PADT 1.004 – What's Left to Say?

Can this all be changed? Does it need to be?

May 9

What’s Left to Say?

Over the course of this blog, I’ve tried to discuss a lot of issues to help everyone understand the basics of BIM – what it is and what it isn’t. To be honest, not sure how much more there is to discuss. I think it needs to be much less complex than it is, but users are always asking for more and more features. They want the applications to handle larger and larger projects.

Maybe That’s the Key!

If the system is using fewer commands, a simpler UI, a simpler data structure, maybe it can be used for much larger projects for more people at the same time. Let more advanced features be “add-ons” but only if the user wants and needs them and not loaded by default. I can dream, can’t I?

But Can It?

Can BIM ever be this simple again? I see a lot of new applications coming on the market. Many with glorious statements about how they’re different. But were the “other” CAD applications really different? And the features of the ones that were seemed to just to sucked up into the bigger applications that had all the money.

How Can the “Little Guy” Win?

or even make a dent? In almost every more application category, the major players from the very beginning are still there. I can’t think of too many places where an upstart took over a major portion of the market. The only segment I see that really shakes things up is in the Open Source arena. We never really did get Open Source CAD(D). Makes we wonder if Open Source BIM could succeed. There is a lot of effort in that area but I think the difference is if an industry can get behind those efforts. For applications like Blender or Gimp or LibreOffice, the applications are usually just used to create standalone projects. That is never the case with architectural projects. By their very nature, even in Design-Build firms, there is still a huge set of different disciplines that much work on the same project and with BIM, even the same file.

The Answer, So Far

The Answer seems to be by using a single source - applications and file formats. For this to change the industry must develop its own Open Source BIM Project Exchange Format. There needs to be a group from different disciplines to come together to create this format. It needs to be readily available to the smallest developers and have a standard way for improvements to be made. This is already having in the Computer Entertainment industry with the USD format. What’s stopping the AEC industry from doing the same? Do they think the tools they already have are fine? Are users really happy with the way things currently are? Has BIM made projects better and firms more profitable? If not, why not? Is it BIM or its current implementation?

I Don’t Have the Answers

But I do like having 40 years of CAD(D) experience to ask the questions. I know others are also doing the same. Maybe together a groundswell can start so that the promises made in the past can actually be realized.

Let me know what you think!

SeeYa!

Announcement & Tutorials Links

My Favourite Arch-Vis Tips & Tricks! (Useful Tips not just for Blender 3.0!)

Exterior Architectural Modeling in Blender FOR BEGINNERS - Part 1 - Getting Started!

The Importance of Modern Visualization Tools in Material Specification

SketchUp for iPad - Released! [Review & Walkthrough]

D5 Render 2.2 Overview Tutorial | Introducing new features in 2.2: Snow and Rain, Decals, Layer...

CAD In Blender Is HERE! | CAD Sketcher Intro | Constraint Driven Design

eMailSlot

Hi Dave - I’m still enjoying PADT every week. Very happy with Bricscad included its much cleverer 3D and BIM (though am far from ‘doing BIM’); have never touched Revit and by every thing I hear I never want to, especially the nonsense with the pens/linewidths you describe. I rely completely on recognizing lineweight by color, in Modelspace, while doing several other things also with various colors in Levels, where I can make my own categories and names, and with CTB can make some of them print black, some in greyscale, some in color.
...
Hope you keep it going! Best wishes
Tom Foster - Tom Foster Architecture

Thank You, Mr. Foster
Sometimes I’m not sure anyone is out there, but nice to hear you are enjoying some of my rantings. Dave Edwards - tcfonts@gmail.com

Musical Inspiration

SIMON PHILLIPS & PROTOCOL V -- "The Long Road Home"

Some Days (with Dave Weckl & John Patitucci)

Shameless Plugs

CAD TrueType Subs - TrueType Fonts that replace the standard Romans & Simplex SHX Fonts

Project Newplex - The Advanced SHX Font Designed for Technical Documents

Dave Edwards has been in the CAD/BIM industry as a manager, developer, consultant, speaker, and author for almost 40 years. He has had 80 magazine articles published, written 3 international newsletters, reviewed over 300 CAD/BIM applications, and 3D modeled 2 Billion dollars worth of architectural projects. He is available for professional alpha/beta testing, application feature consulting, technical documentation support, seminar presentations, and voice-overs.
Contact: dave@tcfonts.com

Translations and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by Dave Edwards Consulting.

By accessing this newsletter in any manner, you agree to settle disputes within ten days of publication date by arbitration within the city limits of Montgomery, Alabama, United States with the arbitrator selected by an agent acting on behalf of Dave Edwards Consulting.

PragArchDesignTech by Dave Edwards