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Issue #446 : : October 11, 2005 |
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C o n t e n t s From the Editor Guest Editorial: 3D is Not BIM Below
the Radar, and other
regular columns. |
Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine with Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access.
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At times readers unsubscribe, because they are no longer in the field of CAD or are leaving their firm. Last week, I received a more curious reason. JW wrote: "Your newsletter should focus more on the top 5 CAD software programs, less on every other Tom, Dick, and Harry." I feel it's important to cover the other-than-top-5 CAD vendors, because small companies, like my own, don't have millions to spend on marketing to generate awareness.
Autodesk University 2005 I'll be attending Autodesk's University, 2005 edition, in Orlando FL USA at the end of November <www.autodesk.com/au >. Unlike the IntelliCAD conference, I'll only be listening, not speaking at AU. If you want to meet up on 30 November, send me an email.
New eBooks for IntelliCAD 6 With releases of IntelliCAD 6 being announced this week, I've updated my two PDF e-books on the subject:
These are, BTW, ebooks #29 and #30 from upFront.eZine Publishing. 3D Is Not BIM Guest editorial by Nigel Davies In an earlier guest editorial, Murray Pearson wrote, "The definition of 3D, in this context, was overlooked. This was not helped by the CAD vendor giving a poor explanation about what 3D meant, and the explanation was not clarified by the editor's response." He followed on with, "In my opinion, 3D is all about coordination and consistency for sets of building construction documents." He went on to explain what most people would consider a definition for BIM [building information model], and not a lot to do with 3D, per se: a single database where "drawings are a byproduct," and that "renderings in 3D may also come from this process, but they are not the primary reason for working in 3D". I bet 99% of architects not yet on the BIM bandwagon would argue with that definition! - - - 3D is not BIM, just as BIM is not only 3D. I wish people would stop confusing an already confused marketplace. 3D has many more practical applications than just coordinated drawings as a by-product or not. Geometry studies, renderings, prototyping, mass modeling, walkthroughs, VR [virutal reality], etc, are all valid 3D uses that have nothing to do with drawings. And one thing that BIM and 3D does NOT give you is "fully coordinated drawings". A computer system cannot coordinate designs, regardless of dimension or database or whatever. It can HELP provide information in a manner that is EASIER to co-ordinate, but it cannot coordinate. How can one technician be qualified to produce fully coordinated drawings? If they were, I think they'd have to be getting on a bit after having studied around seven years for architecture, structural, civil engineering, and building services design before they'd done any project work to accrue the experience of practical coordination decisions alone! Even software clash detection, no matter how advanced, cannot make design decisions or decide on, for example, an optimal location for a lift [elevator] core. Those decisions are made by the design team exclusively. Co-ordination is a human process, not a computerized one. (Nigel Davies is the principal of Evolve Consultancy, located in England.) Autodesk Acquires Alias Autodesk last week sprung a complete surprise on the rendering world by announcing its plan to buy up Alias for US$182 million, cash. Broadly speaking, Alias produces two lines of software:
If you've seen print ads for the new Range Rover, the images are all renderings created by StudioTools -- all of them; none are photographs of the actual SUV. - - - Once the merger is complete early next year, Autodesk plans to place the Maya software in its Media & Entertainment division (previously Discreet), and the StudioTools software in its Manufacturing division. During a Q&A held for the media, Autodesk and Alias provided the following answers: The two brands of Alias software will be made to interoperate with the equivalent Autodesk software: Maya with 3D Studio, and StudioTools with Inventor. Although Autodesk made enthusiastic noises over the significance of the Alias brandname, one reporter noted that the Discreet name is no longer as prominent as it once was. Alias' Toronto office will be kept. There may be layoffs, but employees would not have to move; rather, they will be split between the two Autodesk divisions. The Alias CEO will leave after the merger is complete. Autodesk is allowing time for a US government investigation into the merger, does not expect any EU interference, but failed to mention the possibility of the Canadian government disallowing the American acquisition of a Canadian technology firm. Asked about the combined market share, Autodesk said it didn't know. Asked about user reaction, for whom using Maya or 3D Studio was described as "religious," Autodesk didn't know. At one point during the Q&A, Autodesk used the excuse, "We're just at Day One"; at another point, "We've been working on this for months." Heavy emphasis on "doing what's right for the customer" during the conference call for the media; less emphasis on customers during the separate call for investors. - - - In short, Autodesk will buy up Alias, and then market its software and add links to its own software; everything else is up in the air. www.autodesk.com/autodeskandalias You can read an interview with Autodesk and Alias by Will McCullough, along with enduser comments, at www.highend3d.com/articles/columns/4.html In related news, Autodesk today shipped 3DS Max 8.
A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting: CADopia LLC is shipping CADopia 6 (the newish name for CADopia IntelliCAD) this week. The list of new features includes PDF output, enhanced entity snaps, and more. Full info at www.cadopia.com/about_us/news/cadopia6_released.asp Gibbs and Associates is shipping GibbsCAM 2005 v7.7 with a global feed/speed optimizer, basic lathe utility ops, advanced solid align ability, and more. www.GibbsCAM.com Graphisoft has made their ArchiCAD software more American, with US-standard multi-layered walls and finishes, a new American door and window library, and more. Get yours by clicking "Check for Latest Library" in the CAD software's Help menu. www.Graphisoft.com CAD Systems Unlimited updates it Slick! ViewPlus (US$99) to view and batch-print DWF files. The update is free; eval copies from www.slickwin.com/skftp/slickviewplx.exe ROBOT Millennium is a structural analysis tool from ISS/RoboBAT, and now it's been integrated bi-directionally with Autodesk's Revit Structure software. www.revit.robobat.com Last week I updated the news about Alibre's free Xpress 3D parametric modeler. I knew there were add-ons, but couldn't find the info until now. Here it is: For US$495, you can purchase an Advanced Modeling and Drawing add-on, while for $695 you get that, plus data exchange and Advanced Assembly. www.alibre.com Entourage Arts has two collections of components for SketchUp (US$129 each): NPR Trees & Plants SKP5 Volume 1 and The Wang Wang Collection both contain 112 hand rendered shrubs, plants, and trees. ("Bring me a shrubbery!") www.entouragearts.com Tech Soft America is offering custom development services to develop applications using TSA's components: graphics, modeling and file format import/export. www.hoops3d.com/services/development.html COMSOL releases v3.2 of COMSOL Multiphysics, which now reads geometry files created with all major CAD packages. COMSOL Script permits command-line modeling. The new moving mesh allows models to simulate moving parts and parametric geometries. /www.comsol.com SolidWorks's DWGgateway now publishes AutoCAD drawings in PDF format. The software's primary purpose is to convert .dwg files between different releases of AutoCAD, and so, notes the press release coyly, "saves users the time and money of unnecessarily implementing new products." Download the no-charge software from www.dwggateway.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski weblog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/>
Seminars & Conferences IntelliCAD World Meeting 2005 takes place Oct 19-20 in The Netherlands. (I'll be speaking there on the topic of "Understanding the Bigger Picture.") www.intellicad.com/WorldMeeting2005 Autodesk University 2005 is Nov 28-Dec 1 in Orlando FL USA. www.autodesk.com/au SBIC Ecobuild Federal and AEC-ST is Dec 13-16 in Washington DC USA. www.aecstfederal.com Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates CADLearning.com has online CAD tutorials for Autodesk software. www.CADLearning.com http://cadbot.com calls itself "the Internet's First and Only i-drop Enabled DWG - DWF Internet Search Engine." Brand New CAD Books/eBooks "AutoCAD LT 2006 for Designers" by Prof. Sham
Tickoo "Tailoring AutoCAD 2006" by Ralph Grabowski Letters to the Editor Re: PDF in AutoCAD "With MicroStation already including the ability to generate
PDFs, and now Microsoft deciding to follow suit in response to persistent
customer requests, what are the chances that Autodesk will finally
throw in the towel and give their customers what they want: the
ability to create PDFs directly from within AutoCAD?" The editor replies: "AutoCAD used to have the ability to import and export EPS files, a distant relative of PDF. And AutoCAD still supports PostScript fonts, although not documented. With Autodesk have toned down its anti-PDF campaign, adding a PdfOut command might be possible. Of course, third-party developers would prefer Autodesk not do that."
Re: 20 Years Writing About CAD "I can't quite claim 20 years with 'CADalyst'. Learning
Curve #1 was written in January of 1987, and ran in Volume 4 #2.
Still going strong, with Learning Curve #165 appearing real soon
now." The editor replies: "Well, 165 columns must be some sort of record." Mr Fane responds: "It's certainly my personal best <g>."
"Do you remember that (at one time) AutoCAD actually shipped
with an issue of 'CADalyst' magazine? When I worked at my
first CAD job (around 1986) in a small structural engineering office,
we bought a '286, AutoCAD v2.6, and it came with an issue of CADalyst.
I believe the Taj Mahal was on the cover." The editor replies: "The Taj Mahal issue used AutoCAD to prove the author's theory of the designer of that beautiful building. Walking around the site with a video camera, he later notices that all the walls and minarets lined up perfectly -- at an eye height of 5'4, I think. In any case, the hidden-line removals we used to illustrate the article took overnight to generate on our '286 PC."
"I've seen so much technology flow by, that at times someone
comes up with a breakthrough, which is really just a re-invention
of something invented a number of years ago. Seems as though folks
really don't spend much time researching what's been done in the
past and building off of it. So we get to experience all these 'technology
breakthroughs' that are really just (as Yogi Berra would say) déjà
vu all over again."
Re: Incorrect Metric Conversion "Mr. Taunt is incorrect about a US meter. One might say I'm being overly argumentative about semantics, but it should be noted that there is only one standard length for the meter; there is no US meter. There are, however, two standard lengths used in the US for feet:
"That make two foot standards, not two meter standards. According to machinists's handbook: 'In 1866 the US, by act of Congress, passed a law making the legal the meter, the only measure of length that has been legalized by the US government.' "The US yard is defined by the relation, 1 yard = 3600/3937
meter. When the United States adopted the International yard in
1959, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, mappers of the nation, objected
that converting all their geodetic data to international feet would
be a horrendous undertaking. They were authorized to continue to
use the previous definition of the foot, that of the Mendenhall
order."
Re: History of CAD "Web article of history of CAD: www.cadazz.com/cad-software-history.htm " - John Cochrane, SolidWorks UK
Re: What Is an iFilter? "That iFilter, now in its 4th edition, is an extension to the Microsoft Index Server -- an extra module which makes it possible to ask for text entities in AutoCAD drawings. "After you install the DWG iFilter on SharePoint Windows Services, you can index all AutoCAD drawings and DXF files in the directory structure. With this index, you can ask SharePoint to search for drawings with the word 'Ralph' and all drawings made by you and signed with Ralph are returned, whether the text is text, mtext, attribute, layer, or block name. "Searching thousand of drawings for a specific block or
text is done in seconds. You can download a test version at www.cadcompany.nl/ifilter
"
Re: About BIM "The title of the book 'ArchiCAD: The User Handbook'
is deceptive, but book outlines the development of BIM technology
as a whole, as well as firms that have successfully transitioned
to it. Since ArchiCAD is one of the main pioneers of BIM, this is
a decent overview that highlights the many advantages over drafting-based
CAD."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "Microsoft is 100 percent focused on Windows: We have invested
billions of dollars in it. We have created Office for the Mac..."
Copyright 2005 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.00.
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