ArchiCAD Start Edition 2008 is a full-fledged BIM solution from the leading global brand Graphisoft. For the price of a 2D CAD system, Start Edition will deliver the power of the 'Virtual Building' concept to those with a limited budget.

Boost business, gain competitive edge
The Start Edition offers all the advantages of Graphisoft's Virtual Building™ technology, with a full feature set designed to help smaller firms develop their concepts, compete for business more effectively and boost business efficiency.

ArchiCAD Start uses Virtual Building™ model technology, the cutting edge for documentation and drawing management. Construction documents are derived from the ArchiCAD model without any additional software and practically no repetitive work. ArchiCAD Start features include:

• Increased productivity - ArchiCAD eliminates costly, tedious re-draughting work while also ensuring accuracy and reduced risk of error with all project files and documentation.
• Think and work live in 3D - you can design and edit the building model in 3D view, navigate in real time to check the design, and hold interactive design sessions with Clients.
• Powerful presentations - the rendering tools are simple to use and require no expert knowledge. Your projects will be brought to life and your clients will be impressed by the stunning animations, virtual reality 3D scenes and still images.
• Easy-to-use - intuitive layout with "drag and drop" intelligent building objects such as doors, windows and columns that "understand" and react to their environment. This accelerates work, makes the management of the project easier and allows you to design instead of draft.
• Virtual Trace™ - Achieve better coordination of your design. This innovative technology enables simultaneous management of multiple views of the 3D model, as well as your 2D documents, with full coordination and continuous visual feedback.
• Visual Compare - The ultimate solution for architects to efficiently control coordination of models, views and documents. With Visual Compare you have the confidence that all of your project documents are synchronised, and any differences will be easily found and resolved.
• Integrated Layout - Managing the entire document set becomes simple. The design documentation is generated directly from your model swiftly, efficiently and completely. In fact, depending on the level of detail of your design documentation, up to 80% of your documentation may have been completed during your work on the model.

Capability	Start Edition
Legendary ease of use	X
Support for PC and Mac platforms	X
Create and edit the Virtual Building	X
Layout working drawings linked to the Virtual Building	X
Drawings hot-linked between 3D model and sheet layouts	X
Automatic updating/interaction between plans, sections, elevations and 3D	X
Material lists derived from model	X
Interactive door, window, fixture, finish, etc. schedules	X
Internal rendering engine	X
QuickTime VR Animations (objects, scenes and fly-throughs)	X
OpenGL real-time navigation	X
PDF creation via print driver	X
DWG compatibility	X
Reference Guide on CD	X

View the ArchiCAD Start Edition 2008 Virtual Building concept