RobiNZ CAD Blog

Can AutoCAD Architecture Projects live on BIM 360?*

A recent promotion announcing Civil 3D availability on BIM 360 Design had me wondering if AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) projects would work using BIM 360 Docs with the Autodesk Desktop Connector.

If so it would be rather useful for legacy projects. ACA projects have some odd control files (xml but with different extensions) but creating a new project worked and sync'd perfectly.

I could create content, model and views, add annotation and place views on sheets as normal. Not surprising given ACA was just operating in the local Desktop Connector folder and syncing up to BIM 360. Even the file access intensive project standards update (to standards files still on the network) worked although rather slowly.

So far so good, but then the snag which kills it all. The local BIM 360 ‘Drives’ are actually folders in the current Windows User folder: C:\Users\[CURRENT USER]\BIM 360.

That means all the file pathing in the project can only work for one user at a time. If a second user attempts to open the project AutoCAD Architecture realises it needs to be re-pathed, attempts to do it, then fails. That is because the Desktop Connector demand syncs so only the file opened is on that users machine. That is the deal breaker.

* This post is an example of ‘Betteridge's law of headlines’

The power of community and connection

I was looking to schedule the insert location and rotation of a Multiview Block in AutoCAD Architecture. They have location properties for x,y,z and rotation in the Properties Palette but, strangely, rotation is not an available MV Block property when creating a property set. I tried the Block and MInsert rotation properties (both have them) but they do not report the MV Block rotation. Some Properties in ACA are linked (one value used for multiple object types)  but not those.

Pondered for a bit, searched the web, surely someone in the past couple of decades had solved this before? But no…

So I posted about it on the AutoCAD Architecture Forum. Within minutes David Koch, who I have known for years via forums/blogging and met at least once at AU, replied with an elegant workaround. He used a Formula Property Set to return the correct value (converted to degrees from radians too!).

Thanks David, a great example of sharing on the community forums in action!

AutoCAD Architecture/MEP Project Standards back to normal in 2020.0.1

Way back in 2006 I blogged about AutoCAD Architecture/MEP’s (ACA/AMEP) Project Standards feature. It allows object and display styles to be updated in all or selected files within a Project. There is provision to automatically apply ACA/AMEP Object Styles, Display Settings, Materials and AutoCAD Standards ( like line, layer, font etc) from your reference library when you access the project. If you update content in a project it warns on project close, prompting you to optionally update the project standards for future use.

In this respect ACA/AMEP toolset shames Revit’s crude (all or nothing and manual) Project Standards Transfer as a BIM Content management platform. In ACA you can specify where content is sourced from, including a mix of corporate and project specific standard with priority managed accordingly.

On file open you can accept the automatic updates (they just happen) or get an opportunity to accept/reject specific Item updates.

Every object style carries its version information.

You can get a report of every version change, created automatically, over the life of the style. If only Revit had this!

Until, for us, about last September.

It was impossible to pin down the cause but last September somewhere in the mix of an IT server/host change and application/OS updates something caused our network hosted projects sync to blow out. Sync went from 15-20 seconds, to update hundreds of styles on file open, to 20-30 minutes. Even worse, there was no viable workaround other than disabling project standards.

With lots of support from our IT team (logging) and Autodesk/Microsoft Support analysis a solution was developed to restore the previous performance. With the latest AutoCAD Architecture/MEP 2020.0.1 updates that solution is available for everyone.

Problems Reported Through the Customer Error Reporting Utility

As a result of the detailed information that we received from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, we were able to identify and fix several defects including the following:

Project Synchronize: Slow performance when sychronizing project standards on projects that are hosted in the network.

From AutoCAD Architecture 2020.0.1 Update Release Notes

An unexpected Autodesk encounter, with myself!

Autodesk have released a new learning hub offering focused training with topics across all their Arch/MEP platforms (Revit, AutoCAD & FormIt):

AUTODESK CUSTOMER SUCCESS LEARNING HUB / ARCHITECT LEARNING CENTER

While looking at the article "Collaborating in AutoCAD with Specialized Toolsets”* I had the odd experience of seeing myself looking back. They've used a short YouTube I made way back in 2007, for this blog post, and it was my YouTube profile photo staring at me!

It was odd timing as I haven't created an ACA theme for a long time (but our projects still use them) but had been discussing them on the ACA Forum. Richard was trying to replicate Revit’s Room/Space Colour Fills which ACA Themes can do with one huge limitation.

They do not build values/colours on the fly, like Revit does, so you have to create a value (and specify the property it applies to) first, to see it coloured an object with that property. For rooms you would need to build the room name list in the theme, then apply them to spaces (rooms in ACA) to get colour fill by name.

ACA themes do have one function I wish Revit colour fills could adopt. You can theme (colour) any object by any property rather than just the rooms/spaces Revit fills are limited too. I suspect a lot of workarounds with view filters in Revit would be eliminated if Revit Fills applied to any object.

* Specialized Toolsets is the term Autodesk now uses for vertical products like AutoCAD Architecture/MEP

AutoCAD Architecture 2018 Project Standards Sync broken by file upgrade

If you use AutoCAD Architecture/MEP 2018 Project Standards feature (to sync style/display setting changes across a project) be sure to upgrade all the files associated with the project to the new 2018.dwg format or it will not work correctly.

If the project standards reference files or project files are in the old 2017.dwg format (or earlier) AutoCAD Architecture 2018 will appear to do a project content sync and report the project is up to date. In fact it scans the project files and updates nothing. There is a confirmed bug for this, see this report for a demo of it happening:

AutoCAD Architecture 2018 : Unable to update Project Standards from previous releases after migration

Upgrade all Project files

The simplest fix is to upgrade all the project files. An Open/Save will do this but given the number of files in a project this can be quite a task.

There is a batch script file to help with this in the ACA Help:

help.autodesk.com project upgrade batch script

Running the script creates a copy of the entire project directory and a script to open/save every .dwg file. Once processed you can either use the upgraded project in its new location (it will re-path external reference paths on first access) or copy it back to overwrite the old one in the former location.

AutoCAD Architecture 2019?

I don't know if this is fixed in the new AutoCAD 2019 Architect Tools edition. I was told they were hoping to do this and would likely also address this in a future 2018 update.

Will check it out both when I get see them!

Twenty years on, another Quantum leap #AU2017

About twenty years ago I read a 'brain dump' from Jim Awe about the next generation of AEC design. It described a world of object design, model properties and display management that was realised in Architectural Desktop and, later, Revit.

Today at Autodesk University he did it again presenting the emerging Quantum AEC platform. It's not an application, more a system, a playing field, for managing data flow in design projects at a fundamental level applicable to all applications, cloud and desktop.

The Quantum leap: forget about applications, files, even data transfer and think about how your entire project life cycle and the needs of each participant. Think about what they need, when they need it, and a platform that delivers just that: Simply, rapidly, anywhere.

And it was good to actually meet Jim :)

Posted from Outlook for Android

Forge DevCon and why I really came to #AU2017 (Day –1)

It was quite an impulsive decision which resulted in me attending Autodesk University 2017. I had been thinking about it for a while, but not seriously, and was browsing the session catalogue one evening when I saw:

FDC128313 -- Quantum: A Next-Generation BIM Ecosystem – Jim Awe & Shiya Luo

I immediately clicked Register, then grabbed a seat in this one hour session. Eleven thousand Kilometres is quite a long way to go for a 60 minute meeting and it wasn’t even part of the main AU event!

Forge DevCon?

The Quantum session was part of Forge DevCon which ran the Monday before AU2017. It was a day aimed at developers using, or interested in, the emerging Autodesk Forge cloud development environment. I’m not a developer but the small additional cost of the extra day was well worth the investment.

Forge DevCon Keynote

Jim Quanci (Senior Director, Software Partner Development) kicked off the keynote and, perhaps, had the best explanation of what Forge is about: ‘Forge - The Lego box to connect your designs’.

He then introduced Duleesha Kulasooriya (Deloitte Center for the Edge) who took a look at why you might use Forge, rather than how to use it or what it is.

Duleesha spoke about the social, industrial and economic changes that are driving transformation. The ‘Pace of innovation’, ‘Nature of demand’ and ‘Economics of distribution’ are impacting everyone. It was an interesting view of the reasons for change, and how you might respond… with Forge of course!

Forge Updates

Brian Roepke (Head of Product Management for the Autodesk Forge Developer Platform) talked about the new API developments for Forge focused on process integration, reality capture, webhook notifications and design automation for Revit and Inventor.

Brian also announced Forge Fund support for companies developing Forge based solutions. This included Smartvid.io who use Forge integration with BIM 360 Docs and their own AI to analyse Video and Photos from building projects. This automatically highlights site activity with the emphasis on improving safety, quality and productivity. Interesting to see ‘design’ systems and information capture being used to optimise behaviour on site.

LIMBFORGE

The keynote also introduced me to a brilliant humanitarian use of cloud design technology: www.limbforge.org

They make 3d printed upper limb prosthetics for those who can't afford them. Their system enables scanning of limbs, configuration of designs (modelled in fusion from typed in dimensions entered in fields with AI design automation) and the best solution is manufactured in the field.

Patient feedback and evaluative case studies are also incorporated for even better results. It is an impressive demonstration of advanced technology bringing, formerly impossible, life changing results.

The event concluded with a ‘fireside chat’ (without fire!) including Scott Reese (Senior Vice President, Manufacturing & Construction Products) & Brian Mathews (VP Platform Engineering) —who I’d meet with later. Some outtakes from that:

• 51% of Autodesk employees come from acquisitions
• Make data, process and workflows the centre of what you do
• How do you connect to your team via data, AI and workflows, not tool centric solutions.
• Autodesk’s future is being built on Forge

Quantum

Although just an hour this session was a great introduction on how BIM, Forge and web services could transform project workflows. It demo’ed Forge use of High-Frequency Data Management (HFDM) technology to put "data at the center" of a project. Quantum isn’t an application, more a platform enabling applications (cloud and desktop) to work better together. That is a taste of Quantum, more on this in future posts!

BIM 360 API for Construction Ecosystems

This session outlined the current and (near) future developments in the Forge API. This included improvements in document management, (user) account admin, markup and checklists. It didn’t mention some big changes to 360 which would be announced later in the event, but looking back there were plenty of clues here!

Demystifying the BIM 360 and Forge APIs

‘Autodesk 360’ is really a mix of ‘clouds’ and ‘applications’, some built, some acquired. This session outlined the history of how they came together and how they differ. It went a long way to help understand how the various components interact, or don’t. An announcement later in AU2017 would foreshadow how this will change, for the better.

Industry 4.0: AI and the future of manufacturing

Tom "Elvis" Jones (Solutions Architect at AWS) outlined the AWS infrastructure which is powering a large proportion of ‘the cloud’ and how it applies to design, process delivery and storage.

University research and start-up development with Forge

Forge was seen in action in these impressive university startup projects from around the world.

Applications included eyewear design and manufacture, 3D printing (even a drink!), visualizing progress tracking on BIM construction models and Forge for FM (with Hololens and Cortana integration). Some really impressive work!

Oh look, it is 2018 already

An Easter surprise ‘present’ from Autodesk!

Got a question about AutoCAD? Ask Autodesk Answer Day!

If you have an AutoCAD question check out the upcoming answer day (May 7th US Pacific). Post your question and get an answer direct from AutoCAD Platform team members. Their post below has all the details:

From http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-answer-day/

We’ll be kicking off the Autodesk Answer Days series with the one and only AutoCAD®! Join us at our first AutoCAD Answer Day online event on Thursday, May 7th from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time.

Have AutoCAD® or AutoCAD LT® questions that you’ve always wanted to ask? Come spend a minute, an hour, or the whole day in the Autodesk Community to interact directly with the folks who bring you your favorite CAD software!

How The Day will work!

It’s easy. It’s free. It’s all about AutoCAD®.

Come to the Autodesk Community and post your AutoCAD® or AutoCAD LT® questions! Engage in real time conversation with the teams and experts that develop and support AutoCAD®:

• Product Designers
• QA Analysts
• Technical Support
• Customer Service
• Community Managers

When you visit the AutoCAD Answer Day on May 7th the CREATE NEW POST button on the AutoCAD Answer Day board will be available for posting questions. And there’s no limit on how many questions you can ask, we’re up for the challenge!

Millions of customers come to the Autodesk Community every month; we hope that you’ll join us on this special event, May 7th!

This is a global English event.

If you’re looking for more instructional information, check out our free AutoCAD Help Webinars.

For further details or info on the event tweet us @AutodeskHelp.

Autodesk Application Manager — One update to rule them all

I’ve been doing a few software installs recently; updates to Autodesk Building Design Suite 2015 at the previous workplace and a fresh install at the new one. As a result I’ve come to really appreciate Autodesk Application Manager; one of the best support applications Autodesk have ever made.

Remember the pain?

Install an app — or more like a dozen for the Design Suites — then spend hours finding which have been updated, downloading patches and installing (or updating deployments) on the machine. That is history as Autodesk Application Manager makes it a one click process, well nearly. You still do have to select which updates and click install but that is trivial compared to the alternative!

Updates tailored to your device:

The Application Manager looks at the software installed (not just the software in the suite), the user subscription rights, the device and existing patches to decide what is needed. I was impressed that the same Design Suite installed on my Tablet (where had just picked AutoCAD Architecture & Revit) only got a those updates, my desktop picking up the full set for all the installed applications.

Download overhead shared:

If you have multiple machines to update Application Manager can eliminate duplicated download overhead and time.

In Settings>Files tick the “Use shared storage or content downloads” and set the path to a common network folder all your PCs can access.

The first machine to encounter a new update will download the install file to the shared folder. Other machines will check the folder first and install from the existing download. With some updates being up to a gigabyte (Recap) you can save a lot of download data and time.

You can export and import Application Manager settings to easily configure multiple machines.

First phase of a cloud delivery framework:

The Application Manager framework currently delivers:

• For the User:
  • Desktop notification of update availability
  • Delivery and install of updates:
        'The best experience is no experience', not to get in the way of productivity
• For Administrators/CAD Managers:
  • Discover and download updates
  • Manage updates distribution
  • Manage users access to notification updates and install
• The User Accounts portal: https://manage.autodesk.com

There are still some limitations — local user rights may need admin permission, users can ignore notifications — but the system is a vast improvement.

Updates are just the start:

Autodesk have put in place the framework to support a far more comprehensive solution. The future could include full installs and possibly even Microsoft Office 365’like click to run. In that case you can start using the core software almost immediately while the rest of it installs in the background.

And using Autodesk PLM 360 to do it!

It was interesting to hear the data source for the system is a case of Autodesk ‘eating its own dog food’. The Product Data Master, a complex mesh of products, applications and applicable updates is being managed with Autodesk PLM 360. The only glitch I’ve seen was Navisworks wanting to install a language update for a language pack I hadn’t installed. This disappeared off the list after a couple of days, presumably after the Product Data Master was updated.

As the complexity of software increases it is nice some attention is being given to making it easier to manage.