Trimble SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse, the free 3D model library, has made it easier to find models, through a new visually-driven search function called Image Search.

Users can now take a photo of an object or drop and drag an existing image into the 3D Warehouse’s search bar, and AI will sift through millions of pre-built models to find matches. The new feature is designed to help architects and designers more easily specify new products for their designs.

“3D Warehouse used to be entirely based on keyword search, where you had to type in exactly what you were looking for in order to generate the right match,” said Steve Guzman, product manager for 3D Warehouse.

“3D Warehouse Image Search eliminates that requirement, allowing users to overcome language barriers and incorrect search queries by matching images with models.

“Now, designers can more easily source 3D models or find alternatives for their clients who are often looking for very specific objects to incorporate into their designs.”

As well as user-generated models, Image Search results include real-world objects from building product manufacturers and parametrically configurable objects.

On top of Image Search, users can now easily search, filter, and download materials and texture swatches by simply typing the name of the material into the search bar and clicking the Materials tab.

The post SketchUp 3D Warehouse gets visual search function appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Cype 2024, the latest release of the AEC focused design and analysis solution, has a major focus on sustainability with several new features and improved communication between its specialist solutions.

To help improve analyses relating to sustainability, Cype has enhanced its energy efficiency programs and improved the interconnection between them.

According to the developers, Cype offers specialists tools for carrying out real energy simulations, determining economic profitability, forecasting energy consumption and performance, and considering compliance with current codes – in new build or renovation projects.

Capabilities include energy simulation, acoustics, lighting, life cycle analysis, air conditioning, bills of quantities, solar panels, and charging points for electric vehicles.

With the new software professionals can perform energy audits of buildings, while estimating the energy demand and consumption of buildings under buildingSMART International standards.

Cype 2024 also allow users to design and analyse using systems and equipment for clean energy production such as solar thermal energy or solar PV energy, as well as others such as geothermal, aerothermal or biomass energy, etc.

For the design and analysis of photovoltaic systems, Cypelec PV Systems can be used to assess the number of solar panels that need to be installed in a building to achieve savings of between 50 and 70% of electricity costs.

The new release now includes new modelling elements, such as hybrid inverters, modular batteries and distribution panels.

Cypetherm EPlus, with the international EnergyPlus analysis engine, determines the energy demand of buildings, as well as the energy performance of air-conditioning systems, determining the energy consumption per supply system and energy vector used.

Meanwhile, for the French market, the Elodie by Cype program allows environmental impact assessments of buildings to be carried out.

The post Cype 2024 focuses on sustainability appeared first on AEC Magazine.

We are often told that history repeats itself. As a species, we seem doomed to keep reinventing thewheel. For the uninitiated, a recent discovery may look like the Next New Thing. For us older folks, those of us who have been around the sun a few too many times, the distinction between what’s ‘new’ and what’s ‘old’ tends to blur. And that, I guess, is why somebody invented marketing!

Architectural design was once a predominantly 2D exercise, accompanied by some physical models. When 2D CAD came along, we merely replicated the process on a personal computer. Then we had BIM, which puts 3D modelling first, to produce drawings and then PDFs. Ultimately, the deliverable has not changed — just our way of getting there.

But today’s BIM systems rarely collect enough detail to pass along to the next stage in the workflow: manufacturing and fabrication.

In other words, a chasm persists between BIM data and manufacturing data. In other forms of manufacturing — think of cars, aeroplanes, consumer goods and so on — a designer’s 3D model is accurate and modelled at 1:1 scale. And it is connected to a digital process, in which a number of other systems are involved, in order to generate assemblies (right down to the nuts and bolts, a bill of materials (BoM) and a wide variety of product manufacturing information. Business systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software are integrated too, to produce costings and assess availability of parts.

There may still be 2D drawings on the factory floor, but the production of these is often wholly automated by core CAD systems. And these days, it’s not uncommon to see models get accessed at the point of manufacturing, too.

This begs the question: How might the AEC industry establish a ‘digital thread’ that extends further into the end-to-end process, delivers productivity benefits along the way, and helps firms manage the risks inherent to design and construction?

To date, a small number of architectural and construction firms have either augmented or ditched their BIM tools and adopted modelling software that is more commonly used in manufacturing in order to model at 1:1 scale, with high component detail. In this way, such firms are able to use design information beyond the design phase, to link it to fabrication, and to make it more accessible to downstream processes. In the process, they are in some ways becoming ‘master architects’.

Enabling design-to-construction

One such firm is Kreod, a London-based architectural and transdisciplinary practice, established 2012 by Chun Qing Li. The firm has built a reputation for the quality of its residential and commercial designs, and within the CAD community, it is particularly acknowledged for its approach to harnessing digital engineering and manufacturing.

Li has, almost single-handedly, promoted the benefits of using high-end manufacturing software in AEC, replacing BIM with 3DExperience Catia from Dassault Systèmes (DS).

Through using the base software and developing in-house applications such as Kreod Integrated DfMA Intelligent Automation workflow (typically shortened to KIDIA), the company prides itself on the accuracy of its models, its bills of materials and, ultimately, the financial success of its sustainable projects. By modelling everything at a fabrication level of detail, Kreod has made great strides in minimising risk.

Kreod models every component in detail, right down to fabrication level, in order to truly understand not just design intent but also constructability, cost and all the connection details

It is also tackling the issue of procurement, at a time when rapid raw material price inflation is contributing to escalating build costs and, in some cases, forcing projects to be put on hold. One of the innovations that the Kreod team has developed is a web service for onboarding clients. This details the materials required for their project, along with live associated costs. In this way, clients stay informed about budget issues and can even make decisions around when to buy certain materials for a job. For the first time, clients can actually tap into the supply chain themselves, as opposed to having to rely on traditional contracts and hoping it all works out.

At the same time, by shunning established BIM tools, Li has seemingly opted to perform the equivalent of climbing the north face of the Eiger. It’s only after talking with him that you get a real sense of what has driven him to bypass the predefined walls, doors and windows of ‘Lego CAD’, and make geometry and manufacturing his key drivers in selecting a design system.

Kreod models every component in detail, right down to fabrication level, in order to truly understand not just design intent but also constructability, cost and all the connection details.

With each project, if the company is using a new supplier, or a new process, project leaders will visit the fabricator and invest time in understanding the fabrication process and limitations that they must consider during the design stages. The level of communication the firm builds up with its trusted suppliers means that design communication is dependable and can be model-based.

A fair amount of experimentation

On our visits to other leading architects, we certainly see a fair amount of experimentation with manufacturing CAD systems. While director of innovation at Aecom, Dale Sinclair was increasingly using MCAD tool Inventor over BIM tool Revit, to model modular projects destined to be manufactured off-site. Sinclair looks to have carried that vision with him to WSP, where he also heads up innovation. Revit was Aecom’s weapon of choice, but the level of detail at which the firm needed to model for fabrication would have led to huge models, impacting Revit performance and potentially making the system unusable for this purpose. By contrast, MCAD tools are optimised to run with models comprising tens of thousands of parts. Very high-end systems can handle even more.

Kreod may have eschewed the comforts of ‘Lego BIM’, opting instead for the certainty of extreme detail – but in the process, it has brought upon itself a great deal of additional modelling work

This approach may not be for the faint hearted — but it is for the engineering-minded. It also suits those AEC professionals who want to use digital tools to be involved in the whole end-to-end, design-to-build process. The upside for clients, meanwhile, is that firms that model in detail and know a great deal about fabrication costs upfront are better placed to offer a full-service, singlepoint-of-contact approach, managing everything from design to delivery.

The industry is very slowly waking up to the connection between choice of design tool and project outcomes. At present, that awareness tends to be limited as being where the industry needs to focus. And, as discussed, fabrication considerations need to take place early in design processes.

This forward-thinking mindset is not dependent on the size of a firm. It can be seen both at Aecom (50,000 employees) and Kreod (fewer than 10 employees). AEC Magazine contributor and Foldstruct CEO Tal Friedman refers to it as ‘Fabrication Information Modelling’ or ‘FIM’, where designs are created with built-in knowledge of eventual production methodology. Li prefers the tried-andtested DfMA (design for manufacturing) label, but ultimately, we are talking about the same thing.

The big problem is that there is no commercial turnkey system to provide this. Every manufacturer has varying capabilities. In 2017, Bouygues paid Dassault Systèmes to custom-build a system to automate the stripping of models from Revit into their component parts in order to build an optimised, manufacturable model, with drawings, full costings and lean project management using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience environment. Bouygues is looking to expand this system to include sustainability analysis and optimisations, too.

Maybe this is the way the industry will go, with traditional, federated workflows for some sectors, using off-the-shelf BIM tools, while others adopt bespoke systems to fully automate assembly models and drive fabrication.

Looking at what we have today, along with where we need to go tomorrow, if AEC is to embrace a completely digital end-to-end process, it seems unlikely that today’s 2D-focused BIM tools can evolve to keep pace.

Kreod may have eschewed the comforts of ‘Lego BIM’, opting instead for the certainty of extreme detail – but in the process, it has brought upon itself a great deal of additional modelling work. That said, the more work Kreod does here, the bigger its own library of parts, so there will be payoffs.

It will be fascinating to see what software and services Kreod decides to bring to market in order to assist the industry. From our conversation with Li (see boxout below), it’s clear he likes to have a lot on his plate. In return, he’s giving the industry plenty of food for thought.

What is 3DExperience Catia?

3DExperience Catia is a long name for a big CAD system. Catia is the flagship modelling ecosystem from French developer, Dassault Systèmes. As CAD systems go, the current version, V6, is the Ferrari of the manufacturing CAD world. Indeed, it’s used by Ferrari and its F1 team, as well as Porsche, BMW, and Toyota. In aerospace, both Boeing and Airbus are customers. Catia covers individual part models, assemblies (of parts), very high-end surface modelling, Finite Element Analysis, Structural Analysis, generative design, sheet metal folding, rendering and so on. The design tool is connected to other DS brands, Enovia (collaboration), Delmia (supply chain planning) and Simulia (simulation), amongst others.

The 3DExperience part of the name relates specifically to its ability to operate beyond the desktop and to work in the cloud, connecting to other parts of organisations with web-based model and business process management tools. This is commonly known as PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) in manufacturing circles.

Catia is not commonly seen in AEC firms. It’s viewed as an exotic choice. However, some exceptional practices are famously associated with its use. These include Frank Gehry, ZHA (Zaha Hadid Architecture) and more recently, Lendlease. We’ve also heard rumours that Laing O’Rourke might be experimenting with it as part of the company’s ongoing research into modern methods of construction.

Before Catia, Gehry had trouble getting his buildings built, because contractors would add a big percentage to the estimates, arguing that 2D drawings left too much to the imagination. When he switched to sending Catia models, all bids came in within 1% of each other.

Kreod is thus following in famous footsteps. In doing so, it has opted to build its own layers of functionality to enable the rapid detailed modelling of architectural and construction elements, down to every nut and bolt.

Chun Qing Li is looking to bring all the knowledge his team has amassed in design to fabrication modelling to offer on demand, online service to the market. Watch this space.

Kreod Olympic pavilion

The Kreod Olympic pavilion (London 2012) was designed to showcase modern design and innovative construction techniques. The unique form of the structure was made possible through the use of cuttingedge CAD technology, enabling it to be manufactured in modular form with minimal waste material. Prefabricated sections were quickly and accurately assembled, ensuring that construction could be completed within a tight timescale before the games began.

Innovative manufacturing processes such as laser cutting, vacuum casting and CNC machining enabled the creation of the intricate details that are a feature of the finished structure. During the build process, precision CNC tools cut individual components from a range of materials, including aluminium, stainless steel and composites. These were then hand welded together to create frames for a lightweight shell covered with wood panelling. The high accuracy of modelling and CNC-cut parts meant that each part fits perfectly, despite a wide range in variances.

Chun Qing Li describes his approach to creating the Kreod Pavilion as follows: “Our vision was to provide an exciting showcase for some of London’s most dynamic designers working in 3D-printed structures; making full use of contemporary technologies, while still meeting all relevant safety regulations.”

Kreod’s Olympic Pavilion demonstrates the potential of combining modern design and manufacturing technologies with digital building processes, offering a practical example of how custom structures can be created faster.

Q&A with Chun Qing Li of Kreod

AEC Magazine sat down with Chun Qing Li, founder & CVO of Kreod, to learn more about his non-conformist approach to BIM workflows and discuss his views on how and why the industry needs to change.

AEC Magazine: While there are a number of mature BIM applications out there, you have chosen to go with a CAD system more popular in high-end manufacturing. That’s meant developing your own layers of functionality — so what on earth made you do that?

Chun Qing Li (CQL): I feel that, as architects and designers, we have been kind of hijacked by the software companies. Because we are creative people, we have different mindsets to engineers, and the software companies develop tools created by software engineers who don’t necessarily understand how we work. We always have to bend ourselves and learn their logic. In my experience, it’s counterproductive. The tools we have as off-the-shelf solutions for AEC just don’t make any sense to me. For example, with BIM, we spend a whole load of time modelling a beautiful, 3D datadriven design, but ultimately end up delivering 2D PDFs. It just defeats the whole purpose.

AEC Magazine: But how much of that is down to the technology failing to map to dumb contractual constraints and deliverables?

CQL: Everything’s driven by the principal contractors. While architects may be using Graphisoft [Archicad], Revit and other interesting packages, in construction, they are still beholden to 2D drawings. That’s the thing, and the contractors mainly use 2D packages and specifications. I feel a sense of urgency that we need to change this, but obviously my company is very small, and I don’t have a marketing budget to educate the industry! When I started developing the software, I tried to convince developers and contractors that there was a better way of doing things, but they said that they didn’t want to be guinea pigs. So, I started my own construction company. Now, we are building things and we are our own guinea pigs!

We started with our own architecture firm, and from our in-house development work, we launched a multi-tech start-up to share our solutions, the first of which was an intelligent automation tool. This will eventually enable us to bring to market a complete platform that will integrate design with procurement and supply chains. This system will be able to get prices immediately, instead of relying on a QS (Quantity Surveyor) benchmark estimate. When we launch our platform, clients will be able to access our system and pick, choose and buy products from the catalogue.

As to contracts, based on all our in-house process development, we have introduced what we call ‘open book contracts’, so that when we talk to a client, we are incredibly open with materials costs, down to the brick, as well as all the preliminary costs and even our profit margin.

AEC Magazine: You sound very frustrated looking at the AEC workflows that have been adopted and codified?

CQL: The RIBA Sequential Work Methods have a linear format which necessitates sequential focus on phases, one at a time. Each stage must be completed before the next is initiated, leading to a drawn-out development process with intensive design alterations, delaying projects and having financial implications for all involved. Linear workflows, by their very nature, build in risk, not eliminate it. From a commercial perspective, I understand that the method makes it easier to break down payment phases, but I think you can simplify the whole workflow.

In manufacturing, they have refined the process. They produce 3D models that are manufacturing-ready. They do assembly sequencing, as in how you put things together, while we as an industry, we produce hundreds or thousands of drawings, bundle them up and throw them over the fence!

Our specific workflow, which we call KIDIA (Kreod Integrated DfMA Intelligent Automation) is specifically designed to eliminate the need for repetitive work. It enables an early and accurate calculation of cost by automatically creating the necessary manufacturing/fabrication code and bill of materials (BOM). KIDIA not only expedites RIBA Stages 2, 3 and 4, but can also potentially save up to 90% of the time spent doing it, all while eliminating or reducing risk, which can be seen in our contractor quotes.

AEC Magazine: Some may say that it’s extreme, opting for an MCAD system versus a BIM platform that was custom made for architects?

CQL: I think that the whole process has to be integrated on a single platform. Otherwise, you end up using all sorts of applications: Rhino, Grasshopper, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Excel spreadsheets and Revit. And the best the industry could do to join them up was IFC, which is a lowest common denominator format.

I guess like most of us, toolswise, I have been on a journey. I started off using MicroStation and Generative Components (GC), then moved on to Rhino and Grasshopper. Then I started to get into geometry rationalisation and teamed up with a professor of mathematics from ETH Zurich who did it all in C++, no CAD system required!

Experience is essential. On the Olympic Pavilion project, I was the lead designer, the client, the contractor and the project manager! I had to do everything, apart from structural engineering. After rationalising the geometry, I built what I called at the time a ‘building manufacturing model’, though I found out later it’s called DfMA. I found a second-hand robotic arm and started experimenting with cutting and assembling wooden frames for the pavilion. For the metal frame, I collaborated with a steel fabricator and took a highly collaborative approach, which was great. I learned so much.

AEC Magazine: How on earth did you fund the Pavilion as a personal project?

CQL: I pitched everyone! I had a fulltime job. I think I spent £2,000 on stamps, writing to a lot of people and companies. I just sold the idea and made it possible!

AEC Magazine: How did you get involved with Dassault Systèmes and the 3DExperience Catia platform?

CQL: Frank Gehry was the pioneer. He developed Gehry Technologies, with his own Catia tools for architectural designs. For us, this is a financial decision, a commercial decision, to go and find the best platform which can go all the way to fabrication and then develop on top of it. The 3DExperience platform is very powerful and can handle lots of complex information. It’s why it’s so popular in aerospace and automotive.

Initially, when I first contacted DS around 2010, they said they didn’t really work with one-man bands or students. They worked with multi-billion dollar engineering and aerospace firms and that was the end of the conversation! Later, things bounced back, especially as they created an on-boarding programme for start-ups and started to see potential for their applications in AEC.

AEC Magazine: So how do you think this is going to play out? AI is starting to appear at the edges and some systems will take polylines and deliver fully detailed 3D models, with drawings for fabrication. Are we going to see more design/ build firms? Will we need fewer architects?

CQL: I use the term ‘Digital Master Builder’ from the traditional meaning, dating back to the mid-sixteenth century, where architectural designers were closely involved in the whole construction process.

We have self-restricted the role of architects to just delivering design intent. Back in the day, architects used to lead the process, but now we lack broad industry competence and there is a general lack of interest in understanding the construction side of the business. There’s a shift in the way we work, where the principal contractor is now playing a major role in the entire process.

Through our plans for development, I want to give more power to the architects. They will be the designers that will understand the costs. That’s how we sell our schemes. We need to widen our spectrum, not just be the producers of couture drawings with beautiful line weights. Buckminster-Fuller asked Sir Norman Foster how much his building weighed? We need to be more like BuckminsterFuller, who was obsessed with the relationship between weight, energy and performance — of “doing the most with the least”. And, of course, customers want to know the cost. We need better tools to do this.

AEC Magazine: You have started a lot of different firms with different aims. What can you tell us about them?

CQL: There’s a reason we started these companies, for architecture, software development, and especially construction, because in each, I need to build, to demonstrate and deliver. From our experience, we can convince more customers to use our technology or consultancy. That’s the notion. Ultimately, we have to do something to better serve architects and developers and the key is to integrate the whole process. To provide more transparency, with design costs understood, which means there will be less need for damage control at critical points in any build.

The post Kreod and Catia: new model architect appeared first on AEC Magazine.

The design industry is based on a relatively small number of base platforms, such as AutoCAD, MicroStation, SketchUp and Bricscad. At the same time, there are thousands of independent developers around the world creating industry-specific or additional functionality plug-ins that aim to enhance these popular platforms.

Some of these add-ons can be very local in their focus; they may target building standards in a specific country, for example. Others may be more generic and target a worldwide audience. Either way, third-party developers are an essential part of the design community, delivering significant additional functionality and value to a core platform at a relatively small cost to users.

In CAD history, the biggest demonstration of the power of this developer ecosystem was seen around Autodesk AutoCAD, which spawned a huge and vibrant community, via AutoLisp, APIs (application programming interfaces) and OEM versions of its applications. (Original equipment manufacturer software is created by one company and then resold or rebranded by another company).

Third-party developers enabled AutoCAD, which at the time was just a vanilla drawing tool, to include more focused capabilities and to address vertical markets such as manufacturing, architecture, process plant and CAFM (computer aided facilities management). Their add-ons ranged from relatively simple symbol libraries to complete turnkey applications built on unbranded Autodesk OEM engines.

A lot has changed in the industry since the 1980s and 1990s. Companies such as Autodesk ended up acquiring many of the third-party applications that had penetrated their vertical markets. The result was that some of the remaining third parties now found themselves in competition with the very platform they were built on, which was obviously not sustainable. While there were still many developers in the community, it was less likely that an individual developer or development team’s add-on would be as prominent or important to the core platform developer.

At one time, Autodesk published thick, paper-based catalogues listing all of the 2,500-plus third-party applications available. This eventually went online and has since morphed into the Autodesk App Store .

While it’s good this exists, it is not exactly prominent on Autodesk’s site. You really need to know where to look if you’re going to find it and it isn’t actively promoted by the company. In fact, for the majority of customers, there are precious few places to find a comprehensive listing of add-on tools. For the developers themselves, it’s hard to get found by customers, other than working on website search engine optimisation (SEO).

When the world went 3D and products got more complex (Solidworks, Inventor, Revit), we again saw an explosion of third-party developers, working to expand capabilities and address edge-cases and feature holes in the platforms. As the technology evolved, there have been new APIs and new popular products. Today, the rise of the cloud means data can be shared seamlessly between hosted applications.

Beyond traditional CAD platforms, games engines such as Unreal and Unity have also proven to be popular targets for developers, as they offer the ability to display huge model sets and have VR and AR optimisation built-in. This can be as simple as a display engine or a common data environment, or as complex as a full design application like Modumate.

There have also been whole new concepts for application developers to focus on. Autodesk took all of its desktop products and turned niche functionality (DWG, file exporters, file viewing, headless Revit in the cloud, document management and so on) into web services.

So instead of building a plug-in or licensing a whole OEM Autodesk product on which to build, developers could assemble new applications from a collection of plug-and-play micro services. For example, Nvidia offers Omniverse, a cloud-based, GPU-accelerated environment for pretty much any CAD geometry type.

In short, there have never been so many options for professional and in-house developers to create new add-ons. At the same time, there remains a real gap in terms of the way that third-party developers can capture market attention and get their products to market effectively.

Introducing Cadsoma

Cadsoma is a catchy abbreviation of ‘CAD Software Market’. Its aims are to become a global web store where independent developers promote and sell their specialised software. While the main CAD vendors focus on selling their core platform tools and services, Cadsoma will primarily focus on promoting independent developers and creators of plug-ins.

Cadsoma is the idea of Wiesbaden, Germany-based Mervisoft, a company that understands only too well the challenges of being an independent CAD software developer. Mervisoft has a long history of development in planning and building automation, as well as in software distribution and web marketing. In recent years, the company has been working with Bricsys and, in the process, built up a community of over 200 third-party developers of industry solutions, creating web-based marketing engines.

Cadsoma’s aims are to become a global web store where independent developers promote and sell their specialised software

The Cadsoma website is due to launch to the public in April 2023 and the company is currently recruiting new developers to join the store and utilise the tools available there for promotion, distribution and selling of applications. The initial target markets are the US, Canada, Japan, Great Britain and India, with country representatives located in each on hand to help onboard participating developers.

The industry-specific CAD solutions website is independent of any specific vendor. As such, it will feature applications which run on the complete spectrum of applications, covering many industries. In addition to CAD software, Cadsoma will offer services such as training and support and also hardware.

Key features of the website for developers include: sales support, automated Google ad-word marketing, lead generation and management, e-commerce payment handling, CRM and a full overview of sales history.

It’s very much modelled on the Amazon service model, with developers getting to upload their own videos and sales content, all of which can be managed via an easy to use front-end. These tools will be of particular benefit to small companies that might not have the internal resources available to deploy a full-spectrum enterprise sales and marketing platform. Until Cadsoma is launched in April, Mervisoft is offering CAD software developers the use of the new marketplace free of charge for their first year.

Q&A with Cadsoma Mervisoft

CEO Dirk Redmer on the aims of the new site and the strategy for taking it global

AEC Magazine: Where did the idea for Cadsoma originally come from?

Dirk Redmer (DR): The reason why we started Cadsoma is that we handled 150 developer partners in Germany for Bricsys. We helped them to port their applications from Autodesk to Bricscad. We organised fairs for them. We organised a LinkedIn for the German Bricscad community. We gave them lead collection tools, to help developers be present in the market. We looked, but we couldn’t find any platform in the world to market your company and sell your plug-ins. We searched for our own planning plug-in, TRIC, which is popular in Germany and used by Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt to design its offices, but couldn’t find anything, so we decided to build what eventually became Cadsoma.

If you’re a newbie and you’re going into Google AdWords, you’re lost. You can burn your money very easily and get the same result as not spending a lot of money! For the last 15 years, we have been doing Google campaigns for BricsCAD. So, we know a lot about how to do that and we are bringing that knowledge into Cadsoma.

Our concept is like Amazon, and it’s all automatic. If you are a developer, and you have registered your company and your product, you automatically get added into our AdWords campaigns for Cadsoma. There’s no work, it’s literally one click. Our first developer to sign up was CADprofi, who we have known for over a decade. The company has over 12 products and bundles in 27 languages, and had also been looking for a marketplace to push its plugins. We will do that for all resellers and developers who register with Cadsoma. To help them, to give them a marketing tool, not just a plug-in store. We also support Tik Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

AEC Magazine: The platform isn’t just about software though?

DR: Correct. Cadsoma isn’t just a place for products, but you can join and put your services in our system to use our e-commerce and marketing backend. For a yearly fee, there’s an option to market and collect payment for services, book banner adverts for your services, links to your website and so on.

AEC Magazine: So why do you think Cadsoma is needed now? DR: I think about this a lot. What I’ve seen in the last 20 years is that the CAD platform companies are always pushing themselves above all the developer partners. Despite having a lot of developer partners, resellers and dealers, the CAD platform company is more concerned about selling more of its software. It doesn’t matter if your software or plug-in is big or small; the platform companies push their resellers to focus more on increasing the sales of their platform tools. For the reseller to maintain discounts, they have to meet higher targets, which steals bandwidth to sell third-party plug-ins.

Developer communities are important for the CAD platform companies, because they are sales multipliers. What we are trying to do is to give all the dealers and the developers a platform to promote their own products, not just rely on the CAD developers to push their own plug-ins. We are inverting the sales pitch by putting developer products on top.

AEC Magazine: How does Cadsoma work?

DR: The website has a big search bar and, using keywords combined with filters, you find plug-ins that run on your core CAD applications, matching your industry discipline and the design issue you are looking to solve. Developers have their entries on the system and can include links such as demo downloads. Our platform handles the lead generation back-end and payment. Users don’t have to be registered and can opt to browse and purchase as a guest.

We have a rating system for customers to award to developers. In April or May, there will be a ‘Buy with Cadsoma’ button, which developers can use on their own websites to harness our e-commerce back-end. These are little things, but we want to make the system a community, especially for developers who have few places to connect and work together.

AEC Magazine: How many companies do you have registered?

DR: At the moment, we have 30 companies registered, but you can only see around 19 or 20, because we are still helping a number of them onboard to the system. We have personally invited over 600 companies to get on Cadsoma. Obviously, we are talking to the firms on the AutoCAD app store, too. Because ours is an independent platform, if their plug-in works in Bricscad, they are allowed to announce all the different platforms they support and run on. That’s not allowed on the Autodesk store. We have really industry seasoned representatives in important geographic areas like India, UK and Japan who have worked in CAD software distribution. They will work with developers and spread the word and also help us with country localisation of the website, which will come in time.

AEC Magazine: Are you looking for more developers to join the platform before the official launch?

DR: Yes, we are talking with everyone and putting together a deal for startups, where they get Cadsoma for free, for one year, for example. So even though we have been in the CAD business for 20 years, I feel like a baby just starting to walk with the development of Cadsoma!

The post Cadsoma – the ‘Amazon’ for add on tools appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Recent releases of Vectorworks have been both important and tricky. New features needed to be added to the core BIM tool, in Windows and Apple Intel. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, some major rearchitecting has been undertaken, not least with a whole new port to Apple Silicon.

In  Vectorworks 2023, the BIM feature updates continue. And, post-launch, Vectorworks has added two exciting new capabilities: first, Scan-to-BIM, supporting Apple’s brilliant mobile RoomPlan Technology; and second, quality checking via Solibri Inside.

But first, let’s look at the sales strategy for this product. Vectorworks comes in four flavours, all built on the same core technology. These are: Architect, Landmark (for landscapers), Spotlight (for media and entertainment/stage design), and Fundamentals (a basic version).

With Vectorworks 2023, new Vectorworks licences can only be bought by subscription — more on that later. Subscriptions for Architect, Landmark and Spotlight cost £123/month or £1,230 billed annually (which works out as £102/month). A Fundamentals subscription costs £88/month or £880 billed annually (£73/month).

When you compare these prices to a single licence of Revit — £2,940 yearly or £366 per month, according to the Autodesk website — then Vectorworks’ various professional flavours look like good value for money.

Top Vectorworks 2023 features

Moving on to features and functions, the Wall Tools command is now a combined wall tool. In other words, it supports the editing of curtain wall frames and walls with a single in-context tool. There are now additional options for wall insert of objects, which can be centrally located or locally overridden when needed. It’s also possible to align inserted components, even if they’re in different styles. Construction drawings have been improved with the inclusion of additional fields to the Profile offsets and Wall Closure Wrappings dialogue.

Push/ Pull modelling has been beefed up with a new Offset Edge tool, which lets you offset edges and edge loops from planar and non-planar faces. It also includes an automatic Push/Pull mode for nonplanar faces of 3D objects, reducing the steps to model unique 3D solid objects. This is very powerful. It will not only improve modelling times but also enable complex solids to be generated very easily, while maintaining a full history of the complex solid. This is the kind of capability seen in mechanical CAD systems.

The Shaded Render mode has been improved to support an unlimited number of light objects, glow textures, environmental lighting and reflections. This provides a real-time preview for a better understanding of a project while it’s being designed and helps predict the render output better. The new reflected textures and ‘lit fog’ support are really cool.

Section Viewports can be generated six times faster than in the previous release and using 80% less system memory, thanks to the Vectorworks Graphics Module. This moves calculations and processing to the background. Viewport updates are snappy and don’t lock up the application.

Cloud Presentations for clients have been enhanced to enable users to create and customise boards and virtual tours in Vectorworks Cloud Services. In virtual tours, there is increased compatibility with file types, such as 3D models, videos, images and PDFs, as well as the ability to create text and hyperlink-based pins.

Vectorworks 2023 now takes full advantage of Maxon’s Redshift Everywhere initiative, which supports Redshift render styles regardless of the type of hardware in use. Redshift is no longer limited to using just the GPU, but also the CPU for processing image work.

The new BCF Manager and interface is a lot quicker for loading, creating editing and managing issues during coordination. With powerful data filtering capabilities and support for BCF 3.0, Vectorworks now supports BCF exchange by file or web workflows using BCF web services.

A new elevation benchmark tool can be used for annotation as well as a design tool. It can be placed in the model space and used as a visual aid when modelling. Elevations can be placed on different design layers and reference the layer height above the ground plane or associated to storeys or different ground levels. Once included, they can also be used to change story heights. A number of styles can be applied, and there are lots of options for the way that the information is displayed.

Data Reporting, meanwhile, creates detailed reports and quantity take-offs for building objects, using a new set of reporting functions for walls, slabs, roofs and railing/fence objects and their defining components.

In terms of data exchange, Vectorworks now supports more Revit object types and provides better organisation of imported file data. You can also reference a Revit file directly.

IFC files give faster, more reliable results on import, with additional filters applied to objects upon import. They have access to class, storey and other criteria-based mapping for alignment with Vectorworks data.

DWG and DXF files, meanwhile, have also seen import/export improvements with a new, simplified export dialogue. When importing, you can now select which layers and objects to include.

And when it comes to site grading and GIS, new Site Modifier modes, including Aligned, Pathway Path and Boundary Path, enable site designers to create more complex grading projects. There are new ways to account for drainage, vehicular/ pedestrian use and better control via contour drawing and editing. GIS and georeferencing integrations automate the placing of referenced files using GIS settings from a master document.

Cloud and mobile enhancements

In January 2023, Vectorworks announced key updates to Vectorworks Cloud Services and the Nomad mobile app. Utilising Apple’s innovative technology, the development team has increased performance and streamlined reality capture workflows.

The existing Photos to 3D Model feature in Vectorworks Cloud Services has been replaced with a new framework, in order to take advantage of Apple’s new photogrammetry API on macOS, known as Object Capture. Job submissions now incorporate this framework on the cloud infrastructure, desktop app, web portal and Nomad mobile app.

The net result is higher success rates and the ability to create more optimised geometry in less time. The service now captures any additional metadata that is generated by supported iOS devices. This is used by the algorithm to recover actual object size and orientation, a capability that was not previously possible.

Vectorworks has also added support for Apple’s room scanning framework, RoomPlan, to the Nomad app. This means it can now produce models with classified geometry, such as walls, windows, openings and doors. These can be imported directly into a Vectorworks model. In an industry first, users can quickly scan an existing room layout using their iOS mobile device to create a robust reality capture that is accessible and easy to use. In other words, Scan-to-BIM is now possible.

The new version of the Nomad mobile app also gives users more control over light representation in 3D models, to aid in perfecting design presentations. Individual lights can be turned on and off, and heliodon or directional lights can now set the position of the light direction control when opening a model in the Unity-based 3D viewer.

Users can try out the latest Vectorworks Cloud Services features by logging into cloud.vectorworks.net. The Nomad mobile app is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Vectorworks and Solibri Inside

Nemetschek, owner of Vectorworks, offers an array of AEC brands that have operated independently for seemingly decades. A recent focus has been to create better integrations between these stablemates — and now Vectorworks has pulled a biggy, by pairing up its flagship BIM tool with Solibri, a market-leading quality checking software.

Called Solibri Inside, this provides users with the ability to validate designs using automated rule checking, modify design errors and create reports by directly inside Vectorworks. It’s a big advantage to the usual workflows, in which files are exported, loaded into Solibri, where checks can be run, errors found and reports made, before the file is sent back to Vectorworks to be corrected. Solibri Inside puts an end to the file palaver, saving a lot of time. Solibri is used heavily in countries with rigorous BIM standards where data compliance is a contractual issue.

Solibri Inside works within the latest version, Vectorworks 2023 Service Pack 3, and eliminates the need for users to open another software platform to perform basic model checking. Users can ensure their BIM models comply with building regulations, with national and international standards or with a specific project’s BIM requirements before sharing. Firms that struggle with internal quality can use Solibri to bring better quality to their data and identify problem files, as well as help identify designers who might benefit from a bit more training.

The first release of Solibri Inside comes with a free standard package for checking door and window clearances and supporting Level of Information (LOI) in BIM models. Users can unlock additional features by registering a Solibri Inside account and adding paid Solibri packages to their toolbox, giving them the full access they might need to develop their own rule checks, however simple or complex.

New subscription-only model

Up until this point, Vectorworks had supplemented perpetual licensing with maintenance and subscription licences. This year sees the end of new perpetual licences, with monthly or annual subscription being the only option from now on.

The company warned customers of this development at the end of summer 2022, stating: “This change will provide all Vectorworks customers with access to a more stable product by increasing the frequency of updates and allow us to focus on consistent quality throughout each version cycle.”

While Vectorworks has done a good job of consistently delivering feature-rich updates and rearchitecting under the hood, year on year, I fear this is part of the commercial disease that has seized the software industry.

The introduction of subscriptions always increases cost of ownership. It’s driven by shareholders, not by customers. Users who have been slow to upgrade their Vectorworks licences, and have not been or are lapsed members of Service Select, have had to upgrade their perpetual licences in order to get current and ensure ongoing access to perpetual licence upgrades. Those that did not could only upgrade by converting their perpetual licences to subscription licences. A discount was offered on annual subscriptions for customers working on versions that are 3 years old or newer. If they chose to take advantage of the offer, they had to agree to forfeit ownership of all versions of the perpetual licence to Vectorworks.

Moving to a subscription-only model tends to go down like a cup of cold sick with users, especially those in smaller firms. The pressure is now on Vectorworks to prove to customers that the subscription model delivers improved value

The subscription offering will now be enhanced to include in the price all the premium benefits of Vectorworks Service Select. This includes library content, training, extra Cloud Service storage, and cloud rendering. Subscribers will have access to the current version and three legacy versions back.

I can’t help but feel Vectorworks stands as a test case for this kind of strategy in Nemetschek Land. Graphisoft still offers perpetual licences for ArchiCAD. Moving to a subscription-only model tends to go down like a cup of cold sick with users, especially those in smaller firms. Often, resentment builds quickly, so the pressure is now on Vectorworks to prove to customers that the subscription model delivers improved value, a trend yet to be bucked in the BIM industry.

In conclusion

Possibly because of its three distinct vertical flavours, Vectorworks always does a pretty good job of improving functionality across a decent spread, typically in rendering, landscaping/GIS, BIM and drawing.

Vectorworks 2023 offers a solid upgrade in terms of features and functions, and the development team has been very quick off the mark to incorporate Apple’s exciting scanning technology, included in its high-end phones and tablets kitted out with a low-density Lidar. When combined with Apple’s AR Toolkit and photogrammetry, it seems that a whole new breed of mobile applications is set to revolutionise data capture on commonly available devices.

For example, it’s now possible to scan an interior, with Apple’s technology identifying walls, doors, windows, and some furniture, and put this data straight into a BIM tool.

Typical Lidar data can be messy and is essentially dumb, but Apple’s AR toolkit does a much more robust conversion of surfaces into objects. I am sure customers will have hours of fun with this technology and it should impress their clients, as it’s all a bit like magic.

As for the business model change to subscription-only, there is now a sense of inevitability. The whole software industry may soon be moving in this direction. But customers lose their bargaining power in subscription models, as they are shifted away from deciding for themselves if and when they want to upgrade. In the past, such steps were typically taken only if the customer considered a new version was worthy of its cash and if it was happy to increase its overall annual tools budget.

The advantage to the software vendor, however, is clear for all to see. With mature products, lower development velocity has tended to mean fewer game changing updates and more refinements. Less revolution, more evolution. Vectorworks isn’t a development laggard, but it’s going to have to work hard to appease aggrieved customers. That said, in the market for BIM tools, its subscription prices are still lower than those of its competitors.

Q&A with Vectorworks CEO, Dr. Biplab Sarkar and CTO Steve Johnson

AEC Magazine: How many years in advance does Vectorworks plan out feature releases and updates? Are there set areas which need to be addressed with each release? Such as performance, BIM components, drafting, structural… obviously with landscaping and entertainment being separate these areas have their own feature updates. How difficult is it to get the balance right?

Dr. Biplab Sarkar, Chief Executive Officer: It’s not a simple task to get the balance just right, but we have achieved a healthy and pragmatic approach that applies across all our product offerings. We set core theme areas that must always be addressed such as modernisation of underlying technologies, ease of use or “usability”, quality and performance, and of course new features that address customer workflows and new industry niches. We then overlay this with industry trends and most importantly, customer feedback on top of those thematic areas to address the prioritisation of development tasks we work on. In terms of how many years in advance, we don’t have a set number, as we believe roadmaps need to have structure and fluidity. Our Public Roadmap outlines our scheduled enhancements and features for upcoming releases and those that are currently in development and actively researched. Customers can also suggest new features they’d like to see and leave us feedback on our upcoming changes.

AEC Magazine:  Vectorworks supports both Apple Intel and Apple Silicon, as well as Windows Intel and soon Windows ARM. Folks like Autodesk are moving to the cloud, which bypasses all this. How do you think the processor platform is going to change? Will customers want local power or cloud? Intel or Arm?

Dr. Biplab Sarkar: Yes, Vectorworks is the first BIM product to support Apple Silicon. The feedback from our customers tells us that while certain workflows, like rendering or AR/VR/MR, can be very well supported in the cloud, when it comes to the documentation of the BIM model, they prefer the availability on a desktop. So, customers are still looking for local power and a chip architecture like in Apple Silicon to greatly improve their experience in terms of performance. Also, Vectorworks has been making many of the core functionalities to be multi-threaded on the desktop over the years, which also helps the users. Furthermore, we are making use of the GPU in some of the near-real-time render modes. So, for Vectorworks users, desktop is still the platform of choice.

Steve Johnson, Chief Technology Officer: Processor technology will never stop changing, 32bit, 64bit, PowerPC, ARM; we’ve grown and prospered through all those changes, and we’ll continue looking for new technologies and directions. Our software engineers have a knack of anticipating these changes and have shown the ability to quickly adapt and change accordingly. Most of the reengineering work we do is in anticipation of these changes. Our graphics VGM reengineering happened right before the announcement of Apple Silicon and allowed us to be one of the first BIM packages to run natively on ARM. Our current re-engineering efforts are absolutely focused on better cloud capabilities.

Customers will want what serves their needs. Local power and cloud are certainly at play and each architecture and platform will require vendors to work hard to evolve their solutions to take full advantage. That is why Vectorworks is so committed to leaning into new technologies like Apple Silicon and ARM. That is also why we invest in re-engineering to modernise our design solutions, so these advances are available to our customers.  We owe it to our customers to continuously evolve our solutions to be used on whatever platform and architecture they require. That is what we are doing. And that is what we think will serve our customers best.

AEC Magazine: Solibri Direct is a very interesting combination of Nemetschek products. In certain countries with strong BIM standards, Solibri has been widely adopted for model checking within collaborative design. In countries like the US, less so as they seem to be stuck in RVT workflows and deliverables. What features do you think your US customers will get the most benefit from? Will you supply rule sets for common workflows?

Dr. Biplab Sarkar: The collaborative Nemetschek project of Solibri Inside was put into place for the very reason of making some of the great benefits of Solibri accessible to more customers. One of the wonderful aspects of Solibri Inside is that it is so simple for architects to run valuable BIM checks like door and window clearances and completeness of IFC data in the model with the free version. Being able to do that directly inside a product like Vectorworks Architect and do it quickly will save valuable time for architects in producing higher fidelity models with fewer errors. Plus, architecture firms can do this without the need to do an import/export exchange with model validation software. Basic rule sets for common quality checks are provided by Solibri and delivered their web portal, making them available inside Vectorworks.  This type of functionality and workflow really adds to the value of working in Open BIM workflows, and we believe integrations like this will truly help spark an increase in Open BIM usage in the U.S. and worldwide.

AEC Magazine: There is a lot of hype about Digital Twins. How do you define them and where will they be used?

Dr. Biplab Sarkar: We think that the “Digital Twin” emerging trend is primarily used currently in design and build phases of a building. The digital twin is supposed to incorporate with some sort of real-time sensors, which we believe is not utilised to the fullest extent. The management and operation of the building is where we see the sensor data mostly used. So, in that sense we agree with where the digital twin is heading. IoT sensors can add a lot of value for building owners and operators in terms of building maintenance, gaining noise and energy efficiency etc.

AEC Magazine: What is your view on AI in AEC? Where do you think it will make the most impact and in what kind of areas will you be deploying AI for customers? BIM is still very manual and ultimately produces 2D drawings, do you think AI will dramatically alter the workflows AEC professionals are used to today?

Dr. Biplab Sarkar: AI in the AEC industry is the same as it is in any industry now — full of potential that can cause positive disruptions and new opportunities to explore design and construction in a way that may have been limited in the past. The places we can see direct or immediate impact will be through some forms of automation through both ML and AI. And the biggest place of impact we’ll see is in design discovery and exploration. We are already starting to see artists and graphic designers use tools like ChatGPT to discover or uncover stylistic elements that fit within a design brief, or a design problem being solved. It’s not a far leap to see a similar application for architects, landscape architects, or lighting designers to generate various design iterations or to refine specific elements of a design idea through some form of automation provided by machine learning or AI tools or both. While BIM may be considered manual today, if we compare it to what simple CAD drafting has to offer, it has automated a lot of the tedium of project documentation leaving time to focus on design and innovation — and explore new materials and building applications. We think that AI can have a similar impact on the workflows of design professionals within the AEC industry.

AEC Magazine: New licences will only be available through subscription, what are the advantages of this over perpetual licences? Perpetual customers will be scared that you will force them, or price coerce them at some point to go subscription. It seems the software industry wants more money from customers, as subscription increases the cost of ownership. How does the cost of ownership compare and are there any additional features that subscribers get over those who upgrade at their own pace?

 Dr. Biplab Sarkar: With our transition into a subscription-based business model, we can now showcase the fruits of Vectorworks’ continuous development cycle. With this model, we have increased the frequency of updates focusing on the consistent quality of the software throughout each version cycle and delivery of new functionality when it is ready instead of holding new functionality for an annual new version launch.

Subscription users also get added functionality that was not available to them in an upgrade at their own pace such as our Cloud rendering, document publishing, panoramic rendering, photogrammetry, up sampling and stylising images, and Cloud presentation features, just to name a few. Plus, subscription users get access to additional promotional offers from our technology partners and us and new templates and content libraries that are added regularly throughout the year. As we move into the future, there will continue to be more added functionality for subscribers.

Subscription licences also offer a lower upfront cost and allow our customers to purchase the products they need when they need them. Subscription licences may even allow customers to pass some costs back to their customers, making this option one of the most budget-friendly licensing options.

Pricing for Vectorworks subscription licences is competitive with similar software.

While cheaper options may exist, the same robust set of tools may not be at users’ fingertips, and they could still need additional components to complete their tech stack — meaning the price may not actually be that different (and their workflow may become much more complex.) We’re committed to offering best-in-class software that enables designers with robust capabilities and the freedom to follow any workflow at a competitive price.

Main image: The new Offset Edge tool in Vectorworks 2023 lets you offset edges and edge loops from planar and non-planar faces

The post Vectorworks 2023 appeared first on AEC Magazine.

A study of Bentley Systems’ current marketing output could easily bamboozle the reader with its terminology and fool – them into thinking that the company’s only focus is now digital twins. For anyone led down that path, it’s important to keep in mind that the company is still solidly built around a single platform (MicroStation), its core DGN format, and its broad array of design and project management tools.

At the same time, the digital twin messaging and focus on iTwin services are about more than just marketing. In fact, they signify an important technology progression, from file-based, project milestone workflows to live databases that can ultimately be integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) and Bentley iTwin services for infrastructure lifecycles.

The first stage of this transition came with the introduction of the iModel back in 2007. An iModel is Bentley’s information container for data exchange — a selfdescribing, geometrically precise, portable and secure entity, containing the history of file changes and encapsulating information regardless of its original source, be that a Bentley tool or software from another vendor. Then, in 2017, Bentley launched iModel.js, version 2.0 of its iModel technology, providing spatial and unit alignment between the contents of iModels. At the same time, iModelHub was also introduced, in order to handle change management, time stamping and allocating changes to team members to support managed digital workflows.

As iModel.JS developed, it became clear that it was going to contain and do a lot more than just manage iModels. Its new roles included connecting to IoT devices, connecting and streaming geometry to Unreal Engine, storing reality data, and so on. It was renamed iTwin.js to reflect this expanded vision — a move that has caused some understandable confusion.

From there, Bentley open-sourced iTwin.js on Github under an MIT licence. The thinking here was that an open approach to users’ data is necessary because digital twin information will never come from a single source, requires a fusion of formats and has many layers. With this methodology, it’s possible for anyone to leverage the open-source code to create, query, modify and display infrastructure digital twins.

At Bentley Systems’ ‘Year in Infrastructure’ (YII) event, held in London in November 2022, we sat down with the company’s CTO and co-founder Keith Bentley to get his views on how this significant technology progression is unfolding.

Martyn Day for AEC Magazine (MD): Keith, I’d like to start by asking whether you can define a Bentley data lake workflow without concentrating on iTwins?

Keith Bentley for Bentley Systems (KB): We purposely use the iTwin brand to describe what I call ‘Phase Two’. Here’s what’s going to happen: You are using MicroStation, just plain old MicroStation. It’s the lowest common denominator. Everybody understands MicroStation — and here, I’m not saying you need a product like OpenRoads to get any value out of iTwins. What I am saying is you can be using products, and I expect many people will be using STAAD and other products that they have bought, where there is no such thing as a digital twin.

Over many years, you’ve built up a workflow that works. Of course, it involves DGN files for our products, mostly DGN. It might involve creating, exporting, importing SketchUp files etcetera. There’s a workflow that people use today to get their jobs done, and the output of their job is not a digital twin. In fact, it is largely drawings. So, what we’re going to do is deliver a version of MicroStation next year. It will have, within it, an engine, but it’s the iTwin platform embedded inside MicroStation.

So you’re using MicroStation, you’re opening up a DGN. These DGNs are being managed in ProjectWise, or you are using another file share service. The digital twin doesn’t change the way you start. You start with that DGN file and you’re going to end your session with that DGN file.

During your session, you modify a bunch of elements, you add a bunch of elements. The iTwin engine is running in the background and you either select to synchronise – or it can happen automatically, when you exit at the end of your session. Now, you’ve got an iModel. This is synchronised with all the changes that you’ve made and your DGN files are still your master file.

Drawings are stupid and the goal of BIM is to automate drawing creation

Now you have an iModel sitting on your desk, updated with the changes you just made to the DGN file. What good does that get you? For one thing, it gives you the ability to invite somebody else who has a web browser to look at the changes you just made. They are my changes, they haven’t been published by anybody other than me. I can now synchronise with the iTwin server.

Today, the way it works in the demos that we’ve been showing at YII, with our iTwin format, customers change the data on their desktop, they push that up to the cloud, where we run a copy of a programme that effectively mirrors MicroStation in the cloud and it updates the iModel in the cloud.

The phase lag can be minutes, hours, depending on many things — but usually, people don’t do it often. Instead, they only do this at project milestones, only when they then generate the PDFs for the milestone. The iModel is always out of sync, it’s not up to date, nobody has it on their desk. So nobody thinks of it when you’re using MicroStation as being relevant to the job.

But because you now have an iModel, you don’t have to do any extra work and use a different tool to create the iModel. You didn’t end up with a different DGN file. It’s the very same DGN file. Now, when you’re at the point where you’re going to push your changes to ProjectWise, we push them into an iModel on your desktop. So now there’s an iModel that exists that includes all the users’ changes — but only the changes between milestones get recorded. They don’t include the changes in between milestones. But now the iModel has the ability to store the whole team’s collaboration history.

MD: Will this support real-time collaboration?

KB: In MicroStation or OpenRoads today, you have a DGN file, you have it locked, perhaps I have a copy of it. But I can’t make any changes. We can’t change the way that that works. Those locks are there so we don’t conflict. It doesn’t change that. This iModel is merely a journal of what happened. It doesn’t include new capabilities for you and to be on the same model at the same time. It’s a cache, but it’s more than a cache, as it’s been transformed and combined.

If we were working on a project together, people segregate their data into files, for locking purposes. We have to decide who takes what file and what part of the project will be done in that file. And another user is going to work on a different project — otherwise, you can’t write to them at the same time. In the iModel, they’re all combined. They’re geo-located, so that if you’re using five different tools inside the same iModel, I can do a query and find everything in this volume of space – and that’s really hard to do in a DGN. They’re also synchronised, right, so that you have this journal of change and you can push that to the cloud.

So, for now, the iModel someone else creates for me is on my desk. Now what? Well, there are some really cool things we can do. We can give you the tools that we’ve written to do carbon footprint analysis, clash detection, consistency checks, etcetera. We can run that against the iModel on your desktop. And it didn’t cost you anything, because you already paid for that computer. If you don’t use the cycles, they go to waste. If we run it in the cloud, somebody’s got to charge you and give you feedback. The iModel tells you when someone else just changed something that affected the thing you’re working on. So we can start improving the process of creating the data, even though the master copy is still a DGN file. People will start to recognise that iModel isn’t ‘an output’, it’s just sort of ‘always there’. It’s a second copy of my data. So why do you need two copies of your data? Well, because we can’t change the way that OpenRoads works with DGN data, as well as other data files and stuff.

MD: Will you start rewriting the apps to use iModel as the new format?

KB: If you have been using OpenRoads for a long time, you are now going to have some new features that are going to be in the iTwin model. Maybe it’s in a separate window, but wouldn’t it be really cool if we then start adding some new capabilities that are in the iModel part of it? Over time, the iModel part of it grows and the DGN part of it shrinks, and by the time we are done, you’ve gone through the transition and you are only working on iModels. It’s not going to happen all at once. It’s going to take years. It has taken us five years to get us to where we are now. Do you think that’s quick for the AEC industry? [laughs]

MD: Was this because of Covid?

KB: Covid didn’t really hurt us. When you think about adoption of new technologies, people were way more interested in doing things differently during Covid. They had to do things differently. If it hadn’t been for Covid, I don’t think we would have been able to convince people to start to have digital design review meetings. Online meetings were necessary because they couldn’t physically be in the office. They were presented with a fact: the old way couldn’t be the current way.

We need to go fast. But we should expect that only incremental change gets adopted. But what I hope is that, in the mental world view of the designer using MicroStation, they think their purpose in life is not to modify the DGN, but to modify the iModel. Even though to modify the model, they first modify the DGN file, DWG or RVT, even if they’re going to use a different tool. But when they’re done, they’re going to look at what’s in the iModel, what’s in the digital twin.

I know you think “There’s that term” — that term ‘digital twin’, which you say that not many people want to hear. But I don’t think they don’t want to create a digital twin. When they get paid for it, they will care about it. When we start giving them ways that they can be more productive, add more value, they’ll wish for a digital twin.

MD: But people naturally switch off when a message gets repetitive. It’s always about change. How about them getting value from the stuff that’s already been paid for and delivered?

KB: I do concede that. But I think a digital twin is a big thing. Drawings are stupid and the goal of BIM is to automate drawing creation. And here’s an easy step forward. I want the world view to be that, at the end of a design session or after a period of work, users think: “I’m going to commit my changes now and modify the digital twin.” And, in the case of our users, an iTwin.

DGN files are of course important. You can’t throw them away — but everyone who’s looking at my work and commenting on whether or not a change had some kind of positive or negative impact, they’re going to evaluate the iModel. We have to get people using smart tools to analyse the current state of projects and looking at past stages of other similar projects to get feedback. I don’t think that’s going to happen with a bunch of loose DGN and RVT files being the input for machine learning, especially not when they’re all in different coordinate systems.

MD: At our NXT BLD event, and in AEC Magazine, we’ve been covering industry initiatives to get data out of proprietary file formats and into data bridges that span the silos and deliver entity-level exchanges. What’s your view on that?

KB: Well, that’s another reason why I assert that automatic creation of iModels is better. With OpenRoads and DGN, it’s a great product — but while the product is called ‘Open’, the data is not. It’s open by interface but, in reality, there’s nothing we can do to make DGN files open, even if we wanted to. To publish the format of a DGN file, we would have to publish a bunch of code. It’s miserable, because even if we documented it all, it wouldn’t make sense, as it’s kind of defined internally to represent the data in memory that OpenRoads uses.

When people say files are bad, they mean that loose files, lots of files, are bad. One big file, like an iModel, is still a file and it’s a big file — like a gigabyte file — but they are in a database and that means they are as open as we can make them.

So another large difference between iModels and let’s say Revit RVT files is that I don’t send you my iModel, I just send you my changes. And these transactional changes are small, even if the database is big. I don’t even know what kind of change it would be that would end up having touched every object making a modification to every object.

Looking ahead

While our conversation mainly wandered around in the weeds of industry data structures, these are fundamental concepts when it comes to understanding how the AEC industry is likely to change over the next five to ten years.

Platforms being designed today cannot deliver productivity enhancing capabilities if they are based on old data schemas. As Keith Bentley pointed out, drawings are dumb.

For Bentley to help its customers transition to an iTwin outlook, iModels are fundamental to future direction, and it was fascinating to return to this topic. Somehow, this point has got somewhat lost in the deluge of messaging around iTwin and the wider digital twin focus.

The move to build in automated/parallel iModel creation perhaps indicates that previous innovative work at Bentley has failed to gain traction, in an industry that can be notoriously slow to adopt new technology.

If the success of the iTwin technology relies on the uptake and proliferation of iModels, things need to change. Over the next few years, iModel looks set to quietly replace DGN-centric workflows at the core of MicroStation, bringing new capabilities and features. Even customers that are not explicitly planning to deliver digital twins will nevertheless be ‘digital twin ready’.

Bentley executives are keen to point out that files will never disappear from the process — and this is a company that I have only ever seen change its core file format once. So I trust Bentley to deliver this transition without disruption to customers.

The post Q&A: Keith Bentley – Bentley Systems CTO appeared first on AEC Magazine.

The Apple iPad has been on a journey. It started life back in 2010 as a giant iPhone that didn’t make calls (unless they were via VoIP), but went on to finally cement a tablet market that had previously failed to attract many customers.

Today, with desktop-class Apple silicon, the iPad continues to provide portability, along with long battery life and pretty decent pen input.

We have already seen some great AEC application developments for the iPad, but historically, these have been mainly for the consumption of AEC data – via Autodesk BIM 360, Graphisoft BIMx and so on — rather than the creation of designs. If you go back to around 2010, you’ll find that iRhino 3D also started life as a navigator/viewer.

A lot has changed since then. Today’s reality is that the iPad is now powerful enough to run design-based desktop applications. One only has to look at Shapr3D, the excellent Spaces by Cerulean Labs (read our review) and SketchUp for iPad (read our review)  to see how the iPad has become a viable laptop replacement for creatives.

The question is, will iRhino 3D remain a handy portable viewing and mark-up tool, or play a wider, more creative role in conceptual design?

This fact has not escaped McNeel Associates CEO Bob McNeel or the company’s lead on business development, Scott Davidson. In response, iRhino 3D has been relaunched with the full Rhino tech stack underneath and offering big possibilities. It requires the latest operating system, iOS 16. And, as it runs on an iPad, it obviously also runs on an iPhone, but you would have to be pretty desperate to do anything on such a small screen. For now, the 12.9-inch iPad would be ideal and there are rumours of an even bigger device in the works, with the possibility of a 16-inch model at some point in the future.

Rhino has not been ‘ported’ from the desktop. Instead, it was completely rewritten from the ground up and performs exactly like other versions, but with an interface that makes the most of a touch environment.

New horizons

Before readers get too excited, it’s important to stress that the initial version is intended for model viewing and mark-up only. But we have been assured by McNeel executives that, under the hood, the entire functionality of desktop Rhino is there already. Over time, that functionality will be exposed as the company finds out how users want to use the system and what new additions make sense in product development terms.

Apart from the power of the processor, Apple has with each generation of chip included more and more direct memory cache and expanded the addressable memory per application. This allows bigger programmes to run, working with bigger data sets. In other words, with each generation, the iPad is becoming increasingly usable for professional modelling use.

One of the original ‘melon twisters’ of the original iPad was its complete lack of a file system, or rather, its lack of exposing a file system to the user. This has been addressed over time, but even for long-time users, finding where the device stores files can sometimes be an absolute mystery. The safest option is to link the iPad to a cloud storage service. iRhino 3D supports iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and other cloud storage providers. There’s a built-in file browser, too.

When models are loaded, they can be displayed in shaded, wireframe, rendered, ghost and X-Ray display modes. This is for all object types, breps, curves, meshes, point cloud, text and annotations. You can pan, zoom and orbit by dragging your fingers on the screen, providing instant and accurate control of the viewing position. The software supports any previously set up layouts (page views) and objects can be selected and queried for information.

There’s a built-in mark-up tool that works with the pen, which allows drawn highlights, text mark-ups, and some dimensioning. The software also supports an augmented reality (AR) mode.

Community feedback

In common with most McNeel products, iRhino is a work in progress and with the active user community, the company really listens to feature requests on its forums. Moreover, developers actually reply back to posts.

While it may not initially seem that iRhino 3D has made dramatic steps forward, the company has had to go back to the drawing board in order to support Apple silicon and the new Metal graphics. While that work was being done, adding in the Rhino engine for later exposure and usage made sense.

Now, the question is, will iRhino 3D remain a handy portable viewing and mark-up tool, or play a wider, more creative role in conceptual design? That, of course, will be down to users. I wonder how far away we are from Grasshopper running on an iPad?

The post iRhino 3D – Rhino on the iPad appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Autodesk has long been trying to improve data flow between its disparate applications. To specifically help improve the flow of data between Revit and Inventor (Autodesk’s 3D CAD tool for product design and mechanical engineering), Autodesk developed a plug in for the Forge Data Exchange Connector component.

This made it easier for Revit users to share specific subsets of data with Inventor and combine architecture model with fabrication elements that will appear in the building. It meant all users could work on the latest data and there was less hassle when creating specific files.

Autodesk then expanded the Data Exchange Connector to include Microsoft Power Automate, a popular tool for building automated business processes that can be used to share data between hundreds of apps.

In essence, collaborators can share subsets of design data with a wide number of applications like Excel, generate insightful PowerBI dashboards, as well as get notifications with Microsoft Teams, Slack etc.

The connector comes with some pre-defined workflow template examples for the Power Automate platform, helping those who are project managers, VDC managers, or BIM managers. Autodesk is now adding another connector to the exchange ecosystem, to include the highly popular McNeel Rhino.

Rhino Exchange Connector

With its generative Grasshopper capability, Rhino is one of the leading conceptual design tools in AEC, used for anything from simple massing models to complex façades. The new connector allows users to move geometry and property data from Rhino to Revit – or from Revit to Rhino. This keeps project designers on the same page and aware of the latest changes to levels, grids, floors and (curtain) walls.

Autodesk claims that without its Rhino Exchange Connector, sharing data for consumption by other applications can result in lossy or incomplete translation, requiring time intensive workarounds or third-party plug-ins to capture the full extent of the information being shared. Autodesk says this new Connector offers a step forward for interoperability and collaborative work, and better syncs Rhino and Revit workflows for more seamless design development.

To use, install the Rhino Connector into Rhino, select the geometry that needs to be shared, and create a Data Exchange. The Data Exchange is published to ‘Autodesk Docs’, the cloud-based common data environment, where data can be stored and accessed from Revit or any other application with an available Autodesk Data Exchange Connector.

The workflow can be seen in the video below.

Rhino.Inside

Autodesk’s latest development follows on from McNeel’s own application connector, ‘Rhino.Inside’, which is a range of plug-ins that embeds Rhino into other 64-bit Windows applications. ‘Rhino.Inside.Revit’ specifically allows an unprecedented level of integration between Rhino and Revit, enabling Rhino to run in the same memory space as Revit. This means that whatever Revit creates, Rhino can read, and whatever Rhino creates, Revit can read, communicating through their APIs.

Rhino.Inside.Revit also makes it easier to apply Grasshopper scripts to Revit geometry and read the recipes for each and every object.

Scott Davidson at McNeel explains how Rhino.Inside.Revit contrasts to the transactional nature of Autodesk’s Data Exchange Connector, “Rhino.Inside.Revit is quite a bit different in that it is a live integration of Rhino and Revit as someone is working on their desktop.

“You could look at this as a way to share and store other types of files within your Revit construction project. Rhino files alongside other formats that need to be used in a large project. In addition to the geometry there is also parameters that are stored/exchanged with the Rhino files.”

Rhino.Inside.Revit is free to use but you will need a full license of Rhino on your machine.

Proving Ground Conveyor

Proving Ground, a US software development and consulting company, has developed Conveyor, a plug-in that allows users to import Rhino objects into Revit as native elements.

The software integrates / extends ‘Rhino.Inside.Revit’ by adding a user-interface, which is Rhino-based (not Grasshopper-based, as Rhino.Inside.Revit comes).

The workflow demonstrated in Autodesk’s video for Rhino Connector Public Beta appears to strikingly similar to the workflow of Conveyor.

Proving Ground Conveyor costs $695. Proving Ground also develops Tracer, which can be used to connect BIM tools to Microsoft PowerBI.

Conclusion

The whole Data Exchange Connector concept seems to reflect what advanced customers have been doing for quite a while through applications such as McNeel’s Rhino.Inside, Speckle (https://speckle.systems) and Proving Ground’s Conveyor.

While Autodesk is seemingly trying to build one connector to rule all connections, it’s not completely clear what the cost will be to use it. Autodesk may use its own token-based system for each transaction. At the moment, however, it’s in beta and free.

There is also a question as to how deeply Autodesk would choose to integrate these tools to provide comparative rich feature sets and continue to maintain them, vs dedicated teams of developers with specific commercial products such as Proving Ground and McNeel.

To join the public beta sign up here

The post Autodesk links Revit to Rhino with new connector appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Faro has unveiled its new 4D Construction Progress Management Solution on its Sphere SaaS platform, providing a central location for users to capture, view, share and analyse reality capture data.

The central component to the new solution is the Sphere Viewer, which uses a combination of computer vision, photogrammetry and artificial intelligence to create what Faro describes as a comprehensive virtual jobsite.

The new viewer is said to analyse point clouds and 360° photos in a unified environment, removing reality capture data silos and enabling faster analysis.

In addition to the Sphere Viewer, the solution includes: VideoMode, which uses 360° videos to enable faster and easier site documentation; ProgressAI, which uses AI to detect and report site progress; and a brand-new Robotics API, which allows robotic manufacturers to integrate and directly import reality captured data from robots straight into the virtual jobsite. The first robot to leverage the Robotics API will be Spot from Boston Dynamics.

“Our 4D solution brings together 3D models from different capture devices and different accuracy levels to ease navigation, increase user accessibility, and enable unprecedented progress management with the ability to report, verify and compare all angles of a project over time,” said Patrick Bohle, president, Faro Building Insights.

“For the first time, we can unite speed, accuracy and analytics capabilities of stationary and mobile 3D laser scanning as well as 360° photo and video,” added Will Plato, senior VDC manager at Hensel Phelps, a leader in general contract and construction work for the planning, building and management of landmark buildings. “Gone are the days of static, standalone point cloud and 360° projects.”

Thr Faro 4D Construction Progress Management Solution is expected to be released later this year.

The post Faro announces 4D Construction Progress Management Solution appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Vectorworks 2023, the forthcoming new release of the CAD / BIM software, is due to launch soon with a major focus on process automation. The Windows and Mac OSX software will also include several updates for BIM workflows and enhanced interoperability, thanks in part to new Revit import options.

Core architectural objects have been re-engineered and modernised to be more intuitive through all phases of a project. According to Vectorworks, this helps reduce the amount of manual work needed to create and edit day-to-day documentation.

A new Graphic Legends tool is designed to help make the creation of object type and drawing key legends less labour-intensive and prone to errors. According to Vectorworks, it completely removes the manual process of creating graphic legends, automatically coordinating resources used and providing an easy editing and customisation process.

Elsewhere, door and window objects can now be created and interactively edited by simply drawing a rectangle on the face of the wall in 3D or a line spanning the opening in 2D. A new folding door configuration tool can accommodate a custom number of leaves, while the window tool includes a folding sash configuration that can help create a custom number of sashes.

Building on the data-centric focus of the previous release, Vectorworks 2023 is said to make even better use of data and resources for more precise BIM models and documentation, with several powerful data reporting additions.

In terms of Revit file import, Vectorworks will now support the translation of more Revit object types and provide better organisation of the imported file data. According to the developers, this will make it easier to design a project within the context of existing information and reference a Revit file directly for a more collaborative workflow.

Users will also experience ‘better, faster and more accurate’ BIM collaboration when using BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) files. Now, as a web palette, the BCF Manager will have the ability to be kept open to ‘seamlessly and efficiently’ manage and model changes with cloud-based collaboration tools.

Elsewhere, there’s a new offset edge tool for a ‘streamlined and smooth’ 3D modelling process that lets users offset edges and push/pull faces from both planar and non-planar surfaces for more efficient design exploration. The Shaded Render Mode now supports an unlimited number of light sources, environmental lighting and reflections and object reflections.

Other general enhancements include performance improvements, such as the ability to generate section viewports up to six times faster and speed up the documentation process, and a new home screen that provides a single source for getting started, learning and training.

Vectorworks Landmark 2023, a dedicated version for landscape architecture, will introduce improvements to site grading by providing new site modifier modes for more complex grading projects. The software also offers more intuitive ways to account for proper drainage, vehicular and pedestrian use and better control through contour drawing and editing.

Through a partnerships with Laubwerk, version 2023 also includes a ‘new and extensive’ library of 3D plant geometry with a wide range of detail levels, seasonal changes and growth representations for more accurate 3D plant representation, documentation and collaboration.

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