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October 2020
Customize Your Tools and Interface Also in this issue: • Laser Scanning and its Applications in Concrete Building Construction • What is FormIt? • A Whole New Office www.augiworld.com
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contents 8
6 3ds Max Customize 3ds Max with Script Buttons 8 Civil 3D Civil 3D 2021 Customization Options 12 Laser Scanning Laser Scanning and its Applications in Concrete Building Construction
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OCTOBER 2020
AUGIWorld
12 20 Revit Customization in Revit 24 FormIt What is It? 30 Feature A Whole New Office
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columns 4 Letter from the President 16 Tech Manager 18 Inside Track
October 2020
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PRODUCT FOCUS OCTOBER 2020
Letter from the President
AUGIWorld www.augiworld. com
Editors
Editor-in-Chief
David Harrington - david.harrington@augi.com
Copy Editor
Todd Rogers - todd.rogers@augi.com
Layout Editor
Tim Varnau - tim.varnau@augi.com
GREETINGS!
➲
Autumn is finally here! As much as I enjoy summer, there is just something about cool October evenings and the kaleidoscope of color in the leaves. I remember as a kid we had large maple trees in our yard. My dad would spend hours raking the leaves into a huge pile only to have us kids jumping into them and effectively scattering the leaves everywhere again. Dad would patiently rake them again and the cycle would continue. What great memories! Living in the northeast United States, the changing seasons are dramatic. We can go from near 100°F temperatures in the summer, to below 0°F in the winter! It seems extreme, but we adapt. Our closets range from shorts and t-shirts for the summer to winter coats, sweaters, and snow boots for the winter. Swimming pools that are well-used in the few summer months are covered from fall to spring. We even have a store here that sells swimming pools in the warmer months and woodstoves in the cooler months. Genius! Air-conditioning gets switched over to heat – sometimes in the same day! In other words, we customize our environment to suit our level of comfort. Which brings me to this month’s AUGIWorld topic – Customization! Out-of-the-box software gives us a basic start, but the ability to customize the tools and interface is what makes the user more productive. Our AUGIWorld authors have put together some amazing articles on their favorite customizations. I certainly hope you will take the time to read the articles, but if you find yourself busy customizing software, how about a podcast instead? Our very own Brian Andresen and Todd Rogers are putting together a podcast of AUGI articles (think of them as AW audiobooks). Links to the podcasts will be posted on our social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), so keep an eye out for them. As most of you know, our Annual General Meeting is usually held during the week of Autodesk University. Since AU is being held virtually, we are also looking to host the AGM on a virtual platform. As of the writing we are still ironing out those details. Again, please keep an eye on our website (augi.com) and our social media channels for forthcoming details. Time for some hot chocolate and a cozy fireplace! Cheers! Kimberly
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Content Managers
3ds Max - Brian Chapman AutoCAD - Jim Fisher AutoCAD Architecture - Melinda Heavrin AutoCAD Civil 3D - Shawn Herring AutoCAD MEP - William Campbell BIM Construction - Kenny Eastman Tech Manager - Mark Kiker Inside Track - Brian Andresen Inventor Revit Architecture - Jay Zallan Revit MEP - Nathan Mulder Revit Structure - Jason Lush
Advertising / Reprint Sales Kevin Merritt - salesmanager@augi.com AUGI Executive Team President Kimberly Fuhrman Vice-President Frank Mayfield Treasurer Chris Lindner
AUGI Board of Directors Brian Andresen Kimberly Fuhrman KaDe King Chris Lindner
Frank Mayfield Todd Rogers Scott Wilcox
Publication Information AUGIWorld magazine is a benefit of specific AUGI membership plans. Direct magazine subscriptions are not available. Please visit www.augi.com/ account/register to join or upgrade your membership to receive AUGIWorld magazine in print. To manage your AUGI membership and address, please visit www. augi.com/account. For all other magazine inquires please contact augiworld@augi.com
Published by: AUGIWorld is published by Autodesk User Group International, Inc. AUGI makes no warranty for the use of its products and assumes no responsibility for any errors which may appear in this publication nor does it make a commitment to update the information contained herein. AUGIWorld is Copyright ©2020 AUGI. No information in this magazine may be reproduced without expressed written permission from AUGI. All registered trademarks and trademarks included in this magazine are held by their respective companies. Every attempt was made to include all trademarks and registered trademarks where indicated by their companies. AUGIWorld (San Francisco, Calif.) ISSN 2163-7547
October 2020
PRODUCT FOCUS
3ds Max 2021
by: Brian Chapman
Customize 3ds Max with Script Buttons
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e can use script buttons to assist us with production. First, we need to create a custom toolbar. Select the Customize Menu, and then, Customize User Interface. Inside the Customize User Interface dialogue box, select Toolbars and choose New to create the toolbar and then assign it a name. Doing this will generate an empty toolbar. Drag and drop the toolbar anywhere on your screen, or dock it in your interface, just like the standard toolbars inside 3ds Max. See Figure 1. Now we’ll create the buttons. Right-click over the Listener Window text boxes on the bottom left of the 3ds Max interface and select the Open option. With the Listener Window open, we’ll create our first script. This script will allow us to apply a threshold to weld vertices and weld selected ones accordingly. The script is two lines: Script One – Weld Vertices Welding vertices is one of the most common tasks for 3D Modeling and useful to optimize and check models for disconnections. The script is below: $.weldThreshold = 1 $.EditablePoly.weldFlaggedVertices () Figure 1 6
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If you closed the Customize User Interface dialogue box re-open it. The box is required to be open to add scripts to our toolbar. With the text pasted in the Listener Window, highlight the text, then drag and drop it onto your toolbar. Doing this will generate a custom icon on our toolbar. See Figure 2 for Example. To add the next script, clear the Listener Window by deleting all the text and replacing it with the new scripts, dragging and dropping them onto your toolbar to generate buttons for each one. Script Two – Place Sphere on Top of Object Spheres can be used in scenes to reflect information. A neutral gray sphere reflects the direction of light and shadows, while a reflective sphere presents a reflection of the environment used when rendering the scene. They can be used to block out the base of a character or object before sculpting in software like Mudbox or Zbrush. newPos = [($.max.x+$.min.x)/2, ($.max.y+$.min.y)/2, $.max.z ] sphere pos:newPos Creation Scripts Simple scripts can be used to insert standard primitives. For example, to insert a box the script is only one line of code: Box()
Modifier Scripts Adding a modifier to a selected object using a script button is simple. Here is an example adding the Bend Modifier to a selected object: addModifier $ (Bend()) We can even add buttons to adjust render settings such as the the height and width: renderWidth = 1920 renderHeight = 1080
PRODUCT FOCUS
3ds Max 2021
Be sure to save your custom toolbar and workspace when you are finished creating your script buttons. Brian Chapman is an Autodesk Authorized Developer, Digital Artist, Designer, and a CAD Application Specialist for an engineering firm located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brian shares tips and tricks at procad.blog with a portfolio of digital artwork and renderings at emptypawn.com. Brian’s email is procadman@pro-cad.net
The same is true for the other standard primitives.
Figure 2 October 2020
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Civil 3D 2021
by: Shawn Herring
Civil 3D 2021 Customization Options ➲T
here are many ways to customize Autodesk programs on the market today. Some are provided to us from Autodesk directly, such as Dynamo and Subassembly Composer. Some of the others are created by 3rd party vendors. Over the years of working with Civil 3D and other Autodesk programs, I have found several 3rd party vendor programs on the market today that are great at providing customized tools that are time saving during the design process. To help you in your daily designing and drafting routine, let’s dive into what’s available on
the market today and what we can do already within Civil 3D to customize the program itself. First off, Civil 3D comes with libraries and other tools that can be customized to better suit your needs. For example, like AutoCAD, you can customize the Hot Keys within Civil 3D. There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. Within the program itself you can access the Aliases editing options under the Manage tab, customization panel.
Figure 1 8
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October 2020
This opens the Acad.pgp file. A hot key is a singlestroke, or 2-3 stroke typed command on the command line of Civil 3D to access a command within the program. Such as ‘L’ for line, or ‘T’ for text. The ACAD.pgp file is completely text based and editable in Notepad. A word of caution here, do not create duplicate hot keys or aliases. Duplication of a hot key causes program confusion when Civil 3D is trying to understand what you are asking for a command as you type in the hot key on the command line. The most common duplication that I do is ‘C’. I like ‘C’ for copy, but default ‘C’ is for circle. If I change the hot key for copy from ‘CP’ to ‘C’ than I better go and change the ‘C’ for circle to ‘CI’. Otherwise, if I leave them both as ‘C’ when I type ‘C’ on the command line in Civil 3D, the circle command will still activate as it’s the first one in the list. This list is provided to us to fully customize to our heart’s desire. You can also find this file on your local drive under C:\Users\<<username>>\AppData\Roaming\ Autodesk\C3D 2021\enu\Support. The Acad.pgp file can be found in every AutoCAD based software out there on the market today.
Figure 2
PRODUCT FOCUS
Civil 3D 2021
Another customization tool provided by Civil 3D is the SubAssembly Composer program found under the Autodesk folder in your Start Menu, not under the Autodesk Civil 3D folder as one would expect.
Figure 3 October 2020
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Civil 3D 2021
Figure 4
Figure 5
Subassembly Composer allows you to create new subassemblies for use in Civil 3D corridors. You can also modify the installed subassemblies as well. This is a very handy tool. There are times when you need a subassembly part that is not in the default installed libraries. For instance, maybe you need a driveway grading subassembly. Instead of putting together multiple subassembly parts on an assembly you could simply create a single subassembly part for a driveway throat in the Subassembly Composer that can be used over and over in multiple projects. Besides the installed tools that can be used to customize objects or commands within Civil 3D, there are also 3rd party software add-ons that can combine Civil 3D commands into a wizard, or provide additional customized tools that help you out in your design process. Some of these add-ons are for purchase, others might be free. These add-on programs can be found by using the Connect to App Store button on the Featured Apps ribbon in Civil 3D. Many of these programs are made by either Engineers or Resellers. Basically most 3rd party add-ons work by extracting the existing drawing data or command functions within Civil 3D. From there they display unique data that you could not get otherwise with Civil 3D. Or perform a task that Civil 3D currently does not do, but could if the programming was added. 10
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Figure 6 October 2020
not update. You must relabel again to get the updated information. There are other 3rd party tools that are great addons but are not customizations such as Superpurge.
Figure 7
CTC, a reseller, has a suite of add-on programs called the CIM Project Suite. This suite assists with combining functions of Civil 3D commands into easy to use customized wizard dialog boxes. It also provides additional tools that do not come with Civil 3D. Some of these customized tools that come in the suite are free and others are for purchase. One of the handier customized features is the ability to merge or split a corridor. There are times during design that a couple of corridors are created separately and then you realize that they need them all to be in a single corridor. The main reasoning for this is so that all the parts talk to each other when making cross sections from the corridor and alignments. The Corridor Merger wizard will assist greatly with this issue. Another program that I have used recently is created by Red Transit Consultants called Pipe Network Productivity Tools. These customized tools can access information about pipe network objects and display that data without you having to do the math. For instance, one of the tools included in the set is the tool that labels a pipe invert at any location along a pipe. That’s right! ANY location. Normally you can only get an invert of a pipe at the start or end of the pipe. But what if you have 2 pipes crossing each other. This tool will place a label at the location you pick along the pipe and it will display the invert information at that point of the pipe based on the pipes slope and current elevation. The only disappointment I found is that the label is not dynamic. If the pipe changes slope the label will October 2020
A Manusoft program, this program deep cleans drawing files. It can deep clean a file so much that you cannot open the file afterwards if you’re not careful. If you decide to invest in Superpurge, read the Help file before using the add-on. This is not a program you can just install and start using right away. You need to be familiar with what the program can do when specific actions are set. For instance, if you remove all the registered apps from a Civil 3D drawing then you may not be able to use Grading or Pipe Networks the next time you open the file. Superpurge will allow you to remove all the objects selected at once or select the individual items and only remove those selected whether they are purgable or not. In some ways, that seems like the normal AutoCAD purge command. The difference is that Superpurge will take specific items out even if they are in use. You could remove a layer from a drawing that is only being used in a style that is not being used at all in the drawing. With AutoCAD Purge you cannot do this. If a layer is in use in any way Purge will not allow you to delete the layer. That is a handy tool, and it’s great for CAD Managers and Advanced users. This tool is NOT recommended for beginners.
PRODUCT FOCUS
Civil 3D 2021
Overall, there are many 3rd party add-ons that customize commands or provide additional functions that Civil 3D currently is not installed with. There are also installed customization tools that can be very useful at times during your design. To learn more about how to use the installed customization tools I recommend checking out Autodesk University online. Someone is almost always sharing instruction on how to use these tools. Dynamo is still very new, and I expect a few classes this year on Dynamo from instructors at Autodesk University (AU). Subassembly composer is usually taught in 2 different classes. There is always someone teaching tips and tricks for Autodesk products as well. Shawn has been a part of the design engineering community for roughly 15+ years in all aspects of design, construction and software implementations. He has implemented and trained companies across the Country on Civil 3D and other infrastructure tools and their best practice workflows. Shawn can be reached for comments or questions at awautocadcivil3dcm@augi.com.
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Laser Scanning
by: Ocean Van
Laser Scanning and its Applications in Concrete Building Construction
â&#x17E;˛R
eality capture and laser scanning have been a hot topic in the last couple years in the AEC industry. Some are familiar with this technology while some are still hesitant with this new and complex solution. In this article, I hope to shed some light on what laser scanning technology is and share some applications that are relevant to the structural discipline through an example project that I recently worked on. My hope is after reading this article, you are inspired to find ways to apply this tool to your daily work.
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WHAT IS REALITY CAPTURE & LASER SCANNING? Reality capture itself refers to technologies which can be used to record an object, building, or site and produce 3D data (Swenson 2017). Up until the incorporation of reality capture technologies for the documentation of built structures, recording techniques have generally involved the use of hand tools, such as tapes and levels, with machinery such as theodolites (total station) to record distances, areas, and angles of structures. These methods are time consuming and introduce human error in calculations or measurements (Swenson 2017). October 2020
As a result, the outcome of these documentations would often be inaccurate and difficult to cross-check with original blueprints. This became an increasing problem as more and more structures became more complex. Reality capture technologies were developed as an answer to this problem with expanded applications since their introduction. Reality capture technologies are significantly more accurate and rapid than traditional methods and the resulting datasets can be easily incorporated into a wide range of projects for various purposes. There are multiple solutions that fall into the reality capture technology, but the most common ones are unmanned aerial vehicles (aka UAV or drones) and laser scanning (mobile, airborne LiDAR, and terrestrial). In this article, we will focus on terrestrial laser scanning since it was the technology that was used on the example project. Once you understand how this technology works and its application, you can apply the knowledge to other reality capture technology. (Hvidberg, 2020)
represents a puzzle piece while a point cloud is the whole picture comprising of multiple puzzles.
USE CASES ON AN EXAMPLE CONCRETE BUILDING PROJECT On a recent project that I was on, the client wanted us to hide all electrical conduits inside the concrete deck because they want a clean exposed concrete look. They were concerned that exposing cable and conduits would not allow them to achieve this aesthetic intent. In addition, the building utilizes power-over-ethernet technology, which essentially means anything that needs power will be connected with an ethernet cable, like the one connecting to your home Wi-Fi router. That also means a lot of cables and conduits required to each device. Below is an aerial image of the most congested deck in the building.
PRODUCT FOCUS
Laser Scanning
Laser scanners bounce rapid pulses of low-power and safe laser light on surrounding surfaces to generate three-dimensional “digital twins” of real-world objects and environments. The result of a single scan is a collection of millions of data points consisting of relative physical object locations, shapes, and sizes. A series of scans are then stitched together to create a “point cloud”, an accurate digital replica of the building or site conditions. An easy analogy for this concept is putting a puzzle together. Each scan
Figure 3 – Electrical conduits and rebars inside the concrete deck
Figure 1 – What a single scan looks like
Figure 4 –Some decks also include post-tension cables
Knowing the design of the interior was not 100% completed, and any unpredictable need to core the deck might happen, the team decided to laser scan the deck, right before we poured concrete. This included all the conduits, rebars, stud rails and post-tensioned cables, etc. Below is an image of laser scanning the deck, and an example of the point cloud. Figure 2 – What a point cloud looks like October 2020
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Laser Scanning
Figure 5 –Point cloud of an in-deck scan
WHAT DID WE USE THE POINT CLOUD FOR? One highlight story was right after a pour. We were notified by the architect team that the building fire pump room needed to be relocated due to a city plan check comment. Unfortunately, the
Figure 6 – Aerial view of the new fire pump room area before pouring concrete
best place to relocate the room was also where there were a lot of in-deck conduits. After carefully investigating the requirements, and determining the number of penetrations, their locations and sizes, we were able to review the proposal with the Structural Engineer using the pre-pour scan point cloud and got the approval to core 9 holes through the deck while still maintaining the structural integrity of the surrounding concrete area. Below is the image showing the core locations. It also shows the fire pump room boundary, rebar in cyan lines, and conduits are in orange & red lines. Fortunately, all these cores were done without cutting through any conduits and only slightly cutting through one reinforcement bar. It was like threading a needle. After this use case, we continued to successfully utilize the prepour in-deck scanned point clouds for multiple unplanned coring or drilling locations, avoid cutting all PT cables and minimizing damages to reinforcement and conduits. When someone on a project team needed to find a place to core or drill, this person got with the laser scanning specialist to review the scanned point cloud and figure out whether the location would cut through any in-deck components.
Figure 7 – Pre-pour point cloud of the new fire pump room and the 9 cores locations. 14
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Alternatively, without laser scanning, we could have used concrete imaging technology such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR), or x-ray to identify the conduits, rebars and PT cables inside the concrete. However, GPR is not as accurate as laser scanning and given the congestion of layers of conduits, it would be too difficult or nearly impossible to confidently trust the GPR results in this situation. Moreover, using x-ray requires the site to be evacuated due to safety concerns with radiation, and the cost to x-ray each area would have been collectively more than the cost of laser scanning for this project. That does not take into account the logistics of scheduling and coordinating this work into an already aggressive schedule.
THERE WAS MORE THAN THAT! It would be a lie to say that we missed everything, but in every crisis, there is an opportunity. We had a few locations where conduits were damaged from rebar dowels and blocked by the
chip out concrete to find the broken conduit and remove the epoxy blockage. It also minimized the impacted area on the structural integrity of the deck. Without the point cloud, it would have required a larger area of concrete to be removed and negatively affected the structural integrity of the deck.
IT’S NOT JUST A FANCY TOY! It has been proven to me and my team at DPR Construction through many successful projects, that laser scanning is not just a fancy and expensive toy. At first, we all think it’s a really advanced tape measure or total station, but we didn’t realize that by digitizing real world into a “digital twin” in a really rapid process, it enables us to do a lot more with data that we couldn’t do with the traditional tools. Or, it would be really difficult and costly. There are other use cases of laser scanning related structure, such as verifying existing structures matching the record as-built drawings, monitoring beam camber and slab deflection, QA/QC of embeds pre-pour to avoid incorrect placement, analyze elevator shaft walls deviation, etc.
PRODUCT FOCUS
Laser Scanning
We are fortunate to have a scanner and a specialist on staff to utilize this technology more frequently, but if you can’t afford to acquire one, your general contractor team may already have one, or the project team can hire a local scanning service to perform the capturing and/or analysis work. We often find that the cost of laser scanning is less than the cost of not scanning and making risky assumptions and decisions based on inaccurate data. My goal from this article is to inspire you to think of laser scanning when encountering challenging problems that traditional tools cannot solve or would be very difficult to use. The sky is the limit with what we can do with laser scanning.
Figure 8 – Area of concrete removed to fix the damaged conduit
epoxy. One incident involved a conduit for power to the main elevator, which would have required a fire rated enclosure if not installed within the concrete deck. This conduit blockage could have also delayed the elevator start date as well as project schedule overall. Fortunately, with the help of our electrician, we were able to run a wire through one end of damaged conduit to find out the how far from the end was the blockage. With this information, we were able to use the point cloud and closely locate the spot to October 2020
Ocean Van is a VDC and Reality Capture (RC) Manager for DPR Construction. He has been with DPR for 6 years and is responsible for VDC and Reality Capture implementation in the Southern California business unit. Ocean also co-leads DPR Innovation Group in the region, where he explores new construction technology and pilots it DPR’s operation. Moreover, he is a subject matter expert in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Wearables, in which he researched tremendously through previous internal initiatives. Swenson, Kylee 2017 What is Reality Capture? Electronic document, https://www.autodesk. com/redshift/what-is-reality-capture/, accessed January 7, 2019. Hvidberg, Madisen 2020 The Use of Reality Capture Technologies to Mediate Relocation Impacts: A Case Study at the Perrenoud Homestead Provincial Historic Resource, Alberta, Graduate Program thesis, accessed September 1, 2020.
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Tech Manager
I Get By… With a Little Help… ➲A
utodesk products can be customized. Most of us have done some customization along the road. It may have been high end customization that no one else is doing, or it might be tinkering with the entry level tools to make your products do the dance that you want. Even defining a file structure or template is considered customizing. Programming, script writing, GUI enhancements, and so much more can be done. From easy to hard, it is all there to make things easier and working the way you may want. Not everyone is comfortable with all levels of customization, so from time to time you may need to reach out to others for help. Now that the song is stuck in your head… let’s get some help…
FROM MYSELF The song does not mention getting help from yourself, but that is the first place I will turn. You may enjoy customizing (I certainly do). I have tweaked everything I could get my hands on. If it did not work like I wanted, I changed it. I added on, replaced, expanded, and enhanced the tech tools I have used from day one. If you enjoy this and have a knack, then turn to yourself, first. Learn more, apply more, extend more. It is not hard to get started, just dive in, and try it. Start with the easiest way to customize, which is using the tools in the product. Only 16
by: Mark Kiker
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move to advanced tools when the lower end tools do not do what is needed. But… No one can do it all. You may not have the time to learn a new trick or method or programming language. Or, you may not have the time to use the skills that you already have. We are all swamped. We are all trying to do more with less. There is nothing wrong with expanding your resources beyond your own brain and hands.
FROM MY FRIENDS The song does mention this, and I will also. Having connections is the best, first place to look for help. Be it customizing or anything else. The folks around you can get you started. Generally, there will be someone you can tap into for help. It might be someone at your firm or at another. CAD/BIM users usually love to share knowledge. Just ask around. You can get some great ideas from those who have been down this road before. Be willing to share your knowledge also. It should be a two-way street. I generally ask how others do something or what tools they use to get something done. That starts a conversation that might end up with some custom setups or scripts. It is okay to use something that another person gives you after you test it in your environment. It is polite to ask if you can use it. I seldom have someone tell me no. When interacting with others, the creative juices flow. Ideas October 2020
will generate more ideas. You may just need a hint at the answer or a suggestion of where to look. You may need troubleshooting help. When I am programming, a new set of eyes looking at my code sometimes uncovers something that I am missing (or a typo). Make sure you give credit to those that help and thank them for their assistance.
FROM THE WEBSITE: HIRE TRUSTED CONSULTANTS From online training classes to software customization, find Autodesk consultants.
FROM AUGI
Autodesk Services Marketplace is an integrated website where customers can easily connect with and hire vetted providers for the services they need to be successful with our software.
Sometimes you need professional help. If you are taking on a large project of customization, it might serve you well to bring in an outsider to help. AUGI has a place where you can find help. Just a few clicks away may be the advanced help you need. It is online and is a repository of those that can help.
As a customer, you can compare industry professionals who provide critical services such as customized training, software customization, workflow optimization, pipeline development, and more. You then can connect directly with and hire the service provider who meets your criteria.
Resource Directory - https://www.augi.com/resource-directory
Providers listed on the Autodesk Services Marketplace must meet specific qualifications established by Autodesk. Ongoing analysis of response time, provider reporting, customer ratings, feedback, and other factors help ensure the continued quality of participating providers.
From the site: The AUGI Resources System is a one-stop shop for you, the user, to find products and services to aid in your usage of Autodesk applications. Developers, consultants, and resellers are welcome to contribute their “store front” to the ARS. Once added they can then be searched and contacted by users worldwide. Each listing includes name, location, contact info, website link, products covered, and services offered. You just search for what you may need, find the providers, and contact them directly. The search function helps…
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Tech Manager
Service providers are a mix of Autodesk Expert Elites, Autodesk partners, and other qualified third parties with a proven, successful track record providing services in our industries. Autodesk does not collect any proceeds from Autodesk Services Marketplace transactions at this time. We do not charge customers to use the site, and we do not charge providers a listing fee. Customers sometimes need assistance to unlock the power of our products, therefore, it’s in our interest to provide easy access to services that can provide short- and long-term help that can’t be achieved alone. There are lots of providers on the site. 192 for AutoCAD and 188 for Revit, just to name a couple. You can search by Industry, Product, Service Type, Specialties, Location and more. Like AUGI, each individual listing includes name, location, contact info, website link, products covered, and services offered. They also include reviews by past clients. No matter where you get help, get help. When you start customizing your design tools, you will need it. But watch out… once you start… you may not be able to stop. It is addictive.
FROM AUTODESK Autodesk has a deep listing of resources that they have provided. It is online and covers a wide swath of tools. Services Marketplace - https://servicesmarketplace.autodesk.com/
October 2020
Mark Kiker has more than 25 years of hands-on experience with technology. He is fully versed in every area of management from deployment planning, installation, and configuration to training and strategic planning. As an internationally known speaker and writer, he is a returning speaker at Autodesk University since 1996. Mark is currently serving as Director of IT for SIATech, a non-profit public charter high school focused on dropout recovery. He maintains two blog sites, www.caddmanager.com and www.bimmanager.com. www.augiworld.com
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Inside Track
by: Brian Andresen
Welcome to AUGIWorld Inside Track! Check out the latest opportunities to advance your skills, processes, and workflows in your firm with the most current AEC-related software and hardware updates available. NC Viewer
Exploded View Generator
https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/In dex?id=2936176173947597837&appLang=en&os= Win64 Autodesk Fusion 360
https://www.behance.net/bogdanbogdanovic Autodesk 3ds Max: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018
This app takes the web page-based NC Viewer and embeds it into Autodesk® Fusion 360™ CAM workspace. Once installed, it allows a user to drag and drop NC code live into the NC Viewer palette and watch a simulation of the code within Autodesk Fusion 360. This app works hand in hand with the Haas Outpost add-in from the app store, because when the Haas outpost command is run, it will launch a Windows Explorer path where you saved the NC file that was just posted out. This allows easy drag and drop abilities from the Windows Explorer into the NC Viewer add-in.
• • • •
Overall functionality and advantages: This script creates Exploded View effect by scaling the generated Master Controller (Box Helper) The script works on a selection of multiple objects It is very easy to use Exploded View can also be animated
FamilyReviser https://diroots.com Autodesk Revit: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 FamilyReviser is a free Autodesk® Revit® add-in/plugin to help you to manage Revit families in your projects. How it will help you? Export/save in an organized way, the Revit families from a project to a specific folder/subfolder. No more Revit families backup files in your system/project library. Add prefix and/or suffix to a family name or type name. Find and replace the family name or type name. Rename family name or type name in the easiest way. Workset Management - modify worksets by category and by rules.
Conduit Audit http://www.Interstates.com Autodesk Revit: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 When a conduit route is modified, custom parameter values are not maintained through the entire conduit system. Conduit Audit will take the parameter values that exist in part of the conduit network and push them throughout the entire network to keep the parameter information and schedules up to date.
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The list of parameters, and whether they apply to just a branch or the whole network is customizable. There is also an auto-number feature to automatically add a conduit number if the parameter is blank in the entire branch or network.
If you have some news to share with us for future issues, please let us know. Likewise, if you are a user of a featured product or news item and would like to write a review, we want to know. brian.andresen@augi.com
October 2020
PRODUCT FOCUS
Revit 2021
by: Eric Wing
Customization in Revit
➲W
ow! It has been quite a while since I have actually written an article for AUGI. It has been even longer since I have had to really dig into customization. You see, some time ago (a long time ago. Back when politics was boring) I felt it appropriate to switch my firm’s software application from AutoCAD MEP to Revit. I am the BIM Director for a good-sized firm that has every discipline in house. Yeah, Revit is better for trade coordination (bear with me, I’m not giving the tired old BIM pitch here), but it was during a roll out that was just being difficult…none of the mapping was sticking, all of the display configurations were messed up, annotative text wasn’t so…annotative. You get it. I deployed Revit, I had to map like two or three things, and even that was just to get my templates and content away from the samples that get deployed with Revit. That’s it.
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DOWNLOADING REVIT FOR SINGLE INSTALL AND SIGN ON (SSO) So what is my article on? OK, let’s start before you even deploy the software. Downloading the install files from your account can be done in a few ways. If you chose the wrong way, you might not get all of your content. It’s awful, I know. But, at least with the current version of Revit you might find that when you run the application, you’ll not see all of the content. So frustrating. Deploy that to 125 computers. Now you have an issue. Follow these steps to make sure you are downloading everything: 1.
Go to your Autodesk account and find the Revit version you want to download. 2. Click the View All choice as shown in the Figure below. 3. Chose Browser Download. I know it says (slowest), but October 2020
browser settings. I like Chrome. Also confirm the number of files it says it needs for the installation. For Revit 2021, there are six (6). 5. You still might get an error asking to keep or discard the files (they are an .exe, so that is why your browser is so paranoid). Make sure you click Keep.
INSTALLING REVIT LOCALLY
Figure 1
Once ALL OF the files have been downloaded, you can create the deployment. Follow these steps: 1. Find the files. Generally, by default they go to your Downloads folder. I bring this up because if you have ever used the Autodesk Download Manager, it creates and Autodesk folder and puts them there. In this case, it goes to your default folder. 2. Sort them by name 3. Right-click on the first file in the group and select Run as Administratorâ&#x20AC;Ś 4. The Autodesk Self Extractor will pop up and want to extract it to C:\Autodesk\ (Now it will make that folder). Click OK if that is where you want it to go. That is what I do then I just delete the files once the deployment is created. Click OK.
the Autodesk Download Manager is untrustworthy. (See Figure 1). 4. You might be notified that you should turn off your popup blocking. Heed that advice, and turn it off. Just go to your
Follow the wizard and you are all set. Once you run Revit for the first time, you will sign in with your Autodesk account and will either simply pull the license, or you will be directed to your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Single Sign On (SSO).
PRODUCT FOCUS
Revit 2021
Figure 2 October 2020
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PRODUCT FOCUS
Revit 2021
Figure 3
CREATING A REVIT NETWORK DEPLOYMENT If you have hundreds of users and you do not want them installing their own software, this is what you want to do: 1. Log into your Autodesk manage account. 2. On the left ribbon go to Deployments under the Products and Services pulldown. 3. In the middle panel, Click Add next to Revit (See Figure 2, previous page) 4. Click Customize, and add the content paths you want and any extensions you would like to add. This is nice because it automatically adds the most recent patch. At the time of this article, it is Revit 2020.1 (Figure 3). 5. Click Next
6. Add a deployment name, a description, and the path where you want it located. 7. Click Next
8. Agree to the terms and use, and click Create
11. Once finished you will get the below message:
Figure 5
12. Go to View deployment. 13. You will see a batch file called Install Revit.bat. This is what you distribute to your users. As far as customization goes, by deploying Revit in a manner that you know is going to work, customizing is pretty much done. You may have third party applications that you like to use. I try to avoid them as much as possible. I’ve had projects get really bad because of them. If users like their background black, or different shortcut keys, I don’t get involved in that. Nor do I tamper with the revit.ini file. There is no need.
9. It then downloads the deployment. You might get a warning that this file is harmful. It’s not (well, that depends on who you ask). So, click Keep. 10. I like to click Show in Folder and right click and Run as Administrator, but if you just click Run that should be fine.
Figure 4 22
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October 2020
MAPPING CONTENT OK, maybe one more thing to do! Let’s make sure our users have their content mapped. In this phase, I have them run the .bat file then I send instructions to do this. As I mentioned before, I deal with several different trades. I don’t attempt to capture this mapping in a deployment. 1. Open Revit 2. Click the Home button
AS FAR AS CUSTOMIZATION GOES, BY DEPLOYING REVIT IN A MANNER THAT YOU KNOW IS GOING TO WORK, CUSTOMIZING IS PRETTY MUCH DONE.
PRODUCT FOCUS
Revit 2021
4. From here, it is self-explanatory. Map your templates and your content to precisely where you want it to go. Send directions to your users. This is the most non-invasive way to do this. Figure 6
3. Click the blue File tab, and go to Options as shown in the Figure below.
Eric Wing lives in Syracuse NY where he is the Director of BIM Services for C&S Companies. Eric is a popular speaker at events around the country speaking on many BIM-related topics. Eric has authored several books including Autodesk’s official training guide for their BIM solution “Revit” called Revit for Architecture No Experience Required. Eric is also an author for LinkedIn Learning where he has authored around 60 full courses on BIM management, Revit, AutoCAD MEP, Navisworks and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). Eric has truly been a leader in the architecture, engineering and construction industry since the conception of BIM and 3D design, and has specialty skills in BIM coordination, training and development of technical staff along with daily application of these tools on multi scale, multi-disciplinary projects. Eric is also currently a Professor at Syracuse University teaching BIM and Advanced BIM at the School of Architecture, and at the School of Engineering. Eric has also taught courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Clarkson University on the subjects of Analytical tools for Facility Management, BIM, and Integrated Project Delivery.
Figure 7 October 2020
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PRODUCT FOCUS
FormIt
by: Andrell Laniewicz
What is FormIt? ➲W
hether you are an Architect who needs to do a quick sketch, a General Contractor who wants to do a virtual mock up, or a student designer who wants to create a more free-form design, there is a common solution: sketch-based modeling software. You need something that is less formal and constrained than Revit to get started with a design or to more easily incorporate scenes that tell a story such as a Phased Site Logistics Plan. It would be nice if that tool could more easily translate into Revit as the Design Concept passes into Design Development. This is where Autodesk’s FormIt tool comes in!
WHAT IS FORMIT? A modeling tool in which users can “sketch, collaborate, analyze, and revise early-stage design concepts, and work smarter from the beginning with BIM-based conceptual design” - Autodesk’s FormIt site. FormIt is directly comparable to other similar solutions, such as those provided by Trimble, but FormIt takes it further. By being an Autodesk product, there are some inherent connectivity boosts between Revit, InfraWorks, BIM 360, and Dynamo. By being a geometry based (instead of face based) sketching tool, the items produced are ‘smart’-er.
Figure 1
WHAT SHOULD I KNOW BEFORE GETTING STARTED WITH FORMIT? The User Interface of FormIt is unique as it combines the Contextual Modify Menu of Revit and the right-click menu of Inventor (Figure 2). The rest of the user interface is straight forward: Tabs (1) and Tools (2) at the top, Drawing Area (3) in the middle with Navigation and View Tools (4) beside the drawing area, and the Side Menus (5) on the right (Figure 3). Navigation
For example, a geometry sketch will be able to adjust itself after having parts removed. Take a cube geometry (1) and cut a circle through it (2). Now select a side of the cube and pull it to the middle of the circle (3). See how FormIt processes that shape and automatically removes material? That is the power of a geometry sketch instead of a face-based sketch which would require you to redraw the entire piece (Figure 1). Figure 2 24
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October 2020
Figure 6
PRODUCT FOCUS
FormIt
Figure 3
itself matches Revit’s Zoom (scroll wheel), Pan (M3), and Orbit (Shift+M3). To extrude a shape, click on the face only, then click on where you want to extrude from, and finally either click where to extrude to or enter a numerical distance. Do not select the edges in addition to the face or it will move the whole shape instead of extruding a face of it. Grouping is Best Practice! Select everything to group, rightclick for the context menu, and choose the Create Group option. Groups have their own history tree! Double-click to “enter” the group to use the Undo command within its history without impacting the model “outside”. The rest of the model stays as-is while the group changes are undone! You can also nest groups. A shortcut command called Group Edit (GE) will allow you to go directly to a geometry no matter how nested it might be.
LET’S TALK ABOUT DRAWING IN FORMIT! Sketch away with lines, rectangles, circles, and more! Extrude created faces to make solid geometry (Figure 4). Start with Primitive Geometries such as cubes, domes, pyramids, cylinders, and roofs (Figure 5). Select the geometry and use the Context Menu to Scale them uniformly or non-uniformly. Sketch on top
Figure 7
Figure 8
of the geometries to add parts. Delve into the Advanced Geometry Tools to join and cut geometries, create sweeps, cover spaces, or shell/hollow out geometries (Figure 6). Combining these tools should really let your design start taking shape. This should be enough to get you started on a simple concept (Figure 7) or a more complex design (Figure 8). There are some other features that really help though. The Axes are there by default, but the Context Menu allows you to set the Axes where you need them. This matters for sites that are at an angle but where you want to draw orthogonally still (Figure 9).
Figure 4
Figure 5 October 2020
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FormIt
When moving an object on an Axis, the shift key will lock the movement to that axis. This functions like constraining an object Orthogonally while being moved in Revit. Since FormIt uses geometries, sometimes what you need to edit is inside of a shape. You can cut a section in any plane. It will snap align to a surface by default when you hover over the shape. You can have multiple sections active (Figure 10).
Figure 12
Figure 10
COOL TOOLS AND FEATURES! Loft! It can be used for sites! Since FormIt can open DWG files, you can have realistic sites very easily within FormIt using the Loft tool (Figure 11).
Figure 11
Flatten Faces! This tool allows you to bring in SKP files and flatten any faces that are not actually flat. This makes editing them easy and creates a better end result when importing them into Revit (Figure 12). Additionally, you can use Flatten Faces to align a face along a slope. Instead of pulling a face directly out (Figure 13), you can use the tool to extend the face along the plane it is in (Figure 14). Materials! These are pulled directly from Autodeskâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s material library. When you create your own, Revit will import them including their mapping (orientation, scale, and other edits). Take a picture and upload it to create a material from a photo (Figure 15). 26
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Figure 13
Figure 14
Levels! Levels set in FormIt will import into Revit. Levels are important for Energy Analysis and they will give you rough Areas. When you bring a FormIt model into Revit, the levels will come in. However, the views will need to be created in relation to them. Plug-ins! These are effectively tools that Autodesk has developed but do not have a home officially in the toolbars. Everything from quickly flipping Axis orientation of imported or modeled objects to creating light strings. (image16.png) Simply go to the Plug-In Side Menu and use the checkbox to turn them On. This will add the tool the Side Menu for you to use with setting options when you open them.
October 2020
PRODUCT FOCUS
FormIt
Figure 17
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 18
FORMIT CAN DO LIGHTING, SOLAR, AND ENERGY ANALYSIS!
DID YOU SAY DYNAMO?
Energy Analysis requires a Location to be set and Levels to be defined. The resulting information will be viewable in Autodesk’s Insight (Figure 17). Solar Analysis will use the Axis that is set unless a location is specified. The results can be viewed by month or year (Figure 18). Lighting Analysis shows Sun and Shadows. This will also use the Axis that is set unless a location is defined. Turn it on and then drag the circle across the arc to see how the Sun and Shadows play out across the day. Change the day to see how the seasons affect the lighting (Figure 19). October 2020
Yes, I did! Autodesk has premade some Dynamo Nodes for FormIt, but you can also make your own. Easily create Louvers, 3D Text, Stairs, Railing, Curtain Walls, and more. Dynamo can run multiple endpoint scripts simultaneously! Several pre-made scripts let you choose a path for the script to follow – you can update that path and run the script to update it. It will find the path and adjust as needed (Figure 20).
OTHER FORMIT ITEMS TO NOTE While this article is a short introduction to FormIt, I wanted to mention a few additional items. You can Collaborate with multiple people in a single file! Useful if you have a great team www.augiworld.com
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PRODUCT FOCUS
FormIt
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Turn on Edit Camera Make changes Update Scene Turn off Edit Camera Play to review
CONCLUSION I know many users who have tried FormIt years ago – I urge them to give FormIt another go. I know many more who have never heard of FormIt. Since FormIt is included in the AEC Collection for free, I try to spread awareness as far and wide as I can. There is a free version too, but with less bells and whistles. You can model for free, but collaboration and Autodesk materials are not an option. Figure 19
Figure 20
that communicates well, different areas to focus on, or multiple buildings. It has a very effective Touch Mode capability for use on tablets or touch screen laptops. Layers are how you can hide items, which works really well with grouping and group management. Visual Styles can punch up your client presentations. You can toggle sketchy lines, shadows, grids, and axes, or change line, face, and even environment colors. Speaking of visuals, Scenes are an important item to learn in order to tell any kind of animated story or to set up a series of views. Scenes can be set to show specific layers, materials, visual styles, and more. Learning how to use Scenes is a bit tricky. Play is the only way to see a Scene with settings applied. The process is this: (Figure 21).
Figure 21 28
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On an important note, the FormIt team is very active on Autodesk’s Forum. The FormIt community is still small enough that the team can be very attentive to posts, requests, and with providing help. Their roadmap is sound and will be focused on more in-depth integration with Autodesk products as well as some new features. They need more users, more testers, and more feedback. They need you! As someone who has used non-Autodesk solutions for many past proposals, concepts, layout planning, and more, I can honestly say that I don’t use them anymore. FormIt meets my needs and will only continue to grow. There is a lot more cross-over functionality from a FormIt model too. Bringing the file into Revit is useful for more than just visuals! The hardest part for me was learning the Context Menu and how to extrude faces. I urge everyone to at least give it a shot! Reach out and tell Autodesk or myself what you think of it. And if you love it like I’ve grown to do, shout it from the rooftops! Andrell Laniewicz has working in the VDC world since 2011. During this time, she has been involved in everything from Model Coordination, 4D, 5D, and Quantification to Proposals, Site Logistics, and more. She has worked for General Contractors and MEP Design to Fabrication firms. She has taught BIM for Construction Management at Universities, presented at Autodesk University and BiLT, and consistently delivers social media content. At U.S. CAD, Andrell works with clients to evaluate their existing workflows, implement solutions and technology, and providing training to get clients to their ultimate end goal. She focuses on Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360, FormIt, and MSuite within Architecture, Construction, and Fabrication. She has her Certificate of Management in Building Information Modeling from AGC of DC. October 2020
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FEATURE
New Office
by: Paul Li
A Whole New Office
THE TRADITIONAL OFFICE – PRE PANDEMIC
The Drafting Board Prior to the 1990’s, which to many of us now seem like the Stone Ages, Architects and Engineers mostly drew on drafting boards. Triangles, T-Squares and drawing templates were the tools of the trade. If you had a drafting machine or a parallel bar, these tools were considered serious professional grade. Drawing using pencil on Vellum or ink on Mylar were the most effective ways to place your ideas on paper to communicate the design and construction process to the rest of the project team.
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The Communication Methods Back then, everyone’s favorite goto method to converse with someone beyond their visual reach was the telephone. The telephone, which was once seen as one of the most amazing inventions, made it possible for voice communication to occur instantaneously from one part of the world to another. Next, the fax machine came along. Architects and Engineers would fax what they have drawn on paper to each other to graphically describe what they could not explain clearly on the telephone. The fax machine also made it possible for clients to visually see the design without leaving their office. They can now mark up any changes on the same sheet of paper and fax the revisions back to notify the design team. October 2020
But since faxes were limited to letter or at most legal page sizes, the entire drawing set (ArchD, ArchE or ISO A1, ISO A0 were the typical sizes) would still be best reviewed with in-person meetings. So periodically the entire design team along with the client would gather around a conference table to go over the drawing set.
FEATURE
New Office
The Delivery System Since the drawing set is the original and only copy, the design team would rely heavily on reprographic houses to make copies (better known as blueprints) of the drawing set to distribute to various contractors for bidding or to city municipalities for review and approval. When we need to transport the blueprints to these other parties we would have to contact a messenger service to come by and pick them up (which would be typically rolled up for ease of carrying) for delivering locally within our community. For destinations that are beyond local driving distances, we would then have to rely on shipping by air or by ground services like: DHL, Federal Express (Fed-Ex), UPS or USPS (US mail). These were really the only practical and economical methods available to all of us to take our ideas drawn on large sheets of paper, duplicated and then distributed from one location to another.
THE VIRTUAL OFFICE – MID PANDEMIC
The Advancement in Technology Then around the turn of the century, the advancement in computer technology not only exploded but became widely affordable to every home around the modern world. Computers that used to occupy a huge air conditioned space were now not only condensed to a footprint that’s smaller than the size of a table top, but also very economically feasible to own. There were weekend computer sale events where anyone can walk in and learn the differences between a 386 or 486 PCs. Many of us may still remember the long lines around various computer stores when everyone wanted to get their hands on Windows 95 which touted an all new graphic user interface compared to the black DOS screen operating system. Next, the World Wide Web (www) splashed onto the technology world like a storm. This major revolution combined with the introduction of the internet made it possible for graphics to be communicated on everyone’s computer screen. No longer do we have to rely on messenger or professional delivery services to transport our ideas on paper. We can now place them as digital pictorial images on the internet for anyone to see. Then came about the idea of electronically sending mail (e-mail) from one party to another. Instead of picking up the phone and calling members on the design team, the Architect can now, using the internet, send a single e-mail to all the recipients. The design intent can now be attached as a digital file in an e-mail eliminating the need for paper copies. When the digital file became too large or there were too many files to e-mail, there were companies that offered internet options to save October 2020
(upload) them for others to copy (download). This made it possible for the design team to easily transfer digital copies of their drawing set into a secured on-line storage location for other team members to access. Some of these companies even provided this for free with certain capacity size limits: • Box (http://www.box.com) • Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com) • OneDrive (http://www.onedrive.com) Next, new innovations that reduced the size of the computer footprint made it possible to remove the computer off the desktop. The once large luggage size heavy computer is now the size of both your hands and is light enough to place on your lap. You now can even fold it up like a brief case and carry it with you practically anywhere. Now design professionals can carry this laptop even inside an airplane to complete tasks as they travel from one location to another. Then came the smartphone. This palm size device promised to bring everything found on the computer onto your finger tips and it delivered. Now you can make phone calls, text messages, access your email, browse the internet and even take high quality pictures all from a tiny device held on the palm of your hand. The New Digital Architect Since the turn of the millennium and throughout the past couple of decades during the hardware device revolution, many software enhancements came along for the ride as well. Out went the drafting board and in came computer assisted design/drafting (CADD) software. The de-facto standard CADD program the new digital Architect and Engineer used in the US is Autodesk AutoCAD (http://www.autocad.com). This program at one time took over 13 floppy disks to install onto a single computer running DOS. Then when the CD/DVD became feasible, AutoCAD installation www.augiworld.com
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FEATURE
New Office occurred using a single DVD on computers now running Windows. Next, due to the stability and affordability of the internet, the entire AutoCAD setup program is now downloaded directly online without a need for shipment of installation media. Autodesk currently only offers the use of AutoCAD to end users with either a monthly or annual subscription program. So for $210/month or $1,521/year, you now can access, download and install the AutoCAD product for professional use. The popularity of doing everything on the computer continued as the whole Architectural and Construction industry shifted from CADD to Building Information Modeling (BIM). Autodesk struck a chord with Architects and Engineers again this time with Revit (http://www.revit.com) as the BIM software of choice. The new digital Architect now would draw everything as a three dimensional object with all the materials and building information embedded in the Revit model. The Engineers would follow suit with their model making it possible to detect design collisions even before the ground breaks at the job site. Autodesk like with AutoCAD only offers the use of Revit to end users with either a monthly or annual subscription program. So for $305/month or $2,425/year, you can access, download and install the Revit product for professional use.
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When creating a three dimensional building on the computer is still insufficient for the client to visualize the space, next came virtual reality (VR) walk-throughs of the digital model. Oculus Rift (https://www.oculus.com/rift) offers very affordable VR headsets. At under $300 per VR headset, clients can put these on & instantaneously step into a virtual world where they can sense and feel the building even before being built. Connecting the New Remote Architect It is during this time when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Governors of all 50 states in the US and leaders of many countries across the globe all issued orders for everyone to stay home and all businesses (except those deemed essential) to remain closed to â&#x20AC;&#x153;flatten the curveâ&#x20AC;? on the infection rate of this disease. With design professional offices closed, Architects and Engineers now must learn to work remotely from home. The past couple of decades of technological enhancements especially with the use of the internet have actually paved the way to make working away from the office a reality. i. Virtual Meetings What became immediately apparent was the need to seek a workable solution to continue to have face to face conference meetings with staff and the design team but virtually instead of
October 2020
in-person meetings. Internet access has now also matured to the point that practically every home has it installed with fairly stable and fast broadband speeds. Over the internet virtual conference meeting apps have also been around for a number of years and used within the office to make virtual presentations. These are a few of the more popular programs: • Cisco’s Web-Ex (http://www.webex.com) • GotoMeeting (http://www.gotomeeting.com) • Zoom (http://www.zoom.com)
FEATURE
New Office
These program prices range from $12 to $15 per month. During the pandemic they even offered some free options. So armed with this solution, the digital Architect can now setup and host virtual meetings on-line via the web. Design teams along with the client can now meet without ever leaving their homes. They can see each other using either add-on web cams or with built-in cameras on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. ii. Office Data Access Another major challenge is remotely accessing the valuable digital files that have been growing and stored safely within the confines of the office. Now that staff is unable to come into the office, they must be given options to access and work on these digital files from outside the office environment. 1) VPN Firewalls are typically implemented as a piece of equipment (hardware) to prevent outsiders from breaking in to steal or worse case destroys ones digital files. Our office has invested in a company called Sonicwall (https://www.sonicawall.com/) for a number of years as our firewall stopgap. For a new business class Sonicwall firewall that includes 2 years of technical support and updates, you’re looking at a cost of $5,000. In addition to keeping intruders out, firewalls also provide a method to let permitted users in. Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) makes it possible for our staff to use their own personal computer from outside the office, connect via the internet, enter through the firewall and access the digital files stored on the network server. But file access speeds will definitely be slower using this method. Depending on internet speeds, what may have taken seconds to open when in the office will now take a bit longer to open over the internet using this VPN solution. 2) RDS Using Remote Desktop Services or RDS (this used to be called Terminal Server) makes it possible for staff to connect to a single device in the office to run programs and access network data. In addition to the hardware costs, you’ll have to pay for a Microsoft server OS license and the number of seats to access the server simultaneously. To learn more about RDS just hop onto this site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/remote/remote-desktop-services/welcome-to-rds. Staff would still first need to make a VPN connection using their personal computer then execute Remote Desktop (RDP) client to access the RDS. RDP is a free app that comes loaded on the Windows OS. But since programs and data network access all occur within the resources on the RDS, this eliminates the lag that may occur using the VPN solution. Staff wouldn’t need October 2020
to wait for files to transfer back and forth between the office network and home computer to be worked on. Furthermore, since the programs are already installed and running on the RDS, there’s no need for the same programs to be reinstalled on staff ’s personal computer. 3) CRD We have staff that have slower computer devices at home and want access to their more powerful workstations in the office. The Chrome Remote Desktop (CRD) app (https:// remotedesktop.google.com/access) makes this possible. This free app would first need to be installed on the staff ’s office workstation using the Chrome web browser. Staff will need a Google account for the security sign in credentials and then assign a pin code to the office workstation for remote access. Once the setup completes, the office computer just needs to be left on with Chrome running. Staff should leave the office workstation locked but not signed out to prevent others from accessing it while they’re not in the office. Next, again from within the Chrome web browser running on a personal computer or install the matching CRD app running on a tablet or smartphone, staff just needs to sign in to the Google account and they can select their office computer, enter the security pin and establish a connection remotely into their office computer. The CRD solution allows staff to remotely access their office workstations as if they’re actually sitting in the office. iii. Data Sharing & Collaborating Since we have 3 offices around the globe, this brought up a need to www.augiworld.com
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FEATURE
New Office make sure the network digital files are the same files regardless from which office they’re being accessed. During the stay at home order, we have implemented the use of the following methods to make sure sharing of the same data files are possible. 1. Synchronized Drives We researched and found a fairly economical method that allows our digital files stored in all three offices to be synchronized as one. This way when files are updated or changed in our Los Angeles office, the same files in our Amsterdam and Manila office are automatically updated. Our global staff now can always access the latest and greatest files. The company we ended up going with to fulfill this wish list is called Morro Data (https://www.morrodata.com). Morro Data utilizes the speed of the internet and very affordable appliances they call cache drives installed in all three offices to make this happen. The smallest cache drive is only the size of your hand and the cost is dependent on file size capacity needed. The greater the digital data capacity you want synchronized the greater the cost. For under $1,000 you can purchase the smallest cache drive size of 1TB. Since each cache drive is warrantied for 3 years, you would need to budget for a purchase replacement after three years. The cache drives deployed in each office are set up to work together as an organization. So when data is copied onto one of the cache drives, the others joined to the same organization will automatically synchronize and receive the exact copies. File access & locking is based on credentials defined in our network’s Active Directory. Morro Data also charges monthly fees to maintain the 1TB caching at $200 per office. We’re considering phasing out our on-premise network servers so we can put our future investments in Morro Data’s cache drive technology. 2. Microsoft Teams Often staff need to work on the same Word or PowerPoint document but are unable to because someone else has the file opened for editing. Amongst a number of other benefits of Microsoft Teams, having multiple staff work (collaborate) on the same Microsoft Office document at the same time is a major feature benefit. The entire organization will have to sign up for a Microsoft 365 account in order to use Microsoft Teams. The cost for a typical Microsoft 365 account is $10 per seat per month with an annual commitment. As for Microsoft Teams, this still can be used for free but may change in 2021. You can read more on various Microsoft Team options here: https:// www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/ compare-microsoft-teams-options. Like with Morro Data, you can use your Active Directory to setup all the accounts. Then when you launch into Microsoft Teams, you’ll need to create a team, add staff members into the team and then you are ready to collaborate on Microsoft Office documents.
THE NEW OFFICE – POST PANDEMIC
The Traditional Office Expectations Before the pandemic the traditional Architect was accustomed to leaving the home and entering an office building to go to work. While in the office he or she would be physically seated most likely within arm’s length next to other co-workers. The employer when hiring the 34
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employee has every reason to expect the employee to be physically working in the office. The employee also has the understanding that a minimum of 8 hours a day of working in the office with an hour of lunch is expected from Monday to Friday. There may be a break from being expected to be in the office on Saturday and Sunday. Then, the work cycle repeats. This meets the employer and employee traditional office expectations. The Virtual Office Realizations Then when the pandemic hit the now digital Architect had to make adjustments to continue to work effectively. There was a major paradigm shift from working physically in the office to successfully working remotely from home. Flexing the speed and stability of the internet and taking advantage of the technological advancements, the digital Architect soon realized he or she can actually work from anywhere. Instead of working “9 to 5”, the realization now is working at any time and from anywhere “24/7”. Garnishing on the various on-line meeting and presentation apps offered, the digital Architect can host and join virtual meet and greets from within the comforts of home. There is no loss in productivity due to time spent traveling from one location to another for meetings. Deadlines were not only met but even completed well ahead of project schedule. Instead of a drop in productivity, the digital Architect came to the realization that there are great gains from working in the virtual office. The Whole New Office As businesses slowly re-open, there are many challenges facing the success of running the office. Some offices have chosen to revert completely back to the traditional office because that’s what they’re comfortable with. Other offices after experiencing the success of the virtual office have chosen to continue to let their entire staff work remotely. But perhaps there will be those offices that want to merge the traditional with the virtual and come up with a whole new office. Now with the new social distancing office requirements perhaps different shifts can be implemented. Staff can have alternating schedules where they come in to the office to work for a couple of days and then work remotely from home for another couple of days. Perhaps various compensation packages could be offered placing the option of working from home on the table compared to working in the office. Hopefully the whole new office will be seen as one where it provides more advantages and benefits for the Architect and the entire design team. Paul Li graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor degree in Architecture. He has worked in the Architectural field for over 32 years. For the past 26 years he’s worked at STIR Architecture with headquarters in Los Angeles. His focus has always been discovering new and improved methods to implement cutting edge technology to enhance collaboration in the Architectural industry. Paul can be reached for comments and questions at Paul_Li@STIRArchitecture.com. October 2020
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