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Green Window House IMAGE COURTESY of za bor architects, Russia (zabor.net)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

ArchiCAD 16 Graphisoft ups the ante in freeform modelling, online components and interoperability

HP Z1 workstation PDF markup on iPad Scan-to-BIM: a reality check How safe is your CAD data? July /August 2012 >> Vol.61 p01_AEC_JULYAUG12_Cover.indd 1

16/7/12 15:05:21

Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

editorial

Managing Editor Greg Corke greg@x3dmedia.com

Consulting Editor Martyn Day martyn@x3dmedia.com

Digital Media Editor Stephen Holmes stephen@x3dmedia.com

Design and Production production@x3dmedia.com advertising

Advertising Manager Tony Baksh

tony@x3dmedia.com

Deputy Advertising Manager Steve King steve@x3dmedia.com subscriptions

Manager Alan Cleveland alan@x3dmedia.com accounts

Charlotte Taibi charlotte@x3dmedia.com

Financial Controller Samantha Todescato-Rutland sam@chalfen.com AEC Magazine is available FREE to qualifying individuals. To ensure you receive your regular copy please register online at www.aecmag.com about AEC Magazine is published bi-monthly by X3DMedia Ltd Suite 77, 3rd Floor, The London Fruit and Wool Exchange, 56 Brushfield Street, London E1 6EP T. +44 (0)20 3355 7310 F. +44 (0)20 3355 7319 www.x3dmedia.com © 2012 X3DMedia Ltd All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without prior permission from the publisher is prohibited. All trademarks acknowledged. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the author and not of X3DMedia. X3DMedia cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements within the magazine.

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ArchiCAD 16 10

Design Viz 24

AEC Magazine looks at the new modelling enhancements, improved component database and drive towards open standards in Graphisoft’s popular BIM platform, ArchiCAD.

An intern producing stunning visualistions that showcase Lyon Central Station.

Autodesk BIM 360 13 Autodesk is growing its cloud-services for the AEC industry. Its latest incarnation has additional collaboration capabilities for the Infrastructure disciplines.

Cymap 2013 15 CADline’s new offering is one of the most focussed UK compliance building services tool on the market.

Setting the BIM standard 18 Thinking about investing in BIM? Consider including a shared data standard, says Nick Harris from UK Technology service provider CADline.

Scan-to-BIM ... a reality check 20 While BIM has been focused on newbuild projects, refurbishment and renovation require a different approach using 3D Laser scanning,

Who is watching your data? 26 State-sponsored industrial espionage may no longer be the domain of spy films. We ask how secure is your CAD data?

Bluebeam Revu iPad 28 PDF markup does not have to cost a bomb. Bluebeam’s new cut down version of Revu is a great way to redline CAD docs wherever you go.

ePrint & Share 31 HP’s free cloud service enables users to share files on multiple devices and print to any web-ready Designjet printer.

HP Z1 workstation 32 HP’s new all-in-one combines desktop workstation-class components with a stunning 27-inch LED backlit display. Also this month: 4 News; 34 InterPro IPW-iB [i5] and Workstation Specialists M1550 ‘Ivy Bridge’ workstations. July / August 2012

16/7/12 15:44:24

News

CSC updates concrete design tool

Vela Systems software allows CAD and BIM model data to be accessed on site, online or offline

tructural software developer, CSC, has released v17 of its concrete building design software, Orion. The new version includes improved functionality for FE mesh generation and foundation modelling. Engineers are able to send details directly to CAD for drawing production, while simultaneously providing clients with material take offs for concrete and reinforcement early in the design process. Orion v17 also enables engineers to co-ordinate with others using the new BIM integration with Autodesk Revit.

Autodesk buys Vela for fast track into construction utodesk has acquired Vela Systems, developer of construction site management software, for an undisclosed sum. The two firms are long term collaborators and the move will allow Autodesk to extend the distribution of Building Information Modelling (BIM) data to the construction site. With Autodesk’s BIM 360 already offering hosting, analysis and collaboration tools, this acquisition will allow the company to add the capabilities of Vela Systems’ Field BIM Software Suite to its cloud-based offering. Currently Vela Systems’ software runs on mobile tablet computers and works

with a bidirectional link to Autodesk Navisworks models. Models can be viewed on-site and field-gathered data added back into the model. As Autodesk now owns the technology and is very keen to expand its cloud-based BIM 360 platform, we expect to see rapid integration and development of this service with Autodesk’s other management and collaboration tools, such as Vault and Buzzsaw. Ultimately this will enable AEC professionals to take BIM models out of the office and make them available to every site worker. Meanwhile, see page 13 for more on Autodesk BIM 360. ■

autodesk.com/bim360

■

velasystems.com

Gehry looks to cloud for collaboration Team is a new cloud-based 3D, file management and project collaboration platform from Gehry Technologies (GT). The product is designed to enable AEC project teams to collaborate and share documents, files, and 3D building information data from any device with a web browser. Teams can visually manage any kind of data,

including 2D drawings, 3D models, PDF files and other documents, spreadsheets, schedules, and pictures. 3D files from industrystandard software (Revit, Digital Project, AutoCAD, Rhino, and SketchUp) can be automatically translated to a common format, allowing the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) models for visualisation and

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co-ordination. Multiple models can be opened together in the same viewer and filters can be used to display select parts of the model. Advanced 3D features include clash detection, live sectioning, measuring and custom reporting of BIM data. GTeam is a Free Preview, and has no user, project, or storage restrictions.

■ cscworld.com

Graitec helps shape RIBA award winner raitec Advance Design, the structural analysis and design software, was used by structural engineering consultant, CTE, in the design of the Centre Pompidou-Metz. A RIBA awards 2012 winner, the Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of modern and contemporary arts located in Metz, France. It was designed by architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines. The building features a large hexagon structured round a central spire reaching 77 metres high, with three rectangular galleries weaving through the building at different levels.

■ graitec.co.uk

■ gteam.com

www.AECmag.com

15/7/12 10:46:37

Building Success

With Information Modeling for Multidisciplinary Building Teams Success from BIM that drives project and building performance – not just coordinated drawings. Success realized in buildings such as the Stone Towers in Cairo by Zaha Hadid. Success achieved through the analysis, simulation, and collaborative workflows uniquely possible using Bentley’s AECOsim software and ProjectWise’s collaboration system of servers and services.

www.Bentley.com/AECMagazine © 2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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7/10/2012 8:43:07 AM

News The HP Z220 workstation is available in two sizes: Convertible Minitower (CMT) and a Small Form Factor (SFF)

HP brings Ivy Bridge to its new gen workstations P is now offering Ivy Bridge — Intel’s third-generation Core processor technology — in its entry level desktop and mobile workstations. The new chip should give a little boost in performance, while reducing running costs due to its energy efficient 22nm design. HP’s new entry-level desktop workstation is the Z220. Like Lenovo’s ThinkStation E31, it is available in two form factors — a Convertible Minitower (CMT) and a Small Form Factor (SFF). Both offer a choice of Ivy Bridge Core i7 and Intel Xeon E3-1200v2 processors and up to 32GB of memory — quite a substantial amount for an entry-level workstation. There is also support for Intel Smart Response Technology, a disk caching technology that is designed to improve storage IO performance, for faster boot time and frequently accessed applications (it basically uses a low capacity solid-state drive (SSD) to function as cache for a highcapacity mechanical drive).

At a mere 100mm x 338mm x 381mm, the SFF Z220 looks to be a very tidy machine — nicely styled and incredibly compact. The downside is the trade off in specification, the most significant being limited options in graphics (AMD FirePro V3900 or Nvidia Quadro 600). This really makes it suitable for AutoCAD or entry-level 3D, while the CMT should do pretty well with even the most demanding 3D CAD or Building Information Modelling (BIM) applications, with options for AMD FirePro V7900 or Nvidia Quadro 4000. For CAD on the go, HP’s new EliteBook w-series mobile workstations feature a range of new Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7 quadcore or i7 or i5 dual-core processors and up to 32 GB of system memory. The HP EliteBook 8770w, offers a range of high-end professional graphics, including the AMD FirePro M4000 and the Nvidia Quadro K3000M, K4000M, or K5000M, plus a choice of 17.3-inch LED backlit displays including the DreamColor (1,920 x 1,080), which features IPS technology.

Dell offers four CAD workstations in one ell’s virtualised rack workstation, the Precision R5500, supports remote access for up to four CAD users at a time. Users can connect to the R5500 via a range of devices including thin clients, laptops, desktops or other mobile devices that have a loaded Citrix Receiver. Each user is given access to a dedicated professional graphics card in a virtualised environment. This is currently an Nvidia Quadro 2000, with other high-end Quadro cards available soon. In addition to graphics, the

R5500 offers Nehalembased Intel Xeon processors — a generation behind those used in Dell’s new desktop Precision workstation — up to 192GB memory, and up to six 2.5-inch SAS HDDs or five SATA HDDs. Despite sharing core workstation resources, such as CPU, memory and storage, the R5500 is not necessarily cheaper than having four individual workstations. However, it does offer other benefits,

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including centralised and secure data (as no CAD data ever leaves the rack workstation), flexibility in terms of users, and reduced cost of ownership by not having to maintain four individual machines. Meanwhile, Intel’s new Ivy Bridge chip has made its debut in Dell’s entry-level Precision T1650, featuring a choice of Xeon E3-1200v2 and third generation Intel Core i7 and i5 chips. ■ dell.co.uk/precision

With a 15.6-inch screen, the HP EliteBook 8570w gives a good balance between portability and performance and features AMD’s FirePro M4000, or Nvidia’s Quadro K2000M or K1000M. For true portability, HP has introduced a new 14-inch model — the HP EliteBook 8470w (14-inch mobile workstations have been thin on the ground ever since Dell dropped this form factor from its Precision range a few years back). The 8470w features the AMD FirePro M2000 as the only graphics option. The new mobile workstations feature a magnesium aluminium chassis, precision aluminium-alloy hinges and, according to HP, meet military standards for dust, vibration, shock, altitude, drop, high temperature, low temperature and temperature shock. Intel Smart Response Technology, as offered in the desktop Z220 workstation, is also supported. Turn to page 32 for a review of HP’s new all-in-one workstation, the Z1, and page 34 for two new Ivy Bridge workstations. ■ hp.com/workstation

PDF markup on the iPad luebeam has launched a new iPad app, for accessing and annotating PDF files. Bluebeam Revu iPad includes customisable clouds, highlights, text and other annotations. Images can be attached directly to the PDF using the iPad’s builtin camera or photo library. The $9.99 app also works with the cloud-based Bluebeam Studio, to allow multiple users to add markups to the same PDF in real time or offline. More details on page 29.

■ bluebeam.com

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15/7/12 10:47:19

• Award winning renovation, refurbishment and retrofit workflow • Market leading team working capabilities • Integral energy performance assessment tools • Custom BIM component creation tool and searchable cloud database • Automatic co-ordination of all design views and documentation

Find out more about ArchiCAD 16 please visit www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad or alternatively Scan this code

Helen & Hard, Vennesla Library, Photo: © Emile Ashley

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03/07/2012 21:06

News

RevUp brings V-Ray rendering to the cloud evUp Render has launched a new cloud rendering service supporting V-Ray 2.0, the rendering software from Chaos Group. With the RevUp Render cloud computing platform, design visualisation professionals can utilise the power of render farms and high-end production workstations via the cloud, allowing studios and artists to scale processing power up or down as needed. Supported software includes Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, McNeel Rhino3D, Trimble SketchUp, and other packages that integrate V-Ray and its distributed rendering (DR) feature. Included with the service is a new mobile feature that extends the flexibility of the cloud even further by giving customers access to the RevUp Render desktop and nodes from mobile devices, including Apple iPad, iPhone, Android or Chromebook.

Architectural interior scene rendered on the RevUp Render cloud computing platform V-Ray 2.0

Tekla BIM awards Tekla is accepting entries for its annual Tekla UK BIM awards. Projects will be judged on individual merit, with a specific nod to collaborative workflows and modelbased processes. AEC Magazine’s Greg Corke will be one of five judges this year. Closing date is August 31 ■ tinyurl.com/teklaAEC

Surveying for Revit

RevUp Render can also convert Autodesk Revit files to render on the new V-Ray rendering platform. Customers pay a nominal fee for the conversion of each Revit file and a small fee per rendered Revit view. Meanwhile, users of Shaderlight — the interactive rendering plug-in for SketchUp — can now render their scenes in the cloud. Shaderlight Cloud Rendering uses highpowered 64-core machines from Limitless Computing. Prices start at less than $10. ■

revuprender.com

■

artvps.com

ArchiCAD team wins Open BIM award rchiCAD played a key role in helping Aidea, a worldwide top 100 architecture practice from the Philippines, scoop the OpenBIM award at Build London Live 2012 in May. A total of 11 teams from 37 countries competed in the

48-hour collaborative design competition. Information was shared in the cloud resulting in over 12,000 logins and 560 published files to the Asite collaborative platform. The brief challenged the teams to design a Museum of 2012. The design had to

hold a cultural and social significance to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. “Using ArchiCAD’s unique Open BIM workflow made co-ordination and updating easy and virtually seamless,” said Abelardo Tolentino Jr., Aidea MD. ■ buildlondonlive.com

Eagle Point offers site context for Revit agle Point has released the 2013 versions of Siteworks for Revit and Landcadd for Revit. Siteworks for Revit enables architects, designers and planners to shape the model pads, parking lots, terrain for their building streets, sidewalks and sites using grading tools to retaining walls.

www.AECmag.com

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ROUND UP

Landcadd for Revit enables architects and designers to lay out and model the landscape components of a project, including trees, plants, paths, pavements or patios. Both products are sold in the UK by Excitech.

Yuzu is a surveying tool that captures interior building measurements directly inside AutoCAD or Revit. The software uses Leica’s Bluetoothenabled measuring instrument and includes a number of CAD-focused tools. Yuzu runs on any AutoCAD or Revit tablet PC or laptop ■ picardinnovations.com

Factory design event Man and Machine will host the National Factory Design Conference on 26 September 2012. The event will feature demonstrations of Autodesk’s Factory Design Suite. Faro will present its range of 3D laser scanners used in factory design and explain how to work with 3D scan data ■ tinyurl.com/factoryconf

Building services Cymap 2013 is the latest release of the building services design solution from CADline. The modular system covers heating and cooling load calculations, energy consumption, pipe and ductwork analysis, psychrometrics, public health, wiring and lighting design. See page 15 for a full review ■ cymap.com

Open Source BIM BIMserver is an open source software that turns a computer/ server into a ‘BIMserver’ used to centralise AEC project information. The multi user software uses IFCs and sends out notifications when updates have been made ■ bimserver.org

Be Inspired awards Bentley Systems is accepting submissions for the 2012 Be Inspired Awards global competition. The deadline for entries is August 3. The awards ceremony will take place in Amsterdam on November 13-14. ■ bentley.com/BeInspired

■ eaglepoint.com

July / August 2012

15/7/12 10:47:30

ArchiCAD 16 AEC Magazine looks at the new modelling enhancements, improved component database and drive towards open standards in Graphisoft’s popular Building Information Modelling (BIM) platform, ArchiCAD. by Martyn Day

components and premiumstep change in the use of design be used to create new geomeGraphisoft paid content, Graphisoft hopes tools is coming. Alongside try from sketches using comArchiCAD 16 that a community of users will the mandating of Building mands such as rotational genbuild up around the site. Information Modelling (BIM) eration or from existing comPrice £3,000 plus by the UK Government, a drive for ponents, which can be selected subscription of £540 Sustainability Graphisoft has improved efficiency in difficult times, and edited through the Morph ■ graphisoft.com tried a number of approaches means that implementing BIM is now a dialogue. Morph objects can be to sustainability. At first a tight merged and subtracted with cross industry issue. While many architects assume that BIM Boolean tools and then classified as integration with the then independent equals Revit, due to systematic marketing ArchiCAD components, stating if it is load Ecotect linked the two packages well but acquisition nixed that. from Autodesk to its huge AutoCAD cus- bearing or an interior or exterior element, Autodesk’s tomer base, other players are now being which can play a role in analysis later in the EcoDesigner was an additional plug-in that was developed to offer basic energy analysis recognised as offering decent alternatives. design process. and documentation. Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD is the longest BIM In release 16, EcoDesigner and the product in development, with its first BIM Components The promise of decent release in 1987 for both the Mac and BIM drag and drop content has yet to be VIPcore analysis engine have been inteWindows platforms. realised and users can spend a lot of time grated into the core platform and rewritten While the name implies its architectural building families of parts for projects. to work seamlessly within the design profocus, the software also offers structural Those independent sites that do have BIM cess. The company is actively encouraging elements, as well as models vary greatly in their depth and rich- its customers to start using design analysis tools at the conceptual phase. an MEP (Mechanical Electrical The integration makes great use Plumbing) to incorporate ductof the fact that the geometry created work and piping into the archiThere is no other BIM product already has many of the attributes tectural design. This is slightly required for running energy calcudifferent to the approach that includes such a complex suite lations thus speeding up the proAutodesk and Bentley have purof IFC filters, reference tools and cess. Physical properties of the sued, mainly ‘siloing’ the disciArchiCAD elements can be edited plines, but both have recently schema editing functions for experimentation and the applicacombined their BIM verticals into tion can access online, accurate the one environment. hour-by-hour online weather data of ArchiCAD has a BIM server for teamwork and collaboration that allows ness. One site might offer a pure geometry the building’s planned location. EcoDesigner’s clear report formatting simultaneous development of a project representation of a door with no data, model, both inside and outside of a compa- another might have so many variables and has been kept, providing graphical and ny’s firewall. This BIM server is probably associated metadata that they inflate the numeric results. The annual energy consumption is assessed, including CO2 emisthe best implementation of teamwork in the model size to dangerous proportions. popular BIM products we have seen to date. In release 16, Graphisoft has introduced a sions and monthly energy balance. new online BIM component database, New features BIMcomponents.com, which allows users Open BIM IFC read, write and edit capabiliModelling ArchiCAD 16 introduces to create, search, upload, and download ties within ArchiCAD continue to outpace ‘Morph’ technology, which further expands custom BIM components of their choice in the market and release 16 ArchiCAD continthe geometric capability of the product and the company’s GDL format (Geometric ues that trend. Too many people think saving an IFC file is all that is needed. In reality which has been an ongoing area of develop- Description Language). One of the benefits of GDL is that para- files need to be targeted for what the IFC ment through the last few releases. Morph allows the freeform creation of complex metric families of parts that are easily model is going to be used for and what sysgeometry using a direct modelling method- defined as one object can be defined to be tem it will be opened in. To do this, users need control over IFC ology — making edges, faces, points and many different variants, taking up only a surfaces open to manipulation. Morph can small amount of memory. With both free definitions and filters. Release 16 is faster

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www.AECmag.com

16/7/12 12:50:49

Review 1

at working with IFCs and now supports multiple IFC standard outputs, new data types, IFC site data, and adds Morph objects to the file (geometry that has no normal classification).

Conclusion ArchiCAD 16 is now a very hot BIM tool for architects. This release sees it catch up on modelling capabilities compared with its competitors and take the lead in direct modelling ‘shape creation’. ArchiCAD is fun to model with and is as easy to use as SketchUp. Graphisoft has had to play catch-up with green and energy evaluation, specifically with Autodesk’s acquisition of Ecotect and Green Building Studio (GBS). Release 16 sees Graphisoft enhance its built-in capability and offer a compelling suite of tools without having to leave the familiar ArchiCAD environment. In the CAD market the term ‘open’ is pretty much a falsehood and while 2D DWG has been solved by most vendors, the move to BIM introduces new data exchange problems that only have partial fixes. When data is added into a BIM model, the only way to extract it for other uses seems to be in many different data formats with broken links and plenty of scope for conversion errors. Graphisoft has always been one of the major proponents of IFCs and it continues to include richer tools to assist in IFC model creation. There is no other BIM product on the market that includes such a complex suite of IFC filters, reference tools and schema editing functions. The most obvious difference between ArchiCAD and Autodesk/Bentley is the move to bundle functionality. Graphisoft’s owner, Nemetscheck, has failed so far to integrate its CAD and design brands. Nemetscheck owns a popular German BIM product called Allplan, as well as Vectorworks and Maxon (Cinema 4D) and it seems as though the brands have very little, if anything, to do with each other. This structure does not help feature development and integration and the strategy does not play to the strengths of the group, especially when in competition with the likes of Autodesk and Bentley. It is perhaps just as well that ArchiCAD is the least expensive BIM modeller on the market.

2 3

1 BIMcomponents.com supports the upload and download of custom BIM components 2 Morph elements can be complex shapes made up from multiple Boolean operations and edits, they can then be turned into proper BIM components that have area, volume and load or non-load bearing status 3 The power of Morph technology enables quick editing of standard components and volumes, making this generation of 3D models much quicker

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July / August 2012

16/7/12 12:50:50

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Arup modelled both the steelwork and concrete for Leadenhall Tower . Throughout the modelling process technicians worked within the multiuser environment and all 2D drawings remained live within the Tekla model, meaning they are always all up to date. Leadenhall Tower won in the Tekla UK BIM Awards 2011 - whoâ€™ll win this year?

a www.arup.com Tekla BIM (Building Information Modelling) software solutions provide a data-rich 3D environment that can be shared by contractors, structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators, and concrete detailers and manufacturers. Choose Tekla for the highest level of detail, accuracy, constructability and integration in project management and delivery. Visit our website to learn more about Tekla solutions and references. Since 2011, Tekla has been a part of the Trimble Group.

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Comment

Autodesk BIM 360 Autodesk is growing its cloud-services for the AEC industry and in its latest incarnation has additional collaboration capabilities for those in the infrastructure disciplines. by Martyn Day

utodesk is unabashedly keen to exploit the cloud. The company sees cloud-based services as a way to offer what it calls ‘infinite computing’ for processor-heavy applications to its customer base, and a mechanism to deliver additional value to subscribers. First called Autodesk Cloud and then quickly rebranded to Autodesk BIM 360, the online service initially provided a few megabytes of cloud storage to aid file portability. This linked in with AutoCAD WS, a mobile DWG and DWF viewer that offers some basic drawing editing capabilities on phones and tablets. The cloud service then expanded to enhance collaboration through the connection of its data management software, Vault Collaboration, and its range of applications (Revit, Civil 3D, Navisworks) with the Buzzsaw online service. To make use of the power of the cloud servers, Autodesk also included online photorealistic rendering, energy analysis for Revit users, and whole building analysis computation via Green Building Studio. Up until this month, this is where Autodesk’s cloud capability stopped. It was a place where Autodesk’s mobile apps could look for drawings. It linked with some of Autodesk’s data management tools and provided a few niche applications for subscribers — the main benefit being that machines would not ‘hang’ doing big calculations, with the cloud taking the load.

New features Autodesk has now expanded its online services for the AEC space with three new capabilities targeted at civil engineers, transportation and urban planning professionals. This includes structural analysis, clash detection and collaborative conceptual design for infrastructure. These new features will benefit users of Autodesk Building Design Suite and Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite. At its base level, BIM 360 provides a place where infrastructure-scale models can be sorted and collaboratively shared anywhere. Clash detection capabilities come via ‘Glue’, a new data-centric management serwww.AECmag.com

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vice, which simplifies ing this much more of an Autodesk multidiscipline model coessential backbone to its AEC BIM 360 ordination. The software products over time, but for seems like a thinned out now it is a case of making use Autodesk BIM 360 is now available in English, and will version of Navisworks, of the services that provide the be available in other which operates via a thin greatest benefit. languages soon. Some client. Models are uploadIn many cases BIM 360 services may be available exclusively for Autodesk ed to the cloud where they access will depend on what Infrastructure Design Suite can be merged, explored Autodesk applications users 2013 and Autodesk Building and analysed for clash have (or do not have) and that Design Suite 2013 subscribers detections. There is a clash is where the matrix seems to report to keep track of get very complicated indeed. problem geometry and re-analysis can be Rendering, for instance, can be done from run as soon as a new model is updated. almost any product on subscription but the The infrastructure conceptual modelling online conceptual capability requires a copy capability is an extension of Autodesk’s desk- of Infrastructure Modeler, which is included top Infrastructure Modeler, where designs in Autodesk Building Design Suite (BDS) can be uploaded to the cloud and other users Ultimate and Autodesk Infrastructure can be invited to access, download and edit Design Suite (IDS) Premium. Other BIM 360 these models simultaneously. services such as rendering and energy Static structural analysis provides number Analysis are subscription benefits for BDS crunching server power for Revit customers. and IDS subscription customers. Simply upload the analytical structural There are many multiples of this, with all design model and carry on working while of Autodesk’s Suites. Some capabilities are the analysis is performed. The results are also exclusive to the 2013 Suites. sent back and can be seen in Revit. It is even In addition to having the right application, possible to run parallel analysis to find the there are things called ‘cloud units’, which design that gives the best results. A report is Autodesk describes as a currency: “...a unit of generated for quick viewing and the full measure that assign a value for how much results can be downloaded into Revit. cloud capacity is needed to perform different tasks using Autodesk 360 cloud services.” Vela Systems acquisition Users will be allocated different cloud Autodesk recently announced the acquisi- units depending on which subscription they tion of Vela Systems, a provider of cloud and have: 100 CU per seat for standalone prodmobile field management software for the ucts or Standard Suites; 250 CU per seat for construction industry. Vela technology will Premium Suites; and 500 CU per seat for be quickly brought to the Autodesk BIM 360 Ultimate Suites. Twenty seats under subenvironment to enable access to BIM data, scription would get 20 x the Cloud Units. As an example of costs: to render a file automate field processes such as quality, safety and commissioning checklists and using Autodesk 360 Rendering cloud serassist in the distribution of drawings. There vice, it will take five cloud units; while runis some overlap with what Buzzsaw can do. It ning an analysis on Autodesk 360 Structural will be interesting to see how this is resolved. Analysis is three CU per run. This could be an entire annual allocation. Conclusion At present users cannot buy more cloud Right now Autodesk BIM 360 is a work in units, but will be able to in future. It will be progress that features many point solutions, interesting to see what Autodesk charges per some niche, some generic. But it is not the full unit. Until then, users can access BIM 360 as 360 holistic solution that the branding would much as they like, with the right Autodesk indicate, more ‘BIM 45 degrees’. Autodesk products and subscription. has every intention of adding to it and mak- ■ autodesk.com/bim360 July / August 2012

16/7/12 13:56:27

Lessons learnt from key construction projects successfully utilising BIM

ICE BIM 2012

Topics include: COBie – handing over data to meet Government requirements Ministry of Justice overview of projects Crossrail – construction past design Post occupancy BIM for SMEs

Realising the Efficiencies Wednesday 17 October 2012 Central London, UK

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Chaired by Mark Bew, Chair, UK Government BIM Working Group Opened by Paul Morrell, Chief Construction Advisor, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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Review

Cymap 2013 AEC Magazine takes a look at the latest Building Services application from CADline and finds one of the most focussed UK compliance tools on the market. by Martyn Day

e have built computer systems to simulate nuclear explosions, model the Earth’s climate and break complex encryption codes. Yet in creating buildings and structures the majority of engineers and architects have mainly used computers as replacements for simple 2D drawing boards. It has only been in the last 20 years that CAD systems have started to morph from drawing board replacements to expert systems, not only assisting in detailing the design but also adding dedicated industry knowledge within the design environment. Alongside traditional CAD, there have been a number of specialist standalone engineering applications developed for number crunching. These have tended to concentrate on mechanical calculations — temperatures, air pressure, energy usage and to perhaps assist with meeting regulations such as Part-L. As CAD vendors’ aspirations have grown, and with the industry slowly moving to 3D and Building Information Modelling (BIM), they have sought to acquire many of these expert systems to include in their core offerings. For example, UK building services developer, Hevacomp was recently acquired by US-based Bentley Systems. Autodesk has its own Building Services (Mechanical Electrical Plumbing) products for Revit and AutoCAD, as well as acquiring Green Building Studio and Ecotect and is adding in additional analysis to its core products. One of the last independent specialist services design systems is Cymap from UK developer and CAD reseller CADline. Originally developed in Bristol in 1973, the software was acquired by Graphisoft in 1999 and integrated closely with its ArchiCAD products, while remaining a standalone analysis tool. The software www.AECmag.com

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was then sold to CADline, DXF or GBXML from any CADline which tightly integrated it capable 2D or 3D CAD sysCymap 2013 with AutoCAD MEP in tem. Room profiles are then 2009. It has remained allocated and floors defined. A combined Cymap standalone and has seen From this, energy, pipework, Mechanical and Cymap considerable functionallighting, ducting, electrics Electrical seat is £3,500, with £690 subs. ity expansion together and wiring calculations can Cymap Mechanical or with regular updates to all be based. Electrical standalone is make it one of the most The software conforms to £2,500, with £490 subs. There is a 50% discount focussed UK compliance CIBSE, Part-L, SAP, LG7 on additional copies tools on the market. Lighting, IEE, DIN, VDI , Cymap has over 50,000 VDE and ASHRAE industry users in 20 countries, standards, with many others including the likes of Arup, Skanska and to boot. The software includes its own Buro Happold and was used on Heathrow reports generator, document management Terminal 5, the Millennium Dome and and database. within the Royal Navy Carrier Fleet.

Cymap Cymap is a standalone application that is available as a combined Mechanical and Electrical license or in single seats of either discipline. The latest release, Cymap 2013, has an updated interface and links to the TAS Building Designer developed by Environmental Design Solutions, which can accurately predict energy consumption, CO2 emissions, operating costs and occupant comfort. Cymap offers a range of calculations that cover the following key building design areas: Heating, cooling, energy consumption and psychrometric analysis, piped services covering a wide range of fluids, ducted services with noise levels at the grille and in rooms, low voltage wiring design from the transformer to whole circuits, lighting design for internal/ emergency/ external, as well as day-lighting. The software is ‘wizard driven’ so is fairly easy to learn, but still requires a certain level of knowledge — it is the system that IT experts use. The process starts off by importing a

Mechanical

Cymap Energy calculates the heating and cooling loads of designs. It can analyse the annual energy consumption as well as taking into account summertime/winter differences and partial plant conditions. The software has a powerful U-value calculator to create composite fabrics with interstitial condensation checks, all calculated to BS6946. The software comes with a large database of materials that can be mixed and matched to create the exact proposed construction type. Cymap Pipework integrates with the energy analysis to calculate the cooling band heating of pipe networks. The software will automatically place radiators in the design and provide pipe routing layouts, while providing a detailed bill of quantities too. There is also a range of Public Health utilities for potable water and gas. The software automatically connects draw offs to the pipe network and can perform tank head calculations. Cymap Lighting caters for single and multi-room analysis together with dealing with external floodlighting. Along with the July / August 2012

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Review 1

floor plans the software accepts associated lighting data in TM14/ EULEMDAT and IES formats. Cymap also comes with an extensive database of more than 80 manufacturers and supports links to websites. Analysis can be done for daylight or artificial light and can be calculated via lumens or radiosity, complying to the LG7 standard. The results are displayed on the 2D drawings and 3D models showing the calculated light levels. The software also outputs a bill of quantities. Cymap includes a simple to use shadow analysis capability that works both on interiors and exteriors. On a model with surrounding buildings it is possible to see how shadows affect the site, both from the existing and proposed buildings. The shading is quite simple but effective.

Electrical The electrical aspect of Cymap is particularly impressive. Project loads and distribution boards are entered with a database of existing components. Users can define circuit switching symbols if necessary as well as cable trunking, tray and conduit layouts, and the software will calculate the cable lengths. The software also features fire alarm audibility calculations. Once complete, the design can be exported to a schematic wiring program. Cymap Wiring complies with BS 7671 and takes the output from Cymap Electricsâ€™ board and load definitions. The software calculates short circuit fault levels, voltage drops, cable sizes and discrimination analysis, all while producing a detailed bill of materials.

Lighting protection Supporting European-wide standards of Dehn BS / EN62305, Cymap Electrical provides full Risk R1-R4 with risk component analysis, including checking the separation distance down conductors. There is also an air termination rod design with the ability to assess lightning strike potential. All these calculations www.AECmag.com

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work across the project and deliver detailed quantity lists.

TAS Building Designer TAS works alongside Cymap and is a dynamic thermal simulation that allows designers to accurately predict energy consumption, CO2 emissions, operating costs and occupant comfort. Each window, door, ventilator or other aperture has its relative altitude and ori-

entation automatically calculated to give a potential airflow network through the building. TAS creates tabulated and graphical output, and uses rendered 3D views to display solar shading. Cymap and TAS work together with a bi-directional link. Cymap zone/room geometry is exported to generate the TAS building simulation (TBS) file, which can be used for analysis. Once the dynamic simulation has been completed, the results can be imported back into Cymap, to enable building services, sizing and design work to be undertaken.

Conclusion

The sheer breadth of functionality on offer within the two elements of Cymap are really quite incredible and AEC Magazine regrets it does not have enough space to go into in-depth analysis of it all here. However, we can say that the graphical user interface is nothing special in these days of BIM and 3D; it merely does the job. Having had decades of development, Cymap is indeed an expert Building Services application that works well with most CAD systems and CADline has continued 3 to keep the product up with emerging standards and compliance needs. In comparison to competitor products, the fact that it is developed in the UK and owned by one of the largest AEC value added resellers means that UK compliance and regulations come first. CADline has indicated that in future releases the product will include more 3D aspects. However Cymap is likely to come under increasing competition from products like Autodesk Revit or Autodesk BIM 360. That said, I just do not see any large vendor catering so deeply or quickly for UK needs. â– cymap.com

1 Cymap covers, energy, pipework, public health, wiring, ductwork, electrics and lighting and comes in Mechanical, Electrical or as a combined suite 2 Pipework networks and routing in Cymap covers everything from heating, plumbing and gas 3 The rendered colour view of a lighting analysis, which combines accurate internal lighting with the combination of external solar impact

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A move to Building Information Modelling (BIM) should include the setting of data standards and a library of reusable components

Setting the BIM standard Thinking about investing in Building Information Modelling (BIM)? Consider including a shared data standard, writes Nick Harris from UK technology service provider CADline.

n my previous article I talked about the confusion we are encountering from small and medium sized organisations as they consider their options for adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM). Many companies are finding themselves under increasing pressure to develop a BIM strategy in response to client and competitive pressures. CADline continues to field enquiries from customers wishing to buy BIM, but the type of organisation contacting us in this way is widening. Significantly, an increasing number of component manufacturers in the construction industry supply chain, which traditionally use software

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such as Autodesk Inventor to create product designs, are being asked if they can provide BIM data by their customers. I have talked about our approach to simplifying the adoption of BIM within an organisation by deconstructing the process and focusing on the aspects that have the most impact on developing an effective BIM capability. In most cases the company will have identified the BIM toolsets that will deliver improved productivity to the organisation and will have given training requirements some serious consideration and decided on a comprehensive training and support programme. The third piece of this jigsaw is process:

how to create, manage and communicate this new BIM data. More importantly what data will be shared? To what extent is collaboration with customers and partners using BIM data necessary? Whatever the answer is to these questions a BIM standard is advisable â€” as well as a library of reusable components that conform to a quality and format specified by the standard. The complexity of the standard and how far reaching it is in guiding BIM activity depends on the extent to which BIM data is shared. Companies that continue to deliver â€˜lonely BIMâ€™, which is mainly concerned with

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Comment adopting 3D modelling tools to streamline a is belief that some of the information will company’s own processes and whose out- be added directly using Excel. However, in put is not consumed by other parties, have anything but the smallest project information it will be too complex and change too less need for a shared data standard. The question we ask then is: What BIM regularly to maintain the dataset using deliverable do you anticipate your custom- anything other than BIM workflows. So the requirement for COBie drives the need to ers will require of you? The problem in the past has been that it use BIM through the government’s new has not been clear what is expected of a procurement process. It is not unreasonable to expect that BIM deliverable. Is it a subset of the source model in Revit format, is it published data many of the organisations winning governsuch as a Navisworks file or a PDF or ment tenders will be the big name main DWF? What exactly is your BIM data going contractors that regularly have their names to be used for? Will it be used to continue to on the side of roads and buildings as they develop the design of the asset — in which are constructed and that they are well on case there needs to be a robust standard for the way to developing their BIM capability. However, to deliver a complete COBie dataco-ordinates, grids and levels? Alternatively it may be used for estimat- set in the detail required, they will need ing or construction planning activities their supply chain including consultants where the consistency and quality of com- and component suppliers to be delivering information in a similar format. ponent data is important. The relevance of BIM to the component What about your existing standard? A firm may have made some investment in manufacturer becomes more obvious as a introducing BS1192:2007, which provides detailed guidance about file naming and layer names in an effort to aid the consistent collaboration of traditional CAD data, as The problem in the past has been well as proposing the Common Data Environment based upon a that it has not been clear what is definition for a consistent shared expected of a BIM deliverable data structure. The answer, it appears, is coming from the UK Government. It has been well publicised as part of the government’s 2011 Construction Strategy that most, if not all, centrally pro- result of COBie and, arguably, a manufacturer which provides models of its compocured projects will use BIM by end 2016. Of course, if BIM is going to be mandat- nents with COBie compatible data attached ed, then it needs to be well defined in terms may find its products used in preference to of expected deliverables. That is exactly those that do not. COBie has a detailed schema for the data what the BIM Task Group, a government initiative, has been looking to achieve over that may need to be produced from a BIM project and so the basis for identifying a the last couple of years. Early on the task group established that standard that will inevitably become a the Construction Operations Building requirement for most public projects proInformation Exchange (COBie) asset data cured in future. For many of our customers COBie is relschema would play an important part in delivering value to owners and operators as evant and processes should be developed a result of using BIM. Go to COBie at to support the delivery of the dataset in anticipation that it is adopted across the bimtaskgroup.org/cobie-uk-2012. The COBie dataset is a readable format of industry as a whole, regardless of project structured asset data that builds as the type and customer. project is delivered, with the ultimate aim of delivering a complete register of compo- Construction nent and structure data about the asset. COBie is only one aspect of the standardisaThis should enable the owner to under- tion of BIM workflows that the BIM Task stand how they will operate and maintain Group is delivering to support the the asset to a very fine level of detail. Construction Strategy. The group has also The standard is loosely based on a worked closely with BSI to produce the Microsoft Excel workbook with individual Publicly Accessible Standard (PAS) 1192worksheets for recording data as compre- 2:2012, which builds on BS1192:2007 to hensive as the original instruction, spaces, provide guidance on the project delivery zones, components and systems, and there aspect of the asset lifecycle. It also introduc-

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es a new term — Project Information Model (PIM) — to represent the data produced through BIM workflows through design and construction. Later this year PAS1192-3 will provide guidance on the use of the Asset Information Model (AIM), the BIM data that is ‘handed over’ to clients. These two standards provide comprehensive guidance on the collaborative aspects of BIM and clearly define important aspects of information sharing, such as the Employer’s Information Requirement (EIR) document where the employer is the client, and the Supply Chain Information Execution Plan (SCIEP) document, where suppliers will be expected to provide details explaining how the information modelling aspects of their part of the project will be carried out. Any company expecting to work on a government project will have to ensure its processes and standards documents are aligned with some, or all, of these topics. Standards PAS1192:2 and PAS1192:3 are designed to plug straight into processes that adhere to BS1192:2007. However, if like many organisations looking to adopt BIM your standards may be of the ‘light touch’ variety and may have deviated from the spirit of the original, we have templates which can be adapted to your workflows while maintaining compliancy with the official standards developed by the BSI. A BIM standard from many organisations goes beyond ensuring quality and collaboration compliance and actually provides detailed guidance for operating specific BIM toolsets. Companies considering adopting an Autodesk Revit or Bentley Building product should take a look at the BIM standards developed for these specific products by the AEC (UK) committee. Original contributors included some of the most high-profile early adopters and they give the type of guidance that a new adopter may need to set up the basics of the BIM workflow including templates, styles and documentation formats. Download the documents at: aecuk.wordpress.com/documents. In my next article I will discuss in more detail the importance of component libraries and to the standardisation and productivity of BIM processes. Reusable components are the building blocks of BIM models from which, ultimately, BIM data will be derived. If your intention is to deliver COBie data from the digital model of your asset then the digital components will need to provide the supporting data. ■ cadline.co.uk

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Interview

Scan-to-BIM a reality check Building Information Modelling (BIM) is mainly focused on newbuild projects, but refurbishment and renovation requires a different approach. Using 3D Laser scanning, there is a growing interest in ‘Scan-to-BIM’. Martyn Day caught up with Steve Bury a leading UK practitioner of point cloud data and Autodesk Revit. This eight storey university building was scanned and modelled with 300 laser scans. Bury Associates then used the scan data to create the final fully parametric Building Information Model in Autodesk Revit

he concept of Scan-to-BIM sounds like something out of science-fiction. Take one building, laser scan millions of points in minutes and produce a ‘point cloud’. Next, import that into your BIM tool, which automatically recognises doors, walls, windows, ceilings, and spaces and you get an intelligent 3D BIM model out the other end. Unfortunately, it is science fiction; it is just not yet possible. With a growing refurbishment market, Scan-to-BIM is getting a lot of coverage in the industry and now, with nearly every major CAD software developer supporting point cloud data within their base systems, the hype has never been greater. As one of the UK’s emergent surveying experts offering a Scan-to-BIM service, Steve Bury of Bury Associates in Worcester, has a much more realistic view of what is possible. Formed in 1997 Bury Associates has been supplying Revit models from survey data since 2006. AEC Magazine spoke to Mr Bury to get a sense of where the scanto-BIM market has developed and where it is now.

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Laser-scan workflow

to tie it into a survey control. We survey with a GPS system; it’s accuMartyn Day With laser scanners and point cloud data now featuring heavily in your rate to within a centimetre or two and we Scan-to-BIM service, how has your survey- use that to get a datum, which links back to Ordnance Survey data and we put that on ing workflow changed over the years? an Ordnance Survey grid. Here, we tend to knock off the first three Steve Bury We were using standard data collection methods — total stations with digits of the reference because Revit doesn’t AutoCAD — and then taking these DWG like these huge co-ordinates. Then we travel files into Revit and building our BIM mod- through the building taking measurements, els from there. Now we also use laser scan- referring back to the grid system, so we ners, which measure millions of points per build an accurate survey of the building. second; measuring millions of points across Then we bring the laser scanners in and we whole building surfaces, as opposed to a tie into those control points. We effectively create layers of scan data total station that is just measuring precise built on an accurate grid system. When you specified points on key features. Laser scanners are like a blunderbuss laser scan a job, you take a number of scans they just get everything, while a total station and these add together within that accurate measures what you want — the corners of grid system. We also put up reference targets throughthe room, the height of the room, the posiout the building. It means you can freely tion of the door etc. While sometimes it’s quicker to use the move around with the laser scanner to capold methods, rather than the laser scanner, ture point clouds and bring them all together the great advantage of scanning is its speed back at base on the computer and the softon site. You collect absolutely everything ware automatically recognises the targets, very quickly. While there will be blind- spheres and chequer boards we have put up. While this process is automated you still spots as laser scanners work on line-ofsight you get most things. But we still use a need the human eye to make sure everything tape measure and all measurements have is set up okay. If there’s an error then the

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whole model can be out because they reference one another, so we check every scan prior to adding it to the master survey coordinate database. For this we use the Faro registration and viewing software program called Scene, which comes with the Faro laser scanners. We also use PoinTools as an add on to AutoCAD and Rhino especially, for editing the point cloud and removing the noise. This can be ghosting from cars going past or anything else which moves within the laser scan.

Specialist point cloud tools MD It is interesting that you continue to use specialist third party point cloud software, despite AutoCAD and Revit now having point cloud capability. What do you think about the relatively new Autodesk point cloud engine in AutoCAD? JB Well, It’s as good as the one that’s in Revit [laughter]. They have got a long way to go. Autodesk is buying up new technology to improve its offerings but the software we use, PoinTools, sadly, has been bought by Bentley Systems and perhaps that’s a real problem, as for a long time we www.AECmag.com

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were waiting for the PoinTools interface with Revit. I guess that isn’t going to happen now because Bentley and Autodesk are competitors. I’m looking forward to seeing what Autodesk does with Alice labs, another point cloud company which they acquired recently.

Data deliverables MD In terms of deliverables, you offer everything from standard 2D CAD drawings to full Revit BIM models. With a growing fascination with laser scanning, and the price of laser scanners dropping considerably, are architects now asking for just the point-cloud data? SB In my opinion it’s a waste of time and there’s a real lack of understanding about point clouds. I blame Autodesk and perhaps the resellers for minimising the reality of the huge amount of effort it takes to import point cloud and convert back to something useful. When we go on site and do a laser scan we could easily generate over 6GB of data. On some of our larger projects we’ve taken over 300 scans, which ended up being over 20GB of data. Nobody can handle that —

the data sets are just so incredibly large. While it may look spectacular, because it’s the real world in dense points, it’s actually really dumb data. To manipulate it and actually do something useful with it is a completely different issue. It’s a skill to take that huge amount of information and produce what the client actually wants, which could be a 2D drawing or a 3D BIM model. We’re getting people asking for the point cloud data because they don’t understand what it involves and then they’ve seen a video on the web and think their CAD system can import it.

Scan-to-BIM automation MD There’s a perception in the industry that Scan-to-BIM is an automated process. What would you say in response to this? SB If the marketing is to be believed it’s automatic! This is a real problem for setting expectation. People expect miracles from surveying with a laser scanning. To be honest, getting the real world into a BIM system was an industry afterthought. When Revit was designed, or any other BIM system, no one gave any serious consideration as to how you would bring in July / August 2012

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Interview laser scan data. BIM systems are highly Proprietary formats intolerant, they don’t like staircases going MD I have been to a number of scanning through walls or any mistakes that can be events and heard first hand from firms that made on site surveying. There is an have invested heavily in working out a Scanassumption that Scan-to-BIM has come to to-BIM methodology. One of the problems the forefront and is an automated process with using many bits of hardware and softwhen it’s absolutely not! ware has been the explosion of proprietary While there are some applications on the file formats and some have even employed market, which offer some interpretation of full-time ‘data wranglers’ to create paroles the cloud, basically finding vertical faces of data in the right format for each project and defining them as walls, we have tried participant. Do you have similar issues? most of them and have come to the conclusion that they all have a long way to go. SB Scan-to-BIM is a minefield at the It’s a bit like voice recognition software moment. We’re helping an American firm on your phone. When I first got my latest scan and model a major building in San phone I tried to send a text saying to a Francisco. We are getting data off them in friend I was approaching Kidderminster, all sorts of formats, so we’re constantly havwhat he got was a text saying ‘I’ve got ing to jig things around and convert data. dementia!’ While it’s all possible, it just adds time. It’s the same with automatic recognition The few of us that are producing surveys software. If the building is perfectly rectan- in a BIM format are doing it in Autodesk’s gular with flat walls and no objects in the Revit. We don’t sell ourselves as so much a way, it’s fantastic. But if you’ve got a real BIM company, more that we can deliver in building with real things going on in it, Revit. However we get requests from firms they don’t know what to make of what they using other BIM tools. We bid on one job in find in the point cloud. Revit does really like buildings with straight lines and nice clean walls, but try going to an old stone walled buildPeople expect miracles from ing in the Cotswolds and it’s totally surveying with a laser scanning. impractical.

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Modelling standards

To be honest, getting the real world into a BIM system was an industry afterthought

MD When it comes to delivering a Revit BIM model, every individual company seems to operate to their own standards. Lines, circles and arcs in 2D drawings are generic but the intelligent components in Revit need defined families and consistency. What are your experiences of this?

SB From the work I’ve seen the standards vary greatly, especially on the level of detail, to some very rudimentary modelling. That may very well be fit for purpose but the problem is there are no standards yet, standards of quality. I have two major projects on my desk at the moment; there were no specifications whatsoever when it comes to the standards of the BIM model they want, just ‘a Revit model’. We know we will do a proper job but we may be pricing against somebody who is going to build a very rudimentary Revit model. We think there’s a lot of work to be done to define good standards and procedures for getting survey data into Revit. We have developed in-house standards and are aiming to promote the specification that we’ve written by sending it out to architects and other people using Revit in the industry as no one else is doing it. 22

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which the architect was using ArchiCAD. As they couldn’t find anyone using that system they were looking for a surveyor to model the building in Revit and then use IFCs to export it back into ArchiCAD. We don’t know how that project eventually ended up but all I can say is that we’re doing a job for that client now and they just wanted a 2D drawing as a deliverable. We have a long way to go before IFCs are the DXF of the industry, we are a very long way off. I’m not even sure if it’s the right direction. It causes me great concern and I can see all sorts of problems in the future if we don’t get common standards.

Scanning in vogue MD There’s a huge ‘wow factor’ and marketing behind scanning technology at the moment. How has this impacted your data deliverables? SB All the time now, people are dictating to us how we do surveys saying that they want a laser scan survey, even if we think it’s not appropriate. In the 30 years I’ve

been doing this job, until today, people never came up and said to me ‘I want you to do a survey in this way, using this methodology or technology’. The deliverable and what they wanted was always an accurate set of drawings. They now may want a Revit model but now I’m being told to do this I have to laser scan the job. We did the whole of Manchester Central library. We chose not to scan it; we used conventional survey instruments and our own data collection methods that we developed, and from that we created a 3D BIM model. You can define a wall with a start and end point, a height and a thickness but now with clients specifying laser scanning, we are being forced to measure 10 million points across that wall! It’s too much information and information that will never get used. There are ways you can take that laser data and produce useful things; 3D panoramics, like Google Street view, [for example]. [This would be] far more useful to the architect than the raw point cloud. You could see how many plug sockets, fittings, how many light sockets etc. If you want the raw point cloud, of course we will supply it, but it should not be considered to be THE deliverable. We’ve had a number of people say we’ll do it ourselves. They only end up doing that once because unless you’re handling that type of data (point clouds) every day, you just can’t get competent at doing it. You can’t just use Revit to edit point clouds; you have to use other pieces of software in order to extract the information. One of the fantastic things about scanning is that it captures everything, so with historical buildings if it should burn down or suffer damage, if it were to be laser scanned, there would be an accurate record of what was there before, carvings or mouldings etc. Photographs only go so far, but if you had a laser scan of it, you would have everything you need to reconstruct that building. You could even use the data to create moulds to make replica interior decorations. The cost of purely scanning and holding that data isn’t that high.

Complete BIM MD One of the core concepts of BIM is that architectural, structural and service data is captured and used as a collaborative platform. With so much work going in at the start to build a BIM model at the survey stage, how are these other elements incorporated in Bury Associate’s work? www.AECmag.com

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SB We never have much knowledge of what will be done to the building. We’re there at the start of the project, we measure up the building and [produce] the surveyed information, and that’s it. I think that’s going to change and particularly when it comes down to M&E and steelwork, we should all be working together at the start to produce that initial BIM model, where they can add that expert knowledge about supporting walls, steel walls, struggle elements etc. That has not happened. It’s something that is in the plan for our business in the future we will offer a service, which is more forensic, looking at asbestos, looking at drainage. At the moment we are also investigating radio-controlled helicopters with cameras on to inspect roofs. This will help us complete the BIM model, as with standard scanners on the ground we can’t see those details. We’ve been trying Autodesk 123D catch, which has been a bit hit and miss but from what we’ve seen of it, it has great potential. We hear you can get really quite good precision out of it but have not achieved that yet.

The cost MD With the extra amount of work involved in laser scanning, point cloud editing and then constructing a Revit BIM model, how much extra does it cost to get a BIM deliverable over a traditional set of 2D survey drawings? SB It obviously depends on the size of the building and its complexity. I’d say as a ballpark, it’s 30%-50% more to have a 3D BIM model. This sometimes causes misunderstandings with customers getting quotes, as they think that we are collecting the same information to create surveys to produce 2D drawing deliverables as to create a 3D model. This is a general problem with customers understanding of BIM; the costs are front loaded towards the start of the design process. We’re still creating 2D CAD drawings to supplement the BIM model because BIM in the whole refurbishment and renovation market is still in its infancy. Thinking about it, it’s still new for newbuilds as well!

■ buryassociates.co.uk

1 and 2 In 2010 Ryder Architecture was commissioned by Manchester City Council to redesign the interior layout of this Grade II listed library. Bury Associates produced the 3D model, which would form the foundation for the BIM process. It contained complex areas of detail, including intersecting vaulted ceilings following the curve of the building 3 Here the benefits of getting a BIM model back at the survey stage over a set of 2D drawings are clearly obvious. Models can be quickly sectioned and voids identified in the building

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Designviz An intern produces stunning visualistions that showcase Lyon Central Station by Stephen Holmes

Centre stage 24

Given the choice of several buildings to visualise during an internship at Hamburg’s Lichtecht studio, graduate Thomas Pisz was drawn to the curved forms of Lyon Central Station. Initially, he considered the materials, curved forms and structurally simple platforms of renowned architect Santiago Calatrava’s design to be a straightforward project to test his visualisation skills. However, the challenge got bigger and bigger. Modelling one area in 3D would

impact greatly on another and the shape of the exterior cut-outs brought challenges to realistically lighting the model and its intricate internal metalwork. The project is based on 3D elements except the skies, which are slowed time-lapse footage. Expecting to take five to six weeks, it took three months to complete the full animation and produce eight impressive stills. “The project was a one-man show,” says Lichtecht CEO Matthias Arndt. “Every 3D model was built by Pisz.”

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Gallery

Mr Pisz finally came to terms with the size of the project and to understand its flow when modelling the main body of the building. This gave him an opportunity to pick out architectural details to visualise. To help get around the daunting scale, Mr Arndt advised Mr Pisz to step away from the 3D model and to draw out the views that would work best. “We told him to shut down the computer, take a pencil and sketch what he would like to shoot,” says Mr Arndt. “[Mr Pisz] said www.AECmag.com

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that this was one of the best pieces of advice he got from us.” From the beginning Mr Pisz worked in 3ds Max for the creation of the 3D elements, using V-Ray for rendering. Post-processing was done in Photoshop and After Effects. Practically each still or shot was pre-visualised, followed mostly by two “correction rounds”, before rendering and retouching. “The modelling wasn’t the most difficult part, just the most time-consuming,” says

Mr Arndt. “Trying to reach photorealism was the hardest part. “Mr Pisz had very high expectations of himself: creating the right material, finding the optimal light setup, creation of a good concept for the short film... These were the real challenges.” Mr Arndt was impressed enough with Mr Pisz’s first ever animation to ask him to return to do some more, which is surely the sign of a successful work placement. ■ lichtect.de ■ vimeo.com/23675583

July / August 2012

16/7/12 15:02:02

Comment

Who is watching your CAD data? As recent confirmed cyber attacks on the Middle East show that state-sponsored industrial espionage may no longer be the domain of spy films, AEC Magazine asks how secure is your CAD data? by Martyn Day

ooking back over 50 years of infect and self-destruct Siemens uranium was written in AutoLISP and Visual Basic Scripts. It is possible that, if someone should James Bond it struck me that the enrichment centrifuges in Iran. Another as yet unnamed nation state was want to, they could pick any popular design typical target for hard-working bad guys were defense products. implicacted in a malware attack, dubbed system to manipulate. If defence designs are A facially scarred, multi-nippled or highly Flame, that used Skype to record nearby what is required how about Catia or sadistic man with disposable henchmen, conversations, capture screenshots, activat- Siemens’ PLM NX? Mr Cluley did little to reassure me. would steal nuclear/solar/bio/stealth ed bluetooth to capture IP addresses and “We are seeing more attacks to steal weapons to extort cash or instigate world transmit documents across the Middle East. While state-sponsored espionage is bound designs and IP, as well as spying on organidestruction. Unfortunately, these days, the really bad guys are not so obvious in their to hit the headlines, it is the more ‘mundane’ sations,” he said and warned that “just as appearance and are more likely to be hav- cyber attacks that should give every design the financial institutions protect their computers, the same has to be applied to engiing a pizza and beer somewhere at the end and engineering firm a pause for thought. Senior technology consultant at anti-vi- neering firms”. of a telephone line. However, Mr Cluley did indicate that, at We recent had ‘news’ from ESET securi- rus provider Sophos, Graham Cluley, said ty software developers that a virus specifi- that the company finds over 100,000 new present, there are “very few” viruses written to make use of the active compocally written for AutoCAD had nents in CAD files. Instead, viruses been found that had infected comof this kind are typically created by puters in Peru and emailed thoupeople trying to prove a point than sands of DWG design files to web We are seeing more attacks to steal cause damage. servers in China. Autodesk condesigns and IP, as well as spying “The real danger are Trojans,” tacted AEC Magazine to say that says Mr Cluley. “[Trojans are] the the malware was almost 10 years on organisations regular malware that opens a old and that any virus checker back door to your computer, would have picked it up, had the allowing remote access your files. company bothered to have any and closed specific ports on its routers. virus, trojans and malware for Microsoft These are system level and once inside, can go anywhere.” Autodesk did admit, though, that the send- Windows every day. I pondered whether cloud tools and coling of DWGs to China was something new Compared to that, Sophos finds “a handin the behaviour of this variant of the ful” each week of new viruses for Apple laborative storage was an increased risk of ‘ACAD/Medre.A’ malware. OSX. “Dozens” of Android visues are viruses or espionage? Mr Cluley agreed: found, many of which are financial-scams, “There’s an element of trust with cloud Designs at risk linked to premium rate SMS services, tro- services which may not be well placed,” This got me thinking, just how safe are our jan access to files and collecting passwords. he said. By way of example, Mr Cluley said that designs? In this ever competitive world, “Google has not done well in policing its file sharing site Dropbox recently had its industrial espionage does not require spys App store,” he said. password authentication turned off, so that like James Bond and is not carried out by shoe-knife wielding eastern block maids or Better the devil you know? any password would gain access, even it it evil geniuses in Zeppelins. CAD developers have, over the years, was incorrect. Recent media reports claimed that the US expanded their software to include program“The cloud also opens up other issues, and Israel sponsored a virus event in 2010 ming languages that manipulate design files. such as where exactly is your data stored,” called Stuxnet, which used Windows to The AutoCAD case I mentioned previously says Mr Cluley. “What countries do the serv-

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ers reside in? With a rise in state-sponsored spying maybe you would like to know exactly where your designs are residing and what laws protect your data, if any? It’s a question of who can you trust?” This is a real concern. If CAD tools are migrating to the cloud, how would an organisation like the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment cope if it cannot isolate its CAD systems from the Internet? To my mind the cloud is just not feasible when highly sensitive design data is being stored or shared. Then there is the thorny issue of social networking. “Social sites are becoming an easy way to gain access [to corporate networks],” says Mr Cluely. “False invites from people you know to services such as Linked-In can let someone gain access to everyone you professionally know. Just because you think you know who the email is from doesn’t mean you know who did the typing. “The Social networks have introduced a new dynamic in the way that viruses and malware are passed on. Like the real world, you get infections from people you know.”

With the extended reach of the design office and increased consumption of engineering data, the opportunity for theft increases. The move to cloud services raises questions yet to be answered and pervasiveness of social networks make humans by far the weakest security link. All it takes is for one member of staff to accept a bogus invite and the whole network could be unlocked, with potential access to the rest of the company. Pen and paper with your dry martini anybody? www.AECmag.com

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Image: Fotolia - Light Impression

Conclusion

There are “very few” viruses written to make use of the active components in CAD files, said Sophos’ Graham Cluley. Instead, viruses of this kind are typically created by people trying to prove a point than cause damage

June / August 2012

16/7/12 15:17:08

Review

Bluebeam Revu iPad by Greg Corke

PDF markup does not have to cost a bomb. Bluebeam’s new cut down version of Revu is a great way to redline CAD docs wherever you go.

Libraries of custom markups can be n just a few years, the iPad has become one of the most influential technologies shared with other users, by exporting and in the AEC market. iTunes has become importing a ‘BTX’ file. This makes it easy to a hotbed for apps that enable viewing, push out corporate standards to multiple users. There is full compatibility here editing and collaborating with CAD data. Autodesk and Bentley are leading the between the Windows and iPad versions. Marking up with a finger is quite a natupack, but there are also several smaller firms getting in on the action. There is not an ‘app ral process, though at times, our first generation iPad was quite slugfor everything’ AEC quite yet, gish. We recommend using a but the iPad looks certain to second or third-gen iPad for play an increasingly important Bluebeam best results. role in the AEC sector in the Revu iPad In addition to standard coming years. The portability markups, it is possible to drop of the device is perfect for onPrice £6.99 ■ bluebeam.com images into the PDF. These can site work and most of the apps be selected from the iPad’s are free or very low cost. photo library or taken directly Drawing markup is the latest AEC process to get the iPad treatment. with the built-in camera. This is great way Bluebeam has developed a cut down version of communicating site issues, such as a of its AEC-focussed Windows PDF markup clash. It does not even have to be a physical object — a quick hand drawn sketch is and collaboration tool, Bluebeam Revu. sometimes the easiest way to communicate The Revu iPad interface a proposed amendment. At first glance the interface of Revu iPad is a little bewildering — a collection of icons, Working with PDF files with the markup tools hidden away on the In developing Revu iPad, Bluebeam has righthand side of the display. Once you acknowledged that users do not always have become familiar though it is actually quite access to 3G or WiFi, so files can be retrieved intuitive. The icons are a little on the small online or offline. side, but this helps maximise the viewable There are a number of ways to get PDFs area for drawings on the iPad’s modest 9.7- into the app — via email, dropbox, box, inch screen. An iPad stylus can help those WebDAV or iTunes. From the iPad’s email whose fingers are less than elegant. client, simply tap and hold, then ‘open There is a whole suite of redlining tools, with’ Revu iPad. Dropbox or box accounts from clouds and callouts, to text notes and can be registered with the app so files that lines. All of these tools are fully customisable are stored in the cloud can be accessed by colour, fill, opacity, line type and font. directly through the Revu iPad interface. Meta-data can also be added for more Like most iPad apps, Revu iPad can only detailed comments. Editing a markup is open one file at a time, but handy tabs at the easy. Simply ‘tap and hold’ to bring up its top of the drawing window make it easy to context menu, then change any of the attri- switch between recently opened documents. butes. Redlines can also be copy/pasted and Files can also be assigned to custom catecustom styles saved in a tool chest. gories, such as by project, so it is easy to 28

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bring order to the long list of locally cached files displayed in the ‘file access’ tab. Revu iPad can also integrate with Bluebeam Studio so multiple users can collaborate in real time on the same PDF via the cloud. Each client caches the file locally and as redlines are added, they automatically update on all devices in real time. There is a chat facility to aid communication between all parties and the system stores a log of each collaborative session. Collaborative sessions can be invoked from both the Windows and iPad apps. Simply upload the file to Bluebeam Studio and invite participants by email.

Tracking markups Every time a markup is made, it records the author, date, time, status and any comments. All of this information can be accessed in the ‘markup list’, which pulls up from the bottom of the screen. Markups can be ordered and filtered by category. Tap a markup in the list and it jumps to its location in the drawing. Tap a markup in the document and it highlights it in the list.

Conclusion Bluebeam Revu iPad is a great little tool for redlining PDFs. Running on the iPad it is highly portable, so great for site work, and at £6.99 it is an absolute steal. The app does have its limitations — there are no measurement tools, digital signatures or support for 3D PDFs. There is also no way to insert, delete or reorder multi-page PDFs. But the beauty of Revu iPad goes beyond its core viewing and redlining capabilities. It is just one part of a whole ecosystem of PDF creation, markup and editing tools. When used in conjunction with Bluebeam Studio it becomes a powerful real time collaboration tool. www.AECmag.com

16/7/12 13:55:54

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ITshowcase.indd 1

5/4/12 14:49:19

Review HP’s free cloud service enables users to share files on multiple devices and print to any web-ready Designjet printer.

ePrint & Share HP ePrint & Share can be accessed through a web browser, or a Windows, iPhone/iPad or Android app

by Greg Corke

DFs have become ubiquitous in the AEC sector. They are compact, easy to share and can be viewed by anyone — on multiple devices. What is more, they make re-printing drawings easy. There is no need to worry about layers, line weights, fonts and missing reference files — the PDF has all the print settings embedded inside. Despite the increase of digital workflows, architectural and engineering drawings continue to be printed in huge numbers. Large format inkjet printing has pretty much been nailed as a process — sharp lines, rich colours and fast output — but there is still much that can be done to streamline print workflows. HP’s ePrint & Share takes a fresh look at the way large format drawings are shared and printed. The cloud-based system supports a number of file formats including PLT, HP-GL/2, JPG and TIFF, but the major focus is on PDF. Registration is free and users are given 5GB of cloud storage. Documents can be accessed from a range of devices and printed out on any web-connected HP Designjet printer. ePrint & Share is not a full-blown web-based document management tool, but that is part of its attraction. It is simple to use, easy to print from and, most importantly, does not cost a bean. Access can be through a web browser, or a Windows, iPhone/iPad or Android app. The system can print directly to one of three HP Designjets: the T790 and T1300 ePrinters and the T2300 MFP, which also includes a scanner. With the printers being connected to the Internet users do not need to be on the same network, or worry about having the right drivers. The printer could be next door, on a construction site office or in another country — it does not matter. Adding a printer is easy. Simply get the Designjet’s unique code from its touchscreen and register it with an ePrint & Share account.

Printing from Windows The Windows app serves a number of purposes. It installs a desktop application, through which documents can be printed or shared. It also enables documents to be www.AECmag.com

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printed directly from Windows Explorer — simply right click on a file, then select a printer from the ePrint & Share menu. The software will also detect any AutoCAD installations (2007-2012) and automatically install a plug-in, which is accessible from AutoCAD’s pull down file menu. This enables PDFs to be created at the same time a drawing is printed, a process that usually has to be done in serial. Furthermore, PDFs can be automatically sent to the cloud, ready for sharing or printing. Direct printing from AutoCAD WS, the cloud-based CAD editor, is also supported.

Sharing files ePrint & Share is not only about printing. In fact the system could be used just to share files with project members. Simply highlight one or more files to create a ‘share event’, add a description and then type in the email addresses of the recipient(s). The system then sends an email that includes two links: one to download the file, the other to create an ePrint & Share account if the recipient does not already have one. Download links are unique to each account so it is not possible for recipients to share files that have not been authorised by the owner. The system keeps track of who has viewed or printed each file and only the owner of a particular ‘share event’ can delete it from the system. Only files that are ‘owned’ by the account holder eat into the 5GB of storage space. Files can also be shared through a web browser or via the mobile apps. On the iPhone/iPad simply open a ‘share event’, type in an email address or add users from the phone’s address book. When viewing drawings on the iPhone/iPad, all the usual multi-touch gestures are supported, such as pinch-to-zoom and drag to pan. While we have not tested the Android version, we would expect similar functionality.

The iPhone/iPad app can also be used to print documents remotely. This could be from home, on the way to a meeting, or in the middle of a muddy site, where large format drawings can be printed out ready and waiting at the site office. The app can also be used to print PDFs that have been sent via email — simply open the doc, click ‘open in’ ePrint & Share and select the web-enabled printer.

Direct from the printer Shared documents can also be accessed from the Designjet printer using the touchscreen. Users can pan and zoom around a drawing prior to committing to print. With a built in scanner, the Designjet T2300 MFP also supports redlining workflows. Simply print out the drawing, mark it up, scan it in, and load it up to the cloud. Back at the design office, the CAD operator can be instantly notified by email, then make the necessary changes and issue a brand new PDF.

Conclusion ePrint & Share is a great tool for sharing documents with a distributed team. It is simple to use, accessible on many platforms and best of all it is free. There are many other great cloud services for sharing data — DropBox is a favourite at AEC Magazine and easier to use — but ePrint & Share can give email notifications when new docs are available and the owner can see who has viewed files. But the real strength of ePrint & Share is that it is closely tied into printing. Working with HP’s web connected printers, users can print from literally anywhere, as long as they have an Internet connection. This removes the headache of having to join local networks and download print drivers and also offers ultimate flexibility on mobile devices when out in the field. All-in-all, a neat little tool. ■ hp.com/go/simplify

July / August 2012

16/7/12 15:18:11

Review

HP Z1 workstation HP’s new all-in-one combines desktop workstation-class components with a stunning 27-inch LED backlit display. The results are incredible. Greg Corke drools over one of the most elegant, serviceable workstations he has ever seen.

Back in its collapsed state, with the ll-in-one PCs have an obvious appeal — sleek lines, minimal screen horizontal and facing up, the Z1 is wires, and no tower to clutter up ready to do its party trick. By releasing the desk. The downside is you two front clips the screen can be lifted up, are pretty much stuck with the machine you car bonnet style, to reveal the components bought. Upgrading or servicing an all-in- inside. Unlike other all-in-ones, there are one may be the idea of a perfect Friday night no screws and no risk of scratching the in for an IT geek. For the rest of us, it is a screen by having to place it face down. nightmare of wires, leftover screws and The Z1 even has a hydraulic shock absorber to stop the screen slamming shut, tools that do not fit. The HP Z1 is a far cry from the main- though you would need some bravado to stream all-in-ones sold in PC World. properly put this to the test. Underneath the hood, everyDesigned from the ground up thing is incredibly well for serviceability, the 27-inch Product spec organised with hardly any integrated workstation is as ■ Intel Xeon E3-1280 wires in view. The custom functional as it is elegant. It is (3.5GHz) (Quad Core) power supply, GPU, hard an incredible feat of engineering ■ 8GB (2 x 4GB) drive(s), CPU, memory and and doesn’t its creator just know DDR3-1600 ECC memory DVD drive are all laid out nicely it. HP’s slick CG marketing vid■ HP mainboard from left to right. Simply pull on eos do an excellent job of show(Intel C206 chipset) a green lever and the part pops ing off the ‘power without the 4000 (2GB) graphics out. Everything bar the CPU is tower’ (tinyurl.com/HP-Z1■ 1TB 7,200 RPM incredibly easy to replace. D3D). The good news is, it is just SATA hard disk drive Blind mate connectors mean as impressive in real life. ■ Nvidia Quadro there is no messing when swapBut the Z1 is more than just a 1000M GPU (2GB) ping out drives. The caddy that wonderful balance of form and ■ 27” IPS LED backlit monitor (2,560 x holds a single 3.5-inch drive or function. It is a fully equipped 1,440 resolution) two 2.5-inch drives clicks in and workstation, certified to run all ■ Microsoft Windows out in seconds. This same level the leading CAD and BIM appli7 Professional 64-bit of serviceability also applies to cations. It has a workstation ■ 3 year worldwide the graphics card, a mobile class Intel Xeon CPU, up to parts, labour and next business day Nvidia Quadro GPU mounted 32GB ECC memory, high peronsite service in a desktop style housing. formance storage, a professional warranty Nvidia Quadro GPU and a top £2,431 The power within quality 27-inch 2,560 x 1,440 ■ hp.com/uk/z1 display. From the outside it may With all eyes on the tool-less look like an Apple iMac with a chassis it is easy to forget the black finish makeover, but the Z1 is a com- Z1’s other standout feature — its workstapletely different beast altogether. tion class components. Our test machine’s top-end 3.5GHz Intel Open all hours Xeon E3-1280 is ideal for mainstream The Z1’s convertible tool-less chassis is the CAD and, with four CPU cores, suitable star of the show. From its folded down state, for occasional rendering or simulation. The acoustics are impressive, with harda press of the green button at the front of the stand clicks things into action, releasing the ly any fan noise even when hammering all screen to move into its upright position. A four CPU cores in our 3ds Max rendering fair bit of force is needed here, and there is test. However, with a 400W power supply certainly a knack to expanding and collaps- and strict thermal limits there is no place ing, but the hinge feels strong and sturdy so for an eight core CPU, which will be disappointing for those heavily into rendering. do not be afraid to apply pressure.

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Downsizing the CPU is an option. A 3.3GHz Intel Xeon E3-1245 will save a fair bit of cash but only drops the GHz down a couple of notches. The dual core 3.33GHz Intel Core i3-2120 should really only be considered for entry-level 3D or 2D CAD. While all three ‘Sandy Bridge’ CPUs offer good solid options for CAD they are already slightly out of date. We would expect Intel’s new generation ‘Ivy Bridge’ chips to put in an appearance in the Z1 soon, as they have already in HP’s entrylevel desktop workstation, the Z220. For 3D graphics the Z1 has a multitude of options — a choice of four Nvidia Quadro mobile GPUs. The entry level Quadro 500M and Quadro 1000M are likely to be a little underpowered for mainstream CAD users. Indeed, our Quadro 1000M’s score of 22 in our SolidWorks graphics benchmark left us a little underwhelmed. For a little more oomph we would recommend a Quadro 3000M or 4000M, though a graphics upgrade, particularly to the Quadro 4000M, will push up the price a fair bit. It could be that the Z1 gets some new GPUs soon. HP already offers Nvidia’s new generation Kepler-based Quadro K1000M, K2000M, K3000M, K4000M and K5000M GPUs in its mobile workstations. The possibility of more 3D performance could be worth waiting for. 3D SolidWorks models viewed on the professional 27-inch HP DreamColor display are breathtaking. The 2,560 x 1,440 image is crystal clear, bright and incredibly responsive with virtually no ghosting when moving 3D models around on screen. The colours on the LED-backlit IPS panel are superb and the viewing angle is noticeably good. It stands shoulder to shoulder with Dell’s excellent UltraSharp U2711. With a DisplayPort port on the rear of the machine the Z1 could also be used as a monitor, hooking in a laptop or a more powerful workstation. The port also doubles as an output, so a secondary display could be used alongside, perhaps for CAE or rendering, or simply email and Web. www.AECmag.com

16/7/12 15:18:53

A Lid release clips ● B Hydraulic shock absorber ● C PSU ● D GPU ● E CPU ● F RAM (four ● G DVD drive ● H Hard drive(s) ● I Dual-cone stereo speakers ● J 2 USB DIMM slots) ● K Stand release button 3.0, 1 IEEE 1394a, mic, headphone, 4-in-1 media card reader ●

The Z1 display pops ups, just like a car bonnet, making it incredibly easy to service

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Compared to a standard desktop the Z1’s only real trade off is with storage, impacting those who store data locally as opposed to a server. With a choice of one 3.5-inch drive (up to 2TB SATA 7,200RPM drive) or two 2.5-inch drives (300GB - 600GB SATA 10K or 160GB — 300GB SSD), it is not possible to have large capacity and high performance without paying big bucks. Desktop workstations that offer a combination of SSD or 10k SATA (for OS and apps) with a high capacity SATA (for data) have a big advantage here. A single SSD with a high capacity external drive plugged into one of side mounted USB 3.0 ports would do a job, but it is not an elegant solution. More ports are available at the rear of the machine, but sadly these are only USB 2.0. Firewire (IEEE 1394a) and Gigabit LAN also comes as standard, and for those that are happy to trade off transfer rates for a completely wireless experience, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless LAN is included. It would be a crime to ruin the Z1’s good looks with a wired mouse and keyboard, an offence committed by the suppliers of our review machine. However, a relatively low cost upgrade to an HP Wireless Keyboard and Mouse would instantly remedy this.

www.AECmag.com

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Conclusion The HP Z1 is an exceptional machine — compact, good looking and easy to service — everything you would want from an allin-one. But it also offers buckets of power for mainstream CAD, boasts an incredible 27-inch IPS display and with ISV certification there is full support when running all types of CAD/CAM/CAE software. Before this review becomes a big Z1 lovein, it is probably time for a little perspective. The lack of flexibility in storage could be an issue for some users. CAD data is not getting any smaller, and it is a shame users have to choose between capacity and performance, or pay a big premium for both. It is also a big shame the Z1 is limited to four CPU cores. Eight core chips are great

for rendering and by not giving this option the Z1 is less likely to appeal to AEC firms heavily into design visualisation. But perhaps the biggest barrier to buying into the Z1 dream is price. Compared to a standard workstation / monitor combo, it is clear that there is a premium to pay for the Z1’s innovative design. A Dell Precision T1650 of a similar specification, plus a Dell UltraSharp U2711 comes in a few hundred pounds cheaper. Plus in a few years when the workstation reaches end of life, you can keep hold of the IPS display and just upgrade the workstation. But you cannot put a price on elegance. All things considered if we had the money we would dump our desktop workstations in a flash. The Z1 offers a unique proposition in what has become a somewhat predictable workstation market. However, before parting with our hard earned cash we would certainly wait to see if the next generation Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs come on board.

Even with a top quality display and desktop workstation-class components, the HP Z1 is still a relatively slimline all-in-one

July / August 2012

16/7/12 15:18:58

Reviews

InterPro IPW-iB [i5] workstation

the top end Core i7 3770K, users will notice very little difference when performing core CAD tasks. The real differentiator will come when using a ray trace renderer. Here, the Core i7 3770K’s support for Hyperthreading A well-rounded low cost workstation for would give it a significant advantage over CAD based on Intel’s new Ivy Bridge CPU the Core i5 3570K. For those that focus solely on Building You do not have to spend a fortune on Information Modelling (BIM), the Core i5 is the logical choice. hardware for entry-level 3D Backed up with 8GB RAM, CAD. At just under £900, Product spec there is enough capacity to InterPro’s latest IPW-iB [i5] ■ Intel Core i5 3570K work with mid-sized models workstation is a testament to (3.4GHz) (Quad Core) across multiple this, combining new technolo(Ivy Bridge) applications. For gy in processor, graphics and ■ 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR-3 1600MHz graphics, the storage to good effect. (PC3-12800) memory AMD FirePro The system is built around ■ Intel DH77KC V4900 (1GB) is Intel’s brand new ‘Ivy Bridge’ mainboard an ideal partner processor, a small improvement ■ 120GB Intel 330 — enough GPU over its ‘Sandy Bridge’ predecesSeries SATA3 SSD power to make sor, bringing lower power con■ AMD FirePro V4900 (1GB GDDR5) sure complex sumption and a small increase graphics models move in performance to the table. ■ Microsoft Windows smoothly on InterPro has not gone all out 7 Professional 64-bit screen and, for with Ivy Bridge for this review ■ 3 years return to those that like machine. In order to hit the sub base warranty (incl working with extended desk£900 price point, it has opted parts and labour) tops, support for three displays for a mid-range model — the £880 through AMD Eyefinity. 3.4GHz Core i5 3570K (quad ipworkstations.com Some may find our test core). Only 0.1GHz slower than

Workstation Specialists M1550 A good all round mobile workstation about to get better with an Ivy Bridge upgrade. Mobile workstations with powerful GPUs are great if you are seriously into design vizualisation, but the Nvidia Quadro 5010M is wasted on the average CAD user. The 2GB Quadro 3000M in Workstation Specialists’ (WS) latest mobile workstation offers a much better balance of price / performance. While Nvidia might market it as ‘high-end’ it is probably better matched to mainstream 3D CAD workflows. Working alongside the Quadro is an Intel Core i7 2760QM (Sandy Bridge). This mainstream CPU runs at 2.4GHz but turbo boosts to 3.5GHz where possible. When all four cores are running flat out — as in our rendering test — it never gets this high, soon settling on 2.7GHz as the chip heats up. We were a touch disappointed that our 34

July / August 2012

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machine a bit light in terms of storage capacity. With a single 120GB Intel 330 Series SSD, InterPro has designed this machine for use in an environment where data is mostly stored on a server. For those that need more gigabytes, InterPro can add a high-capacity SATA drive without too much expense. Boasting 500MB/s (read) and 450MB/s (write), the brand new Intel drive certainly offers much for an entry-level workstation. From a standing start, the machine booted in a mere 21 seconds and felt responsive throughout with applications and datasets loading quickly. InterPro also offers an overclocked version of this machine (the K suffix of the Core i5 3570K CPU denotes that the chip is fully unlocked). This would push up the overall system cost to just under £1,000 but would probably boost performance by around 20%-30%. A worthwhile investment in our eyes, but sub £1,000 or sub £900, the choice is yours. If you are in the market for a low cost machine for CAD or BIM the IPW-iB [i5] looks to be an excellent proposition. Greg Corke

test machine did not come kitted out with the price considerably. Standard SATA one of Intel’s new ‘Ivy Bridge’ chips. WS had drives are also offered and with 3 x USB planned to include a Core i7 3720QM, but and an eSATA port for connecting external was unable to get one in time. The new Ivy disks there are plenty of storage options. The chassis is pretty standard fare. The Bridge chips will be available by the time you read this article and, the good news is, at backlit keyboard features a full numeric keypad, which is great for CAD, and the trackno extra charge. pad’s two finger multi touch On paper, the Core i7 3720QM scrolling is a welcome inclusion. runs a bit faster (2.6GHz, turbo Product spec There is a little too much travel boosting to 3.6GHz), so we ■ Intel Core i7 on the trackpad buttons for our would expect a small but signifi2760QM (2.4GHz) (Quad Core) liking, but most CAD users will cant increase in the overall per■ 16GB PC3-1333MHz use an external mouse so this formance of the machine. DDR-3 memory should not matter too much. A Considering this is a mobile ■ 120GB Intel 520 fingerprint reader sits in workstation, Series SATA3 Solid between the trackpad buttons there is no comState Drive (SSD) to help secure sensitive data. promise when it ■ Nvidia Quadro 3000M (2GB) GPU The 15.6-inch HD screen is comes to memo■ Microsoft Windows high-gloss and delivers a qualiry. 16GB (up to a 7 Professional 64-bit ty image. External displays or maximum of ■ 15.6” W-UXGA projectors can be connected via 32GB) means it (1,920 x 1,080) LED DisplayPort, HDMI or DVI. can handle some display The WS-M1550 is a good allsizeable datasets. ■ 3.1kg round mobile workstation for Storage is not ■ 376x256x35-43mm mainstream CAD. With the massive — a 120GB ■ 36 months parts and labour warranty Nvidia Quadro 3000M there Intel 520 series SSD — is a good balance of price / perbut, with 550 MB/s (read) and £1,855 formance and at 3.1kg it is light 520 MB/s (write), performance workstation specialists.com enough for everyday use on is excellent. Higher capacity SSDs are available but push up the road. Greg Corke www.AECmag.com

16/7/12 15:19:43

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