KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE (ARD)

COURSE UNIT: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

LECTURER’S NAME: Mr. Wanok Habert Otuma

 NAME REG.NO

SSEKUBUNGA ALAWI 22/U/ARD/2028/PD

SSEMPIJJA ALLAN 21/U/ARD/037/GV

KWAGALA ELIZABETH LYDIA 21/U/ARD/034/GV

SSEBAGALA SIMON PETER 21/U/ARD/15000/PD

MUTEBI FAHAD 21/U/ARD/15669/PD

AMPEIRE OSCAR 22/U/ARD/1259/PD

KAKOOZA PHILIP EMMANUEL 22/U/ARD/1467/PD

OKELLO MORISH JIMMY 21/U/ARD/398/PD

MUSITWA ISAAC 21/U/ARD/036/GV

OBITA G.W.IVAN 22/U/ARD/1862/PD

KABAKA VICTOR SEITH 22/U/ARD/2098/PD

 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Research on an architectural firm’s services and roles
2. Computer programs they use and how they facilitate in the design activities
3. Computer specifications to run the softwares
 STUDIO FLAME
Studio.flame is a building consultancy outfit, with a range of services in architecture, engineering, urban planning and
environment management. They manage projects from design and planning right up to supervision of construction and
handover of the finished build.
Services offered;
➢ Architectural services;
1.Schematic designs; this is basically the initial design of the project to specifically communicate the spaces being
designed to the the client
2. 3d modelling and rendering; this is the second phase of the project where the turn the scheme
designed in the first phase to images to communicate the form and build up of the project
3. Detailed architectural drawings; this is the third phase of the project where they make the detailed
drawings of the scheme so as to provide how the design works and how its to be constructed which can
used on the sites for construction
 4. Submission for approvals; this is where they aid the client in filling the submission and submitting the
drawimgs to the Local Authorities for approval
➢ Engineering services;
They offer engineering services in regards to the design and documentation of the project and these
include;
1.Building services (electrical and mechanical drawings); design and the draw how the services of the
building are to be installed
2.Structural engineering drawings; Drawings showing how the building is to be supported
3. Suppervision of construction works
Roles they play in a project;
➢ Design and documentation;
These are architectural and engineering drawings plus submitted them for approvals and also estimate the
quantities required for construction

➢ Supervision of the building process;

Here they appoint a contractor or work with the client’s appointed contractors and also give in the required
input to ensure that the design is built up on ground
 COMPUTER PROGRAMS
They use a wide range of computer programs in order in order to deliver the required work and these
include the following;
➢ 2D drafting programs; they use AutoCad as their 2D drafting program and facilitates in engineering
drawings like the mechanicals and electricals and sometimes in detailing architectural drawings

➢ BIM programs; a Building Information Modeling programs is a programs that can turn a 2d draft to a 3d
digital model. They use Archicad for this service and it facilitates in making digital models and also
detailed drawings.

➢ 3D surface modeling programs; these programs are used in cases where they have to model complex
geometry and it would hard or time consume to model using a BIM programs.
The programs use at studio.flame is Rhinoceros 3d and Sketch up
➢ Rendering Program; these programs are used in turning a 3d cad model to a realistic image or animation
to better communicate to the client the surfaces, lighting and how the building will look. They use
Lumion for there rendering works

From CAD From Lumion

➢ Post Production Program; these programs are used to fine tune or add detail to the rendered or detailed
drawings.
These use Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator for this service

From Lumion From Photoshop

From CAD From Illustrator
 COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS
For the computer programs used we looked at the specifications required to run efficiently the latest version of the
different programs
➢ 2D DRAFTING PROGRAM; AUTOCAD 2023
System requirements for AutoCAD 2023 including Specialized Toolsets (Windows)
Operating System 64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 11 and Windows 10 version 1809 or above.

Processor Basic: 2.5–2.9 GHz processor (base) ARM Processors are not supported.
Recommended: 3+ GHz processor (base), 4+ GHz (turbo)

Memory Basic: 8 GB
Recommended: 16 GB
Display Resolution Conventional Displays:
1920 x 1080 with True Color

High Resolution & 4K Displays:

Resolutions up to 3840 x 2160 (with capable display card)
Display Card Basic: 1 GB GPU with 29 GB/s Bandwidth and DirectX 11 compliant
Recommended: 4 GB GPU with 106 GB/s Bandwidth and DirectX 12
compliant

DirectX 12 with Feature Level 12_0 is required for Shaded(Fast) and Shaded
with edges(Fast) visual styles. Please be sure to use the latest video card
manufacturer drivers from their website.
 ➢ARCHICAD 26 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimum System Requirements:
The Archicad installation requires a minimum of 64-bit Intel or AMD multi-core processor, 5 GB or more of free space, an OpenGL 4.0 compatible
graphics card, and a display with a resolution of 1140 x 900. In terms of an operating system, Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 10.14 or higher versions
will be required.

Recommended System Requirements:

Based on the size of the project, the recommended system requirements can be classified into the following three categories.

Entry-Level Projects:
To work on entry-level projects, such as a residential home, Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 CPU is recommended. More than 8GB of RAM and SSD hard
disk are good to have. A 2 GB+ VRAM OpenGL 4.0 compatible graphics card can better handle multimedia activities. Similarly, a 1920 x 1080 FHD
display on Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 10.15 operating system can deliver an enhanced viewing experience.

Mid-Range Projects:
Mid-range projects, that may include apartments and office buildings, shall be handled on a system with Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 processor, more
than 16 GB of RAM, and NVMe SSD. This type of project increases the requirements for a high-performance graphics processing unit (GPU). Thus, an
OpenGL 4.0 compatible graphics card with a capacity of 4 GB or more is recommended. Likewise, a display with a resolution of 2k (2560 x 1600) on a
Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 10.15 machine is recommended.

High-End Projects:
Projects such as high rises and hospitals will need you to further upgrade your hardware to ensure the software performs efficiently. It is
recommended to install Archicad on a computer with the Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 processor for high-end projects. 32 GB or more of RAM can
ensure there are no lags while you work. NVMe SSD can accommodate your software and files better in comparison with SSD. An OpenGL 4.0
compatible graphics card with 6GB or more of VRAM is recommended for multi-media processing. A monitor with a resolution of 5K (5120 × 2880) will
be ideal for viewing details. Windows 10 64-bit or macOS 10.15 computer are recommended for the software to work normally.
 ➢LUMION 10 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimum Requirements
A PC with this hardware is not recommended, as it would only be able to handle simple projects, such as: A small park or
residential building with Lumion models and textures.
CPU (processor): Intel/AMD processor scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2000 or higher. (Such as the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, Intel
Core i7-3770K or better)
Graphics card: GPU scoring a G3DMark of 7,000 or higher with up-to-date drivers. (Such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650,
Quadro K6000, AMD Radeon RX 470 or better)
Graphics card memory: 4 GB or more*
System memory (RAM): 16 GB or more
Hard drive: SATA3 SSD or HDD
Hard drive space: Minimum 40 GB of free disk space in the drives where the Windows User Account and Documents folder are
located in.
Power supply: Click here to see which power supply you need

(minimum 80+ gold-rated with sufficient wattage)

Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels**
Operating system: Up-to-date Windows 10 64-bit or newer
New PC purchase considerations:If you are considering the purchase of a new PC, we do not recommend using these minimum
requirements.
 ➢LUMION 10 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
To get the most out of Lumion, we recommend to start with our recommended requirements.
Recommended Requirements
A PC with this hardware can handle complex designs and projects, such as: - A small park or part of a city made with OpenStreetMap or
other simple models.

- A large home with detailed interiors made up of several models and HD textures.

- A single residential or commercial model with a single section of the landscape using some high-end models, such as the fine-detail trees.
CPU (processor): Intel/AMD Processor scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2,200 or higher. (Such as the AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Intel Core
i7-4790 or better)
Graphics card: A GPU scoring a G3DMark of 14,000 or higher with up-to-date drivers. (Such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, NVIDIA
Quadro RTX 4000, AMD Radeon RX 5700XT or better).
Graphics card memory: 8 GB or more
System memory (RAM): 32 GB or more
Hard drive: SATA3 SSD or NVMe m.2 storage
Hard drive space: Minimum 40 GB of free disk space in the drives where the Windows User Account and Documents folder are located
in.
Power supply: Click here to see which power supply you need (minimum 80+ gold-rated with sufficient wattage)
Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels**
Operating system: Up-to-date Windows 10 64-bit or newer
New PC purchase considerations:If you are considering the purchase of a new PC for Lumion, we recommend that it has at least the
hardware listed above.
 ➢LUMION 10 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
High-End Requirements
A PC with this hardware can handle ultra complex designs and projects with several high-end features, such as:
- A detailed city, airport or stadium.

- A detailed multi-floor building with interiors made up of many models and HD textures.

- A detailed landscape made with high-end Lumion features, such as high-detail trees and 3D Grass.
CPU (processor): Intel/AMD Processor scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2,600 or higher. (Such as AMD
Ryzen 7 3700X, Intel Core i7-7700K or better)
Graphics card: A GPU scoring a G3DMark of 20,000 or higher with up-to-date drivers. (Such as the NVIDIA
GeForce RTX 3080, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, NVIDIA RTX A4000, AMD Radeon RX 6800 or better).
Graphics card memory: 11 GB or more
System memory (RAM): 64 GB or more
Hard drive: SATA3 SSD or NVMe m.2 Hard Drive
Hard drive space: Minimum 40 GB of free disk space in the drives where the Windows User Account and
Documents folder are located in.
Power supply: Click here to see which power supply you need (minimum 80+ gold-rated with sufficient
wattage)
Screen resolution: Minimum 1920 x 1080 pixels**
Operating system: Up-to-date Windows 10 64bit or newer
 ➢RHINOCEROS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
•Rhinoceros 3D 6.0 or 7.0
•Operating System: Windows 10 or 8.1
•Hard Disk Space: 600 MB (for full program installation and project
space)
•Processor: 64-bit Intel or AMD processor (Not ARM)
•No more than 63 CPU Cores
•Memory (RAM): 8 GB RAM or more
•Video Card: OpenGL 4.1 capable video card with 4 GB Video RAM
recommended.
•Ports: 1 USB port is required for the Griddle security key
•A Multiple-button mouse with a scroll wheel is recommended.
Recommended System
•Rhinoceros 3D Version 7.0 (with latest updates installed)
•Operating System: Windows 10 (with the latest service packs installed)
•Hard Disk: 1 TB, 7200 rpm or SSD
•Processor: Latest Intel Core i7 CPU (3 GHz) or better (Not ARM)
•Memory (RAM): 16 GB or better
•Video Card: OpenGL 4.1 capable video card with 8 GB Video RAM
recommended.
•Ports: 1 USB port is required for the Griddle security key
 Windows
MinimumRecommended
CPU: 1 GHz processor 2+ GHz processor
GPU: 3D class video card with 512 MB of memory or higher and support for
hardware acceleration and OpenGL 3.1 Discrete Graphics card such as a current
generation AMD or NVIDIA.

3D class video card with 1 GB of memory or higher and support for hardware
acceleration and OpenGL 3.1
RAM: 4 GB RAM 8+ GB RAM
Storage: 1 GB of free hard-disk space 2 GB of available hard-disk space
macOS
MinimumRecommended
CPU: 2.1+ GHz Intel™ processor 2.1+ GHz processor or current generation Apple
M1 processor
GPU: 3D class video card with 512 MB of memory or higher and support for
hardware acceleration and OpenGL 3.1 3D class video card with 1 GB of memory or
higher and support for hardware acceleration and OpenGL 3.1
RAM: 4 GB RAM 8 GB RAM
Storage: 1 GB of available hard-disk space. 2 GB of available hard-disk space
 ➢ ADOBE PHOTOSHOP SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Components Minimum Requirements Recommended Requirements

Processor Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support; 2 GHz or faster

processor with SSE 4.2 or later

Operating System Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1809 or later; LTSC versions are not
supported

RAM 8 GB 16 GB or more
Hard disk ~5 GB of available space ~5 GB of available space (SSD)

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800 display 1920 x 1080 display

GPU GPU with DirectX 12 support GPU with DirectX 12 support

2 GB of GPU memory 4 GB of GPU memory

 ➢ ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Processor
Multicore Intel processor (with 64-bit support) with SSE 4.2 or later or AMD Athlon 64 processor with SSE 4.2 or later.
Operating system
Windows 11 and Windows 10 (64-bit) versions V21H1, and V20H2.
Windows Server versions V1607 (2016) and V1809 (2019).
Note: Not supported on Windows 10 versions 1507, 1511, 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, and 2004.
RAM
8 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
Hard disk
2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation; SSD recommended
Monitor resolution
1024 x 768 display (1920 x 1080 recommended)
To use Touch workspace in Illustrator, you must have a touch-screen-enabled tablet/monitor running Windows 10 (Microsoft Surface Pro 3
recommended)
Scalable UI Limitations: Minimum monitor resolution required is 1920 x 1080.
GPU
To enhance Illustrator performance with the GPU Performance feature, your Windows must:
Have a minimum of 1 GB of VRAM (4 GB recommended)
Support OpenGL version 4.0 or greater.
For a list of commonly used GPUs, see Supported GPU devices.

Limitations in Outline Mode: Minimum monitor resolution required is 2000 pixels in any dimension.

Ensure that you install and update your GPU device drivers.
Internet connection
Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.1