AEC Magazine May / June 2014

BIM in the cloud

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

Seamless multi-site collaboration

The future of Rhino Autodesk 2015 / ReCap Tackling real BIM project issues May / June 2014 >> Vol.72 p01_AEC_MAYJUNE14_Cover V2.indd 1

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BIM Projects and Civil Partnerships!

Image Courtesy of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Arup Joint Venture

BIM projects need more than just 3D software At Bentley we appreciate BIM processes need more than just 3D design software to deliver a successful civil project. Parsons Brinckerhoff and Arup JV used Bentley software to design, analyse, simulate, and collaborate on the AUD 5.6 billion Brisbane Airport Link upgrade. The combination of Bentley’s road, bridge, geotechnical, and project collaboration software helped complete the BIM-compliant project in record time.

Now that’s what we call a civil partnership.

Read the case study at: www.bentley.com/BrisbaneAirport © 2014 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley and the “B” Bentley logo 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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Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

editorial

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BIM in the cloud 10 While many firms wrestle with getting BIM working on desktops in an office, one company is aiming to revolutionise collaboration by moving BIM data to the cloud

Autodesk 2015 AEC Products 14 Autodesk moves closer to becoming a services business and takes a leap from a 30-year-old upgrade cycle to a subscription only and rental model

BIM temperature check 18 Excitech consultant Rob Clark was part of a committee that ran BIM4Real to share and solve some of the problems real Building Information Modelling projects encounter

The future of Rhino 22 At the recent Shape To Fabrication conference Bob McNeel, CEO of Robert McNeel & Associates, was his usual straight-talking self when quizzed about the future of Rhino

Holmes visits Robofold and becomes transfixed by robotic origami

Regenerating London King’s Cross 26 John McAslan + Partners relied on MicroStation to develop this iconic station redevelopment that melds a Grade 1 listed building with state-ofthe-art design

Autodesk ReCap 28 In 2012 Autodesk launched ReCap, a platform for the growing reality capture market. Since then, the company has expanded its capabilities, added a layer of cloud services and recruited third party developers

Structural BIM 33 Will Norton explains how Structural BIM has revolutionised the way McElroy consulting engineers undertakes design projects

MassMotion 34

Into the fold 24

AEC catches up with the latest updates to Oasys’ MassMotion software, which provides crowd flow simulation for buildings, transport and public spaces

Using robots to bend, shape and fold sheet metal is adding freedom to architectural façade designs. Stephen

Also this month: 4, 6 and 9 News May / June 2014

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News With Graphisoft BIMcloud users can visually select geometry to reserve for modification, with built-in instant messaging

Scia Engineer opens up calcs elease 14 of Scia Engineer includes Scia Design Forms, a plug-in that enables engineers to write their own checks and engineering calculations that link directly to the Scia Engineer model.

For each entity in a 3D model (e.g. a beam, node, slab), the relevant input data (e.g. crosssections, loads) are sent directly to Scia Design Forms, where the calculation is executed.

To find out more read AEC Magazine’s tech preview (tinyurl.com/sciaform).

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Graphisoft brings BIM collaboration to the cloud raphisoft claims its new BIMcloud platform is the only cloud solution to offer a true model-based BIM collaboration environment for companies and projects of any size. The firm’s patented DeltaServer technology, which only sends small amounts of data over the network, is said to enable real-time collaboration on complex BIM models.

BIMcloud can be deployed in both public or private clouds and offers built-in conflict resolution, support for the secure HTTPS protocol and advanced backup and version rollback options. It also features mobile

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integration, allowing external team members to participate in the BIM workflow using mobile devices.

Graphisoft has also unveiled ArchiCAD 18 which, in addition to BIMcloud integration, includes CineRender, a new photorealistic rendering tool adapted from the professional visualisation application Cinema 4D. Other features include integrated revision management, improved PDF-based data exchange and Open BIM and IFC-based workflow improvements.

Turn to page 10 for our first impressions of Graphisoft BIMcloud.

■ graphisoft.com/bimcloud

Tekla focuses on construction workflow ekla is placing a big emphasis on the flow of construction information in the latest release of its structural BIM tool, Tekla Structures 20.

The software features improvements to three core tools: ‘Organizer’, which is said to deliver more efficient model information management and increased automation; ‘Task Manager’, which offers a way to plan detailing, fabrication and erection on site; and ‘Clash

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Check Manager’, designed for communicating, assigning, co-ordinating and avoiding structural conflicts.

Interoperability is another major focus to help information flow more efficiently from design, purchasing and production to the shop floor. There are more links to analysis and design solutions to help remove barriers that compromise workflow between project teams and subcontractors using different applications.

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Constructable models are also said to incorporate more detailed information than ever before.

Meanwhile, Tekla has acquired SVS Innovations’ (SVSi) construction software business and its Field3D mobile technology. Field3D is a collaboration software for BIM that enables construction professionals to access 3D model information for an entire building on smartphones and tablets.

■ teklastructures.com

■ sciadesignforms.com

Cloud-based collaboration doddle 17 is the latest release of the collaborative cloudbased platform from Asite.

The new software is said to offer improved mobile support, enhanced whole life management and a superior user experience.

Asite claims its software has helped to deliver time and cost savings of up to 70% through efficient project management. It is used on major projects including Heathrow Terminal 5, Crossrail and Dubai Airport.

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■ asite.com

Oasys project of the year asys is calling for abstracts for its Project of the Year competition, which celebrates projects designed using its structural, geotechnical or crowd simulation software.

The project can be commercial or academic and entrants need to submit an abstract by July 31.

Software licenses and a £3,000 prize fund are up for grabs.

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■ oasys-software.com/competition

www.AECmag.com

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STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING SOFTWARE - IT’S JUST PART OF WHAT WE DO Tackle any structural engineering challenge, including fabric structure design, with Oasys GSA. Structural engineers working on buildings, bridges and tensile structures need a comprehensive design program - GSA holds all the answers.

General Features - Enhanced Revit 2014 compatibility, geometrically nonlinear shell elements, increased support for country design codes, new curved and explicit members.

Floor Plate Pattern Loading - It has long been considered time consuming and extremely difficult to automatically generate useful pattern loads on floor plates, until now. GSA 8.7 includes the latest research on this to enable you to create pattern loads on floors, no matter how irregular they are.

Mesh Generation - The new mesh generation tool provides better-conditioned meshes with fewer elements, resulting in quicker modelling and analysis times with the same accuracy of result Assemblies - GSA 8.7 introduces the idea of assemblies, which is a powerful way to combine multiple elements for analysis.

Submit your Structural case study for the chance to win £500 and a year’s free maintenance. Visit oasys-software.com/competition for more information

+44 (0) 191 238 7559 oasys@arup.com

GSA 8.7 is available to download today

www.oasys-software.com

News

ROUND UP Pay per print BIM ACCA software has made its BIM software free to use and will only charge users if they print or export files.

The new distribution method, Free UPP (Free Use Pay Print), is available with the professional version of PriMus (Bills of Quantities/ Estimating) and BIM Edificius, an architectural BIM tool.

■ accasoftware.com

Revit 2015 tools Ideate BIMLink 2015.0 enables users to push and pull information from Revit into Microsoft Excel.

Ideate Explorer for Revit 2015.0 is used to manage Revit models and provide quality control. Both tools are compatible with Revit 2015.

■ ideatesoftware.com

National BIM report The fourth NBS National BIM Report is available now for free download.

The 2014 report, which looks at how UK building design professionals are adapting to the use of BIM, is said to be essential reading for those adopting – or considering adopting – BIM. ■ thenbs.com

BIMserver enhanced The 1.3.0 release of BIMserver, the open source Building Information Modelserver, is out. Major updates include improved integration of render plugins and a ‘modelchecking’ plug in. BIMserver allows users to centralise and manage the information of construction projects.

■ bimserver.org

Soluis boosts reality viz capabilities oluis Group has acquired the project portfolio & IP of London-based engineering and process virtual reality specialist KairosVR. The move will help enhance Soluis’s ability to create augmented and virtual reality experiences for its BIM-focused customers.

Augmented Reality allows users to view and interact with digital content on mobile devices linking directly with real-world objects. This could be as simple as pointing a tablet at a wall and visualising overlaid information about the building – such as concealed plumbing and electrics – or as complex as mapping an entire, photorealistic model of a new building onto the

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SketchUp iPad viewer Trimble has released the SketchUp Mobile Viewer for iPad. Users can orbit, pan and zoom around 3D models using multi-touch gestures, and present their own private 3D models to clients. SketchUp Mobile Viewer is available now for $9.99 ■ tinyurl.com/sketchview

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empty site on which it will one day sit.

Virtual reality takes this further by fully immersing the user in a digitally modelled environment – often by use of a headset with inbuilt cameras (e.g. Oculus Rift).

This allows the user to ‘walk around’ the environment and interact directly with building layouts and services in real time.

Helping deliver larger scale VR Soluis has also acquired Scottish digital immersion specialist Pixogram. Soluis will integrate Pixogram’s ‘fulldome’ installations with both its existing range of interactive solutions and resources in CGI, motion graphics and interactive app development.

■

soluis.com

Seeable brings BIM data to the masses hropshire-based Seeable is utilising the latest games engine technology to repurpose existing BIM data for a wide range of applications.

Delivered on a range of platforms including tablets, phones or PC, the company aims to make design and construction data available for areas of the facility lifecycle through an

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Facade development The “Façade Design for Fabrication” is a new end-to-end solution from Dassault Systemes for architects, engineers, contractors, and fabricators. Conceptual models of buildings can be developed and the façade extended through design, fabrication, and into construction.

■ tinyurl.com/3dsfacade

Pixogram’s ‘fulldome’ installations use a 180 degree x 180 degree screen to offer viewers an experience ‘close to being there’

interactive and intuitive 3D interface.

Functionality can be added to create bespoke applications and Seeable is seeing big interest in the use of its tools for supporting asset management by linking existing BIM data to external FM databases.

Seeable apps are also augmenting existing BIM data to support health and safety training by including safety exclusion zones, identification of areas of high risk and the ability to view safety data linked to 3D objects is included to support the training process.

On a recent project with IIPSI at Warwick University Seeable repurposed existing BIM data to visualise live sensor information from the building management system in an intuitive mobile app.

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seeable.com

Newforma pulls info from the field ewforma has introduced three new mobile apps (Capture, Tasks, and Project Email) to help improve project information management in the field.

‘Capture’ provides one place for capturing project data in the field; ‘Tasks’ offers an interactive dashboard for assigning and

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reviewing project tasks; and ‘Project Email’ provides access to emails that have been filed with Newforma Project Center.

Additionally, the company has released a new version of its ‘Plans’ app, which allows users to create and locate field notes, punch list items, and action items on drawings.

■

newforma.com

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This version has a lot of very interesting new features and quite promising new workflows.�

- Comment from Tekla Structures 20 test user

Why wait?

TEKLA STRUCTURES 20 sets the new benchmark for building information modelling (BIM) software.

Realise a world of possibilities with the tool that handles every step of construction. Upgrade to this latest version and make your workflow more efficient and organised than ever with significant improvements and new features. Convert complex geometrical models into parts, then modify them as if they were original.

Plus, we have brought even more detail to the modelling tools including filigree slabs and improved welds.

And because of our commitment to open BIM, your opportunities for collaboration have never been greater.

Why wait - improve your workflow and download now

teklastructures.com

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ArchiCAD 18 offers a streamlined workflow solution, keeping architects in the creative design flow with as little disruption as possible.

The integration of CineRender, MAXON’s world-class CINEMA 4D rendering engine into ArchiCAD 18, brings high quality, photo-realistic renderings to a much wider range of designers.

ArchiCAD 18’s brand new Revision Management solution is integrated into the entire BIM workflow, providing solutions for 2D, 3D or any kind of hybrid workflows. Is also offers a smooth, PDF-based workflow and improved PDF-based data exchange by introducing BIM-related intelligence and data hierarchy into PDF files.

For further information on ArchiCAD 18 contact Graphisoft at

www.graphisoft.com

or call 01895

876222

Copyright © Graphisoft UK Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. All other company and product names may be tradenames or trademarks of their respective owners.

Image: Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex, Canada architects Alliance www.architects alliance.com Photo © Ben Rahn / A-Frame

News Asta Powerproject BIM enables users to link project plans and 3D models

Asta turns to the cloud for 4D planning sta is focusing on affordable 4D planning by combining 3D planning and scheduling in Asta Powerproject BIM. This latest version of the project management software Asta Powerproject will enable users to link project plans and 3D models in a single, cloud-connected tool and share information using the IFC4 format.

The software uses Eleco BIMCloud, from Asta parent company Eleco, to share information. From within the application users will be able to access its core project management, scheduling and resource management capabilities and draw on the functionality of other products from Eleco.

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ROUND UP 3D scans in SketchUp

According to Asta, the software will enable users to: generate a master project plan and schedule directly from an IFC4 model; link objects in an IFC4 model to specific tasks in the schedule; create and play a 3D visualisation of a build along its timeline, linked to project milestones and baselines; share and exchange information with compatible applications (including Autodesk Revit, Arcon and Bidcon) via the Eleco BIMCloud; and maintain a real-time 3D view of the evolving building throughout the project, reflecting changes from model to schedule and vice versa.

■ astadev.com

kubit links from real world to CAD ubit, a specialist in surveying, laser scanning and as-built documentation software, has released new and updated products for Autodesk’s 2015 software.

With VirtuSurv for Revit, kubit claims to deliver a first for laser scanning by allowing designers to use scan data within the Revit Family Editor.

PhoToPlan, which offers an easy way to create

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measurements, plans and models from photographs within AutoCAD, has also been enhanced through a direct link with Autodesk Recap 360. The latest versions of PhoToPlan Pro and Ultimate now allow for the use of data via ‘structure from motion’ (SFM) the idea being that users can benefit from a fast, automated tool for image calibration.

According to kubit, historically this is the most

painstaking part of the photogrammetry process and the new tool virtually eliminates this step.

Finally, Kubit has enhanced PointSense Building and Plant for the evaluation and postprocessing of 3D laser scan data in AutoCAD, and has introduced kubit MySuite, which allows customers to mix and match any of kubit’s software offerings.

■ kubit-software.com

Panzura slashes cross-site file sync times anzura is making a major play for the AEC market with its file locking technology, which it claims solves cross-site collaboration issues of applications like Revit, AutoCAD, Civil3D, and Bentley MicroStation.

According to the company, its patented solution can reduce application sync

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time of users in distributed sites from 20 minutes to 10 seconds, truly enabling all users to work as if they were in the same room.

“Our global file locking, de-duplication, and compression systems enable globally distributed users of AEC applications to access and share huge files from the cloud with the same speed as if they were stored

locally, and that’s something nobody else can do,” said Randy Chou, co-founder and CEO of Panzura.

The company, who has Autodesk CEO Carl Bass on its board of advisors, recently reported exponential growth in the AEC market, doubling its AEC customer sites in one quarter alone.

The Trimble Scan Explorer Extension for SketchUp Pro enables architects and engineers to create models from 3D scanning data.

Users can extract construction points and lines to aid modelling. Planes can be automatically extracted to help model building interiors and façades.

■ tinyurl.com/sketchscan

BIMobjects in context BIMobject has added new ‘Showcase’ and ‘Assembly’ features to its online portal of BIM content. Building product manufacturers can now show how their products can be used in different scenarios and in the context of a building. Assemblies consisting of individual products can also be built and uploaded and even combined with other brands.

■ bimobject.com

Member extraction EdgeWise Structure is designed to accurately extract properly specified steel, concrete or wood structural members from laser scan point clouds. The software features an extensive library of structural components and uses a proprietary pattern matching algorithm.

■ clearedge3d.com

PlanGrid on Android PlanGrid, the cloud-service and mobile app for viewing and organising PDF drawings, is now available for Android as well as iOS. Tools include collaboration and sharing, markups and takeoffs, punch lists and progress photos.

■ plangrid.com

BIM quality control Solibri Model Checker version 9.1, the BIM quality assurance and quality control tool, includes a host of new features for information sharing.

These include updates to markup, local/global co-ordinate stamps, and the option to add pictorial notes.

■ solibri.com

Carbon testing Project Carbon (aka Vectorize It) is a new Autodesk technology preview.

The iPad app converts images to vector CAD files that can be opened with AutoCAD 360 mobile or emailed.

■ tinyurl.com/vectorit

■ panzura.com/solutions/aec-solution

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Feature

BIM in the cloud While many firms wrestle with getting their BIM workgroup implementations working on desktops in an office, one company is aiming to revolutionise collaboration by moving the BIM data to the cloud.

by Martyn Day

W

e all know that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a hot topic and is now being backed up with increasing numbers of adopters, assisted in the UK with an impending government mandate for its own building projects.

While there are many advantages to the deployment of modelling technology, one aspect that is currently being lauded are its benefits to collaboration within design teams and project participants, in federated and highly disconnected building industries.

Unfortunately, this advantage has still yet to be truly realised, partly for cultural reasons, but also for some serious technical ones. Nearly all BIM modelling applications were designed primarily as solo seats, for so-called ‘lonely BIM’, with very

little consideration that there may be five, 10 or 200 seats working collaboratively on a single model or project.

BIM severs, such as Autodesk Revit Server, are relatively new and will usually only work with one vendor’s BIM tool and proprietary format. Significant data incompatibilities between vendors’ proprietary BIM formats and the huge file sizes of BIM models have not helped inhouse or wide-area collaborative working.

This can be a massive problem, even for experienced BIM users who have to patch together their own technology stacks from an array of applications.

The best implementation of a BIM workgroup server that AEC Magazine has seen comes from Hungarian developer, Graphisoft and its Teamwork product, which was first released in 2009. While

limited to managing ArchiCAD modelling sessions, the company has produced an easy to deploy server that runs on a local machine and operates over LAN or WAN networks.

Users can visually select geometry to reserve for modification, with built-in instant messaging. This level of granular access means only small amounts of data (measured in Kb) are sent over the network in an editing session.

Teamwork also provides a management layer with allocation of roles and access with reports. Graphisoft recently took the next logical step and announced that it is taking this capability to the cloud.

Big in Japan For the launch Graphisoft, which is based in Budapest, chose to hold an event in

ArchiCAD 18 preview It may not be a coincidence that BIMcloud has arrived at roughly the same time as Graphisoft’s yearly update to its flagship BIM tool ArchiCAD, which of course comes BIMcloud ready. AEC magazine will review ArchiCAD 18 in depth in the next edition but here are a few of the new features to whet your appetites: ArchiCAD 18 offers a number of ‘bundled’ technologies across its existing brands, a lack of which has been criticised in the past.

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It has a built-in Cinema 4D rendering engine. This offers easy one-button “photo-shot” rendering without the need to tweak sliders and parameters, all the way through to full-interface and capability professional usercustomised rendering within ArchiCAD. ArchiCAD 18 features revision management and automatically documents changes to the building model. It tracks the who, why, what and when throughout the

entire 3D BIM to 2D documentation workflow.

Pushing open standards, Graphisoft has added support for buildingSMART’s BCF (BIM Collaboration Format), which is an XML schema for collaboratively sharing data. ArchiCAD adds mark-up entries into its BIM models following the BCF data structures. To date, Tekla Structures, Solibri Model Checker and DDS Architecture all have built in support for BCF.

BIMcloud and ArchiCAD

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(Above) BIMcloud architecture (Right) Users can visually select geometry to reserve for modification, with built-in instant messaging

Tokyo, Japan. While on the face of it, this pleted ‘Smart BIM Cloud’ research projects Graphisoft, with long-term strategic benmay seem like a unusual and expensive with Obayashi, a leading construction con- efits for the company and ArchiCAD option, the trip was not just about the tractor and NEC Corporation, the IT and adoption.

At the same time, product enhancements new technology but also about looking at network integrator.

The launch of BIMcloud in Japan there- developed from its work with Japanese clithe global BIM market outside of the traditional European and North American fore made sense – that is where it was rig- ents will be integrated into future product revisions for all geographies. However, markets, where vendors such as Autodesk orously trialled and adopted.

Much of this BIM deployment has considering how global and especially have much of the BIM mindshare.

In reality, outside of the UK and America, occurred in the last three years or less how dominant these firms are in South AutoCAD and Revit’s apparent domination with many firms taking a measured and East Asia the huge benefits to Graphisoft within the supply chains is not the typical status are obvious. quo. In mainland Europe, companies such as BIMcloud Nemetschek, owners of BIMcloud extends ArchiCAD infrastructure Graphisoft, Vectorworks Building on its previous via the Internet to hosted ArchiCAD project and Allplan, have a bigBIM server technology, ger market share than BIMcloud extends the servers. Authorised users from all over the Autodesk Revit in many ArchiCAD BIM infraworld can log into the BIMcloud server and countries. structure via the Internet access live ArchiCAD-based projects Graphisoft’s invitato hosted ArchiCAD projtion to Japan was equalect servers. Authorised ly an eye opener to seeusers from all over the ing different attitudes to BIM adoption pragmatic approach to adoption. While world can log into the BIMcloud server and software in South East Asia. most of the users I talked to are AutoCAD and access live ArchiCAD-based projects.

Graphisoft is making a serious commit- customers, Graphisoft is tailoring its BIM The fundamental element reservation ment to tailoring its solutions to that system to the Japanese way of working. system, roles / permission, user logs and The company has committed to inte- audits are the same as Teamwork, as are market and appears to be winning over a number of very large design build firms grate capabilities, workflows and families the granular Kilobyte transactions. This that are on aggressive, multi-year BIM of parts. It is also a major proponent of means the bandwidth required for collabopen standards with OpenBIM, which orative teams does not need any special deployment strategies.

Graphisoft estimates that in Japan it has Japanese clients are keen to adopt. network hardware or dedicated fibre lines.

Graphisoft chief executive officer Viktor four out of five of the leading AEC firms.

Graphisoft technology has always been Last year, Graphisoft has signed company- Várkonyi explained that the Japanese fairly simple to deploy in-house, requirwide deals with Kajima Corporation, which approach to business is based on trust in ing a machine to run as a BIMserver with is one of the world’s largest construction delivering on what has been agreed and some configuration. BIM servers would companies, as well as Nikken Sekki, a large customer service. be initiated per project but was limited by It is clear that the focus on the Japanese hard disk space, and speed limited in its design, engineering and management consultancy. In addition, Graphisoft also com- market is a significant commitment for configuration, slowing down with an

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Running on a public hosted server, such as Amazon Web Services, BIMcloud dispenses with most of its set-up complications and bottlenecks with all data being hosted in the cloud. It is managed via a new BIMcloud administration tool for creating, merging, editing BIM servers with expanding resources

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Tokyo express Prior to the launch event, Graphisoft took the press corps on a tour of significant buildings in Tokyo, together with some face time with clients Nikken Sekkei, to discuss its approach to Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Walk down any main street in Tokyo and it is pretty obvious that the Japanese love modern buildings, glass, steel, concrete, seemingly impossible curtain walls with an aesthetic that is pleasing to the eye.

Our first stop was the Iidabashi station commercial buildings by Nikken Sekkei, which was undergoing final fit and finish. A journey to the top of the skyscraper gave amazing views over the incredibly dense city of 13.23 million people, seemingly stretching to infinity. The BIM manager from construction firm Maeda gave us a brief overview of the company’s ongoing drive to migrate to an end-to-end BIM process.

Next up was the Jimbocho Theater, another Nikken Sekkei design, which looked like something out of a Manga cartoon.

Oak Omotesando, is an Obayashi and Tange Associates refurbishment and retrofit retail project. It was completed in ArchiCAD and stands next to the equally stunning reinforced concrete and steel framed TOD’s glass and concrete building by Toyo Ito & Associates. Tod’s is wrapped in a skin of criss-crossed concrete braces and glass that mimics the trees lining the street in Tokyo’s Aoyama district.

Prada’s Herzog & de Meuron store has to be seen to be believed, looking more like latticed jewelry than a building. The six-storey, fivesided, building has signature diamondshaped glass panes, which vary between flat, concave and convex ‘bubbles’, which result in smooth curves throughout its interior.

Businesses in Japan clearly have an appetite for experimentation and modern design. It is no wonder that the benefits of using BIM modelling and analysis is seen as such a priority to all its major AEC firms.

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increasing number of users and / or size of models / model complexity.

Running on a public hosted server, such as Amazon Web Services, BIMcloud dispenses with most of the set-up complications and bottlenecks with all data being hosted in the cloud. It is managed via a new BIMcloud administration tool for creating, merging, editing BIM servers with expanding resources. It also features access to automatic backups and version rollback, should you want a model to go back to a previous state.

BIMcloud can also operate as a private cloud, using an in-house server as the storage destination, adding an additional level of security. It is also possible to work on models offline and synchronise with the server later.

Graphisoft’s BIMx docs format supports the AEC process through its integrated 2D and 3D geometry and project metadata. It is very easy to use with a simple interface and provides navigation tools for desktop machines or mobile devices such as tablets (iOS and Android).

Comparisons have been made between Graphisoft’s BIMcloud and Autodesk’s Revit and Revit Server product. One point of difference is ArchiCAD’s forward and backwards compatibility, a well-known Revit bugbear.

Revit Server is a complex beast, requires a Windows Server, and lacks audit and permissions.

Some CAD managers I have spoken with resort to using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) for cross-Internet (and cross network) connectivity. With data being replicated all over, consideration needs to be paid to the network speed / bandwidth between each location.

If the bandwidth is not enough, many managers deploy WAN accelerators, such as a Riverbed device to compress and decompress data on the fly.

In comparison, it is pretty clear that Graphisoft is still well ahead of the competition on deployable workgroup tools.

Conclusion The launch of BIMcloud coincided with cherry blossom time in Tokyo. Perhaps an apt coincidence, as with all these technological advances and customer velocity that Graphisoft is fostering in the Asian market looks to be quickly bearing fruit.

But good technology alone does not guarantee a win. The Japanese market for any CAD developer has been a tough place to compete, with strong local developers and very demanding customers.

Graphisoft’s mature product is winning over large firms predominantly on its ability to work with customers, tailoring the product to the market.

This is not happening at Graphisoft’s expense. Customers actively assist in funding research and development to help refine their BIM workflows and processes.

Japan’s major construction firms are, step by step, moving in the same direction as the UK construction industry with plans to use their own BIM standards to compete on a global level.

The Japanese ethic on efficiency and compliance should force this through its building industry much quicker than in the UK. I suspect less ‘cajoling’ BIM lunches and drinks events are required for firms to buy in!

Graphisoft has managed to simplify BIM collaborative workflow. BIMcloud takes that to a whole new level while making it even simpler to deploy on a global scale. The Asian market is certainly in Graphisoft’s sights with Japan the first stop on its tour of this part of the world.

As for the UK and North America, success in other countries is a slow burn way of raising national profile but we should be taking greater heed as to what tools competitors are using.

Now, if Graphisoft could just build a BIMcloud for Revit, it would make a killing….

■ graphisoft.com/bimcloud

www.AECmag.com

20/5/14 17:48:45

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Feature

Autodesk 2015 AEC Products Autodesk moves closer to becoming a services business and takes a leap from a 30-year-old upgrade cycle to a subscription only and rental model.

by Martyn Day

New sketchy lines feature for Autodesk Revit 2015 enables designers to apply a hand-sketched graphic style to views of a model

A

utodesk has spent years perfecting its yearly release and upgrade cycle, managing to produce feature-rich upgrades up until the 2012 introduction of Suites.

An Autodesk subscription is modelled like a club membership and moves customers from the perception of ‘owning’ software to paying to have access to services. It is a subtle but important change.

The old upgrade cycle has now ceased to exist. Instead, customers now have the following options:

(analysis, rendering, data storage) and Autodesk is experimenting with cloudbased, web-accessed versions of its popular applications (AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor etc).

In the near future, customers will be able to store data on the cloud and have access to professional editing or querying tools wherever they are in the world (that has Internet access), on multiple types of devices, including desktop, tablet or smart phone.

According to Autodesk, the future is collaboration and server-based power.

• Maintenance Subscription, which subscribes existing licenses. Customers who wish to buy new licences will also be put on Maintenance Subscription

The AEC team has been very busy this year, both with products and web services and has introduced a number of new products and brand terms at the same time.

However, in doing so, the company has sacrificed some product clarity and something tells me this is going to get worse before it gets better.

As a general rule, if a product has ‘360’ after it, it is a cloud-based application, platform or service. If it has a year in the title, it is a desktop application.

Some products are the web-based equivalents of the desktop version, for example AutoCAD 360 for AutoCAD 2015, however the cloud-based version may not be as feature-rich as the desktop, as of yet.

Suites continue to be the main focus.

Autodesk continues to sell Standard Premium and Ultimate versions and has not altered the bundles configurations too much.

Subscription • Desktop (rental).

Customers stay on their current releases and then move to this term-based model for future products / updates • Cloud Service Subscription, which provides a selection of cloud-based services that offer access to visualisation and simulation as well as expanded mobile and collaborative access Autodesk firmly believes that customers will benefit from these services it provides through cloud computing.

Desktop products have been updated to make use of its cloud-based functionality 14

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2015 releases

Autodesk AutoCAD Design Suite 2015 has a new refined visual interface, enhanced point cloud support, and better ways to work with online maps.

Autodesk Building Design Suite 2015 has enhanced integration with Autodesk’s BIM 360 cloud services, also benefits from better point cloud capabilities, and a raft of updates to Revit.

Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite 2015 includes major enhancements to the AutoCAD-based Civil 3D software, including: user interface, corridor modelling, more efficient profile layouts, more consistency between the AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD ribbon/command set, production drafting, and simpler ways to create custom sub-assemblies.

Building Products Civil3D is quickly being usurped by Infraworks as the development platform of choice for Autodesk. However, for now Civil3D remains a very popular product based on the world-dominating AutoCAD platform.

Civil 3D 2015 sees the following improvements: • •

Greater flexibility for designing and displaying corridor models More efficient creation of profile layouts www.AECmag.com

20/5/14 12:06:25

• •

• •

•

Better production drafting to create deliverables more efficiently More consistency between the AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD ribbon/command set Simpler ways to create custom sub-assemblies Streamlined geographic location functionality that includes the ability to capture and embed Online Map Data (e.g. aerial map information) for offline viewing and plotting Better interoperability and data exchange for DWG and DGN files

InfraWorks 2015 can be found in various editions of the Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite 2015 and Ultimate edition of the Autodesk Building Design Suite 2015 as well as Autodesk InfraWorks 360, which offers additional cloud services that add collaboration and analysis for large-scale preliminary designs.

InfraWorks 2015 and Infraworks 360 new features include: • •

•

New user interface for quicker access to the tools Support for additional data formats including AutoCAD 3D DWG, AutoCAD Civil 3D DWG, 3D DGN, IFC, and SketchUp (SKP) CityGML import now supports schema location, building asset mapping,

www.AECmag.com

p14_15_17_AEC_MAYJUNE14_Autodeskhk.indd 15

•

•

and self-intersecting geometry Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 includes style zones within road sections and fixed width parametric grading for roads with discrete control over grading, cut slope and fill slope The new Bridge Design for InfraWorks 360 allows civil engineers to explore preliminary bridge design options more effectively by modelling and visualising realistic civil structures in the context of the surrounding proposed site. This new application helps simplify, accelerate, and focus the layout of girder bridge design concepts, and maintain consistent data and context

Autodesk also released technology previews for upcoming industry-specific applications for InfraWorks 360 including Drainage Design and cloud services, Model Builder and Corridor Optimisation.

Autodesk Advance Steel In October 2013 Autodesk announced the acquisition of key technologies from Graitec, including its popular AutoCADbased, Advance Steel solution. The first product to come out of the acquisition is Autodesk’s rebadged and updated Autodesk Advance Steel 2015 product.

Advance Steel 2015 provides structural steel detailers, fabricators, engineers and contractors with a comprehensive suite of tools for 2D and 3D detailing of structural

elements, steel connections and plates.

Advance Steel helps speed time to fabrication by automatically generating shop and general arrangement drawings, creating bills of materials, and producing CNC files directly from designs.

In fact, Autodesk sees Advance Steel as a key tool to connect Revit and other Building Information Modelling (BIM) workflows from design and construction through fabrication.

New features for Advance Steel 2015 include: • • • • • •

Integration enhancements with Revit and Navisworks New user interface New options for creating different model views of projects New tools to configure the software’s main settings Reduced rework on shop drawings for complex parts CNC data is now extended to complex parts, such as curved beams and polybeams. This data is fully articulated in the DSTV files automatically generated from the 3Dmodel

Revit 2015 Autodesk’s core architectural BIM tool gets a fair bit of love this year, with some useful new features that include a number of user requested upgrades across May / June 2014

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Feature Revit 2015 enables users to create schedules that include imagery to convey graphical information for elements. These images will display when a schedule is placed on a sheet

Architecture, Structure and MEP, which are now provided as one product.

The development team has looked at a broad range of capabilities that will benefit most users of Revit irrespective of what it is used for. The ‘Themes’ that focused development addressed the following topics: construction, analysis and simulation, scalability, interoperability and productivity.

Revit 2015 new features include: •

• •

•

Hand-sketched graphic styles for lines in models, using the sketchy lines feature Include imagery in schedules to better convey graphical information Create and manage changes with improved tools to sketch and control revision cloud shapes Create more accurate documentation in 3D views using enhanced hidden lines capability

The hand-sketch feature is long awaited and really helps remove the rectilinear precision of CAD models, to give an artistic feel to both 2D and 3D views. This is great for client presentations and producing collateral marketing images.

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) have been improved, which is useful for interoperability or Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) workflows, with IFC maintaining the link back to the original models when imported into Revit, improving model updates. The import Application Processing Interface (API) has also been opened up.

Lighting analysis for Revit models has been enhanced through the Autodesk 360 cloud rendering service. Now, using the power of the cloud, its possible to get plans with the lighting densities displayed, covering natural and artificial light. Autodesk claims this has been extensively validated and supports Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).

Acceleration A second tranche of Revit features is scheduled for third quarter 2015. Codenamed Sundial, the update will focus on improving speed performance for Families, Energy Modeling, structural editing, constraints response, MEP system editing and Wall updates.

There will also be improvements to the Family and View browser, structural element orientation, snapping and automated structural setbacks.

Perhaps more importantly, Revit’s graphics pipeline is due for major www.AECmag.com

p14_15_17_AEC_MAYJUNE14_Autodeskhk.indd 17

improvements with Revit finally getting more out of GPUs, which will make use of workstation-class graphics cards to accelerate model interaction.

Retrograde Improvements Autodesk development teams are exploring the possibility of providing some of the new functionality in prior releases, for example making Sketchy Lines available in Revit 2014.

That Autodesk is considering such a move highlights some of the problems with the transition from a traditional sales model to a subscription-based one.

Many large AEC projects standardise which CAD system is used for all participants to ensure data integrity. This is doubly so for BIM modellers using Revit, as it is incapable of sharing data between different releases.

With Autodesk removing upgrades and promoting yearly subscription, firms that are trapped on old releases of software will see little to no benefit for their subscription payments.

If Autodesk is going to keep this policy, future releases of Revit may benefit as retrograde enhancements are planned in advance.

Conclusion As Autodesk continues to flesh out its AEC offerings, we expect to see improvements to conceptual design tools such as FormIt and Dynamo, through Revit for architectural, structural and MEP detail design.

There are desktop and online analysis tools for clash detection, lighting analysis and sustainability, with new solutions for detailed structural documentation and fabrication.

After the design process, Autodesk is also looking to provide digital solutions

for on-site layout and installation with BIM 360 Glue and Field.

Autodesk has slowly been providing point solutions for all AEC project participants and it will not be long before it has critical mass.

The biggest hole in the product portfolio remains the data management backbone.

Autodesk has never really been strong in this area, having had multiple attempts, but has yet to develop anything to rival products such as Bentley’s ProjectWise.

By changing its business model, Autodesk is taking a risk. While its upgrade practices were very unpopular with a lot of its long-term customers, the subscriptions and rental model has yet to be adopted by its customer base.

Without full license sales, Autodesk will miss out on the ‘joining fee’ revenue.

However, it should accrue longer-term revenue increases through the wider adoption of yearly and monthly usage fees.

To ensure this happens Autodesk has to move from yearly product releases to incremental product updates, providing a broad spectrum of integrated systems.

The product rental option will lower the cost of entry for new customers and offer dynamic expansion or contraction for existing customers. However, it also removes the main reason for staying with Autodesk products — maintaining the original investment.

I expect Autodesk products will continue to increase their interaction with the cloud and will be updated at different times of the year. Customers will be faced with the choice of renting new licenses or paying and subscribing to them. It is highly likely that historical licenses will go on subscription while new licenses will be rented.

Welcome to club Autodesk.

■

autodesk.co.uk

May / June 2014

17

20/5/14 12:06:50

Comment

A BIM industry temperature check Excitech consultant Rob Clark was part of a committee that recently ran a workshop called BIM4Real to share and solve some of the problems real Building Information Modelling projects encounter. In this article he shares the findings and some personal thoughts.

B

IM4Real eschewed the tried and tested conference format by focussing on a fictional building project: the construction of a large shop in the English and Welsh border town of Shrewsbury. The completely fictional client had produced an Employer’s Information Requirements document in line with BSi PAS1192:2. Attendees were split into five groups and included people from different disciplines. Their task was to discuss how they would deliver this project as a team.

There were three focused sessions: project set up; design delivery; and using the data produced to aid the construction and subsequent operation of the building.

Five chair-people summarised at the end of each session what had been discussed. Each table was laden with documentation including industry protocol

documents and templates for execution plans as well as the Employer’s Information Requirements document. In each session, the chair-people were asked to get answers to very specific issues that face our industry in the delivery of projects using co-ordinated Building Information Models (BIMs).

What came out proved very interesting.

There was plenty of consensus, a lot of confusion and quite a few challenges.

Project kick off Despite years of under-utilisation the BS1192:2007 Code of Practice workflows were being adopted by more than half of the room. This is likely to be due to the natural standardisation of information that comes from adopting a Building Information Modelling process.

BIM4Real the event

BIM4Real was a collaboration between Ramboll’s Graham Stewart, Ray Purvis of Atkins and Excitech’s Rob Clark.

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The three industry experts were sitting in the keynote presentation at Autodesk University, when they realised that what they wanted from a Building Information Modelling (BIM) event was no longer what BIM was. They wanted evidence of what the industry is doing, what it cannot do, where the real challenges are and what is real best practice.

They thought the best way to achieve this was to get a lot of clever people talking to one another; to bridge the gap between strategy and delivery.

So, BIM4Real was born: a workshop event without any formal presentations.

Attendees included architects, engineers and construction managers, as well as clients and consultants.

Prior to the meeting I had expected a lot of conversation on liability, but interestingly there was a good amount of consensus that project indemnity covers these requirements. Where there was a lot of debate, however, was model ownership.

Initially it was suggested simply that the ‘client owns the model’. This raised a lot of discussion over where the limitations of ownership occurred.

There was concern that simply communicating such ownership would imply that it can be used without restriction, including on other similar projects. Model ownership, it was felt, is for the particular project asset alone.

Apparently, a client saying ‘we want BIM, can you deliver?’ in the qualification is not really sufficient. I have to raise a smile at that rather obvious piece of common sense; however it is plain that a good number of jobs start with this very requirement alone.

There was general acceptance that the new PAS1192:2 document offers good guidance for project set up, procedure and delivery for both the Project Information Model (PIM) and the Asset Information Model (AIM). The single Employer’s Information Requirements (EIR) document was seen as essential to the successful delivery of a project.

A Digital Plan of Works was deemed necessary, including documented and agreed deliverables. This should include all necessary asset information, or indeed www.AECmag.com

20/5/14 16:12:55

IMAGEs Courtesy of Andrew Handley of Reconfigured Ltd

One person may wear many hats and It was felt that several documents would if any is needed. The asset team should be lead to unnecessary paperwork and con- sometimes more than one person may be involved at the project commencement.

Participants felt it was very important fusion. As much as there is merit in two required to fulfil one role on a project. that they understood why information execution plans for pre-qualification and PAS1192:2 is a project level information requirements are needed; what is it going post-qualification and a separate Master protocol aimed at those used to project to be used for? In order to establish a pro- Information Delivery with separate task management of multi-organisation teams, team assessments and IT assessments etc, so the roles may not be a single person or cess to deliver it in the format required.

Is it sensible that asset registers like this may be just too complicated for the indeed static through the life of a project.

Overall, the project kick-off seems to be Construction Operations Building majority of projects and could lead to Information Exchange (COBie) are stipulat- either rejection of processes or, ironically, where most time was being spent in the development of strategy, and while there is ed in industry level process? Wouldn’t it be a decrease in efficiency.

There was confusion over roles. Who debate there seems to be consensus that better to tell the team in pre-qualification what Computer Aided Facilities was responsible for what? This included the general direction of a more overarching project managed Management (CAFM) sysapproach was beneficial tem was in use and what and starting to work. information was required?

I have often wondered if it is sensible that asset There seems to be a lot The team could then registers like COBie are stipulated in industry of enthusiasm for what make a format directly will become possible as available for this. level process. Wouldn’t it be better to tell the a result.

Is a geometric model team in pre-qualification what CAFM system required at the end of the Design delivery process for handover? If so was in use and what information was required? what format should it be in, This stage focused on and again, what will it be the authoring and delivused for? Do we underery of a design Building stand the expectation here? We should be the new roles that have recently been spo- Information Model. This model would very wary of agreeing to ‘as-built’ unless we ken about like the PAS1192:2 Information usually contain information from the Manager and Task Team Manager. There Architectural, understand what is involved to produce it.

Building Services, In response to these requirements it was were discussions about how these roles Structural, Civil, Infrastructure and generally accepted that the delivery team compared with roles already being adopt- Landscaping disciplines, and perhaps the needs to assemble a BIM Execution Plan ed such as those proposed by the AEC suppliers.

(BEP). There was some debate over the (UK) BIM Protocol.

To me it is obvious that if you want to No consensus was really reached here, reach the stage of producing the informacomplexity of how this is presented in the PAS1192:2 document, with many suggest- but some key suggestions to understand- tion typically required in an Employer’s ing that a single document was required to ing these roles were to firstly not treat Information Requirements document then them as ‘people’. show execution and delivery. a co-ordinated approach to modelling is

‘‘

’’

www.AECmag.com

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May / June 2014

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20/5/14 16:12:56

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Comment

‘‘

It was hotly debated as to whether IFC is the right format for outputting models, with many raising trust issues. However, IFC was seen to be improving in both the understanding of it and what software can do with it

’’

required. So at BIM4Real we asked questions like ‘who owns the stairs?’ They have Architectural, Structural and quite probably Building Services elements.

The idea of the question was to uncover people’s strategy to ensure collaborated or federated models do not end up containing duplicate geometry and of course, duplicated information. There was plenty of discussion, but no consensus as to how this issue should be approached on a project.

Some suggested that the reason for this was software limitation and that cloud solutions would begin to resolve duplication, although I would argue that there must be a strategy nonetheless.

Some suggested this was BIM Maturity Level 3, although that was contested.

People did suggest this made a clear case for a detailed Matrix of Responsibilities to be developed.

There was also a suggestion that this showed that Design Review meetings do not always involve the right people; that technical staff with knowledge of how to deliver models should be involved. This would give senior technicians an opportunity to speak with their counterparts from other disciplines and for them to agree how to approach the modelling collaboratively.

It is important that the design leads, contractors, and clients are all in the same room for project design review in order for a collaborative project to work. Software geeks to talk to one another as well.

Validation, a critical part of the handover process of a model to a contractor and also at data exchange points, is largely dealt with through peer checking rather than any kind of formal audit process.

Looking at this from a risk perspective it is surely a concern? When we hand over a model to the contractors and fabricators, can they trust it for construction scheduling for example?

Getting design delivery right is key to moving towards a truly collaborative design process. But we need to change the www.AECmag.com

p18_19_21_AEC_MAYJUNE14_Excitech.indd 21

ethos of how we approach it.

There seems to be real momentum now and a good technical and strategic foundation of ability in our industry to realistically push for this.

Construction and operation There was a lot of talk about how models are effectively communicated, including the hot topics of OpenBIM via Industry Foundation Class (IFC) and asset registers like COBie. It would be nice to report that there was clear consensus on either of these issues, but it still seems to be a significant sticking point.

It was hotly debated as to whether IFC is the right format for outputting models, with many raising trust issues. However, IFC was seen to be improving in both the understanding of it and what software can do with it; some suggesting that it is up to users to put pressure on software vendors to keep improving this workflow.

I personally have mixed feelings about IFC and how well it moves information from place to place.

If you are happy to really dedicate your time to understanding it, including the various mapping options for data, then you can probably do really well and deliver on expectations.

Most people, however, just want to hit ‘Export’ in one software and ‘Import’ in another and the same model appears.

Without significant expertise that is not guaranteed to happen at present, no matter what software is being used. It is unfortunate that in recent software releases there are countless options for export settings with no real way to test the import until it is sent to the recipient.

As collaborative design becomes more open it would be naive to suggest that a single software vendor will be used on projects, or that vendor formats will be futureproofed for ongoing operation of buildings.

We need to keep pushing our knowledge here and at the same time pushing the vendors to work collaboratively to make these

workflows more simple.

The same is often said of COBie. The standardised data concept is fine but the idea of using spreadsheets is questionable. These are a cumbersome format not suited to allowing many people to edit or for handling large quantities of data.

A consensus was formed that interference checking should have occurred prior to handover to the contractor, thus handing the responsibility for this to the Design Lead. However this suggestion caused a lot of argument.

It was suggested that the BIM Execution Plan should make clear the responsibility of who is federating the model and who is conducting interference checking. That is not to say that the Contractor Lead should not continue this exercise as models are updated to reflect on-going site conditions.

There was a suggestion here that the contractor and cost consultant should also be involved in the technical discussion to perhaps ensure that, as far as possible, models were created which are sympathetic to their requirements.

Conclusion All in all, the BIM4Real round table session did seem to raise more questions than it provided answers.

That said, I think most people felt relieved that they were not being naive in any way by not understanding some of the key issues surrounding the delivery of projects. We, as an industry, should be able to address these issues and work together to resolve them such that we are able to move from the strategic direction to delivering more projects with increasing benefits through BIM. All of these findings can be downloaded in more detail at the BIM4Real website (www.bim4real.co.uk).

No copyright is claimed; therefore you can use any part of it towards your own efforts.

■

www.bim4real.co.uk

May / June 2014

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20/5/14 16:13:13

Interview

The future of Rhino At the recent Shape To Fabrication conference Bob McNeel, CEO of Robert McNeel & Associates, was his usual straight-talking self when quizzed about the future of Rhino, including the Mac version, the cloud, parametrics and Grasshopper.

Q: Are you busy working on Rhino 6?

Bob McNeel: The answer is no; they won’t let me touch the code!

We try to get something out in the field as soon as we have something that’s stable enough to use, and they’ve been working on since shortly after Rhino 5 came out.

Of course there’s always service releases and other distractions to slow it down, but there’s been a lot of work going on — particularly on the back-end, on the parts that they want to overhaul, messy bits of code that have been there since version one, things like that, which you can’t do in the middle of a service release.

There’s probably not anything that is earth-shaking in terms of brand new sparkly features, but at least we’ve got something that doesn’t tip over when you try to run it.

There are a few people that want to get something out when we get back, I don’t know if we’ve got everything in place to do that yet, and I try not to make promises for things.

Q How is the Mac version coming along?

BM: This is another place where we need a little bit of expectation control. As some of you know, porting from one platform to another is a major project.

Also, Rhino is a very deeply embedded Windows product; we use a lot of Windows resources. The tag line for the first 20 years was something like ‘Nurbs modelling for Windows’. So it’s been a bit of a chore to untangle a lot of Windows code.

There are a lot of development tools for the third-party applications — there’s just no one-to-one correlation. Initially we’re probably not going to see any third-party products available for it right away, because not only is there a lot more work for us to port it, but it’s going to be a lot of work for third party developers.

Some of our products, particularly Grasshopper, is very much a Windowsbased product and it will take quite a bit of time to get that untangled and ported, 22

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Bob McNeel, CEO of Robert McNeel & Associates, engages the Shape To Fabrication audience

so that’s not going to be available first release either.

Q: Are there plans to increase Rhino’s 2D drawing output capabilities?

Q: Will it be available in the Apple App Store?

Q: When is it likely to ship?

BM: 2D drafting or drawing is always something that’s on our list of things to upgrade, so you will see some continued improvements there in Version 6, there’s quite a bit of work going on on that front.

We’re not particularly paying any attention to any other product in the terms of how it works. Really we’re dealing with the feedback we’re getting from people, what they’re asking for, what their workflows are.

BM: We’re pretty feature complete in terms of what we think we can get done reasonably for version one.

Q: With other vendors increasingly focussing on the cloud, how are you approaching it?

Q: Is Grasshopper 1 going to be a part of Rhino 6?

BM: We watch these things, there’s some interesting things going on there — from my perspective you think about it like porting to another development platform, it’s probably as much if not more work than it was to port to the Mac. It doesn’t seem to be something that people are demanding immediately, I think people have ideas that it’s the solution for problems they have, particularly when working with large data sets or large work groups, and I certainly want to make sure we address those problems over time.

If using cloud technology helps that

BM: Correct me if I’m wrong, but if we put something in the App Store we don’t get to provide a SDK or plug-in architecture, so my guess is that we’re not going to distribute it that way.

BM: That’s the idea. One of the things we’re trying to do is to provide a stable development platform for people who are developing for Grasshopper so that there’s not a situation where it’s a ‘moving target’.

We’re going to try and get that wrapped up for Version 5 so that there’s a stable version there as well. We’ll move that forward on to 6 as well as Version 6 being the development platform for Grasshopper 2 — some of that work has already started.

www.AECmag.com

20/5/14 15:13:06

then we’ll take advantage of it, but we’re not looking at the cloud or software as a service as a platform that we’re going to port to any time soon.

Shape To Fabrication 2014

Q: Are you considering a neutral file format to help with architects using the variety of different software in projects?

With a focus on cutting-edge technology, innovative construction and applications in architecture, and engineering, the Shape to Fabrication conference attracts professionals pushing the boundaries of design. April’s event was held in Stratford on the doorstep of London’s Olympic Park.

BN: Our strategy has been to leave that up to third-party people with domain expertise in that area.

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) or Building Information Modelling (BIM), or the standard name for BIM I think now is ‘Revit’ I’ve heard… I think there are some people that believe that anyway, the transition from pure geometry into that structured environment with all the additional information that supports that process requires a whole layer of stuff, not just a file format export.

There are several third-party products as well as in-house tools that people use to move things down that pathway. It doesn’t seem like anybody has converged on a standard way to do that, there looks like there’s quite a few useful tools out there to do that now.

Our focus has been on helping those developers out in any way we can.

Given its location near London’s 2012 Olympics site in Stratford, it was fitting that Shape to Fabrication 2014 included a number of sessions on build requirements for Olympics venues, such as structural challenges at the Olympic Aquatics Centre and design and build requirements of the Arcelor Mittal Orbit.

The common theme was the use of Rhino 3D CAD and its offshoot plug-ins, from Metron, which built the Great Britain cycling team bikes, to Speedo’s Team GB swimsuits and aerodynamic swimming goggles.

Q: Have you considered virtual reality?

BN: One of the things we’ve tried to do is provide a lot of hooks in the SDK layer and interface layer so for developers all that stuff is pretty open, and I think things like stereo and interface devices are accessible to developers.

We’ve experimented with a few [virtual reality devices] but we haven’t really found a use case that makes any sense. The best examples I can come up with are the ‘stereo swim-goggles’ [by Occulus Rift], which are really fun and interesting, until about 20 minutes into it I started throwing up!

Q: Have you considered making Rhino’s modelling environment parametric?

In orbit Rhino as a conceptual design tool was integral to Arup’s Arcelor Mittal Orbit.

Artist Anish Kapoor’s vision was brought to Arup in three sketches. Rhino was used to focus the project on to one twisting, spiralling design.

Arup used Grasshopper within Rhino to control and modify each design stage, such as the angles of the arches and spacing of the visitor staircase.

Having adapted the original tubes into a lattice structure based around giant star-shaped nodes, the design was moved into Tekla for manufacture.

With the finished structure only metres away from the event venue, those that attended Shape To Fabrication will have left looking at the giant red structure, shaped like a musical ‘bass clef’ in a much more appreciative light.

Accommodating processes Continuing the Olympic theme Zaha Hadid lead architect Cristiano Ceccato spoke about the Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium, which is currently in development.

The concept is reminiscent of a grounded alien spaceship. Mr Ceccato called it a “gestural piece that has to be turned into something viable”.

Mr Ceccato explained how the initial design had seen countless iterations, which all had to be paired back to account for vast numbers of variables.

His overall message was that, instead of standardising on a single software, architects should follow a process that can be adjusted to accommodate the nature, size and documenting process for all involved.

From sport to space Moving away from the Olympic theme, KPF Architects presented its work on Abu Dhabi airport’s Midfield Complex, using a combination of Rhino, Autodesk Revit and Bentley MicroStation.

The 700,000m2 building has a 50-metre high ceiling; gargantuan by any standards (and so vast it was covered in two separate talks).

“With a project this size, millimetres matter,” KPF associate principle architect Cobus Bothma wryly explained.

Mr Bothma set out some cold realities of document management and the perils of working on build projects halfway around the world.

He reeled off at length the many challenges regarding file management, clash detection, compatible file formats and design optimisation.

The round-the-clock build process, created 100,000 shop drawings to review, and copious Requests For Information (RFI) documents that had to be resolved within the space of five days in order to avoid delaying construction. shapetofabrication.com London 2012’s Arcelor Mittal Orbit

KPF Architects used a combination of Rhino, Revit and MicroStation on Abu Dhabi airport’s Midfield Complex

BN: That’s one of those things that seems like, in order to get an interface that makes any sense, you have to focus on a particular discipline. To put a parametric engine behind it you almost have to start thinking about what your user interface is going to be and it starts to turn in a certain direction for some people.

As far as back-end tools to support that we’ve looked at things like constraint engines to make sure people can hook those kinds of tools in to Rhino, but beyond that it’s probably not some place we’re going to go anytime soon.

■ rhino3d.com www.AECmag.com

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Feature

Into the fold Using robots to bend, shape and fold sheet metal is adding freedom to architectural façade designs.

Stephen Holmes visits Robofold and becomes transfixed by robotic origami.

Right From its factory in South London, Robofold can produce exciting shapes without the need for tooling Below Zaha Hadid Architects’ Arum sculpture for the Venice Biennale — a six metre high, tulip shaped, self-supporting structure

I

n the metallic arms of a pair of assembly robots an evolutionary change in architectural cladding is underway.

At Robofold’s South London headquarters two 6-axis ABB robots are moving in tandem, gliding into their pre-programmed positions, their suction cups attaching to a sheet of pre-cut aluminium.

They arch and twist till the metal is bent and precisely formed into a giant petal, a replica of the one displayed on the screen of the nearby controlling laptop.

This process is capable of creating individual cladding panels — something that until now has been too expensive and time consuming.

With tools that can now liberate the form of each and every individual panel, architects can transform the overall shape of building façades using Robofold’s design and manufacturing technique.

Robots rock The system works off a plug-in for designs built in Rhino 3D CAD with the software coding developed by Robofold.

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The designs are translated into folding simulations in the King Kong software. In turn these results are linked to the Godzilla robot software, to simulate robots folding, before the physical folding begins.

The folding software can be purchased on its own, but Robofold has also developed 3-axis CAM software, 6-axis CAM software, and other robot inputs to make best use of the hardware it drives.

For the construction team, the individual nature of each programmed sheet being formed by robots at the building site means any last minute changes can be quickly and easily rectified.

“If you want variation it becomes really valuable,” Gregory Epps, founder of Robofold said. “You can program that in up-front and say what are the parameters that you want to vary.

“If you want to tweak the design a little bit you don’t even have to reprogram the CAM software and the robot software — if you had to make a new mould then it would be crazy — so this is super efficient.

“You can prototype in production materials and then manufacture using the

same equipment, so you know what you’re going to get.”

Fold over Metal is best for bending, typically using 1.5mm aluminium, cut with the CNC router in the factory. It can also work laser cut steel or stainless steel up to 1.5mm.

The steel can be finished with paint or dipped in zinc, while aluminium should be anodised; giving a range of options for finishes.

“Normally in architecture we get requests like, ‘can you make it 3mm?’ as they’re used to a flat façade panel,” Mr Epps said. “But once you put the curvature in it and the fold in it you’ve added so much rigidity that you don’t need all that material — you can halve the amount of material that you need.”

Accuracy of the panel is defined in the cutting of the flat sheet, and because the process does not stretch the material like a standard press does, holes can be predrilled and trimming is not needed.

Local stretch can be calculated as normal with sheet material around the fold, so the www.AECmag.com

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designer knows that it is going to fit to the building’s exterior substructure.

The speed of the process is slower than that of pressing, but offers labour-saving benefits — it is a single stage process, whereas pressing could involve several stages before being drilled and trimmed by a 5-axis laser-cutter.

“Normally you would say that you have to make the forming part to be perfect, but in this case it’s not too critical about the forming, it’s more critical about cutting it right first,” Mr Epps explains.

“You can fold something in paper and go and make it — it’s the ultimate goal.”

Working with desktop paper printers to verify and tweak sheet designs allows mini versions of an architect’s design to be scaled up for production in metal.

Shaping Venice The largest piece of work to date created by this method was for Zaha Hadid Architects — the Arum sculpture for the Venice Biennale.

A six metre high, tulip shaped, selfsupporting structure, the design was crewww.AECmag.com

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ated with Robofold’s input and manufacturing service.

“We helped the Zaha team to develop their own software so that it would generate all of the data we’d need for production.

“They were able to generate valid, folded surfaces, and then out them to us and we would automatically create the production data from it.”

The sheets were cut in the UK and transported to the site in Venice where two robots were ready waiting to fold them.

Seeing the process in action was a big benefit for the Zaha Hadid team, although this did add pressure.

“We still had them on site, changing their mind while we were building it!” Mr Epps explains.

This problem only served to highlight the benefits of the process — new parts were swiftly modelled, cut and flown to the site, where the robots folded the new sheets without any mass reprogramming or delays.

“I think it was quite daring of them to use us, as this was the largest piece we’d done to date. It’s a really cutting edge tech-

nology, but it shows that they’re a cutting edge practice to be able to embrace it.”

Cutting edge If the future is to grow more dependent on mobile, localised factories then methods of onsite production like these offered by Robofold are destined to lead the way.

Once more architects and structural engineers realise that panels formed on site are as accurate as the designer’s 3D model, the increased adoption of this method is inevitable.

The next step for Mr Epps and his team is to license the system, supplying two robots, a router, a cutter, a pick-up table, and all the necessary software.

Linking with others in the Robofold licensed network, it will become part of a linked FabLab system where each facility can pick up overspill work from others.

Such a system of robotic manufacturing methods is an exciting method to free up the future of design from mass produced parts, and add further creative flourish to architecture.

■

robofold.com

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Case study

Regenerating London King’s Cross Architectural practice John McAslan + Partners relied on MicroStation to develop this iconic station redevelopment that melds a Grade 1 listed building with state-of-the-art design.

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uilt in 1852, King’s Cross rail- Cliff Green, project technology manager construction, reusing existing structures way station is one of the main at John McAslan + Partners. “The way the and restoring historic building elements, transportation hubs in London. station connects with the city and sup- including the train shed and the station’s As with the rest of the United ports the urban regeneration project is previously obscured historic façade.

Given the number of organisations Kingdom’s rail network infrastructure, hugely complex.”

For a project of this size and complexi- involved in this complex project, from the station has struggled in recent years to manage increasing passenger numbers ty, architects John McAslan + Partners design through fabrication and construcand to provide the space and amenities needed equally sophisticated models and tion, it was essential to enable efficient modelling tools. MicroStation’s federated collaboration and information sharing. commuters expect.

The £547 million redevelopment of model structure allowed the large design MicroStation’s federated model structure King’s Cross station is at the heart of one team to share common files between mul- ensured everyone on this large design team had access to highof the largest regeneraquality, consistent, valition projects in Europe, dated data. with 67 acres of brownWe can work in large teams and use 2D, 3D, and The collaborative profield land being redevelcess enabled the project oped to create eight milBIM to suit the state of the project, the type of team to avoid disruption lion square feet of officproject, and the skills of our team. The flexibility to London Underground es, retail space and passengers and allowed housing. of MicroStation offers a real advantage Network Rail to meet its This complex urban promise to TfL that no regeneration project mainline train service faced many technical challenges, including the potential impact tiple disciplines. Using Bentley tools they would be cancelled due to redevelopment.

“With so much information to share on the mainline station, a number of were able to merge and organise numerunderground transport connections, and ous elements of the project including her- with so many different parties, the speed the nearby St Pancras International rail- itage and conservation work on current and effectiveness of information capture way station. The redevelopment also had structures, as well as existing services and collaboration was a key aspect of this project,” Mr Green said. to maintain the historic Grade 1 listed and transportation infrastructure. building, which required continual veri3D modelling fication from English Heritage and other Remaking a London icon statutory bodies.

The King’s Cross redevelopment project The western concourse semi-circle “King’s Cross station is not just a build- is operated by Network Rail and spon- diagrid roof, which rises 20 metres and ing; it is a major transportation node in a sored by the Department for Transport. spans 150 metres, involved engineering highly sensitive part of the city,” explains The project required a new design and and co-ordination challenges.

‘‘

’’

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Images Courtesy of John McAslan + Partners

The innovative new western concourse single-span roof rises 20 metres, and spans 150 metres to cover 7,500 square metres

The new concourse, which covers 7,500 square metres, and is the largest singlespan structure in Western Europe, could only accommodate supports at a limited number of points, due to various subway and services tunnels. The roof also had to be constructed in a way that did not touch the historical structures. Accurate 3D modelling of the roof and surrounding structures was vital to successful co-ordination between an international team of architects, structural designers and fabricators.

Design verification Because the station is an important historical structure, one of the key challenges for this project was the need for on-going design verification during the extended heritage and conservation negotiations.

High-quality, accurate 3D models were vital to the restoration of the historic south facade, and the refurbishment of the vaulted main train shed (including incorporation of photovoltaic arrays).

Using detailed survey data along with MicroStation’s power to handle complex infrastructure project data, John McAslan + Partners was able to weave historical structures into a modern project. “We were able to speed up the design process and could accurately predict the outcome www.AECmag.com

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of works to the existing historical fabric,” explains Mr Green. “It allowed savings during the construction phase through the reduction of errors in documentation and also for savings at scheme level by allowing rapid communication of the design to the client, consultative organisations and to project collaborators.”

The firm also used MicroStation to verify design concepts, for example assess-

tile to assess how they could be best installed — a process that simply could not have been carried out manually.

Supportive technology

As the project progressed, John McAslan extended its use of Bentley software from 2D and 3D, to building information modelling (BIM) and GenerativeComponents, without the need to step outside the MicroStation interface. “This is a really smart way to work,” says Mr Accurate 3D modeling of the Green. “We can work in large teams roof and surrounding structures was vital and use 2D, 3D, and BIM to suit the state of the project, the type of project, and the skills of our team. The flexibility of MicroStation offers a real advantage and allows us to work to the best of our ability.”

The station remodel has enhanced passenger amenities, rationalised operational activities, and significantly increased retail space.

In addition, John McAslan + ing the way new buildings would work Partners played a key role in the wider with the existing site and how the build- transformation of the King’s Cross area. ing’s flow would work for passengers, This included improved infrastructure, including everything from concourse lay- social, and commercial changes that now out to signage. connect the station with the substantial In addition, the concourse is now clad King’s Cross Central scheme to the north, with 5.2 million tiny ceramic tiles that as well as improved interchange links with had to be laid over a two-way curve with the London Underground, St Pancras staconstruction joints. John McAslan + tion, Thameslink services, taxis and buses.

Partners used MicroStation to model each ■ bentley.com ■ mcaslan.co.uk May / June 2014

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Review

Autodesk ReCap In 2012 Autodesk launched ReCap, a platform for the growing reality capture market. Since then, the company has expanded its capabilities, added a layer of cloud services and recruited third party developers.

by Martyn Day

T

he manual survey market was revolutionised by the widespread adoption of laser scanners, which can measure millions of 3D points in seconds, building dense point clouds of surfaces. But there remain a number of downsides to the technology.

Laser scanners are typically hard to use, expensive and generate huge, unintelligent, process-intensive, files.

Autodesk has recognised that the laser scanning software market was ripe for a wider audience, and that it could offer a competitive product and provide tools to enable the conversion of ‘dumb’ scan data to intelligent Building Information Modelling (BIM) models with its ReCap software.

At the same time, the laser scanning market has started to see some disruptive technologies, such as the Xbox Kinect, open up new possibilities to potentially lower price points for capturing real-world

data in these point clouds. Typically, laser scanners can cost £40K and upwards and the software to edit and manage the point clouds can cost over £10K a seat.

Laser scanner hardware provider Faro has been instrumental in introducing new, low-cost price points (to around £20k) with its small professional scanners. This has increased adoption of laser scanning, and yet to date the software has remained an expensive but necessary add-on.

Autodesk ReCap There are two offerings in Autodesk’s ReCap platform: ReCap Pro, a Windowsbased point cloud registration and manipulation program and ReCap 360, an add-on service that uses capabilities in Autodesk’s cloud to provide a portal for laser-scan or photo captured projects.

ReCap Pro is aimed at proving targetless registration of scans in the field and

could run on a laptop or Windows Surface tablet, collating and importing multiple laser scans in real time.

While ReCap includes some innovative targetless registration capabilities to assist in alignment of multi-scans, early adopters did wrestle with the accuracy of its results versus traditional target-based registration. In the latest version accuracy can be improved by adding survey points or known distances.

Essentially, ReCap Pro enables the processing, cleaning, and visualisation of large data sets on the desktop from laser scans. It is hardware independent and supports the import of over 20 industry proprietary, text-based and open formats.

The software has a modern, easy to use interface and provides a suite of tools to clean up, edit and organise laser scans.

The data alignment between scans can be done by electing the same objects in

Next generation scanners New low-cost scanners are typically hand held. They provide low resolution scans, and are therefore perhaps best used for interiors or individual objects.

3D Systems Sense’s 3D scanner costs just $399. It is aimed at non-professionals capturing small objects in 3D using the same technology as Microsoft’s Kinect. 3D Systems software optimises its output for its 3D printers. .

■ cubify.com/en/Products/Sense

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dotproduct offers a sub$5,000 hand held scanner, the DPI-7, which consists of a cradle / handle and an Android 7” standard tablet. The Phi-3D software uses an indoor positioning system to build a 3D map from the scanner. Once enough points have been gathered to create a map, the screen turns green. Intel recently invested a large sum in the firm.

■ dotproduct3d.com

Zebedee’s ZEB1 is an unusual looking handheld scanner with a spring mounted sensor. The scanner was developed by CSIRO scientist Dr Elliot Duff and his ‘Zebedee Team’, in honour of the children’s TV programme, The Magic Roundabout. The device is able to survey enclosed spaces where GPS cannot reach, such as inside mines, factories & public buildings.

■ tinyurl.com/zebedeescan

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the scene from different scans. The software uses powerful algorithms to provide registration between the scans.

Data points from surveys can also be incorporated into the model. These provide additional accuracy to ReCap Pro’s registration capabilities.

As most scanners incorporate photo images with point cloud data, ReCap can be used to produce 3D interactive or single point panoramic visualisations.

ReCap 360 With firms doing more and more laser scanning and with point clouds generating huge files, local storage is not always an option. ReCap 360 provides additional storage space that can be expanded as needed.

Edited point clouds can be viewed and shared via a web browser, where they can be annotated without destroying the original file.

ReCap 360 comes with 25GB of Autodesk 360 storage and 50 cloud credits for ReCap 360 projects, which can be used to cut processing time.

From the cloud Autodesk manipulates the data remotely and streams the video to local browsers. This takes the processing weight off local machines, but is as interactive as if it were running locally, giving maximum image resolution even on huge multi-scans, which could be terabytes in size.

ReCap 360 offers additional tools such as bounding boxes for easier editing of big point clouds. Once cleaned up, highdensity, mesh models can be created to provide a suite of mesh tools and options to create a meshed model that suits a target application or system. Again this all happens interactively through the browser in real-time.

Under the banner of 123D Catch, Autodesk previously released a product and web service that could take multiple photographs or a Go Pro capture from a aerial drone of an object or a scene and turn these into a textured, meshed 3D model. A high-resolution version of this is built into ReCap 360, enabling photos to be uploaded and textured models produced at the press of a button.

There is a suite of tools for manually stitching photos together prior to the meshed model being generated. Survey data can be added to improve the accuracy of the final model.

Memento Autodesk is currently running a Labs project called Project Memento, which is the company’s innovative meshing technology.

Memento is planned to be a all-in-one www.AECmag.com

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Autodesk ReCap: alternatives Cyclone & Cloudworx With a considerable grip on the laser scanning market, Leica arguably has the most to lose from Autodesk’s recent developments.

Cyclone is Leica’s flagship point cloud registration and manipulation tool. Its Object database and client / server architecture is designed to handle very large sets of data and, as a mature product, offers a great depth of functionality.

Leica also has the CloudWorx family of plugins which provide point cloud processing inside popular CAD systems including AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Revit, Microstation and Aveva’s PDMS. ■ leica-geosystems.co.uk

LFM from Aveva Traditionally used in process plant and designed to deal with huge multi-scan point clouds, there are three components to LFM. LFM Modeller for creating as built models from laser scans, with a built-in pipes and structures standards library. LFM Server for hosting big databases with automatic registration of multiscans and features such as clash detection.

LFM Netview allows collaboration on private or public cloud hosted scans. e.

■ lfm-software.com

Faro Scene Designed for use with the Faro Focus3D scanner, Scene processes and manages scanned data by using automatic object recognition as well as scan registration and positioning together with automated target-less scan positioning.

The software provides editing, measuring, meshing, 3D visualisation and the ability to export to various point cloud and CAD formats.

A ‘webshare’ publishing feature allows point clouds to be streamed to browsers.

■ faro.com

Bentley Pointools Acquired by Bentley in 2011, UK-based Pointools was a leading, independent point cloud software developer. The company’s point cloud pre-processing technology has since been incorporated inside MicroStation V8i, providing considerable capability to Bentley’s core design tool and vertical industry products ■ bentley.com

Trimble RealWorks This is Trimble’s point cloud editor for combining 3D scanned and position data to produce CAD models and video simulations.

Originally coming from the process plant world, the software includes ‘automatic’ modelling of pipes through a technology called Easypipe.

■ trimble.com

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Review

ReCap partners To extend the ReCap platform, Autodesk is recruiting software and hardware firms to build add-ons or plug-ins to the ReCap platform. These include: CSA is perhaps better known in the process plant and nuclear markets and the Atlantabased firm comprises PanoMap Laser Scanning Technology and Plant / CMS (Plant Configuration Management Systems.

CSA plans to integrate ReCap with its PanoMap Server to transfer laser scan point cloud data from large-scale 3D laser scan databases to Autodesk products.

■ csaatl.com Zoller + Fröhlich (Z+F) started producing laser measurement systems in 1994, with one of the first 3D optical laser systems for as-built conditions. It develops the Imager range of professional laser scanners and partners with a number of industry software companies. Z+F has joined Autodesk’s Embedded ReCap OEM program for use in its LaserControl software.

■ zf-laser.com Faro is keen to capture market share with its low cost, small and lightweight Focus 3D scanners, which radically lower the price of entry. Despite having its own software solutions, Faro has a history of openly working with other software vendors, including Pointools and Autodesk. Faro has joined the Embedded ReCap OEM program for its Faro Scene software.

■ faro.com Kubit is an established Autodesk third party developer of surveying products for AutoCAD. ReCap Connect will enable kubit to integrate its PointSense (scanned data postprocessor) and PhoToPlan (image rectification) products to access ReCap utilities directly from within the AutoCAD design environment.

■ gb.kubit-software.com dot.product has already released a plugin for ReCap which allows ReCap to directly import the compressed, binary .dp files created with its DPI-7 hand held scanner, without having to go via bloated file formats such as PTX or PTS formats.

■ dotproduct3d.com Aveva, a major plant, power and marine design software developer acquired 3D laser scanning software developer LFM in 2011. Aveva has signed up for the Embedded ReCap OEM program to include in its suite of LFM scan-data editing and collaboration products.

■ lfm-software.com

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Autodesk’s core AEC products have the ability to handle point cloud data, in addition to BIM geometry. Here Autodesk Navisworks displays a combined laser scan of the company’s Waltham, Boston AEC headquarters

solution, taking in data from any reality input capture devices (photo, scans, structured and unstructured), to produce high quality mesh models which can be used for digital workflows.

Autodesk has recently done work for the Smithsonian group of museums and research centres in the US, capturing artifacts, as well as for a Swedish museum using MRI scans of an ancient Egyptian mummy. The results of this can be delivered through the web or mobile, or possibly used in Autodesk applications like Maya, Mudbox or even 3D printed out.

Autodesk design products, or to ReCap. As a third option, third parties can build their own application on top of the Autodesk photo-to-3D cloud service by using the ReCap Photo Web API. According to Autodesk, more than ten companies, serving markets ranging from medical and civil engineering, to video games and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have started developing specific applications that make use of this capability, or have started integrating this capability into their existing applications

Third party

ReCap has a great interface and is one of the most innovative desktop / cloud service product that Autodesk offers.

In the 1980s AutoCAD beat competitors by offering 80% of CAD system functionality at 20% of the price. It is doing something similar with ReCap. Plus. there is also a healthy amount of disruptive new technology in the market to make users think differently about how they design and model.

The reality is that 3D modelling is time consuming and software providers need to find ways to limit that by modelling in context, or automating the creation of an as-built model. As a result, Autodesk sees point clouds being much more of a commonly used data format.

However, the price of the scanning hardware still needs to come down considerably.

One of Autodesk’s tried and tested routes to adoption is through third party developers who enhance the capabilities of Autodesk’s platforms by adding specialised add-ons. With ReCap Autodesk is following that path and is actively recruiting to build on its platform with a ReCap Connect Partnership Program.

For now there is a small core and, as one would expect, those competitors with a lot of revenue to lose are not involved. But as ReCap usage grows the days of expensive registration software are numbered.

Third parties can either write their own import plug-in to import data into ReCap using the Capture Codec Kit (CCK) that is available as part of the new ReCap desktop version, or join the Embedded ReCap OEM programme to export from point cloud processing software directly into

Conclusion

■

autodesk.com/recap

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Case study Will Norton, structural engineer at McElroy consulting engineers and project managers, explains how Structural BIM has revolutionised the way McElroy undertakes design projects.

Structural BIM model designed in Revit

Structural BIM L

ike many small to medium enterprises (SMEs), McElroy recognised that Building Information Modelling (BIM) could offer a host of benefits but had yet to investigate it fully due to resource constraints. Acknowledging that BIM was fast becoming the norm and with a desire to capitalise on its proven benefits, structural engineer Will Norton spearheaded McElroy’s first ever BIM project using Fastrak, CSC’s steel building design software, and Autodesk Revit.

By employing what is often known as ‘Structural BIM’ or ‘Internal BIM’, McElroy started by sharing project data within its own structural design office, communicating data between the engineer’s code-compliant design model in Fastrak, with the technician’s Autodesk Revit model.

McElroy’s primary objective was to understand and benefit internally from Structural BIM before later adopting ‘External BIM’, which would enable external data communication upstream and downstream with the client, architect and contractor.

McElroy’s first project McElroy’s first Structural BIM project was an extension to an existing building with relatively simple geometry. It was specifically chosen so the team could fully learn the workflows that are essential for effective BIM synchronisation; to build confidence before implementing BIM workflows on larger and more complex projects, and for External BIM at a later date.

The project required a 1,300m2 extension to be added to an operational building owned by Teva Pharmaceuticals Group, www.AECmag.com

p33_AEC_MAYJUNE14_structuralBIM.indd 33

consisting of a 17m high steel braced frame weighing 175 tonnes. Using Integrator, a free plug-in from CSC that enables either full or part models to be synchronised between Fastrak and Autodesk Revit, McElroy started by importing the general arrangement model from Autodesk Revit to Fastrak.

As the design progressed, there were inevitable changes to both the set out and design philosophy and McElroy had to assess the viability of various design options and locations, for example masonry walls compared with concrete lift cores.

The materials and locations were amended in Autodesk Revit and then synchronised with Fastrak, whereby McElroy’s structural engineer could investigate the effects on the structure. The changes in Fastrak were then synchronised back to Autodesk Revit; a true round-tripping which was performed numerous times on this project.

“Integrator gave complete control when synchronising models,” Mr Norton said.

“We could choose whether to include or exclude different member groups and geometry settings and it provided logical colourcoding so we could visualise the design changes. It was abundantly clear as to which members were new, modified or deleted.

“The position of various elements, such as lift cores and mezzanines, within a proposed building envelope can frequently change at scheme design stage and the Teva extension was no exception,” explained Mr Norton. “Without Structural BIM integration we would have had to remodel the structure twice for each design change, once in Fastrak and again in Autodesk Revit. With seamless synchroni-

sation between the two software packages we were able maintain a single model, sharing all the latest data. The implementation of Structural BIM has streamlined our design approach, reduced the risk of errors, provided huge time saving and improved communication enormously.”

The future of BIM for McElroy Having been rewarded with such success early during the Teva project, McElroy is now utilising Structural BIM on two larger steel frame projects alongside the Teva Project. The first is a 210 tonne upgrade to an existing facility and the second is a larger scale newbuild pharmaceutical facility weighing in at 1,750 tonnes. Structural BIM has now been adopted for all medium and large sized projects at McElroy.

“Clients are increasingly expecting 3D visualisations at the consultation stages of projects,” Mr Norton commented. “We now produce 3D models that help to communicate our designs effectively, an integral aspect of what Structural BIM can offer.”

Due to the time saved modelling, McElroy has seen projects become more profitable and engineers have been able to cost design schemes more accurately due to the more efficient working methods afforded by Structural BIM workflows.

“The future is BIM, whether it be Structural BIM or External BIM,” Mr Norton said. It has made McElroy more competitive, increased productivity and enabled us to deliver a better service. Those who adopt BIM place themselves at a distinct advantage in the market.

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20/5/14 12:16:52

Review

MassMotion AEC catches up with the latest updates to Oasys’ MassMotion software, which provides crowd flow simulation for buildings, transport and public spaces.

by Martyn Day

T

here have been a number of to be run several times to collate more 20% of the perpetual fee. Oasys aims to put out at least two updates a year. It is also posimprovements to Oasys’ accurate results. sible to hire a MassMotion seat for one MassMotion crowd flow simulaAnalysis month (£3,060), three months (£6,120), six tion software in its latest update.

Models can now be imported from CAD MassMotion’s analysis capabilities have months (£9,180) and 12 months (£11,220). drawings or built from scratch. been improved with much more graphical Discounts are available for multiple seats.

MassMotion supports all the popular CAD feedback within the model, as well as chartfile formats. Tools enable import of 3D ing. This enables designers to quickly delve Conclusion geometry from AutoCAD, SketchUp, deeper into the simulation and clearly identi- MassMotion is incredibly visual for a simuMicroStation and Rhino as well as Industry fy performance issues. lation tool. Major flow problems can be seen Foundation Classes (IFC) models from Journey time analysis between origins with queues and dense collections of agents Revit and ArchiCAD. and destinations or across specific areas for backing up to negotiate a choke point in an Portals have been added where individual individuals or groups is added. There is evacuation scenario. The more subtle results agents spawn (origin) and exit (destinations) rapid feedback for flow rates on doors, can be found in the extensive reporting and within the model, charting, which can having negotiated be sliced and diced floors, barriers, in many ways. The stairs and escalators. visual aspect of the Data is now stored results belies the in an external SQL fact that the operadatabase, speeding tor would still need up overall simulato know what they tion time. were doing and There is enhanced interpret the results agent scheduling, correctly, for which with the import of Oasys offers many spreadsheet matrionline tutorials, as ces. Using this methwell as bespoke od, Gatwick Airport training. analysed terminal The ability to mass usage by feeding in load schedule data passenger numbers further benefits for flight arrivals. transport applicaMass load schedule data benefits applications where flow is governed by regular arrivals and departures ‘Agents’ can be tions where flow is organised according to profiles, which stairs, escalators and user defined cordons. governed by regular arrivals and departures, define attributes such as speed, size, and Problem areas can be identified, where as well as irregular events (i.e. ‘rush’ hour). tasks and colour coded to identify groups. queue lengths exceed thresholds or accuHistorically, MassMotion was a plug-in There are many user definable characteris- mulate too great a number of agents. With to Autodesk’s Softimage visualisation softtics that can be applied to agents from over- colour co-ordinated density plots displayed ware, where geometry was imported or all number to spawn rate. It’s also possible in the 3D model, it is possible to identify created. MassMotion 6 requires a copy of to see ‘vision maps’, indicating where agents varying ‘Levels of Service’ and bottleneck SoftImage to author the geometry, but the are looking. Agents spawn and head to their areas. All the simulations are recorded to runtime analysis now happens externally destination and react to events in real-time, the SQL database for playback. in an Oasys simulation environment. The so should an escalator become overcrowded, workbench plug-in for SoftImage also now they will seek an alternative route, the same Pricing validates and automatically assigns propif a gate should change from open to closed. There is a range of options to get access to the erties of BIM geometry.

MassMotion can simulate the flow of hun- software. The first stage is a 30-day free trial.

With Autodesk announcing the end of dreds of thousands of individual agents in A full perpetual license is £20,000 but Softimage, Oasys is developing a replacereal time as it is 64-bit and multi-threaded. also requires a copy of Autodesk Softimage, ment geometry environment, which should It is possible to run batch analysis for a at least for now. After the first year, an annu- be released later this year. variety of scenarios, but each case needs al subscription for service and updates is ■ oasys-software.com 34

May / June 2014

p34_AEC_MAYJUNE2014_Oasys.indd 34

www.AECmag.com

20/5/14 16:23:12

When building the tallest buildings, the longest bridges and the biggest airplanes, people put their trust in the market-leading measurement and surveying solutions from Leica Geosystems.

Our employees develop, produce and distribute what our customers count on, day after day: innovation, precision, reliability and efficiency.

For our office in Milton Keynes UK, we are looking for:

BIM Technical Consultant EMEA Your main tasks include: Being the Leica Geosystems EMEA BIM Application Specialist Preparing BIM pre-sales demonstration material Demonstrating BIM solutions to Leica Geosystems prospects Preparing Leica Geosystems BIM training programs Driving BIM competence in EMEA Region to prospects and sales organisation through training Mapping and developing BIM workflows to prospects for product positioning and business development Working with regional and local BIM software vendors to develop Leica Geosystems BIM positioning Developing requirement specifications for BIM software exchange requirements Working with regional and local BIM service providers to develop Leica Geosystems BIM positioning Supporting EMEA Selling Regions with preparing project proposals for BIM to achieve its financial KPIs, growth targets and strategic objectives for the defined market segments

Your profile: Minimum of 3 years BIM project experience with strong understanding of the BIM process & uses Experience in a client facing role Advanced interpersonal skills, able to work in a multi-culture international environment Ability to pragmatically execute multiple tasks and communicate well with remote teams Ability to work independently and in a small or remote team environment Highly organised and experienced in multi-tasking Preferable with software and/or hardware sales experience in BIM/ 3D building and construction CAD industry Advance experience with BIM software packages for buildings and infrastructure Confident personality with excellent written and spoken English communications skills Willingness to travel up to 50%

Tahir Sharif, Director Software Solutions EMEA, +44 1908 513400, will be happy to answer your technical questions. Mr. Benjamin Perone from Human Resources looks forward to receiving your written application.

E-mail: jobs7@leica-geosystems.com (Job reference GEO-725).

Leica Geosystems Limited Hexagon House Michigan Drive Milton Keynes MK15 8HT www.leica-geosystems.com

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