AEC Tech News (#212)

17 Oct, 2007 By: Heather Livingston

Graphisoft Proselytizes the 2D Masses

Company employs 30-day free trial and tutorial to convince users of BIM software's benefits.

Graphisoft has introduced a free BIM Experience Kit to help 2D design offices begin the transition to 3D with minimum time and effort. The BIM Experience Kit gives those interested in learning about building information modeling (BIM) software the opportunity to try the full version of ArchiCAD 11 for 30 days at no cost. Intended to be an innovative and fun way for professionals to experience and learn about BIM, the Experience Kit walks users through a two-hour, voice-led exercise, then tests their knowledge upon completion.

“Studies show that 2D users have two conflicting fears: they are afraid they will lose their competitiveness if they don’t adopt BIM, and they are also afraid that the BIM adoption is going to be too hard and they might fail. The BIM Experience Kit enables professionals to learn BIM at their own pace and get a high comfort level before making the production switch,” said Patrick Mays, AIA, vice-president, Graphisoft North America.

According to Akos Pfemeter, head of the company’s Global Marketing initiatives, although the company has been evangelizing 3D design for 25 years, the majority of architects still work in 2D with fairly unsophisticated line-work drawings instead of creating BIM designs on their computers. “We were wondering why that is, so we created a survey for 2D CAD users ... and asked them why they are so reluctant to change,” Pfemeter said. Three main reasons emerged for the reluctance of design professionals to transition to BIM. Pfemeter explained that the first reason is obvious: everybody is really busy. The second reason is that architects were concerned that BIM is too complex and complicated. The third concern is the ability to deliver the same quality by the same deadline. Read more >>

First-Hand Architecture in Second Life

By Kenneth Wong

Terry Beaubois, director of the Creative Research Lab at Montana State University, had offered to give me a guided architectural tour. One Saturday afternoon, I decided to take him up on it. He was in Bozeman, Montana, doing some work in his lab. I was in San Francisco, California, just finishing lunch. We were 1,100 miles apart, separated by two states (Idaho and Nevada) and one national park (Yellowstone). Yet, one hour later, we were standing next to each other, not in Bozeman or in San Francisco, but in the middle of the Dresden Museum in Germany.
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Mark Your Calendar: AEC Events

AUGI CAD Camp
November 1, 2007
Portland, Oregon
This Autodesk User Group International (AUGI) regional learning and networking event will be packed with interesting courses and opportunities to network with fellow "campers" and browse the exhibit area. The foremost goal of AUGI CAD Camp is to enlighten and inform through educational sessions, which serve to broaden users' experience with the Autodesk products they use every day. Read more

Using Green Building Studio for Whole Building Energy Analysis
November 9, 2007
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
At this Sustainable Design Lecture Series event, Peter Gehring, director of building solutions at Synergis, will discuss how attendees can use a Web-based energy engineering analysis solution that integrates with today's 3D-CAD/BIM applications. The conversation will focus on a building information model from Revit Architecture. Read more

Building Performance Analysis Using Revit MEP
December 7, 2007
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This Sustainable Design Lecture Series event sponsored by Synergis will focus on using the integrated IES Virtual Environment (VE) analysis platform within Revit MEP to conduct preliminary building performance analysis. Peter Gehring will lead the discussion and will also cover preparing the Revit building information model for export to the IES VE software application for more robust building performance analysis.
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For Cadalyst's full calendar of events, click here.