In the CADMAN Rd post I asked if anyone had been to BIM? Thanks to a vigilant reader who spotted a feature on the map closer than BIM, West Virginia I found out I have been to BIM, well Bims Rd. Even stranger, thanks to the miracle of GPS and a Garmin Etrex Legend, I know I was there at 11:35, 5th April 2006 and took a photo!
This is Bims Rd, Tasman New Zealand. It's shown dashed but is a forest access road on the satellite map
I attended an IPD/BIM meeting and thought it rather ironic that, due to stupid planning rules that allow you to build several new multi-story office blocks with insufficient visitor parking, I found a park in nearby Cadman Ave (No Exit)*.
I wondered if any New Zealand place names have BIM in them but Google shows the nearest is BIM, West Virginia, USA! Has anyone been there!? I can't as Streetview doesn't go that far!
* Wonders if that will prompt a comment from someone in Florida...At one stage in an effort to understand the various components I attempted to "map" a Revit Project with MindManager. You can see the result of that below but it's far from complete (with no MEP or Structure) and has one major limitation. MindManager can show hierarchy but doesn't really have a mechanism to show the complex inter-relationships between Revit database elements. It does have a relationship arrow, and topics can have multiple relationships, but attempting to show all the connections would result in a mass of arrows.
Last year Rich Sales presented his view of the Revit Project to RUGAKL using another mapping product; PersonalBrain. It's advantage is an ability to handle multiple relationships between topics and present them in a dynamic responsive view. As you click on topics the Brain adjusts to show the relationships with notes or images zooming out when you hover over the topic icons (like I wish MindManager did!).
Rich has put his Revit Brain on-line and you can give it a spin here: http://webbrain.com/u/103E
Yesterday, last Thursday, a couple of weeks ago * I spent the day at an Autodesk Solutions 2009 event. Over the day most of the 2010 product range was presented by industry specific resellers and a few customer presentations. The venue, Novotel Hotel - Ellerslie, was great with free parking and, for Auckland, easy access. I thought it was better than the typical city locations. Arriving early, thanks to lighter than expected traffic, meant I could sit in on a Civil 3D session I hadn't registered for.
Civil in the morning
Robert Gadbaw, Team Blue22, took the first session of the day demonstrating Civil 3D 2010 to a full room. I'm not a civil user, although quite polite, but seeing the survey, surface, piping, alignments and intersections created, changed, regenerated in minutes was pretty impressive. Robert got through a lot of content in the 45 minutes allocated but it really was just a glimpse of this sophisticated product. It was also the first time I'd seen Civil 3D with a ribboned interface. Like the other ribbon applications it makes extensive use of context sensitive tabs, even stacking several at times, but seemed pretty logical. I was also interested to see the .adsk file format used to import a Revit Model into Civil 3D. It's a pity Civil models can't use the .adsk format to go the other way. Team Blue22 also announced they are planning a multi-day "Civil 3D University" later in the year for more in-depth sessions. I will post details when confirmed.
The Autodesk beat?
After morning tea, for me much needed coffee, it was into the main session. Finding a length of plastic tube, a variety of colours & lengths, on each seat was a little perplexing and then a drum beat started. Human Rhythms, coordinating entirely by mime, took the arriving audience through a short interactive percussion session. “The Tubes” started with simple beat sequences & built to the Autodesk theme, some captured in the video below. It was a pretty cool way to kick off the main session and certainly got peoples attention!
Time to make them work?
The first section, the Autodesk corporate session, introduced the day, sponsors and the mentioned the economic context. The main themes were that industry solutions, but not platform specific, and digital prototyping can resolve design problems and aid process rather than just documenting design. That extended from components in Inventor, Revit Building Information Models to Civil Infrastructure and Digital Cities.There was also much talk of recessionary times being an opportunity to up-skill and the value/benefits of subscription was rather heavily promoted throughout the day. I suspect the recent sales results had something to do with that...
Paul Arthur, Channels Business Manager, surprised me with a presentation that challenged customers to demand more value from Autodesk and the dealer network. He suggested taking a look at the business problems and opportunities that design solutions can assist with then challenge Autodesk to provide solutions. It was an interesting approach and reflects Autodesk's apparent evolution from 'industry platforms" to mixed platform solutions. It may be a cunning plan to sell more boxes into the current customer base or perhaps reflects the reality that no single platform is the complete solution for a given task. In the AEC space I seem to remember a time when Revit was touted as the single database, single platform solution for all Architectural Design. While it currently is the best candidate to create and manage the project split databases (Arch/MEP/Structure etc) and the new .adsk format to share data means you can look to the best solution for a given part of the process. With linked Revit models, platform data sharing and tools like Navisworks merging multiple model formats "BIM" becomes a more complete solution to modelling all aspects of a building project than a single platform approach.
AutoCAD 2010, all meshy and dynamic!
Gary Page, Salesoft CAD Solutions, demonstrated AutoCAD 2010 with the focus on the new parametric features, incorporated with dynamic blocks, and mesh modelling engine. It was a convincing display of how parametric constraints can save a lot of drafting and how you can replace multiple legacy blocks with one smart, if only 2D, dynamic block. I know one part of the demo where multiple parameter/name settings were seamlessly copied from a spreadsheet catalog to the Dynamic Block got peoples attention. The mesh modelling, below, is fun to use and Gary clearly enjoyed demonstrating it. There was also a link to the following Revit demonstration with the AutoCAD mesh model being passed on to Revit.
Revit 2010, inspired by a tortoise?
I'm wondering if that heading will get a comment about ribbon performance but it's actually refers to a building. Rich, Salesoft CAD Solutions, showed the new Revit User Interface, Modelling engine, profile and pattern tools using a building shell inspired by a tortoise. It also incorporated an ex-AutoCAD mesh model column and, via .adsk import, door hardware from Inventor. Apart from a PowerPoint mention there was no sign of Revit MEP or Structure. That probably reflects the, UI aside, lightweight changes they had this time around. Although Revit is pretty established in New Zealand for Architecture the services seem slower to adopt it so it was a pity not to see it in action.
Inventor 2010, in the fast lane;
Perhaps it's my Product Design background that make the Inventor sessions of interest even though I don't currently use it. Greg Heeley, CAD Pro Systems Ltd, showcased Inventor 2010 with a rapid fire demo of the sheet metal, F.E.A, plastic and mold flow tools and design accelerators for frames and bolted connections. I was impressed to see Alias data incorporated in an Inventor model, with the Inventor model and it's additional added features changing to reflect Alias updates. It was also interesting to see extensive use of Vault with Inventor and AutoCAD Electrical but has me wondering why the AEC platforms don't use it to manage database/project/drawing versioning.
Steve Riddell, Aspex, presented the first of two customer sessions. He shared how Digital Prototyping and Production with Inventor, Vault and CNC technology enables them to design and manufacture of industrial automation equipment and machinery. It was good to hear how DWF, Autodesk Design Review, enables that process of model sharing to extend to the client, for free. In response to a few questions he also explained how Vault helps control the flow of design data within the business ensuring each stage is working with valid, current data. It was a good insight of how previously "enterprise scale systems" can now help a small scale manufacturing business.
Simon Holt, Triple Eight Racing, was the final presentation but one worth waiting for. Although I'm a race fan I was surprised how much in-house manufacture is done for the Australian V8 Supercars they build, totally modelled in Inventor. He showed how hundreds of pages of sporting regulations are transformed into a race car with much of the physical compliance captured and validated in the model. The level of detail was impressive, the result is race & championship winning cars.
A good day, except for what was missing;
Although a huge amount was covered there was no sign of Max and maybe scope for a bigger event as time pressure was evident. With over 200 attending the turnout was good but many familiar faces were "missing". Given the small community I thought it was pity that, for whatever reason, two solution days were held within a week covering similar material. When the focus of the day I attended heavily emphasised sharing data, cross industry collaboration and breaking barriers it's a pity Autodesk New Zealand couldn't do the same for all it's customers. It's not often such a wide range of industry professionals have a chance to get together and the lunchtime/break sessions are a good chance to make/renew contacts, Hard to do when they are at the other day...
Taking note with MindManager;
You may have seen my agenda MindManager Map posted last week before the meeting. I said it would be defaced with my illegible scrawled notes and a few commented on seeing the work Tablet PC in use. Its nice to use in meetings/presentations as allows seamless note taking that you just can't achieve on a conventional laptop.
MindManager's native inking is fast and the zoom + topic filters effectively gives you infinite paper with none of the 'running out of room" I find happens with paper mind maps. The image right shows the result by the end of the day but most of the time I only had the current branch expanded. It's quite surprising to see how much you can gather over the day but remember this was only a topic, often just a word, every few minutes during several hours of presentations. The best part of inking maps is you can also scribble diagrams that typed input can't match.
Unfortunately MindManager Player, an interactive map in a PDF, doesn't support inked topics so can only share this "all expanded" image view. The full size image (click the thumbnail) doesn't quite match the resolution seen in MindManager itself is but clear enough to see. Sadly it won't help you read my awful writing! 
Download Autodesk_NZ_Solutions_Day_2009.mmap (793.8K) requires MindManager (Note: Trial install becomes a full function viewer when it expires)
* As you can see It took a bit longer than expected to get this post finished.
This Autodesk press release reminded me of attending a conference in Korea back in 2006. At that stage it was more about BIM and the new Songdo City, currently in construction. The next logical step after BIM is aggregating them in Digital City models. It seems Korea wants to be at the forefront of that with Incheon joining Songdo to be their second Digital City Model.
Maybe the new "Auckland Super City", a proposed amalgamation of several local bodies, should focus on building a digital city infrastructure model? Auckland doesn't have a huge population (~1.4 Million) but covers a large area. With infrastructure management rationalisation being one of the justifications for the change why not do it properly?
Autodesk Announces Incheon, Korea as Second City of its Digital Cities Initiative - Autodesk - Press Room
Company Working with IFEZ and IUDC to Build First Asian Digital City
Introduction;
Darren’s presentation covered Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) evolution from CAD to Building Information Modelling and how it’s being applied to the Freedom Tower Project, the reasons for changing to Building Information Model (BIM) and the impacts of those changes on industry and practice.
These are my notes; Darren detailed these headings with project examples, liberal graphics and video. In a separate presentation he showed BIM use for visualisation. I've added a few links – in italics – to relevant articles/sites discovered while researching this post which were not directly quoted in the presentation.
Profile;
Realising the Freedom Tower: Pioneering Process Change
SOM's BIM History;
Darren outlined SOM's history with BIM which they termed, back in the 80's, "Reality before Reality". At that stage the desire to model projects led SOM to develop AES, an in-house BIM solution created in partnership with IBM. This was used for Frank Ghery's Bilbao Guggenheim Structure & is still in use for some projects.
In the 90's there was a realisation that an in-house solution was a dead end. It worked but no other partners could use it and sharing information is crucial to BIM. SOM adopted a mix of AutoCAD/Architectural Desktop, which partially addressed the BIM goal.
In the early 2000's SOM was still seeking a true BIM solution. After extensive evaluation of possible technologies SOM adopted Revit as their BIM solution. Today SOM deploy a mix of these applications and technologies, from AES to Revit, depending on the project demand and team resources.
The Freedom Tower Project - "Recapture the skyline";
Darren introduced The Freedom Tower project outlining the process that led to SOM being involved in realising the The Freedom Tower design competition winner.
With a complex site and many interested parties there was a demand for modelling to create and communicate the design. This huge project is, for understandable reasons, employing state of the art security and safety design. The project also has to meet strict environmental guidelines to minimise it's impact and maximise operational efficiency.
In April 2005, with the project well underway, security demands required a complete redesign. The result is an SOM design, a 1776 ft high structure with 69 floors, 2.6 million feet of commercial office space, Restaurants, Observation Decks and Public spaces, in an asymmetrical tower that twists as it rises topped off with a cable stayed broadcast antenna.(Image right Copyright SOM)
SOM, Freedom Tower & Revit;
The demand for BIM;
Experience with previous projects convinced SOM a revolutionary approach was needed. Simply coordinating documentation and detecting/resolving interferences consumes a huge amount of resource in a large project. BIM promised to reduce or eliminate these efforts by aiding design visualisation, analysis and document coordination.
Why Revit?
Revit was initially adopted for sub-ground structure only. A "small trial" although small in this case means 15 underground levels of building, subway and major infrastructure! Tower was to be done conventionally in ADT/AutoCAD but after success with the sub-ground portion the Revit team just kept going and completed the whole structure.
The final design uses Revit for;
Collaboration Software;
Buzzsaw - Project Documentation
Review;
Autodesk Consulting;
Impacts on Process;
Process Change;
Traditional Work-flow:
The demand to share...
Consultants contribute to the shared BIM:
BIM's shared among all;
When everything is touched by everyone…?
Benefits of BIM;
Disclosure;
My travel & accommodation was provided by Autodesk Building Solutions Division, Asia Pacific.
I own both Autodesk Architectural Desktop & Viz Licences – http://rcd.typepad.com/about.html
I use/manage ADT, ABS, Viz and Revit applications for The Warehouse Limited, a retail company in New Zealand.
Introduction:
Phil Bernstein’s presentation covered the transition from traditional drawing board, to CAD, to Building Information Modelling as techniques to capture project design information. It covered the reasons for change and the impacts of those changes on industry and practice.
These are my notes; Phil detailed these headings with examples, research and industry examples. I've added a few links – in italics – to relevant articles/sites discovered while researching this post which were not directly quoted in the presentation.
Phil Bernstein Profile;
- VP Industry Relations & Strategy - Autodesk BSD Division
- Lecturer in Professional Practice - Yale University
- Chair of Contract Documentation Committee - American Institute of Architects
- Architect
"Transforming Building Process: Ideas Realised"
BIM & Process Change;
The AEC industry is facing increased demand for productivity driven by economic demands, technological changes and new working methods. Traditional process struggles to deliver when faced with the demand for concurrent design, rich information and constant change as the project develops.
Another drive is to reduce waste, both during the design and construction and the impact of the finished building. In the US 1/3 of construction spend is wasted, finished buildings consume huge amounts of energy. Good design can reduce those impacts and to predict environmental impact & performance demands a model.
To meet these challenges the response has been distributed design teams working across companies, industries and around the world. The process is driven by concurrent demands and compressed timetables; design, energy analysis, costing and visual impact all being developed simultaneously, continuously as the project progresses.
To meet these demands the only answer is digital design and collaboration.
History;
We draw because it works but... it's no longer enough. Traditional drawing, paper or CAD, does not allow the information required to be captured or shared efficiently.
Digital design allows computable simulation models, sharable information database, rapid distribution for review and collaboration that is just not possible with traditional techniques.
BIM protects project knowledge;
Traditional transfer of information in the form of drawings and documents results in loss of knowledge between project stages. A shared Project BIM aggregates project knowledge as it develops creating a resource, a bill-able resource, for the owner to use for the entire building lifecycle.
Clients demand more;
Clients expect/need to see the project before it exists. The planning process, design communication, manufacturing, construction planning, promotion/sale/leasing and operational management all benefit from a complete consistent building model.
"We must move toward more predictable outcomes, Legacy systems will kill us" – Client Quote
What is a Building Information Model;
AEC Industry has to change;
A new model for working: The Integrated Practice;
Definition From AIA: "What is Integrated Practice?Mention of the new city project near Seoul;
New Songdo City is a master-planned international business center near Seoul, a
$25 billion development.
Direct product related Comments;
Links;
I recently attended presentations by Autodesk’s Phil Bernstein and SOM’s Darren Rizza (Freedom Tower) about Building Information Modelling (BIM). Although plainly focused on Revit as “The BIM Solution” the presentations were more about the reasons for BIM, the benefits and some of the challenges of adopting BIM for your projects.
It’s something I've been thinking about, and working on, for years. My view of BIM is from a different perspective to those involved in an AEC practice. Working as a Designer/CAD Manager for Retail Company that owns, leases, operates and has a design/build role for some facilities means the demand for, and implementation of, BIM is rather different from a standard AEC practice. This post was to be about the event, presentations and my thoughts but after many drafts, all too long and messy, I’ve decided the answer is a series of posts.
The first is my notes, my summary of what was covered, from Phil Bernstein’s presentation "Transforming Building Process: Ideas Realised".
The second is my notes, my summary of what was covered, from Darren J. Rizza’s presentation “Realising the Freedom Tower: Pioneering Process Change” - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Future posts will cover my own CAD history, how it has influenced what I do today and the role I see for BIM in Retail Design.
Change is Good
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