried to improve its tool providing the users with more and better functions so here we are to introduce you ArchiForma 2.0.

Several improvements had been done respect of the previous versions are a lot, let’s describe only some of them.
Let’s start with the new graphic interface and the four new kinds of extrusion tools:
the traditional one (Vertical extrusion), the Ruled extrusion, the Twister Extrusion and the Bend extrusion.

In order to use the first one (Vertical Extrusion), you simply need to draw a Fill in the ArchiCAD plan, then select it and click on the Vertical Extrusion icon tool in the ArchiForma palette.
All the tools in the ArchiForma palette, display a setting dialog window divided into 7 sections.
The first one (the parameters area) lets you configure, first of all, the element type (solid, wire-frame, shell, shell thickness).
Then, you can set the geometry info: height, number of sides, resolution.
Finally, in the bottom area, you can set the deformation values along the X and Y axes.
Of course, each tool provides the users with specific settings.

The second section (pen & fill attributes) lets you configure the element visualization in the Plan, Section/Elevation and 3D windows.
The third one lets you fillet/chamfer the element lower and upper sides and define the development angle of the element (for example you can get only a slice of a cylinder by defining the starting and the ending angles of its development).
The fourth section lets you show/hide edges and faces of your element: a simple and intuitive graphic interface allows you to master these GDL parameters without knowing this programming language.
The last two section provide the user with the help-on-line and the credits about the software.
It’s very important to underline that most of these parameters can also be set by using the Editable GDL Hotspots both in the plan and in the 3D window.

Let’s continue with this short description.
The Ruled Extrusion needs two ArchiCAD Fills which describe the bottom and the top faces. The resulting solid is generated by the connection of these two polylines in the 3D space.
The Twister Extrusion needs only an ArchiCAD Fill which describes its base: it generates a solid coming form the extrusion of this polygon around a vertical axis (the shape can also be resized along this path).
The last one, the Bend Extrusion, it’s similar to the first one, the Vertical Extrusion, but the final prism can be bent.
All these solids coming from the extrusion tools, can be edited both in the Plan and in the 3D window by using the ArchiCAD Editable GDL Hotspots.
You simply need to select and drag the hotspot to graphically modify the element without exploding it or coming back to its setting dialog window.

The following icons in the ArchiForma palette are the Revolution and Spiral Tools.
The Spiral Tool let you extrude along a circular or elliptical path predefined profile shapes or custom (user defined) shapes.

The next tools, Extrusion and Sweep along a path, are some of the best improvements of ArchiForma 2.0.

In order to use both of them, you need to define a profile and a path (along which the profile will be extruded). The main feature of these tools is that you can use the 3D path by using the ArchiForma 3D Polyline. The Tube tool lets you master the angle of the end faces of the element while the Sweep tool lets you also scale and rotate the original profile along the extrusion path.

An now, the “main actors” of ArchiForma 2.0, the Surfaces Tools, that's to say elements generated from the connection between ArchiForma 3D Polylines.

The first one is the Ruled Surface, which generates the surface resulting from the connection between two polylines in the 3D space. 

The second one, the Translational Surface, extrudes a 3D Polyline along a 3D Path (defined by another 3D Polyline). Of course, the two polylines must have a common endpoint in order to let you create the resulting surface.

For last, the powerful Coons Surface, which needs four 3D Polylines, defining a closed polygon, and which lets you create very complex free shapes.

ArchiForma 2.0 provides you also with a set of tool for editing the already created elements.

The first one, the Exploding/Updating Tool, lets you “deeply” modify the geometry of the original elements that created the result model (fills, polylines, arcs, etc.). The main difference from the same tool, already included in ArchiForma 1.0, is that when you update the element you don’t loose the original settings (materials, fills, position, etc.).

The Rotation tool, as in the previous version, lets you rotate the elements in the 3D space.

A new tool, the Hole Tool, lets you easily create hole in your ArchiForma elements (any ArchiForma element can be drilled and can contain till to 20 holes maximum).
You can generate holes with any dimension/shape, rotate them in the 3D space and fit them to your ArchiForma elements.
Later, if you need, you can delete the hole in the element, by using the proper dialog window.

The same description fits also for the Cut Tool.
You can create cutting planes both in the Plan and in the 3D window and then decide which side of the element you want to cut/delete (as well as split into two parts).
Also in this case, you can delete the performed cut on the selected elements by using a proper dialog window.

The last tools we want to describe in this short summary, are the 3D Polyline Tool (useful for Extrusion along paths and Surfaces generation) and the 3D Polyline Editing Tool which provides you with a useful palette (very similar to the ArchiCAD Pet Palette) for modifying/adjusting your 3D Polyline (Add/Delete Nodes, Curve Side/Straighten Curve, Merge Polylines, Split Polyline).

In order to improve more and more the ArchiForma elements editing, ArchiForma 2.0 provides you with the Edit Mode tool. The Edit Mode lets you visualize the rotated elements in a special view (front and plan view) that simplifies remarkably the graphic modification of the element geometry. 

A lot of other new/reviewed functions enrich this last ArchiForma version (for example the feature to save your ArchiForma model as an ArchiCAD parametric Library parts: Objects, Doors and Windows) but we prefer to let you discover and enjoy them by downloading and using the ArchiForma 2.0 demo version!