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Issue #582 : : November 25, 2008
In this issue:
Readers React: A Few Comments to BIM Developers
CAD Systems Based on Hierarchical Data Schemes
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A Few Comments to BIM Developers
Readers React
"With regard to the Guest Editorial by Mark Chaney: Hear! Hear!"
- Jack Durre
"I like what Mark Chaney has to say, but I think he has gone a little too far to the negative side.
"I agree that the BIM has been too hyped, especially by the AIA TAP (Technology and Practice) committee, the buildingSMART alliance, and National Institute of Building Sciences with its National BIM Standard.
"Software such as Revit, ArchiCAD, and Vectorworks speed up the creation of CDs [construction documents] if they are used correctly. The problem is that most people do not use them efficiently. (I use Revit, and have used AutoCAD Architecture. These programs do speed up my work over standard 2D AutoCAD, plus I have the added benefit of some analysis.)
"I do realize that although they are called 'BIM software', they are really just highly programmed CAD solutions specifically designed to produce and coordinate CDs quickly. When architects overmodel with them, they increase the time to CD completion.
"As for the BIM junkies I mentioned in my second sentence, how many of them have to meet a time schedule to get a permit? In fact, how many have ever sealed a CD set?"
- Ed Goldberg AIA, NCARB
HEGRA Architects, www.hegra.org
"Mark Chaney must not use Building Information Modeling or he would know that it is not just software. BIM is not used to just create CDs. The purpose of BIM is to close the gap in the issues brought up in recent surveys that say '...construction-related disputes are on the rise':
- Architect/engineer error (43%)
- Excessive change orders (36%)
- Owner/contractor interference (35%)
- Non-performance of sub-contractors (30%)
- Differing site conditions (26%)
- Acceleration (24%)
"BIM helps reduce errors and excessive change orders by locating and visualizing these errors before they occur in the field. It reduces owner interference, because the owners see exactly what they are getting before one shovel hits the soil.
"BIM is also a great tool to assist anyone who is trying to improve their buildings, such as striving for Green Globes, LEED, Energy Star, or any other building standard. BIM helps make buildings more energy efficient, have better HVAC systems, better lighting systems, and just make the building a better place to work.
"A good technical officer looks for compatibility issues, as well as interoperability issues. BIM software doesn't add complexity to the process; it brings the complexity into focus.
"As for casual observers, they can't read 2D drawings. BIM is used to clarify, not mystify; any good BIM operator can build-design rings around a 2D drafter or 3D modeler. It is an understanding of the to -- or misunderstanding -- that Mr. Chaney points to when talking about firms that invest in BIM tools.
"You can have the world's finest built piano, but if you can't play, the piano is just wood, metal and wires."
- Harry Applin
www.harryapplin.com
"Thank you, Mark Chaney. You have put into words very elegantly what most of us in the industry have been saying and believe.
"I know it sounds like a 'punch in the mouth' to the software people, but in these economic times when engineers and architects are being asked to do more with less (for less), the ROI [return on investment] using BIM has yet to be proven. It certainly has potential, but adopting its use just because the software industry says we should is absurd."
-- Robert J. Melusky
alfred benesch & company, www.benesch.com
The editor replies: "After I received these letters from readers, I received an email blast from Ecobuild & AEC-ST Fall: 'More BIM Bang for your Buck in D.C. this Dec.' Coincidence."
Re: Will the Recession Save BIM?
"You wrote, 'Architects resent it, for BIM requires them to spend time and $$$ instituting processes that benefit clients, not architects.'
"Please publish a quote from a single architect who has told you this. More likely, you are quoting from downstream construction drawing users who would like to have architects' drawings incorporate intelligence that they have traditionally provided in the form of take-offs, estimates, shop drawings and the like.
"These project participants are capable of employing their own BIM software (it's so easy to use!) and passing on any savings to the owner directly. As the professional in charge of design at the behest of the owner, the architect will review the BIM documents and files for conformance with the design."
- Craig Hunt
Autodesk Q3 Conference Call
Autodesk reported numbers that could be considered remarkable for these times: Revenues in Q3 (Aug-Oct) were $607 million, in increase of 13% over last year, but down from Q2 revenues of $620 million. But it was not good enough for financial analysts, who promptly downgraded ADSK; the same day, the share price fell by 15% (by $2.45). How come so glum?
It's 2009 that's worrying them, for Autodesk executives would not predict revenues for the next fiscal year, as they traditionally do. At best, they hazarded that the current quarter's revenues would be $525-$550 million -- possibly flat or negative compared with last year's $538.4 million. (See "Autodesk Downgraded on Emerging Market Weakness" at blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2008/11/21/autodesk-downgrades-on-emerging-market-weakness .)
Revenue increases and decreases were geographically spotty. Autodesk wouldn't give a number for the USA, but it must be pretty brutal when all of the Americas were down 1% yet "Canada and Latin America continued to be relative bright spots."
Autodesk plans to battle the recession by discreet cost cutting:
- Hiring freeze.
- Reducing the temporary workforce (professional advisers, consultants, temps).
- Cutting discretionary spending, especially travel and entertainment.
- Getting out of leases, combining facilities.
- Hoarding cash, rather than buying back shares (could also mean no more acquisitions).
...and customer encouragements:
- Customers in USA and Canada get deferred payments and 0% interest.
- Increase bundling of software packages (reduces the cost of individual items).
- Today's announcement of the $190 AutoSketch 10.
To me, here's the most interesting one: "We’re doing a re-evaluation of our product portfolio. ...80% of our revenue comes from 20% of the products or something in that neighborhood. So we are looking at what goes on in the other 80% of the portfolio and how important is that to the ongoing health of the business." Sounds like some software could get eliminated. If products are cut, what happens to the associated staff?
- - -
The company has $941 million in cash, but 80% is locked up in foreign banks due to the 30% tax the USA imposes on imported money.
CAD Systems Based on Hierarchical Data Schemes
by Alexander Yampolsky
Abstract
This series of articles touch upon the general principles of work with hierarchical structures, building information model organization, and knowledge use. A tree-traversal procedure (the system's primary engine) and some work practices are presented. The main goal is to realize a full-value, unlimited hierarchical approach in computer-aided design.
Part 1: Object Hierarchy
A simplified scheme of a multistory building project is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Structure of the multistory building project.
The scheme in figure 1 is a tree-type structure. The common way to deal with such structures is to walk across the structure nodes. The main aim here is to identify within the complex structure those objects -- target objects -- which will later be subjected to operations.
(Note: It is impossible to work with a large tree as with a single whole. It is possible to work with separate fragments of a tree, with subtrees or branches; more precisely, with the top part of subtrees. So, the cursor must remain closest to the surface, the initial tree node. Target objects should be concentrated in this sufficiently limited zone. Objects, as a rule, contain information allowing a conclusion to be made about the expediency of visiting their descendants. Thus, in the course of walking, one can make decisions about the pruning of unpromising branches, transforming the large tree into small one.)
The work of the system dealing with the hierarchical structures can be illustrated by the example of performing a simple operation. Assume that it is necessary to single out the columns of the first story. The traversal from the initial node "Building" is performed as it is shown in figure 2.
Figure 2. Traversal of the tree-type structure.
Even for a highly branched and detailed tree, the walk route will not practically lengthen as it is possible to cut off branches unrelated to the case, including walls, beams, and slabs that certainly cannot include columns.
As a result, a simple list "Column 1, Column 2 …" will be formed. At a later point, the design operations can be performed with the columns singled out. As one example, they could be copied and located in the second story.
- - -
This article continues next week with part 2: System Data Base.
[Alexander A. Yampolsky is chief specialist at Stroyexpertiza of Tula, Russia]
These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
- No End in Sight: Autodesk CEO
- It's B-a-a-a-ack: AutoSketch
- Recycling Big Box Stores
- Bricscad Road Map: Windows Now, Linux Next Year, Then Mac
- Falling, Falling, Falling
- CAD Vendors Fight Recession with Offers
- Buy AutoCAD; Get Computer Free
- DS Doesn't "Get" Blogging
- Halting the Share Buybacks
- Which CAD Will Run First on Tesla?
- Linux Powers Billion-Cell Analysisg
Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates
Deelip Menezes does battle against Dan Raker by launching ProE.net, a social network for Pro/E users. http://www.proe.net
Ziff Davis kills print edition of 'PC Magazine'; last issue is dated January, 2009; the PCmag name will continue digitally.
WorthWhile Web
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/11/watching-the-ti.html
"Watching the Times struggle (and what you can learn)"
by Seth Godin
Letters to the Editor
Re: Edit SolidWorks with Alibre Xpress
"I use Alibre v9.2, and it imports Step files, parts, and assemblies from SolidWorks correctly. However, Step assemblies from Alibre were always opened incorrectly by SolidWorks 2006, with many parts misplaced to the coordinate origin.
"Alibre exports Step assembly files that are opened correctly by Pro/E, Inventor, Solid Edge, and every other CAD system of which I could find a user. The message from Alibre was that it was an error by SolidWorks. A user reported the bug to SolidWorks, but never got an answer from them.
"I wonder if, given this fresh move by Alibre, SolidWorks will put any effort into correcting this issue? Or if Alibre found a way around it?"
- Gordon Rigg
The editor replies: "Companies don't want to lose customers. It would be in the interest of SolidWorks to thwart Alibre, just as Autodesk attempted to thwart the ODA through its DWG-source checker. As for whether Alibre found a way round it, it would the company providing the translation who would find the way."
- - -
Re: Letters to the Editor
"Excuse me? You wrote 'Microsoft was effective in shifting CAD vendors to Windows, and so now CAD users only use Windows.' I've been a CAD user since sometime in the late '80s, and I've been a Mac user since the early '90s. The fact that my Mac allows me to do OTHER work doesn't disqualify me as a CAD user, does it?
"Surely you didn't mean to imply that ONLY AutoCAD was CAD."
- Jack Durre
The editor replies: "I meant that the bulk of CAD systems became welded to Microsoft APIs in the early 1990s -- away from the flexibility of Unix and the user choice of multi-platform systems."
Spin Doctor of the Moment
"For some reason this case caught the media's attention."
- Michael Regan, Connecticut New London County State's attorney
blogs.courant.com/rick_green/2008/11/connecticut-drops-felony-charg.html
Notable Quotable
"If there is one side benefit to the current economic environment, it’s that the pool of interested CFO candidates has been getting larger by the day."
- Carl Bass, CEO and temporary CFO, Autodesk
seekingalpha.com/article/107187-autodesk-f3q09-qtr-end-10-31-08-earnings-call-transcript
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