Summer's Up...Conference Time! Misc. Rambles...

The fall is upon us…man, where did summer go? And it didn’t even get hot here until this week…so much for local warming...

Speakin’ time…

I’m up to my ears and elbows the next few weeks. First up is a trip to ASHRAE’s IBPSA conference in Atlanta, GA. The conference runs from Sept. 9-12^th, and covers how BIM, analysis and simulation affects today’s engineering firms and designers. I got lucky and will be speaking at the conference on Wednesday, Sept. 10^th at 3:30. The session I’m doing is titled BIM Integration Best Practices for Today’s Engineering Firm. I’m covering these four topics:

•       Planning for and addressing staff issues for effective use of new technology, and preparing a training program

•       Reviewing current hardware/software assets, and how to choose between traditional local hardware configurations and cloud based services

•       Understanding the impact of BIM software on project schedules, standards, content and deliverables

•       Leveraging BIM projects, associated engineering data and content beyond the typical construction documentation deliverables

All of these came about as we moved into the more advanced stages of our implementation of Revit. In some areas, we’re exceeding expectations while others we seem to be falling off. The idea is to help users address these issues to keep a firm from losing momentum, when it comes to the culture changes and shock that accompany a BIM project.

While focus is on BIM in regards to using it for simulation, analysis and more, the content can be relative to all users. I’ll get the powerpoint available as soon as possible – since it’s an ASHRAE conference, you want see anything specific to reference Revit, AutoCAD MEP or anything else we use, but the points are still applicable.

Vegas Baby!

AU 2014 at Mandalay Bay – Las Vegas, Baby! It’s coming fast, and this year marks more than a decade for me. The load is light, unfortunately, for what may be one of my last AU conferences as a speaker. I’ve loved doing these, but the direction and content is getting spread a little thin. I’m not mad at Autodesk for it – it’s tough to press 175 applications into 700 plus classes in 3 days, so I don’t envy the schedule. The only issue I would have is the reduction in “tips and tricks” classes and labs that can really push the user to the next level, in favor of the more “firm oriented” classes that showcase specific projects. It’s almost like we need to break AU up into two conferences now, since it’s gotten so big. I’m looking to present at other conferences in addition to AU with a lighter load if possible, so let’s see what happens this year.

But don’t think for a minute it’s not worth going – in fact, only having two classes this year is giving me a chance to spend some time with other instructors, something I haven’t been able to do much of. I’ve signed up for a lot of classes this year, and am also planning on renewing my Revit certification as well. Here’s my classes, in case you haven’t signed up yet:

MP5173 - Managing BIM Projects Without Going CRAZY

This course (which is being recorded LIVE and will be broadcast as a part of AU Virtual) covers effective practices for project managers, engineers, and designers working on Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects for heating, ventilating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, water/wastewater, and other engineering practices. Learn how BIM and Revit software alter the traditional design workflows and processes, and discover how to manage the disruptive changes. The course will cover pre-project planning, dealing with project components and content and understanding what tools can really help the project bottom line. We will also cover where Revit software alters typical project tasks. The course is well suited for the first-time manager and experienced user. If you're ready for an energetic, fast-paced class that packs in a lot of information, then sign up early and often.

MP6393 - Fast Content for AutoCAD MEP 2015

AutoCAD MEP 2015 software, a world-class design and drafting application, is the Zen master of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design software. The software continues to lead the way in everything from design to fabrication to owner for excellent workflows. In this fast-paced hands-on lab we will take a look at creating custom content. We will start by using Inventor software to create a more detailed model. Next, we will use this model to create a new multiview part. Once the part is defined you will learn a quick way to use the new symbol and annotation planes to add line-based symbols, and then you’ll create a new catalog to store your custom content. Every AutoCAD MEP software user should learn how to use the overwhelming volume of manufacturer’s 3D content; this lab will help you learn how to do that.

So, no labs this year – but that makes it easy for me…tell you what, I’ll have some other stuff available for the masses as well – if you can track me down this year, tell me you want the “good stuff – the really, really good stuff”…and I promise I won’t send you outside to the street hawkers! Bring your own USB key, that’ll be the only way to get it…sign up at au.autodesk.com, the early registration period ends soon!

Coming soon…

If you didn’t know this, I’ve been working in my off-time as an author for 4D Technologies’ CADLearning series, which provides online training videos for Autodesk products. My sessions for AutoCAD MEP 2015 and AutoCAD P&ID 2015 are already finished, and I’m working hard on AutoCAD Plant 3D 2015 right now, with lots of new stuff included. I had a lot of people ask about the Plant 3D series last year at AU, so check it out – you can find all kinds of cool stuff at www.cadlearning.com. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Happy modeling! DB

AVB Part 2 – On a Clear Day….You can See the Data….

To start this analysis of Autodesk versus Bentley off, it’s best to start with a little perspective. First up, I’m a layman. I’m not the smartest guy in the room, nor do I want to be. But my job requires me to be two things. First and foremost, I’m an analyst. It’s my job to objectively understand the what, how and why for our design approach. Understanding what it takes to get a project out the door, meeting the code and client’s needs, are first and foremost. Putting the art into the project, while important, is a bonus, but critical towards gaining wider acceptance for future work.

Once you gain knowledge of how things work, as the analyst, I have to take that information and figure out how to make it work better. It’s at that point the specialist begins and the subjectivity kicks in. We develop the solution and implement it, train it and support it. Most cases, we’ll get it right, sometimes we get it wrong…but then the analyst kicks back in and we start over.

And all of this is based on understanding the information that we receive. In today’s society, information is everywhere – in our personal finances, in our job, in our culture…even in our refrigerator. And it’s out there, unfiltered, for everyone to see. Just ask Google, Facebook, the IRS and the NSA how important data is…they live and exist off of it.

How that data is shared is what drives nearly everything we do. And we’re constantly in overload, being bombarded daily with information, whether it’s personal, professional or trivial. It’s being able to pick out the relevant data is what keeps us from going nuts.

So, to make BIM work, you have to create filters, and understand information sources. All too often, we don’t get it the way we need it, so for my own sanity, I had to break it down into categories. Here’s my stab at the 100k foot perspective on information or data.

Personal – the priority in everyone’s lives is the personal information that relates to everything you believe and do. We see the world in a lens of information that directly pertains to us as individuals.  Personal information is raw data, and it’s what affects most of our decisions.

Here’s an example. My wife is a mortgage loan officer, and in order to make a decision about getting a loan approved, she needs to know personal information – where you live, what you make, what your bills and expenses are. One of the things she’s good at is helping people interpret their personal data, and make decisions about what they can and can’t afford. I know she’s a rarity in the world, but she does care about the people she works with, and tries to help them not get into a bad financial situation. But it’s all based on the raw data they provide. If it’s incorrect, or falsely provided, it can affect their lives in profound ways. But if you don’t know the raw data about yourself and what you do, then it’s hard to make decisions correctly.

Apply this to BIM. The personal data is the specific information assigned to an environment that we are designing around. This could be specific information about a piece of equipment, or the area requirements of a room. If the data is incorrect or falsely presented, it can cause all kinds of problem. Have you ever gotten a set of plans or specs that don’t match how something exists in the real world? That’s what I’m referring to. Getting this personal data correct, and making sure it’s properly filtered and shared, determines the success or failure of a design project.

Mutually Shared – at this point, you are entering into a relationship where more than one person is involved. Two or more people have a mutual understanding about the provided information, and they both agree on it. This requires common knowledge of personal information, and agreement on how it’s presented.

In the BIM world, this is the relationship between multiple design sources. And it’s the most broken part of the system, since the majority of our design tools aren’t made to communicate with each other. Sure, there have been some attempts – IFC, for example – but it isn’t seamless. Part of this comes from the inherent human nature and desire to protect their personal information and intellectual property.

The other part comes from the way it’s presented. In most design applications, all the data is shared. Take a look at the Revit DB link tool – it dumps everything right down to the lines used to cheat, and make something look different (or more like the way we did it in CAD, to get the documentation to look pretty). Every CAD file, model, detail is nothing more than a graphical database. It’s easy to share this, but sometime we’ll get stuff we really don’t need, or isn’t relevant. This causes overload – and can also allow for items to be missed, or misinterpreted.

Mutually Beneficial – there’s a big difference between shared information and beneficial information. Just because data is shared, doesn’t mean that it provides a benefit. If the data is in conflict, then it can affect the design. An example would be a specification that states one manufacturer for a part, and a schedule in a drawing that says something else.

At some point, you have to decide what information is mutually beneficial. In our world, we are deciding what data needs to be shared between databases, design programs, specifications and client applications. It’s one thing to share everything, which is what happens now. It’s more important to filter this list to what’s mutually beneficial, and needs to be coordinated.

So let’s back up and look at these parts. In order for us, the end user, to gain productivity, reduce costs and increase accuracy, we have to start with the personal information. We have to assimilate it and share it with multiple sources. And we have to make it mutually beneficial, so we’re not overloading each other with irrelevant facts, that don’t affect the outcome – the design.

So how does this pertain to Autodesk versus Bentley? Simple…step back and look at both companies. Look at their product offerings, and how they approach the design world. While there is commonality, mainly along the output side, everything else is pretty different. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the common threads are too thin. Even internally, you look at different products within the Autodesk world, and see the silo effect – for example, class definitions and properties in the Plant 3D/P&ID products, versus categories and parameters in Revit, and object styles/property set definitions in AutoCAD Architecture/MEP. Bentley’s not immune to this either, but both products have infrastructure in place that makes determining and sharing the mutually beneficial information tough to do.

What BIM is doing is affecting the tools we use, and how we gather this information. BIM is not software, it’s a process – we’ve said this a million times. And it’s the “I” in BIM that needs the most work, mainly due to both company’s different perspectives on how we need to handle the information.

Next up – we’ll look at this in more detail, and talk more about the silo versus silo-free approach.

CORRECTION: Norb corrected me on my previous post. Bentley does allow you to use the ESC key to cancel the current command (although it’s not the default – so there). Look under Workspaces, then Preferences. In the Input section, you can change the right mouse button to all ESC to cancel the command. OK – when I’m wrong, I’m wrong…but I ain’t sayin’ I’m sorry…yet..

Thanks – David B.