3D modelling

[Colapop]

Ok y'all, how you doing today?

I have been given a task of researching B.I.M. - Building Information Modelling. I work for Beca Consulting and we have used a number of different packages that I am evaluating as part of a wider investigation into cost management/project management of the building process. I am trying to find out what appplications have a proactive interface with analysis software, Estimating software and any other packages that you may be using in relation to the B.I.M. process. I'm also trying see whether further investigation is warranted if software is unweildly or what limitations you might have found with the package/s you use.

Who, out there is using a B.I.M. software package?

Prosteel 3D
XSteel
ArchiCAD
3D+
Revit
AutoCAD
InventorPro

Please PM me and I will furnish you with an email address that you can send information to.

Thanks all,
Have a great day.

[Indiana_Jones]

I use AutoCAD, but not for 3D

-Indy

[Drum]

What're you paying for the information?

[Brian d marge]

I use Autocad but its not so hot for 3d modelling. Though its easy to use ( I think )

I have drawn full scale buildings in it ,, ( my workshop ) right down to the nail ..because I could !!!

Its rendering isnt so hot there are other packages out there that do a better Job ( Maya ???)

Stephen

[Colapop]

What're you paying for the information?
depends on whether the information is worth it.

[Drum]

Typical consultant. Borrows your watch then charges you to tell you the time.

[Pumba]

Have been a User of Autodesk AutoCad Civil3D if that is any use to you

[Colapop]

Let us look at this issue from a different perspective. We are working together towards the same goal. The ability to communicate on common ground is beneficial for both parties in this case and the free exchange of information can only expidite this process...

[Beemer]

I've done an article on 3D modelling for TUANZ - it's probably available online in one of their Topics magazines - it was back in 2005.

[geoffm]

I work for your one of your competitors :-)
Talk to Mike Spearpoint at Canterbury Uni (Richard Brand at Beca will know him) as he did his PhD in this topic.
You could also look at http://www.fire-design.info/ (IFCSTEP) and talk to Johannes, who is doing some stuff on this for his ME
Geoff

[Maha]

I have no idea what the hell you are on about Col but i did build a model Skyhawk when i was about 8 yrs old.....alas i could not fly but i did have hanging from my bedroom celling....:yes:

[Fub@r]

I work for your one of your competitors :-)


I also work for one of your competitors :innocent:

A part of our firm is currently in the throws of switching to Revit. Looks pretty promising for productivity

[hurricane_r]

i model with 3d for a game i play, here is some of my work.....

20b mazda rotary engine (full internals), tripple turbo and single turbo versions
nissan sr20det engine
honda vtec supercharged with quad throttles
inline 6 hi-raise turbo setup
v8 supercharger/carbs/filters
full drift spec interior for a 180sx

and alot more, i also make addon mods blah blah

but i just do it for fun :D. (no tutorials)

[Colapop]

Revit seems to be from all accounts a good package although a small part of the overall scheme of things. I'm not looking at the actual modelling more the relationship to other packages, providing full B.I.M. From project management, cost/quantity control through design to construction and handover. As an industry we have to be thinking differently about the design and construction process, almost a paradigm shift so that we're considering whole project views instead of just the individual disciplines that we're controlling. If this can be done without giving away intellectual property or losing profit, we will all be better off and provide greater capability to the client.

[gijoe1313]

:gob: Colapop...serious thread...coherent sentences, no reference to man-handling feminine and other soft male body parts... is this the real Colapop!? Will the real Colapop please stand up? :dodge:

Verily this doth wax most perplexing forsooth!
It is Juno's work and the mercurial flight of zephyr steeds of discombobulation that renders thus!
Gainsay me no more! Heed not those words from Babel's tower -
This is a dark day, rendered more so withal lends a terrible aspect to the eye
In regards to this days work...

Quoth the Colapop, nevermore ... :shutup: :done:

[Colapop]

You've heard of "A lady in the street, a hooker in the sack"? Kinda similar to me and work. When it comes to what I do professionally for money (instead of standover) I'm very serious. (and not too bad at it either)

Playtime is for playing, but when its go time... :gob:

[fische]

When it's go time? Fuck you watch too many movies mate!

[TonyB]

I've done a bit with ArchiCAD, a bit with ADT and Map3D, a lot with Vectorworks, and am now using Revit building.

ArchiCAD- been too long since I worked on it to give any useful info. From what I could gather listening to a new ArchiCAD user grumble at my last job, it has very limited 2D capacity, to the point where you actually import 2D stuff from another package. Could be wrong about that.

ADT 2006 and Map3D 2007- not really fair to lump them together as they are quite different, but... how can I put it... the only people who could love any AutoCAD product are those who have never used something else.

VectorWorks- I notice you haven't considered it. Don't be put off by the low price, it has serious grunt. They got version 12 at my last job just before I left and it's starting to offer some excellent tools. One bonus is that it hasn't been dumbed down so much that it becomes inflexible. One possible down side is that either Mac's aren't all they're cracked up to be, or the program requires excessive grunt from your workstation. Not sure which one it is though.

Revit- pretty bloody impressive. Only been using it for about 2-3 months, but it has mostly impressed me so far. Supposedly they actually created the whole BIM terminology. It automatically puts everything you draw into the correct 'family' (or class as Vectorworks calls it- Vectorworks requires[ed?] a switched on user to ensure everything is put in the right class). It has automatic referencing, which seems to work VERY well, and updates automatically if you move drawings around. One thing I am finding a bit frustrating is that the program seems to have been 'dumbed down', so sometimes basic tasks have me grumbling while I figure out the 'Revit way' of doing it, whereas Vectorworks might have had two or three ways of doing it, and AutoCAD would probably have ten.... if you knew the obscure command prompt to make it happen that is. That said, I think new users will produce working drawings faster on Revit than anything I have used. V12 of Vectorworks would be pretty damn close though. Not sure if you realise it or not but Revit also has a Structural and Mechanical version... but then so does Vectorworks.

I'd hate to have to pick a software package for a large company- there will always be people who hate it and will make that known at every possible oppertunity.

[avgas]

Did the whole CAD, 3DCAD thing at school/tech....at Uni did Solidworx.....my conclusion was they are all overcomplicated.

[Colapop]

Thanks for that TonyB. I'm not after a 3D Cad package - just trying to find out what cost management/quanity scheduling packages people are using in conjunction with their 3D software. And what sort of output these packages produce in terms of usable transportable data.

[Beemer]

The companies I was profiling were at the top end - Sidhe Interactive, Urban Voyage, ARANZ, Right Hemisphere, etc. I have contact details if you want, but they may not be up-to-date.

[TonyB]

what sort of output these packages produce in terms of usable transportable data.

Not sure about the others, but both Vectorworks and Revit are designed to output to a schedule, which can be exported to excel or whatever. Revit probably wins here because it is designed so that any object you create must fit into a 'family', once its in a family the object will ouput data to the BIM, even if it's only say '1 window 600x1000'. Vectorworks is set up in such a way that you have to make a concious effort to put things in the right 'class' (family), plus you have to make a concious effort to assign even minimal BIM data to the object. The danger is that when people are in a hurry, they are tempted to 'sort that out later' meaning that say a brick veneer wall can be in the internal walls class.

I'm just pointing that out so you have an idea of what to look for in the software you are considering