Reality modelling is unlocking new efficiencies in AEC projects, providing highly detailed 3D models across the entire lifecycle. To keep projects on track, rapid data processing is critical, so selecting the right workstation hardware is more important than ever.

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The post Powering your Reality Modelling Workflows: Special Report appeared first on AEC Magazine.

We are only halfway into the 2020s, yet this decade has already been marked by some unparalleled tech developments in AEC town. Riding on the paradigm-shifting AI wave with an explosion in server infrastructure, more and more workflow innovations in our industry tend to be cloud-native. Furthermore, the shifts and increasing flexibilities in our work cultures are fuelling the need for digital tools and solutions that run entirely in the web browser.

I can hear some of you arguing that cloud-based software is just the same features as traditional desktop software, moved into the browser… but it is well beyond that. It is about improving collaboration and security.

If you have ever used solutions like Google Docs, Salesforce, Slack, or GitHub, you know what I am talking about.

And it is fair to say that the AEC world is late in adopting this approach. Compare AEC with Manufacturing, for example, which already has well-established cloud-based solutions such as PTC Onshape, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and Fusion 360, to name just a few…

At AEC+Tech, we have been fortunate to test, review, and host a number of innovative design technology products, spanning early-stage design, massing and form evaluation, performative assessments, collaborative decision-making, or project and facility management, you name it. These tools are extremely competent in augmenting your design process, and solving design-stage or management problems effectively.

But something that these cloud-native workflows lack is the downstream support for drawing creation: as projects progress and become increasingly definitive, the generation of drawings regularly over the many project phases becomes crucial. True, you may harness the cloud capabilities of an AECTech product, work on the fly, and collaborate with your colleagues as you make your decisions. But when you move from design to drawing, you still have to rely on conventional (and often expensive) BIM and CAD solutions to go forward. And the biggest downside of that transition? The workflow has to be detached from the cloud and run on your machine instead, owing to the sheer size of these BIM/CAD software installations.

What these cloud-native design and management software applications need to complement them — and thus complete their workflows — is a robust option for drawings generation. Ideally, this solution would not only run on the cloud, but would also possess features that substantially accelerate and streamline the drawings creation process. And we at AEC+Tech have identified this exact cloud-native drawing creation solution, for developers to reinforce and complete their workflows: Graebert’s ARES Kudo.

ARES Kudo is a DWG-based Online CAD solution available both to end-users and as a CAD development platform. The ARES Kudo platform is used by many leading online solutions, including PTC Onshape, xDraftSight, and Trimble Connect.

What is ARES Kudo?

ARES Kudo is an online, DWG-based 2D CAD solution that runs in your web browser. It is both a robust stand-alone product and a part of the ARES Trinity of CAD software, along with ARES Commander and ARES Touch.

Thanks to a thoughtfully designed user interface that’s very familiar to traditional CAD users, shifting from a conventional CAD product to Kudo has a nearly flat learning curve. Plus, Kudo lets multiple users collaborate on the same file simultaneously — something that conventional tools hardly offer.

What really sets Kudo apart, however, is a unique amalgamation of two powerful elements: a full CAD-on-the-web solution, and Drawings Automation technology. Let’s look at both of these in more detail.

A Complete CAD-on-the-Web Solution

ARES Kudo includes a full DWG editing package that operates on any web browser. It gives you immediate access to all the tools and functions needed to create, edit, and customize drawings. As expected, you can also generate PDF or other outputs from your DWG files.

Plus, Kudo comes with a host of features to work collaboratively as a team in an instant — a signature advantage of cloud-native software. Users can add annotations, comments, and markups while working together on any DWG file. Conflicting changes are never a problem, since access to the editing capability is transferred via permissions from one user to the next.

Moreover, Kudo comes with ARES Online Drawings Automation features, enabling you to compare two DWG drawings to track changes, for example, or extract data from DWG files to CSV for schedules and quantities. Other Automation capabilities include the batch conversion of PDF or DGN files to DWG, which turns these files into drawings that can be edited in ARES Kudo. And Graebert has also announced that it will soon be possible to automatically batch-print Sheet Sets to PDF.

These functionalities make the software much more capable and robust than a conventional CAD solution, and would be a welcome complement to the early-stage design/BIM pipeline of major, emerging AECTech products out in the market.

What also makes ARES Online Drawings Automation unique in the market is the ability to schedule recurring jobs. As an end user, you could use ARES Kudo to schedule a task such as reading all your DWG files each night and converting them to PDF.

And as a developer, you could simply automate many tasks by default, anticipating the needs of your users. For instance, if they upload PDF, DGN, or Revit files, you might expect that sooner or later they will need to markup or edit them — so you could proactively convert these file types to DWG drawings upon import.

Drawings Automation from BIM Data

Perhaps the most exciting feature for developers to adopt into their pipeline is the automated generation of DWG drawings from Revit or IFC projects. Since most early-stage design tools put out a BIM (RVT or IFC) file, instant creation of drawings from this data will be a game-changer for AECTech developers.

ARES Kudo stands out due to its capabilities to read and extract building information and properties along with other data associated with BIM objects. This is possible because it imports entire BIM projects rather than just their geometry. Having immediate access to comprehensive building data — encompassing dimensions, thermal properties, schedules, material, colour, texture, costs, etc. — enhances the process of creating drawings, and enables Drawings Automation.

Upon importing a BIM project, Kudo reads the properties of the objects, and based on the nature of the project, automatically creates all the drawings you need (think plans, sections, and elevations). It then adds smart dimension chains, annotations, and labels on your drawings, by reading the attributes of the associated BIM objects. Simply speaking, this significantly reduces the manual input for drawing creation when compared with programs like Revit.

Integrating ARES Online Drawings Automation into your AECTech product will unlock a more complete pipeline for users to start from early-stage design and go all the way to enriched drawings — all on the cloud.

How Does the New ARES Online Drawings Automation Work in ARES Kudo?

As most cloud-native solutions do, Kudo executes the automated tasks on a distant server. Consequently, you don’t have to wait until the job is done; you can work on something else with your computer while the automation progresses.

Plus, you can batch-process multiple files and schedule recurring tasks with ARES Kudo. For example, you could set it to launch your desired  Drawings Automation routines every night, and track the progress of your BIM project as it evolves.

Developers using ARES Kudo as a development platform can create their own custom settings for the drawings the automation produces. You could achieve, for example, four different styles of drawings from the same geometry. When comparing the four drawings below, you can see how the representation of the walls, the dimensions, and the labels are different in each one, thanks to the high degree of customization possible.

Furthermore, developers have access to the ARES Online Drawings Automation technology, which can be used independently or in conjunction with the online CAD features provided by the ARES Kudo Development Platform for DWG editing. This integration allows for the creation of custom solutions tailored to specific needs for online DWG editing.

For AECTech companies creating software/solutions for design, BIM, project and facility management, cost estimation, and so on, the possibility to focus almost entirely on the 3D features and automate all the 2D afterwards is certainly innovative. As a process running automatically in the background and in real time, with the user designing in 3D with BIM or uploading a RVT/IFC file, Kudo solves a crucial problem — enabling developers to upscale and mainstream their technology to a broader audience.

How is the ARES Kudo Development Platform Benefiting Developers Already?

Join the Developer Workshop co-hosted by Graebert and Martyn Day from AEC Magazine

• The ARES Kudo Online CAD Development platform
• The new ARES Online Drawings Automation technology for developers
• Examples of integrations with industry-leading solutions

Panel discussion with industry experts:
How Cloud and Drawings Automation Are Transforming the CAD Industry

Drawings Automation in Link with Snaptrude

While the Drawings Automation technology in ARES Kudo is being officially introduced at the Graebert neXt event in April, it was previously introduced in the desktop version, ARES Commander. It has also been used to complement the BIM-based workflow of the AECTech product called Snaptrude: a cloud-native, BIM-based collaborative design platform. Read this previous article to learn more and see this integration in video form: “Drawings Automation for BIM Projects (AEC Magazine, March 27, 2024).”

This partnership stands as testimony to how well ARES Kudo integrates with other developers’ tools, and to the vast possibilities it opens up for collaboration to upscale and mainstream the use of new AECTech solutions.

10 Years of Collaboration with Onshape

Onshape is a fully cloud-based 3D CAD platform that revolutionizes product design by enabling real-time collaboration and eliminating the need for traditional file-based workflows. A key component of Onshape’s functionality is its Drawings module, which is based on Graebert’s ARES Kudo technology.

This partnership integrates Graebert’s advanced online CAD technologies into Onshape, enabling users to create detailed 2D drawings that are automatically synchronized with their 3D models.

15 Years of Collaboration with Dassault Systèmes for DraftSight

The partnership between Graebert and the industry-leading 3D giant behind SOLIDWORKS and CATIA, Dassault Systèmes, around DraftSight began roughly 15 years ago. It soon blossomed into a hugely successful story, yielding a 2D DWG-based CAD desktop application that quickly amassed a massive user base reaching more than 10 million users worldwide.

Over time, this collaboration expanded beyond the core desktop product into integrations with other popular Dassault Systèmes products like GEOVIA, ENOVIA, HomeByMe, 3D ContentCentral, SOLIDWORKS PDM, and now, importantly, the 3DEXPERIENCE online collaboration platform.

This year, the desktop-based higher-end version, DraftSight Premium, is also introducing Graebert’s BIM drawings automation features. Most recently, the partnership produced xDraftSight — a fully cloud-based version of DraftSight built on Graebert’s ARES Kudo engine. Accessible through a web browser as part of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, xDraftSight enables users to edit DWG drawings online with the same capabilities as the desktop, while enjoying seamless integration with Dassault’s cloud data and collaboration tools.

To sum up,

ARES Kudo and the online CAD development platform associated with it offer an array of new possibilities for AECTech product developers. Needless to say, Kudo may be the most robust cloud-native drawing tool out there. Its bespoke BIM automation features, coupled with its ability to complement other products’ workflows and project pipelines, positions it as a strong, indispensable player in this area.

With an increasing number of developers and companies exploring partnerships to nest Kudo’s capabilities in their pipelines, it is set to disrupt conventional workflows — for the better. With all the new collaboration and opportunities unfolding as we speak, these are some very exciting times for the AECTech space!

The post ARES Kudo: DWG Drawings Automation for Developers appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Artificial Intelligence is having a profound impact on architectural visualisation.

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The post Powering your AI Rendering Workflows: special report appeared first on AEC Magazine.

The technology evolution of the AEC industry started with the digital replication of 2D drawings with desktop CAD. Twenty years later, the next phase, called Building Information Modelling (BIM), introduced the concept of modelling buildings and infrastructure in 3D, to derive 2D sections and elevations for general assembly drawings. While BIM assisted in the production of coordinated document sets, it did little to connect the digital thread in construction. Roll on 20 years later and today these now old BIM software tools have failed to offer significant additional productivity benefits. The bulk of the industry is still fixated on the production and distribution of plan, sections and elevations via PDFs, when advanced AEC firms are looking for model-based workflows, to work from design to fabrication, to Digital Twins and lifecycle use.

To make matters worse, complex geometry cannot always be defined in today’s mainly facet-based BIM systems and additional packages are required to sculpt or generate complex surfaces found in todays’ expressive architectural vocabulary. This means, that BIM models become a combination of ‘smart’ objects and dumb meshes. Today’s BIM tools were designed to be all about documentation and were never intended to drive downstream fabrication processes, leading to the proliferation of multiple models, at various levels of detail.

With these limitations, mature, AEC firms have started evaluating next generation tools, termed BIM 2.0, to improve performance, increase design efficiency, drive sustainability goals, enable seamless collaboration and connect models to digital fabrication systems.

Paris-based, Dassault Systèmes has been developing convergent, market-specific flavours of its 3DEXPERIENCE platform to bring the same, industry proven design, fabrication and Digital Twin tools, used by firms such as Tesla, Honda, Boeing, Ford Motor Company and Ferrari, to designers and fabricators in the AEC market. The incumbent AEC software vendors are only now starting to develop their next generation tools and hope to offer cloud-based collaboration, database-centric modelling, and links to CNC/ gCode/ for digital fabrication. These capabilities have already been built-in to Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE Platform for over a decade and tried and tested by the world’s most advanced engineering firms.

Dassault Systèmes in AEC

Historically speaking, Dassault Systèmes tools are no stranger to being used to solve the hardest problems in AEC. Until Frank Gehry’s practice adopted CATIA, contractors’ bids priced out many of his complex designs from being built due to the risk of bidding on his designs from 2D drawings. By explicitly modelling his buildings in CATIA, his practice de-risked his designs for contractors, despite their complexity, as every component was modelled and could be quantified. On projects like the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, this meant all the contractor bids dropped to within 1% of each other. The Museum was delivered on time, inside six years, and cost $3 million less than the $100 million budgeted.

On the Taiwanese Denjiang Bridge project, Zaha Hadid Architects used 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA on the cloud, to talk the same ‘infrastructure’ language and collaborate with structural Engineer, Leonhardt and local engineering consultants Sinotech Engineering. The practice uses 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA on projects which have high fabrication needs.

SHoP Architects, a distinguished architectural firm based in New York, recognised the need to better manage the collaboration between various disciplines involved in their projects and handle the copious amounts of data generated throughout the design process. The practice were keen to move away from typical section, elevation output, to create digital build models for fabrication. To address this challenge, SHoP implemented Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Platform with the Design for Fabrication industry solution. See video below.

Firms do not need to be signature architects to benefit from using 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA. London based Innovative boutique design firm, KREOD, Chun Qing Li exclusively uses 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA to regain the role of ‘Master Architect’, modelling projects at 1:1 scale, to drive through to fabrication (DfMA), as well as to de-risk projects by modelling every detail, including bringing in laser scans from site to their models.

While architects enjoy the powerful modelling, 3DEXPERIENCE is also driving business process improvements in construction. Bouygues Construction chose Dassault Systèmes as a technology partner, to develop a broad digital transformation strategy to move from BIM to Virtual Twin and adopt automation with industrial methods of fabrication. The firm makes use of 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud with ENOVIA and DELMIA in addition to CATIA, ‘industrialising’ its project management, anticipating the various phases of a project and planning their on-site implementation in fine detail. All data related to a construction project, from the design to the execution phase, to the operation and maintenance of the building are now located in one platform.

Conclusion

With the digital convergence of AEC and Manufacturing, the key deliverables of design and fabrication change. Historic workflows and tools become less useful, as they still concentrate on 2D information exchange, while the process inherently becomes increasingly model-centric, to drive the fabrication processes and Virtual Twin processes beyond. Traditional AEC/BIM developers are scrambling to come up with ways to connect low-level of detail architectural BIM design models to modern fabrication systems. The truth is, it’s only engineering design software like 3DEXPERIENCE that can offer AEC design through to fabrication in a single platform. Dassault Systèmes has decades of manufacturing knowledge, spanning multiple industries and already has turnkey solutions for the built environment ready to go.

Finally, while CATIA is a high-end manufacturing application, with appropriate pricing, Dassault Systèmes recognises that the cost dynamic in the AEC space requires a lower pricing model (without loss of functionality). Dassault Systèmes tools for AEC customers reflect typical price points of solutions from other mainstream, professional AEC software suppliers. To learn more about AEC pricing in your country, visit this website

www.3ds.com/industries/architecture-engineering-construction

www.3ds.com/products-services/catia/disciplines/construction

Dassault Systèmes – a quick history

For those of you unfamiliar with Dassault Systèmes, while the business was incorporated in 1981, the company started in 1977, when Francis Bernard and 15 engineers from Avions Marcel Dassault, set about developing a new generation of 3D CAD system to assist in aircraft design. The boss of the company, Marcel Dassault, at 88 years old, was so impressed with the software, he decided to spin it out as a separate company, Dassault Systèmes, with Bernard heading it up. The product was named CATIA.

As essentially Dassault Systèmes was an engineering software developer, it teamed up with IBM to handle global sales and marketing. Within ten years the software was a mainstay of large aerospace and automotive firms such as Boeing and Mercedes-Benz, expanding to markets such as consumer goods, machinery, and shipbuilding.

The company invented the concept of the Digital Mockup (DMU, now called Virtual Twin or Digital Twin in AEC) as well as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) – the process of managing a product and all its related data, from initial ideation, through development, service, and disposal.

Dassault Systèmes acquired Solidworks in 1997, which went on to be the market-dominating mid-range 3D CAD system for product design, and still is to this day. SolidWorks plays a key role in the fabrication of many manufactured building components, from windows to facades.

Today, Dassault Systèmes has 22,500 employees, across 197 global offices and a market capitalisation of $49.39 Billion. It offers a wide range of solutions for manufacturing, infrastructure and cities, life sciences and healthcare based on its 3DEXPERIENCE(3DX) collaborative platform, which connects people, ideas, data and solutions to accomplish business-critical tasks.

At 42 years old, having gone through several major rewrites and journeyed to the cloud, CATIA is still at the core of Dassault Systèmes engineering and construction 3DEXPERIENCE ecosystem.

Dassault Systèmes AEC and Infrastructure key concepts

3DEXPERIENCE platform is Dassault Systèmes’ core SaaS-based platform that integrates all software applications together into one place. It is the single social collaborative environment and first point of contact for all Dassault Systemes’ products. There is a huge catalogue of ‘Apps’ providing design, collaboration (no silos), simulation and project management tools. As it’s cloud-based, it can be used from anywhere on any device.

CATIA is the flagship Dassault Systèmes software dedicated to the design and engineering of all things. Based on the industry-leading CGM geometry kernel, CATIA supports surface and solid mathematically defined geometry with exacting precision. The applications are packaged up into commercial products called ‘Roles’ for users, to fulfil certain design roles in a workflow, tailored for various industries, from Aerospace and Automotive, to Ship Building, Civil Infrastructure, Buildings and beyond.

CATIA Building Designer is a dedicated AEC Role, which is a special interface and group of ‘applications’ specifically created for AEC design. This brings a familiar set a building design tools and components, reminiscent of traditional BIM applications, but these can be customised and developed by the designer and are more powerful in defining complex geometry, such as facades. This can be combined with CATIA xGenerative Design to define all the geometry in one place, by one application.

CATIA xGenerative Design (xGen for short) is a browser based generative design application,
native to the platform and combines visual scripting with interactive 3D modelling, combine parametric with algorithmic design. Think of this as Rhino Grasshopper for CATIA.

Building Design for Fabrication is a solution for integrating building design for manufacture and assembly, featuring 3D modelling for DfMA, architectural design, computational design, structural design, 4D modelling, clash management, PLM portfolio management.

From Experience to Construction offers a range of tools to productise project deliverables using modular, per-project, configurable sub-components.

Integrated Built Environment is a web-based, project and asset information solution, for Virtual Twin data exchange, design reviews, data analytics and integrated project orchestration amongst stakeholders.

ENOVIA is the SaaS product lifecycle management backbone of the Dassault Systèmes portfolio, for design management, product planning, Bill of Materials management, configuration change management, quality compliance, project management and execution.

DELMIA is a digital manufacturing planning, simulation logistics solution, with supply chain optimisation and planning. DELMIA has been used to devise and optimise off-site AEC fabrication, to optimise factory layout and flow of parts.

Main image courtesy of Morphosis Architects; CATIA model of the Kolon One & Only Tower in Seoul, Korea

The post Beyond BIM 2.0 with 3DEXPERIENCE appeared first on AEC Magazine.

In this article, we’ll present you with some compelling reasons for either your initial purchase decision or a seamless transition from your current software.

Business Sense

There are many variables to consider when evaluating software, with the most obvious being its price. Let’s consider both DraftSight Professional and DraftSight Premium, for example. Compared to the perceived default CAD vendor, you can expect to pay about half as much for DraftSight Professional. Using current MSRP pricing in USD, that’s a saving of $241 for a one-year subscription.

What about DraftSight Premium? It costs about a fourth as much as the other vendor, or a saving of $1,426 a year. Let’s say you have a design group of 10 that needs DraftSight Premium. You’ll save $14,260 every year on software subscription costs alone. That’s a significant saving, to say the least.

Your due diligence should also include ROI calculations. Make sure to consider all costs involved with implementing DraftSight, not just the cost of the software. Many of our customers report ROIs from 200% to almost 400%. That translates to DraftSight paying for itself within months.

You’ll also save on hardware costs, as the system requirements for DraftSight are much lower than the competition. You’ll need less disk space for installation; DraftSight requires less RAM and lighter graphics requirements. Of course, these are cost savings and should be included in your ROI calculations.

Compatibility

If you’re considering making a change from your current software, you’ll have many things to consider. Most AEC firms would say that compatibility with their existing designs would be at the top of the list. Fortunately, DraftSight reads and writes the industry-standard DWG format flawlessly. In fact, with DraftSight, you can save back to even older DWG formats than its developer’s software can.

Another major hurdle to changing your software is how long it takes to ramp up and become productive. By using a familiar interface and command aliases that map to the competition’s names, DraftSight users find that it typically only takes hours to be up and running.

Over time, the most efficient AEC design firms employ many types of customizations. Often, these critical additions are at the core of their efficiency. Any software solution that could not support them would be immediately dismissed. Fortunately, DraftSight has a robust set of APIs that will fit your needs. Whether developed in C# or C++, VB.NET or JavaScript, or the most popular CAD API, LISP, DraftSight should cover your needs. It even now supports Visual LISP® as well.

AEC Project Management

AEC companies know that a smooth-flowing project is the key to their productivity. To achieve this, they employ best practices, standards, and software solutions. Some software solutions may be external to the CAD program, but others are not. They’re part of the software and critical to the success of a project.

DraftSight has some important tools that help keep an AEC firm on task and operating smoothly and accurately. An AEC project can range from small to large. Sometimes, they’re very large, and managing all the sheets involved is extremely important to the project’s success. To help manage these drawings, DraftSight’s Sheet Set Manager acts as a built-in document management system.

Not only will it help you by becoming the hub for your project, with customizable subsets for all your construction documents, but it also lets you take control of your printing and plotting parameters across the entire project. The Sheet Set Manager lets you add custom properties to the project or sheet, which helps control your title block data. You can define standard blocks to use for your callouts and even add a linked sheet list table.

Also built into DraftSight is the ability to graphically compare different versions of a drawing for those times when changes are made but not apparent visually. You can even save the comparison image for future reference.

In a fast-paced AEC environment, adherence to and enforcing CAD standards is critical. Stay on task by utilizing the DWG Standards feature, which can help you maintain your layers and styles. Once you’ve applied your DWS standards file to a drawing (typically pre-attached via a template), the verification can be either an active or passive process.

The active process continually checks the DWS file(s) after each operation. If a violation is detected, it will immediately notify the user. The passive process requires the user to initiate the process of drawing verification. Whenever a violation is encountered, the user will be notified so they can have the DWG Standards tool rectify the violation.

Productivity Tools Found Only in DraftSight

DraftSight also offers some tools that you won’t find anywhere else. Have you ever needed to convert a raster image (JPG, PNG, TIF, etc.) to vector graphics in your CAD program? DraftSight can do it with its Image Tracer command.

There’s even a tool that’s more powerful than the competition’s. Just as you may need to import raster files, you may also need to import PDFs into vector graphics. Unlike the other guys, DraftSight has a batch processing feature so that you can do hundreds at a time. Now that’s productivity!

There’s the PowerTrim command that speeds up your trimming and extending tasks. Auto Dimension is like an easy button for dimensioning. You can even speed up your command input by using Mouse Gestures.

For more information about DraftSight, visit DraftSight.com, and don’t forget to download the free, 30-day trial here.

Still curious? Join DraftSight at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024 the premier event for those within the AEC sector contemplating DraftSight’s 2D CAD solution.

The post Explore how DraftSight 2D CAD stands out in AEC appeared first on AEC Magazine.

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The post Guide: Visualisation for Revit and beyond appeared first on AEC Magazine.

We are construction experts who have increased our efficiency with the help of digital technologies and are ready to help companies worldwide.

SIGNAX is a global IT company with offices in Dubai (UAE) and Boston (USA). The company unites true professionals in construction, clearly understands what the industry needs today, and makes innovations for the future. SIGNAX has a list of implementations in Real Estate and industrial projects, more than 50 iconic buildings, and 3 000 000 total sq.m. that were built with the use of SIGNAX solutions.

We respect and use the “big” vendors’ solutions for our projects, but year after year, they improve their products for real construction processes very slowly. We waited a long time and finally decided to do everything ourselves – made a software  product for construction management. It consists of 4 modules – DOCS, INSPECTION, TOOLS, and DASHBOARD. Each module solves a range of tasks. Meet SIGNAX portfolio of services!

SIGNAX DOCS

No platform can deal without a common data environment system. You wanted a cloud CDE in the perimeter of the organization (on-premise) – here it is.

SIGNAX DOCS – Common Data Environment for Construction Site (Pic. 1). Issuance of shop drawings for work in electronic form has become possible. Builders can open current drawings directly from a smartphone using a login password or a link. You can choose if you prefer all information to be held in your corporate servers or in a secure public cloud of well-known providers.

SIGNAX INSPECTION

Everyone is talking about digital collaboration on construction sites. This is also SIGNAX. We have fully implemented remote control. Now you can have a great understanding of what is happening on a construction site while you are in the office.

SIGNAX INSPECTION – interaction project participants on the construction site and confirmation of completion through panoramic 360-photo. The service allows you to photo an object on a daily or weekly basis, compare progress for any dates (Pic. 2), and share 360 photos via a link or on the developer’s website.

The service also allows communication between all construction stakeholders, setting tasks, issuing comments directly from a smartphone at the construction site, and indicating a point on the needed floor plan.

SIGNAX TOOLS

Are you truly using digital data on your construction site? Most likely, you already have BIM models based on the design results. Let them be 100% effective on site.

SIGNAX TOOLS – set of functionality for checking design BIM models, creating and maintaining a construction BIM model (Pic. 3). TOOLS provides linking the model with the construction schedule to obtain 4D and 5D, marking the completion using the model by obtaining all volumes in 2 clicks. TOOLS includes plugins for Autodesk Revit, Navisworks, and AutoCAD, which perfectly fit into the business processes of most modern companies that work in BIM and don’t require additional training of employees.

SIGNAX DASHBOARD

Any digital data, as well as construction data, will not work without a solution for managing & operating with it. We want you to always have useful data at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere, without any external systems or the need to generate additional reports.

SIGNAX DASHBOARD – the digital control center of the manager (Pic. 4). Basic information about the project’s progress in the smartphone of project managers and company directors. The service allows you to organize a unified reporting standard at all developers’ construction sites.

BIM on construction site

We have solved construction problems associated with the lack of accurate data from the construction site and its untimely collection. One digital/VDC engineer can collect all the information from the project and input this information into the construction model (Pic. 5). If our clients do not have such employees yet, then we are ready to provide digital support services ourselves. All members of our team are professionals in BIM and any digital measurements (UAV, 360-photos, and laser scanning).

We were able to increase the process efficiency on the construction site through the use of BIM technology, increasing transparency using photo 360 and drones (Pic. 6). Discussions about the scope of completed work disappeared from the weekly meetings, and the numbers became clear and unambiguous for all participants in the process. Finding the necessary information in the system takes a matter of seconds while the overall trust of project participants increases because the data is always precise; risks and possible problems are transparent.

Over 30 projects in different parts of the World have already been successfully implemented using SIGNAX services. You also can join! Just leave a request on the website https://signax.io, and we will contact you to plan the demonstration.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Popov

Head of Product Development at SIGNAX. Visionary in the field of BIM and digitalization of construction. He graduated from the Faculty of Industrial and Civil Engineering with a degree in CAD. Alex has been involved in implementing BIM technologies in design for many years, where he automated the processes and raised the efficiency of entire projects. For the last four years, he has been developing SIGNAX solutions for BIM application on the construction site. His big idea is to lead the industry to paperless construction. Alex is the author of his own YouTube and TG channels.

The post SIGNAX Integrated Solution – BIM has truly arrived at the construction site appeared first on AEC Magazine.

My team spends a lot of time obsessing over how customers use our products. But a recent visit to a customer’s home office underscored why they use them.

There to observe the architect’s workflows, we toured the home she built and discovered so much more. With recycled concrete and repurposed materials at every turn, it was a showcase of sustainability. This practitioner needs more than design tools. She needs tools that help her build a more sustainable future.

I carry this lesson forward as we at Autodesk evolve our technology to help you create greener homes, smarter buildings, and more resilient infrastructure. You need tools that help you achieve your goals. Tools that work as well for a sole proprietor as a global multidisciplinary firm. And every stakeholder in between.

That’s what we’re setting out to do with Autodesk Forma, the industry cloud for architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) that will unify workflows across teams that design, build, and operate the built environment.

This cloud-first evolution in software is about collaboration, not silos; open and integrated systems, not walled gardens; and better outcomes, not constraints. The industry is ripe for this change.

Today’s fragmented landscape

The sheer number of project stakeholders in AECO is uniquely challenging. The roles of architects, electrical subcontractors, and facilities managers—to name just a few—are vastly different yet heavily interdependent.

You all work toward delivering the best outcomes for the building. But you don’t work with the same tools. The explosion of technology solutions tailored to each discipline has resulted in disconnected data and processes.

This fragmented environment drains productivity. You shouldn’t have to rebuild models from one project phase to another or revise a spreadsheet for every design update.

So how can we connect stakeholders? We start with granular data.

A new era of data-powered collaboration

Data is the great equalizer when it is accessible and structured. Having the right data could allow the digital representation of a pipe with all its component information—geometry, materials, and revision history—to work for every stakeholder based on their unique perspective and needs, whether they’re using AutoCAD, Revit, or non-Autodesk software.

So, we’re moving beyond today’s file-centric paradigm and breaking down design files into bits of data that are represented at a granular object level. In time those bits of data will live in Autodesk Docs, a secure data environment that serves as the single source of truth for your projects.

With your data centralized, you could manage it more efficiently. You could add classifications or use common data currencies for interoperability. You could share just the data your collaborator needs, rather than a massive design file. And you could make datasets flex to your project’s needs. Flexible data allows a glass wall, for example, to be captured in both the window schedule and the building’s specifications. Over time, you will be able to store other datasets, such as analytical and structural models, issues, drawings, requests for information, and bills of materials.

Today, Docs is the data repository for Autodesk Construction Cloud and will evolve to be the data repository for Forma in the future. That means if you’re using Docs today, you’re already setting up your firm for a more agile data future.

By freeing data from files and siloes, we can connect information across different tools, teams and processes, seamlessly moving data across a workflow.

A journey to open and integrated systems

Cloud-based, granular data sets the stage for open and integrated technology systems where the data will be free to move. In this new paradigm, you will be able to deliver the right data to the right user at the right time, through whichever interface they prefer.

Forma is the home to this big, ambitious vision, which we announced last year and will bring to life over several years. Today, Forma’s first set of capabilities is available, offering conceptual design tools, predictive analytics, and design automation for early-stage site planning.

As we build out the industry cloud, we will continuously add new capabilities to Forma to power more cloud-based workflows. We’ll also enable you to work between the cloud environment and your existing desktop products. In fact, this exists today.

Customers like CUBE 3 are already seeing its advantages. CUBE 3 has adopted Forma capabilities for concept design and uses the Revit integration to bridge to the detailed design phase without needing to rebuild the model.

“The integration between Forma and Revit is one of the most important features for us. As Revit would be the end-product that we’ll be using in a project, the quicker we get to start using it, the better,” says Tino Freitas, CUBE 3 Architect and BIM Manager.

To create more workflow integrations that firms like CUBE 3 value, we’re growing our toolkit of APIs (application programming interfaces). If Autodesk Docs is the hub for your data, APIs are the spokes. They take your data where it needs to go.

These APIs will connect data between our Autodesk products and power non-Autodesk solutions too.

For example, we worked with TestFit, a real estate feasibility platform, to bring their parking configurator capabilities to Forma. The extension allows TestFit’s algorithm to load into Forma and run in browser with instantaneous results.

TestFit co-founder Clifton Harness praises Forma’s “seamless ability” to connect non-Autodesk solutions with the Autodesk ecosystem.

A platform built with you and for you

We’re developing Forma with input from customers like CUBE 3 and technology providers like TestFit. We conduct field research at architects’ home offices and large firms around the globe. We gather insights from product usage, customers in beta programs, and feedback from user communities.

Each stakeholder uses our software in ways unique to their business and priorities. But there are common themes that span them all.

You’ve told us you need a trusted and secure platform that:

• Serves as a single source of truth, delivering up-to-date, structured data across diverse collaborators
• Offers intuitive experiences for BIM experts and non-technical users alike
• Allows customizable workflows to meet different needs across industries and project phases

We’re engineering Forma to address these needs and to make the most of artificial intelligence. As more useful data is surfaced, AI will get better at helping you too.

It will help you iterate and get buy-in more quickly. It will augment your processes with simulations and automation. It will produce data-driven insights in real-time to help you achieve superior business and sustainability outcomes.

Imagine if you could securely identify the commonalities between a set of projects that were all delivered on time and on budget. Or, learn what mistakes to avoid by analyzing the shared attributes of projects that did not deliver on their promised outcomes. That’s the future we’re building with you.

In your high-pressure world, these better ways of working can’t happen fast enough. We’re rapidly building out Forma, incorporating your feedback, and bringing new capabilities and integrations to market.

We invite you to join us on this journey. And together, we’ll realize a better world designed and made for all.

Main image caption: Data is the foundation of any digital transformation. Image courtesy of Autodesk

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It is an exciting time to be working in the AEC industry, as it is rapidly accelerating the pace of change. For years, it was branded one of the laggards of the third industrial revolution, the digital revolution, and cast as an unlikely candidate to drive the latest fourth industrial revolution. Looking on how buildings and structures are delivered today, we see different speeds of digital maturity among the many stakeholders. However, a combination of fast-evolving trends and continued investment will position the construction industry right at the center of the industry 4.0 revolution. The very tools and technology that are used today and underpin projects need to be re-architected to ensure that they deliver on this revolution and support as users’ needs change.

Why do you see there is a need for transformation in the AEC industry?

Eduardo: There is a significant challenge of decarbonizing our economies today, and the AEC industry plays a vital role. Besides that, the requirements for better – more efficient, comfortable, adaptative and environmentally friendly – buildings continue to evolve. To achieve these challenges, we believe in supporting our customers, architects, engineers, and construction companies, with more efficient design to build workflows. To do that, we are continuously implementing innovative technology to our solution stack and helping accelerate the digitalization of workflows.

The digitalization trend itself is being fueled by continued data processing capacity and access growth, via both hardware and software innovations. More IoT devices connected through considerably faster telecommunications, and fundamental changes of enabling IT-systems to self-evolve through artificial intelligence and machine learning have been changing the technological landscape for the industry.

Ultimately, it’s all about the data! And that brings about challenges. How best to create, use and store that data? And that is where we must evaluate our products, workflows and approaches to future proof and ensure we meet the needs of clients both today and in the future. Is desktop alone the answer? Well as a provider of BIM solutions for buildings and infrastructure, we took the decision several years ago to also invest in our cloud services to enable some re-architecture of workflows and the implementation of technology that connects and enables greater efficiency than is possible by desktop alone.

How does a software company like ALLPLAN that has been around for decades prepare for this data revolution?

Eduardo: The need to share, coordinate, and manage information in a BIM framework is required now more than ever. However, connecting desktop modeling software to a multitude of stakeholders, managed and unmanaged programs, and different processes used in a project generates significant challenges. With information being gathered from different systems, data can quickly and easily become mismanaged.

By expanding Allplan capabilities with cloud-based technology, an integrated BIM workflow and data management system is created, streamlining processes, making data instantly available to the right people at the right time, and ensuring that the single source of truth is maintained through the project lifecycle.

It’s vital to keep pushing the boundaries and developing our desktop software – every innovation, every enhancement, every bit of increased performance, all helps and adds value. But we all know that hardware performance has its limitations and cannot continue to increase like it has in the past. And from a performance perspective, this is also where cloud powered workflows can come into the picture. Often, we don’t need the complete project locally. Take our multi-user functionality, we can control and access projects over the cloud and synchronize data simultaneously between users, reducing local storage needs, improving performance and enabling more efficient collaboration.

Is this just better coordinating and sharing of data?

Nigel: No, it’s way more than that, but we need to start there. In fact, we invest quite some time in making sure we can deliver distributed and coordinated sets of data amongst project teams, whether that is through desktop to cloud or cloud to cloud workflows. Of course, once you have the basic requirements dealt with it is then possible to build processes on top of the distributed data, just one of which is issue management. This is an incredibly important workflow that requires a well-managed data set that is accessible across the relevant teams. Without this we often see poor communication leading to project delays. The close integration of cloud functionality into Allplan means issues can be efficiently managed from within the desktop but powered and improved by cloud technologies and then further connected with other tools to ensure a seamless flow of information.

It is often more about delivering a connected environment – desktop and cloud based. One example of utilizing a well-coordinated dataset from desktop to cloud can be seen with our recent integrations with Solibri. By synchronizing model and issue data through our cloud platform we are then able to move that data on – in a coordinated way to Solibri’s desktop environment, utilizing their BCF Livesync functionality, and then further enhance the quality of the model by also connecting to new cloud-based model checking tools delivered through Solibri Inside.  The value these types of workflows offer to our customers is huge; as we are developing a ‘live’ model in the cloud – one which can adapt over time, is continuously enriched through open, but controlled, connectivity with multiple different data sources. And because this is all in the cloud anyone with access and the right permissions can perform these tasks, so we remove the barriers for access immediately, resulting in no more data silos.

So what is this? Is it integrating BIM? Or raising BIM levels?

Nigel: I think on every level you can say that – yes.  We are removing barriers to access data, as I mentioned before. I believe that a connected BIM environment ensures that the level of BIM is raised. We have a commitment to the industry and to our customers to ensure project data is made accessible, but also that a history of the project is available through a digital platform for both model data and document data throughout all disciplines involved.

Our strategy is to ensure an open data environment, so we support OPEN BIM initiatives at every opportunity, and to also support a further enhanced connected BIM environment through our open API. This then allows our customers to deliver their own value both upstream and downstream in projects.

We like to think that with the environment we have created we are able to create a rich and diverse set of solutions which cover the more widely adopted workflows, like the previously mentioned issue management, to more specialized workflows to facilitate the structural analysis of buildings and bridges, for example. For the engineers in these fields we have built specialist functionality where users can take a structural model and convert it to an analytical model, using a format that can be used in numerous structural analysis solutions. The clever thing is that the data from the structural analysis solution can be managed back via our cloud services to enable an end-to-end solution.

There are many other examples of connecting data – both into our desktop applications and out via our cloud services. From road or bridge alignments in other industry solutions to workflows that enable and support change management. We see the possibilities with our framework as limitless and are working hard with industry leaders to bring their requirements to reality.

Looking into the future what do you see as the Allplan software of the next decade?

Eduardo: I’d say that where it makes sense from a user, project, and value-based perspective, to deliver more efficient workflows via our cloud services, we will continue to do so. And we expect more hybrid working. As not everything must be centralized on the cloud, we have taken the approach that a mix of desktop and cloud working efficiently enables adaptive working processes today – and in the future. We are also ensuring that we have multiple entry points to support and integrate disruptive technologies as and when they come along.

In the next ten years, Allplan software will undergo significant changes and improvements as technology continues to advance rapidly. Here are some potential developments – cloud and desktop powered – that we can expect to see:

1. Greater integration: ALLPLAN will continue supporting OPEN BIM and becoming more integrated with other software tools, such as construction management, project management, and analysis software. This integration will enable architects, engineers, and construction professionals to work more efficiently and collaboratively.
2. Cloud-based solutions: As discussed, cloud powered workflows will continue to evolve, as they offer a more flexible and accessible approach to design and collaboration. With cloud powered solutions, architects and engineers can work on projects from anywhere and collaborate with team members across the globe.
3. Visualization: Virtual and augmented reality, but also cloud and desktop-based rendering technologies are becoming more advanced and accessible, so we are continuously investing in making the most advanced solutions available to Allplan customers in the most efficient way – we can talk about Maxon’s Redshift, Unreal’s Twinmotion and Act3D’s Lumion integrations for another hour – and we see that playing an important role in Allplan software in the coming years. Efficient visualization can be used to create immersive experiences for clients and stakeholders, allowing them to experience and interact with designs in a more realistic way.
4. Sustainability and energy efficiency: As sustainability and energy efficiency become more critical concerns for the built environment, Allplan will continue growing efficiency in design to build workflows, including LCA solutions. Solutions that enable architects and engineers to design more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings will become increasingly important.
5. Increased use of AI: AI and machine learning will play a more significant role in ALLPLAN solutions in the coming years. AI can be used to automate certain processes, such as design optimization, project management, and even construction. AI can also help architects to make more informed decisions by providing insights based on data analysis.

In summary, ALLPLAN will continue focusing on the delivery of building and infrastructure projects with an emphasis on equipping customers to increase efficiency in design to build workflows. As more technologies become available, we will continue developing effective workflows for architects, engineers, and construction professionals, to support them in building the future.

The post AEC Software Technology to Build the Future from ALLPLAN appeared first on AEC Magazine.

It’s been nearly three years since the pandemic closed offices around the world, and most staff have yet to return to their desks full time. The global pandemic accelerated adoption of hybrid work models. This incredible shift in the way we work is here to stay, due in part to the many benefits it has introduced, such as fewer commutes, greater work-life balance and the ability to hire diverse talent from almost anywhere. It’s not surprising that the majority of employees prefer a hybrid model. But along with the benefits, companies have seen some challenges that affect employee productivity, the ability to collaborate effectively, and employee satisfaction.

To understand the state of hybrid work and the challenges firms are facing, the HP Anyware team surveyed more than 270 IT leaders across a range of industries, including from AEC organizations. The report shows that businesses are already investing in digital workspaces technology. More than three quarters of respondents reported staff were actively using remote desktops. A further 13% were either looking into implementation, or already trialing it. Only 9% reported no interest in the technology.

But the report also found that hybrid businesses are facing significant challenges, many of which hold true for AEC businesses. For instance, 29% of respondents felt remote desktop performance is their biggest hybrid technological challenge, followed by the potential negative impact on company culture (23%), decline in collaboration (20%), potential decrease in productivity (19%), and data security risks (17%).

As a result, IT teams are busier than ever trying to meet a variety of employee needs in the office, remotely, and a combination of both. Company policies are also evolving, and ensuring employees are productive no matter where they’re working has become a top priority for businesses in the AEC space.

AEC collaboration in a hybrid world

Architects and clients aren’t just working in offices and at home in the same city. Many are working from different cities, job sites, or even separate parts of the country. Yet, they still need to collaborate to complete their best work, on time, no matter where they are working from.

Typically, working on a project using multiple applications requires exporting and importing from one format to another, often causing creators to lose information and compatibility along the way. Adding more people into a workflow can create challenges in file merges and maintaining a single source of truth. NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise¹ resolves these challenges, enabling true real-time collaboration for teams, seamlessly syncing file changes between creative tools, maintaining their integrity throughout the pipeline.

With the Omniverse platform, design teams can easily publish content on a server, then access it to simultaneously collaborate with each other in real time. Omniverse allows multiple users to collaborate while concurrently using design and visualization software like Autodesk Revit and 3ds Max, McNeel Rhino/Grasshopper, and Unreal Engine 4.

Enabling this kind of real-time collaboration from wherever designers are, without losing visual performance or compromising data security has tremendous value for firms in AEC. Collaborative design iteration can speed up decision making, and time to project completion. Designers can create compelling, high-fidelity visualizations of complex scenes for clients and see modifications come to life in real-time. Maintaining project data in a central location improves security of valuable information too, especially when used with the digital workspaces solution, HP Anyware².

No matter where AEC designers are based, or what type of device they use, with HP Anyware and a network connection, designers can access company data and applications securely and easily.

HP Anyware is built on industry-leading PC-over-IP (PCoIP®) technology, which delivers a rich and lossless user experience securely across all network conditions, on a variety of desktop and mobile endpoint devices. HP Anyware is designed for colour-accuracy, text clarity, and interactive responsiveness, and the solution builds to lossless, so the moment the user stops interacting with the image, it displays the exact image as it appears on the host workstation. Additionally, AEC data remains secure in the data center since only AES 256-encrypted image pixels are transmitted to client endpoints.

Watch how AEC collaboration works with HP Anyware and NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise in this video with Robert Cervellione, AECO Design Specialist at NVIDIA. Cervellione designs with connected data from different applications, such as McNeel Rhino, Autodesk Revit and 3ds Max, and Unreal Engine with NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise and HP Anyware. Based on Universal Scene Description (USD), Omniverse Enterprise enables teams to connect and customize 3D pipelines and simulate large-scale, physically accurate virtual worlds. With over 1.5 billion polygons and 2000 lights, the scene below requires a great deal of computing power. Working from a laptop, Cervellione is able to remotely access his NVIDIA RTX-powered workstation via HP Anyware software. Since Anyware offers low latency and GPU-accelerated connections, Cervellione can achieve the same user experience as if he was working at a deskside workstation.

For companies that need to support greater creativity, collaboration and productivity across teams, it’s time to take a closer look at NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise. This scalable, end-to-end platform unites teams, their assets, and software tools in a shared virtual space, enabling diverse workgroups to collaborate on a single project file simultaneously. Using HP Anyware in conjunction with Omniverse, team members working from different locations can securely work with the colour-accurate, lossless, and distortion-free user experience needed to create and iterate together efficiently.

HP Anyware also supports the peripherals that AEC professionals are accustomed to, including Wacom pens and tablets, 3D input devices like 3DConnexion Spacemouse®, 4K multi-monitor set-ups, with VR headset support coming soon.

Together, HP Anyware and NVIDIA Omniverse offer a solution that delivers an outstanding user experience for collaborating across AEC applications from anywhere.

Request access to a free 30-day NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise software trial and free 30-day HP Anyware trial by clicking here.

1. NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise is sold separately.
2. Network access required  HP Anyware supports Windows®, Linux® and MacOS® host environments and Window, Linux, MacOS, iOS®, Android®, and Chrome OS® end-user devices. For more on the system requirements for installing HP Anyware, refer to the Admin Guides here.  HP Anyware is based on the Teradici CAS software and licensing platform and is available through a 1- and 3-year subscription. HP Anyware subscriptions are based on the number of concurrent PCoIP connections used (pay for the number of host connections, not the software) with a minimum order quantity of 5. HP Anyware subscriptions gives you a licence key to activate a connection to a hosted desktop as well as support and updates to the PCoIP Agents, PCoIP Clients and the Anyware Manager available for download here. For a limited time, an HP Anyware subscription also includes access and support for ZCentral Remote Boost and ZCentral Connect and is available for purchase through an HP Teradici seller or by contacting sales here.

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