File -->
Show history -->
then select you're Revit model in question. This will help especially if someone had a computer crash and you're trying to find out who still owns elements that need to be relinquished or saved...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Internal Teaching Tool
Teaching tool...not finger pointing right? the new release of architecture revit 2008 has a nice little tool added called show history which allows you to see who has edited the model along the design and construction process. Refer to the image below, but it's
File -->
Show history -->
then select you're Revit model in question. This will help especially if someone had a computer crash and you're trying to find out who still owns elements that need to be relinquished or saved...
File -->
Show history -->
then select you're Revit model in question. This will help especially if someone had a computer crash and you're trying to find out who still owns elements that need to be relinquished or saved...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Revit BIM and the unmentionable
I wanted to drop a quick note to everyone to let everybody know that as a whole this is what I am starting to see as the trends emerging in the world of Revit/BIM, as well as the fundamental changes that I believe will occur over the next two years in the architectural profession.
1.) FMI group in the 2007 annual owner survey says that the biggest problem owners have with architects are incomplete documents.
2.) Contractors surveyed replied that overall the largest problem that contractors have with architects are incoherent CDs and communication.
3.) Lastly the American Census Bureau now reports that over the past twenty years the entire AE industry as a whole is declining in perceived quality/value, technology use, and profitability.
Where we are at is a crossroads in our profession. I have said it before, and it couldn't be truer in our practice as architects and designers we are beginning to get away from the reputation and perception of master builder and are now being perceived more and more as "design professionals," with little or limited knowledge of the actual inner workings of a building and a total disconnect witht he actual construction process.
Here's where I'm headed...the Superdome in Louisiana, (the one that stood up to Katrina) was built using 31 pages of working documentation and was constructed in less than four years from 1971-75.
35 pages.
270,000 s.f., a complex laminella beam structure, advanced modern design and multiple trades.
How many pages would that take today?
Here's the tougher question. Why?
With BIM technology where it is and the professionals that form the very foundation of the AE communityI seriously question the practice of over-documentation. The CYA approach to design and construction is dead. Here's why:
Contractors don't look at your drawings. Gasp. I know. Be offended be scared. But you should be hacked off and wondering why the bathroom partition mounting detail that took you three days to draw won't even garner 2 seconds worth of the contractors attention. I know this is shocking and I know it was a detail in the standards library, but it is yet another point on the ever growing space in between what information architects thick need to be on drawings and what information the construction crews actually use to build. How it is actually built using the contractors "means and methods" to get it done, needs to be second knowledge to architects. Second to the necessary design language needed to create a better and more healthy and environmentally friendly world to live in.
I got asked this question five years ago when i was six months out of school by a contractor, "Why (when it is the contractor's responsibility to use the means and methods of construction they see most fit) the architect is detailing the head jamb and sill detail for a window they have not been trained to install, don't know the tools necessary to install it and will not be responsible for carrying the warranty on that aluminum storefront framing?" I asked what was important to show and the contractor looked surprised and just answered "Tell me at what depth you want the window to sit in the wall...you could even show it in elevation."
Think about it.
Engineers drawings are worthless. Ok so that might have been a bit harsh let me rephrase and say that engineers who draw information that is completely different from the MEPS subcontractors calculations and shop drawings...they're useless. Why waste time drawing what won't be built? The entire idea of a drawing is to graphically represent to the constructor what is to be built and installed. By using BIM, engineers now have the tools to grab the responsibility and rewards of a truly coordinated model and potentially stop many of the issues before they hit the field. The question that I've heard a couple of times now is why are subcontractors drawing in 3D and my engineers (who are supposed to be more techno-savvy) aren't?! Ask your ductwork subcontactor on your next project, it's scary. Also ask the steel fabricators too, sometimes they'll have 3D models they're using as well that might possibly help you link into your revit model and use for interference checking.
Integrated Project Delivery (US), Project Alliancing (Australia) or BIM Huddle, BIM Pit etc... Although some of these differ in detail the fundamental delivery concept is the same. Integrate the team. Will the subcontractor who barely knows how to turn the computer on be competitive in this process? No. Sadly. But more frightening are the firms both engineering and architectural who seem to think that they can wait until the last minute jump into the new technology and still remain competitive to their counterparts who have already used a successful implementation strategy. Will these firms be successful? Again unfortunately no. I've had some of the older guys here in the office reminisce about the good old days when CAD just entered the AE marketplace as a tool. Many of the hand drafting firms thought it was a fad or wasn't as effective as hand drafting. I was told many of those firms went belly up when they couldn't remain competitive in the industry.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not spitting on the little guy, but moreover giving the little guy the heads up and maybe even a step forward. BIM will change the industry. BIM has changed the industry.
Right, wrong or indifferent what we are seeing is the profession as a whole start to compete in the global marketplace. Firms in Kansas City are designing hotels in Dubai. New York firms are designing greening methodologies in China. This isn't a secret, but architecture is still a business. I remember when I was in architecture school that the Howard Roark (The Fountainhead, great movie with Patricia O'Neal and Gary Cooper) philospohy was that if you were a great designer clients would come to you, you could sketch some quick lines on paper and magically by the scene's end a building would appear. For the most part, this simply isn't true. If it is true then you are Frank Gehry or Stephen Holl and I am flattered you're reading my blog.
Here's the truth.
Our profession is choking. Am I saying that BIM is the answer to all of the professions problems? No. But what I am saying is that it is currently the only solution that I have heard of lately that even eludes to an improvement in the industry, making it more effiicient and frankly more profitable. I believe in the technology because I have used it. I believe them because as the "Old Guard" begins to retire that we are going to see more and more people file through the ranks of the profession with a working knowledge of relevant technologies. I also have seen the look on a workers face when he "gets" the 3D flashing detail you're able to represent to him, so he can build it correctly.
Tomorrow Integrated Project Delivery....
1.) FMI group in the 2007 annual owner survey says that the biggest problem owners have with architects are incomplete documents.
2.) Contractors surveyed replied that overall the largest problem that contractors have with architects are incoherent CDs and communication.
3.) Lastly the American Census Bureau now reports that over the past twenty years the entire AE industry as a whole is declining in perceived quality/value, technology use, and profitability.
Where we are at is a crossroads in our profession. I have said it before, and it couldn't be truer in our practice as architects and designers we are beginning to get away from the reputation and perception of master builder and are now being perceived more and more as "design professionals," with little or limited knowledge of the actual inner workings of a building and a total disconnect witht he actual construction process.
Here's where I'm headed...the Superdome in Louisiana, (the one that stood up to Katrina) was built using 31 pages of working documentation and was constructed in less than four years from 1971-75.
35 pages.
270,000 s.f., a complex laminella beam structure, advanced modern design and multiple trades.
How many pages would that take today?
Here's the tougher question. Why?
With BIM technology where it is and the professionals that form the very foundation of the AE communityI seriously question the practice of over-documentation. The CYA approach to design and construction is dead. Here's why:
Contractors don't look at your drawings. Gasp. I know. Be offended be scared. But you should be hacked off and wondering why the bathroom partition mounting detail that took you three days to draw won't even garner 2 seconds worth of the contractors attention. I know this is shocking and I know it was a detail in the standards library, but it is yet another point on the ever growing space in between what information architects thick need to be on drawings and what information the construction crews actually use to build. How it is actually built using the contractors "means and methods" to get it done, needs to be second knowledge to architects. Second to the necessary design language needed to create a better and more healthy and environmentally friendly world to live in.
I got asked this question five years ago when i was six months out of school by a contractor, "Why (when it is the contractor's responsibility to use the means and methods of construction they see most fit) the architect is detailing the head jamb and sill detail for a window they have not been trained to install, don't know the tools necessary to install it and will not be responsible for carrying the warranty on that aluminum storefront framing?" I asked what was important to show and the contractor looked surprised and just answered "Tell me at what depth you want the window to sit in the wall...you could even show it in elevation."
Think about it.
Engineers drawings are worthless. Ok so that might have been a bit harsh let me rephrase and say that engineers who draw information that is completely different from the MEPS subcontractors calculations and shop drawings...they're useless. Why waste time drawing what won't be built? The entire idea of a drawing is to graphically represent to the constructor what is to be built and installed. By using BIM, engineers now have the tools to grab the responsibility and rewards of a truly coordinated model and potentially stop many of the issues before they hit the field. The question that I've heard a couple of times now is why are subcontractors drawing in 3D and my engineers (who are supposed to be more techno-savvy) aren't?! Ask your ductwork subcontactor on your next project, it's scary. Also ask the steel fabricators too, sometimes they'll have 3D models they're using as well that might possibly help you link into your revit model and use for interference checking.
Confused? Wondering why the information is going to the CNC machines more detailed and accurate then ACAD lines? You got me too. Seems that it would be a whole lot more useful to the entire AEC team if either the subcontractor was brought on board in the documentation phase or that engineers stepped up and created BIM's of their portion of the project.
Collaboration = Success. I don't think I need to elaborate on this point any more. I think we've seen that the current way just doesn't work. The endless trails of phone calls and emails are bordering on ridiculous. Not to mention using old technology to meet today's needs! We have the tools and those who have chosen to use them are seeing the rewards.
So what's the new thing then? Anyone can complain about all of this, what works?Integrated Project Delivery (US), Project Alliancing (Australia) or BIM Huddle, BIM Pit etc... Although some of these differ in detail the fundamental delivery concept is the same. Integrate the team. Will the subcontractor who barely knows how to turn the computer on be competitive in this process? No. Sadly. But more frightening are the firms both engineering and architectural who seem to think that they can wait until the last minute jump into the new technology and still remain competitive to their counterparts who have already used a successful implementation strategy. Will these firms be successful? Again unfortunately no. I've had some of the older guys here in the office reminisce about the good old days when CAD just entered the AE marketplace as a tool. Many of the hand drafting firms thought it was a fad or wasn't as effective as hand drafting. I was told many of those firms went belly up when they couldn't remain competitive in the industry.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not spitting on the little guy, but moreover giving the little guy the heads up and maybe even a step forward. BIM will change the industry. BIM has changed the industry.
Right, wrong or indifferent what we are seeing is the profession as a whole start to compete in the global marketplace. Firms in Kansas City are designing hotels in Dubai. New York firms are designing greening methodologies in China. This isn't a secret, but architecture is still a business. I remember when I was in architecture school that the Howard Roark (The Fountainhead, great movie with Patricia O'Neal and Gary Cooper) philospohy was that if you were a great designer clients would come to you, you could sketch some quick lines on paper and magically by the scene's end a building would appear. For the most part, this simply isn't true. If it is true then you are Frank Gehry or Stephen Holl and I am flattered you're reading my blog.
Here's the truth.
Our profession is choking. Am I saying that BIM is the answer to all of the professions problems? No. But what I am saying is that it is currently the only solution that I have heard of lately that even eludes to an improvement in the industry, making it more effiicient and frankly more profitable. I believe in the technology because I have used it. I believe them because as the "Old Guard" begins to retire that we are going to see more and more people file through the ranks of the profession with a working knowledge of relevant technologies. I also have seen the look on a workers face when he "gets" the 3D flashing detail you're able to represent to him, so he can build it correctly.
Tomorrow Integrated Project Delivery....
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Revit boat
For the record, yes you can model a boat for a parade float in Revit....
Just in case any of you weren't able to sleep at night.
Tomorrow's post promises to be much more educational.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Collaborative Website
all,
apologies for the lack of new content. I have been putting this new collaborative website for the midwest together and doing some other jazz.
Fell free to join and sign the guestbook even if you don't live in the midwest. The first meeting is looking to be huge!
http://www1.freewebs.com/bim-midwest/meetingdates.htm
apologies for the lack of new content. I have been putting this new collaborative website for the midwest together and doing some other jazz.
Fell free to join and sign the guestbook even if you don't live in the midwest. The first meeting is looking to be huge!
http://www1.freewebs.com/bim-midwest/meetingdates.htm
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
DWF viewer
Obviously i don't claim to know it all and from time to time i run across new tools that many people might have known about but not many have used. I got a chance to use the Autodesk DWF viewer this past week. The viewer allows a user to view, orbit, rotate, walkthrough and make comments on the model at any given time. The beauty of this of course is that they can't directly edit the model, but they can click on buildling components to get exact square footage measurements and updated wall assembly and component information.
The real value we are seeing in this is that we have started including not only our ususal 3d renderings of a proposed building or space, but our BIM DWF file and the DWF viewer as well. The funny part is how involved the owner starts to get in the process and how they feel like they are more a part of the team when they can zoom around this thing.
It doesn't cost a thing to download and even from a marketing effort including the DWF viewer and file is a good way to put your firm ahead of the curve.
The real value we are seeing in this is that we have started including not only our ususal 3d renderings of a proposed building or space, but our BIM DWF file and the DWF viewer as well. The funny part is how involved the owner starts to get in the process and how they feel like they are more a part of the team when they can zoom around this thing.
It doesn't cost a thing to download and even from a marketing effort including the DWF viewer and file is a good way to put your firm ahead of the curve.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Revit or Nothing?! Are You Serious?
I am getting ready to hop on a plane here in a couple of minutes and I was thinking about my past week. I often give presentations and meet with Leaders from the A/E industry to discuss the future of BIM, how our firm is using it and more importantly where they are at in embracing the new technology.
This is usually when I get scared.
I usually hear that we are "experimenting" or "testing the waters" or "we love everything you say it can do, but we don't know if it's for us." This is usually when I calmly take a deep breath and wonder what they are possibly thinking. The resources currently available in forums, books, training and individual click...oh that's what it does!...undo, are there.
Yes they cost money.
Yes it is new technology.
Yes it will make your company more money.
I get asked all the time how can you be so sure?
I have worked on about fifteen projects from start to finish varying in size from multi-million dollar facilities to small school additions and with the software in house and set up properly I have been sitting in the driver seat multiple times as a PM with a good 100% set of CD's in front of me with 15-30 days till the 100% deadline. Then I get asked well what do you do with that extra time?
First of all there is no such thing as extra time.
And secondly, (this is the best part and what we should be getting to)
Coordinate.
I get to go through and refine the drawings to a typically unheard of level. I address constructability issues. I write, rewrite and edit specifications. I take the drawings to a coffee shop, sit down with a contractor friend of mine and tell him to build it in his head and write down his comments (and then pay for his coffee). I have heard comments such as
"It's so nice not to have to write so many issues on a set of drawings! - City Code Manager
How long did this take?! And am I paying extra for this!? - Owner
"This is art." - Contractor
We're architects and yes we're still artists. Master craftsmen (and women). Individuals with a greater understanding of materials and the building process. I guess when you have experienced the full blown effects of a staff that is highly trained and eager to learn and adapt more as well as recieve comments like above you begin to realize that being an architect is much more than scrambling at the last minute, stressing over xrefs, linetypes and trying to remember if you changed something on every drawing. It has everything to do with creating coordinated documents to build off of right the first time.
The time for get it out the door and we'll "fix" it with addendums, doesn't work!
Want to get a contractor on your side? Hand them drawings that make sense, cut the RFI's they have to issue and see how easily you guys get through a change order (if any).
I'm going to get off my soapbox now, but do me a favor and if you have made the switch to Revit or any BIM product: MAKE IT WORK! There isn't any getting around the fact that it "Is the future." You don't see new user groups and blogs popping up every day on how to do the same old thing. To me, the debate isn't do we do it? But rather the debate should be on what does it take for us to get to a point where we can still have CAD project deadlines with BIM coordinated results.
This is usually when I get scared.
I usually hear that we are "experimenting" or "testing the waters" or "we love everything you say it can do, but we don't know if it's for us." This is usually when I calmly take a deep breath and wonder what they are possibly thinking. The resources currently available in forums, books, training and individual click...oh that's what it does!...undo, are there.
Yes they cost money.
Yes it is new technology.
Yes it will make your company more money.
I get asked all the time how can you be so sure?
I have worked on about fifteen projects from start to finish varying in size from multi-million dollar facilities to small school additions and with the software in house and set up properly I have been sitting in the driver seat multiple times as a PM with a good 100% set of CD's in front of me with 15-30 days till the 100% deadline. Then I get asked well what do you do with that extra time?
First of all there is no such thing as extra time.
And secondly, (this is the best part and what we should be getting to)
Coordinate.
I get to go through and refine the drawings to a typically unheard of level. I address constructability issues. I write, rewrite and edit specifications. I take the drawings to a coffee shop, sit down with a contractor friend of mine and tell him to build it in his head and write down his comments (and then pay for his coffee). I have heard comments such as
"It's so nice not to have to write so many issues on a set of drawings! - City Code Manager
How long did this take?! And am I paying extra for this!? - Owner
"This is art." - Contractor
We're architects and yes we're still artists. Master craftsmen (and women). Individuals with a greater understanding of materials and the building process. I guess when you have experienced the full blown effects of a staff that is highly trained and eager to learn and adapt more as well as recieve comments like above you begin to realize that being an architect is much more than scrambling at the last minute, stressing over xrefs, linetypes and trying to remember if you changed something on every drawing. It has everything to do with creating coordinated documents to build off of right the first time.
The time for get it out the door and we'll "fix" it with addendums, doesn't work!
Want to get a contractor on your side? Hand them drawings that make sense, cut the RFI's they have to issue and see how easily you guys get through a change order (if any).
I'm going to get off my soapbox now, but do me a favor and if you have made the switch to Revit or any BIM product: MAKE IT WORK! There isn't any getting around the fact that it "Is the future." You don't see new user groups and blogs popping up every day on how to do the same old thing. To me, the debate isn't do we do it? But rather the debate should be on what does it take for us to get to a point where we can still have CAD project deadlines with BIM coordinated results.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Revit and On-Screen Takeoff..
This will be a quick one as I seem to be swamped this week at work. For those of you construction or design/build teams out there, I'm sure you're familar with On-Screen Takeoff. We have begun to interface this with our in house Timberline estimating software so that we can use the model for quick generic takeoffs and use On-Screen for all of our finishes and specialty items that haven't been included in the model. So far it seems to be working really well and this hybrid method of estimating really works well for a lot of the area architecture firms through various stages of the design process.
I linked the forum for On-Screen which is starting to be recognized more and more as the industry standard for 2d takeoffs.
http://www.oncenter.com/msg/
Tomorrow I'm going to start a string of tutorials that introduce Revit in a little bit more fun and useful way.
Carry on.
I linked the forum for On-Screen which is starting to be recognized more and more as the industry standard for 2d takeoffs.
http://www.oncenter.com/msg/
Tomorrow I'm going to start a string of tutorials that introduce Revit in a little bit more fun and useful way.
Carry on.
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