AEC Magazine September / October 2012

Model courtesy of buildingSMART alliance. Image produced in Gehry Technologies GTEAM

Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

BIM collaboration Our pick of the best new tools for viewing, co-ordinating and marking up multidiscipline BIM models

Point clouds at Bentley Autodesk Revit LT Green building design Workstations for all budgets September / October 2012 >> Vol.62 p01_AEC_SEPTOCT12_Cover.indd 1

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

editorial

Managing Editor Greg Corke greg@x3dmedia.com

Consulting Editor Martyn Day martyn@x3dmedia.com

Digital Media Editor Stephen Holmes stephen@x3dmedia.com

Design and Production production@x3dmedia.com advertising

Advertising Manager Tony Baksh

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tony@x3dmedia.com

Deputy Advertising Manager Steve King steve@x3dmedia.com subscriptions

Manager Alan Cleveland alan@x3dmedia.com accounts

Charlotte Taibi charlotte@x3dmedia.com

Financial Controller Samantha Todescato-Rutland sam@chalfen.com AEC Magazine is available FREE to qualifying individuals. To ensure you receive your regular copy please register online at www.aecmag.com about AEC Magazine is published bi-monthly by X3DMedia Ltd Suite 77, 3rd Floor, The London Fruit and Wool Exchange, 56 Brushfield Street, London E1 6EP T. +44 (0)20 3355 7310 F. +44 (0)20 3355 7319 www.x3dmedia.com © 2012 X3DMedia Ltd All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without prior permission from the publisher is prohibited. All trademarks acknowledged. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the author and not of X3DMedia. X3DMedia cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements within the magazine.

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Revit LT 8 When Project Spark was introduced to Autodesk Labs, it seemed only a matter of time before Autodesk launched an entry-level BIM modelling tool. This month Project Spark left the labs and manifested itself as Revit LT.

Point clouds at Bentley 12 In the last 12 months Bentley Systems has acquired Pointools and added point cloud capabilities to Descartes and ProjectWise. It now regards point clouds to be a fundamental data type, just like DGN.

The green team 16 We check out the latest product offering from Glasgow’s Integrated Environment Systems (IES) and discover a user friendly package that is really pushing the boundaries of green building design.

AceCad BIMReview 20 In the past year, AceCad has reinvented itself as a provider of BIM collaboration and project management tools. We look at its low-cost, multi model, BIM project review and communication tool.

GTeam by Gehry Technologies 24 Gehry Technologies recently launched a free preview of its new cloud-based file management and collaboration platform. GTeam is embryonic, but incredibly easy to use and with a well thought out workflow holds bags of promise.

Design Viz 28 Changes to a ceramic floor tiling plan creates a lighting challenge for Italian visualisation specialist Tiziano Fioriti.

ArchiCAD UK 31 In the July / August edition we looked at the latest release of Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD. Since then there have been a number of changes to its product range and pricing.

Workstations 33 & 34 A quality workstation for CAD or Building Information Modelling (BIM), a compact entry-level 3D CAD workstation with excellent build quality, and a specialist GPU-accelerated workstation for simulation or rendering workflows.

Also this month: 4 and 6 News September / October

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News

Revit LT does not have in-built rendering, but Autodesk Subscription customers are able to render in the cloud

Demand for BIM grows says survey ccording to a recent construction industry survey by Excitech, 48% of respondents now see Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a requirement in projects. This is up from 21% in 2010.

The 2012 survey drew responses from 350 contacts, both Excitech customers and non-customers, across all design disciplines as well as main contractors and sub-contractors.

The survey also found only 33% of respondents say BIM is their organisation’s design philosophy; some 37% of respondents are also making BIM a requirement for their suppliers; and the use of project collaboration services for document distribution is acknowledged by 51% (up from 37% in 2010).

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Autodesk targets small AEC firms with Revit LT utodesk has released its long awaited low-cost Building Information Modelling (BIM) authoring tool, Revit LT. The software is primarily designed for architects who use 2D workflows and want to transition to a BIM process.

In many ways Revit LT looks to hark back to the initial benefits of Revit — build a 3D model and get 2D drawings as a byproduct.

Make a change to the model and all the drawings will update and incorporate the new design. However, there are a number of limitations including no conceptual

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design tools, no work sharing, and limited structural modelling.

Revit LT misses out on in-built rendering, though users who purchase Autodesk Subscription with Revit LT can render in the cloud directly from the Revit LT interface. Data exchange is only offered through the DWG or RVT file formats.

Revit LT costs £1,100 with a Revit LT Suite (including AutoCAD LT) available for £1,500.

Meanwhile, turn to page 8 for an in-depth analysis of the new software.

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scanner with a 42” image width, making it suitable for AEC, CAD, mapping, GIS and service bureau professionals. The scanner features a full-width SingleSensor with true 1,200 dpi optical resolution and a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, which boasts a high speed data transfer rate of up to 5Gb/sec, about ten times the rate of USB 2.0.

■ canon.co.uk ■ allied-images.com

■ sefaira.com

autodesk.com/revitlt

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imagePrograf iPF765 includes a 250GB hard drive (including 32GB of dedicated file-processing memory), which is designed to streamline workflow in a networked environment, or where large-sized documents with complex imagery are required.

Meanwhile, Allied Images is shipping the Colortrac SmartLF SC 42 scanner, a high-volume production

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Web-based sustainability analysis efaira concept is a new web-based application for early stage sustainable and energy efficient building design. The software is designed to enable architects and project teams to iteratively explore design options, with a view to producing better performing buildings at a lower cost.

Features include: rapid energy modelling, which provides fast feedback on whole-building energy use, carbon emissions, and utility costs; integrated water analysis; renewable energy calculations; easy collaboration; presentation quality reports and the ability to analyse multiple design options simultaneously.

New life for wide format print and scan anon has introduced two new 36-inch wide format printers with optional MFP capabilities for scanning large format technical documents.

The imagePrograf iPF760 and iPF765 introduce a number of features including a horizontal stacking basket for A1 prints and improved print management. The

■ tinyurl.com/EXBIM12

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www.AECmag.com

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Building Success

With Information Modeling for Multidisciplinary Building Teams Success from BIM that drives project and building performance – not just coordinated drawings.

Success realized in buildings such as the Stone Towers in Cairo by Zaha Hadid.

Success achieved through the analysis, simulation, and collaborative workflows uniquely possible using Bentley’s AECOsim software and ProjectWise’s collaboration system of servers and services.

www.Bentley.com/AECMagazine © 2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries.

Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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News

ROUND UP Plant specialist CADline has been awarded Autodesk’s new process plant specialisation designation for value added resellers.

CADline’s process plant software portfolio includes AutoCAD P&ID, AutoCAD Plant 3D, Autodesk Plant Design Suite and ACPlant ■ cadline.co.uk

CSC links to Revit Structural software developer CSC has launched a new Revit 2013 compatible version of its Integrator software. According to CSC, Integrator makes the synchronisation of models between Revit and its steel and concrete building design software, Fastrak and Orion, easier than ever.

■ cscworld.com

Navisworks training White Frog Publishing has added Navisworks Freedom, Simulate and Manage to its modular training programme. The courseware positions Navisworks as a core BIM tool and complements White Frog’s existing training products for three flavours of Revit plus AutoCAD. ■ whitefrog.co

BIM Protocols Version 2.0 of the AEC (UK) BIM Protocols is now available for free download. The set of documents are designed to aid BIM co-ordination and help cut through the technical wording of the Government’s BIM Task Group documents and British Standard procedures.

■ aecuk.wordpress.com

Laser scanning deal Trimble has signed an OEM and distribution agreement with Faro whereby Faro will provide Trimble with an OEM differentiated product based on its Faro Laser Scanner Focus3D platform. The OEM product will be available later this year.

■ faro.com ■ trimble.com

CIBSE conference Cross-industry co-operation will be a key theme at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) annual conference. Part of Building Services — The CIBSE Conference & Exhibition, the event is at London’s Olympia on October 10-11.

■ cibse.org

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A summer packed full of CAD hardware iggraph, the legendary computer graphics event, held this summer in Los Angeles, threw up a number of key announcements relating to workstation hardware.

Nvidia unveiled two new professional GPUs — the Quadro K5000 for 3D graphics and the Tesla K20 for accelerating simulation or rendering operations, tasks that are usually carried out by a CPU. In a workstation, these two GPUs combine to form what Nvidia brands as ‘Maximus’.

(See page 34 for a review).

AMD launched four new GPUs, which can perform graphics and compute — the FirePro W5000, W7000, W8000 and

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W9000. It also lifted the lid on a new Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), the FirePro A300 series, which combines a CPU and professional 3D GPU on a single chip to reduce cost and energy use.

Meanwhile, Dell has refreshed its Precision mobile workstation range, introducing the M4700 and M6700 (pictured). Both machines feature Intel’s ‘Ivy Bridge’ CPUs and new professional GPUs from Nvidia (Quadro) and AMD (FirePro).

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nvidia.com

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amd.com/firepro

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dell.co.uk

New York BIM consultancy enters UK ASE, a Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) consultancy based in New York, has opened its first international office in London. David Light joins the firm as director

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of implementation and Mark Green is named director of learning.

“We are excited at the prospect of establishing our presence in the UK,” said partner Federico Negro.

“Equally as exciting is the addition of David Light to the team. Ever since he

modelled an AT-AT walker from Star Wars in Revit, we became instant fans of his work. He is someone we greatly respect and look to his expertise as a driving force in strengthening our roles as a BIM and VDC consultancy.”

■ case-inc.com

ICE ramps up for 2012 BIM conference he Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) will once again be bringing together key players across the BIM community for its annual BIM conference in October, aimed to realise efficiencies within the construction industry where BIM is being utilised.

Over 300 senior industry figures — including

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engineers, clients, contractors and consultants — are expected to attend.

Government chief construction advisor Paul Morrell, joined by chair of the government’s BIM working group, Mark Bew, will update industry on the government construction strategy and discuss progress made on the implementation of BIM

Level 2 on public projects from 2016 — a mandate set out in the strategy.

A Q&A session will follow to ascertain what still needs to be done to drive BIM forward and realise the efficiencies.

ICE BIM 2012 takes place on 17 October 2012 at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London.

■ ice-bim.com

www.AECmag.com

17/9/12 17:12:32

BIM COMPONENTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

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EVALUATE ENERGY PERFORMANCE

EXPLORE, COMMUNICATE AND SHARE

MULTI PLATFORM

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ArchiCAD® 16 introduces a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions to simplify the creation and sharing of custom parametric BIM Components.

With ArchiCAD 16, GRAPHISOFT® delivers important workflow and productivity updates to its growing portfolio of solutions. These include the intelligent BIM Server™, built in Energy Evaluation, Renovation/Refurb/Retrofit workflow, iOS and Android BIM model viewers and support for IFC to promote Open BIM exchange.

For further information please phone GRAPHISOFT Connect on 020 7734 1837 or 0121 447 7747 or visit www.gsconnect.co.uk

Copyright © Graphisoft UK Ltd 2012. All rights reserved world-wide. All other company and product names may be tradenames or trademarks of their respective owners.

Image: © Emirates German Hospital, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Engineering Adnan Saffarini Office www.saffarinidxb.com

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Introducing Revit LT 2013 When Project Spark was introduced to Autodesk Labs, it seemed only a matter of time before Autodesk launched an entry-level BIM modelling tool. This month Project Spark left the lab environment and manifested itself as Revit LT.

by Martyn Day

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run pilot projects and deal uilding Information Revit LT with the cultural issues of Modelling (BIM) softAutodesk conversion. ware providers Price: £1,100 stand alone, Having had such a dire would have us believe £1,500 as a suite with market for the past five that the technology is widely AutoCAD LT included years (thank you for the adopted and spreading fast.

Free trial: usa.autodesk. com/revitlt/trial debt bubble dear bankers), The reality is that we are still many architectural firms in the early adopter stage and the mass market has yet to make that have been operating on very low margins move. It is true that many firms are active- and the idea of re-equipping and investly learning about BIM, considering how to ment in BIM has often been put on the

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back burner. However, with looming legislation and technically savvy firms investing, the time seems ripe for the software companies to provide a lower point of entry to BIM. On page 31 we have news of ArchiCAD’s Solo entry level offering and now Autodesk enters the scene with Revit LT. It is now possible to equip an architect with a BIM modelling tool that costs less than £1,500. www.AECmag.com

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Feature 2

1 All design information is stored in a single, coordinated database. Revisions to the design are automatically updated throughout every view, minimising errors and omissions 2 Generate 3D orthographic or perspective views from any angle of the model, as well as create walkthroughs 3 Construction documents are derived from the building model 4 The creation of schedules of building components is automated to help improve the visibility of costs and quantities

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Revit LT Autodesk’s Revit LT is primarily designed for architects who use 2D workflows and want to transition to a BIM process.

In many ways Revit LT harks back to the initial benefits of Revit — build a 3D model and get 2D drawings as a byproduct. Make a change to the model and all the drawings will update and incorporate the new design. While it may require more initial work to build the model, when edits www.AECmag.com

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and changes come huge productivity benefits will be gained in reducing the reworking of production documents.

Full Revit offers MEP and Structural, conceptual and energy analysis, together with the ability for teams of users to work on shared files.

Revit LT The lowdown Pros: Low cost of entry; All documentation capabilities of full Revit; Compatible with Revit and AutoCAD via DWG; Will import MEP and structural elements; Access to learning tools.

Cons: Lack of conceptual tools; No workgroup/collaboration capability; No local rendering; Will not play friendly with other nonAutodesk BIM products; No MEP or Structural elements.

Revit LT is all about modelling a design to produce documentation from the perspective of the single user.

Revit LT also lacks the built-in rendering capability of its big brother but this can be overcome through purchasing an

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Autodesk subscription, which provides access to cloud-based rendering and does not tie-up the desktop machine when producing lovely photorealistic images.

Unfortunately the online structural and green building analysis is not accessible from within Revit LT. Targeted at the new BIM convert, Revit LT comes with a suite of learning tools, videos and wiki help, so the self-starter will be able to teach themselves the basics of modelling and documenting in Revit LT. For those that do not want to give up their AutoCAD LTs there is also a Suite which includes both AutoCAD and Revit LT for a small incremental cost.

However, new users be warned that the more editing down to Revit LT’s output drawings, the smaller the benefits of their automatic production as all that traditional 2D reworking will have to be done again with each change. It is best to learn to love the Revit LT output as it is.

Perhaps the weakest point of Revit LT is its data exchange capabilities. Revit LT can exchange designs in the DWG or RVT file formats. There is no support for IFC or GBXML. This is very much a ‘child’ of Revit and is best used with other Revit users. The ability to produce designs in the DWG file format is perhaps the most ‘popular’ format but you lose a lot of the ‘I’ in BIM.

Iain Godwin Godwin Consulting

David Light Case-Inc

Firms will be attracted by the low price at a time when investment in Building Information Modelling (BIM) is achieving serious momentum. The target market appears to be smaller projects, smaller practices or single practioners with Autodesk revealing that “Revit LT is ideal for single users who do not need to collaborate in the same project file simultaneously with others.”

Revit LT is compelling, especially if moving from a 2D-based workflow. But users need to be aware of the limitations; and there are plenty. No massing, no work sharing, limited structural modelling, no inbuilt rendering. Models can be shared by linking files, but multiple users cannot work on the same model together. Can you live with those limitations?

LT could be the baseline training platform for BIM, but it will not aid an understanding of the definitions to support integrated design and documentation processes across multidisciplinary shared models.

The removal of massing is a big mistake. Many small firms would like to use a data-centric process during the concept design stage.

Extracting area and volume data and sun studies on simple forms at an early stage is important. It builds the foundations of a Building Information Modelling (BIM) process. SketchUp could be used for concept work and brought into Revit LT, but it adds another level of complexity to the process.

Revit LT is likely to find a sweet spot among smaller firms that are now more easily able to justify the cost. Middle sized and large practices will need to stick with industrial strength BIM.

Joe Croser Oundle Group

Conclusion

Paul Woddy Revit Guru

At first glance Revit LT is positioned to do for Revit what LT did for AutoCAD — dominate.

Thanks to Autodesk’s omnipotent marketing machine and huge user base Revit is synonymous with Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Revit LT is aimed at the small architectural firm that wants to trial BIM. This could be done by simply cross-grading an existing AutoCAD LT seat into a Revit LT seat. There is even a free downloadable trial version.

The lack of compatibility for other BIM systems means that Revit LT really is a one way ticket to full blown Revit at some point in the future as all the data created in Revit LT will only make sense in a pure Revit collaborative team.

Existing Revit customers will love Revit LT as there is finally a cheap seat option for teams that work on creating families of parts or just concern themselves with producing 2D documentation as here Revit LT offers no compromises at a bargain price.

For £1,100 for a stand alone seat, it is great value, especially when you consider the horrendous price of AutoCAD LT. The Suite at £1,500 ensures customers get to keep their AutoCAD LT and again is a pretty good bundle price.

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Can Revit LT replace SketchUp in the early stage design explorations? It is more likely to move the boundaries between pure geometrical exploration in Sketchup and BIM modelling rather than replace it.

Intelligent modelling will start earlier in the process as Revit users transition workflows to BIM processes. The cloud-based rendering solution on the subscription licence will promote an early quality approach to visualisation.

Revit LT could be a game changer for this market. A high price-point has always been a stumbling block for many looking to dip into Building Information Modelling (BIM).

The Autodesk policy of grouping products into suites has only pushed this entry point further away, so Revit LT and the release last year of ArchiCAD LT can only be good for BIM. When government strategy is sharply focused on bringing the trailing edge of the AEC market over to BIM, this could well be what everyone has been waiting for.

Some might say that the removal of file-sharing features and the fact that this is exclusively for Architecture may be backward steps, but neither multi-user access nor pretty pictures are what makes BIM successful; communication and the manipulation or management of data is where the future of this industry lies, both of which can be achieved with Revit LT so lowering the entry price will open the floodgates.

Will Revit LT have a profound impact in the AEC industry? It is difficult to say. Availability of readymade Revit content for use inside Revit LT is plentiful, which is important. Revit LT could be an ideal start point for an AutoCAD LT user working on small projects with no need to collaborate.

The addition of a cut-price, slimmed-down, version could likely tempt two distinct markets: small firms that have (until now) adopted a ‘watching brief’ for BIM, and large firms that have successfully trialled Revit and are now (if they could afford it) ready to deploy enterprise-wide.

But, by slashing the feature set larger firms will be unable to deploy Revit LT across the enterprise.

The removal of model sharing capabilities from Revit LT renders it useless as an adjacent seat to full Revit copies. If LT users cannot collaborate on the same model at the same time using workshare functionality, then LT cannot be deployed as an adjacent seat to full Revit licenses in much the same way as AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT can.

That leaves the larger firms where they are today — facing a big bill to roll out Revit across all desks.

Autodesk is afraid to cannibalise Revit sales by offing key functionality to large enterprises for a reduced price. But as we learned with the existing LT offering, it is better to risk self-cannibalisation than get eaten by the competition.

autodesk.com/revitlt

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And the winners are?

A TRIMBLE COMPANY

Total process optimisation

Rowecord Engineering Ltd modelled The Peace Bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. “The accuracy of the Tekla model and the control over the geometry during fabrication and erection was a major contributor to the success of this project.“ The Peace Bridge won in the Tekla UK BIM Awards 2011 - who’ll win this year?

a www.rowecord.com Tekla BIM (Building Information Modelling) software solutions provide a data-rich 3D environment that can be shared by contractors, structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators, and concrete detailers and manufacturers. Choose Tekla for the highest level of detail, accuracy, constructability and integration in project management and delivery. Visit our website to learn more about Tekla solutions and references. Since 2011, Tekla has been a part of the Trimble Group.

a www.tekla.com/uk

Feature

Point clouds at Bentley Bentley Systems is very serious about point clouds.

In the last twelve months alone it acquired Pointools and added powerful point cloud capabilities to Descartes and ProjectWise. It now regards the laser scanning output to be a fundamental data type, just like DGN. AEC Magazine found out why.

by Greg Corke and Martyn Day

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s the AEC industry moves to modelling, analysis and new design processes, 3D data is becoming much more commonplace. But it is not all about Building Information Modelling (BIM). Laser scanners and the 3D point clouds they generate have also become an industry hot topic.

While laser scanners are still expensive, many surveyors use them regularly for civil engineering, process plant and architecture projects. CAD software vendors, including Bentley and Autodesk, have added support for point clouds within their core design packages. AEC professionals can import and work with the 3D data.

The challenge with point clouds is that they are typically very large. Laser scanners measure millions of 3D points in seconds and to cover a wide area, a number of scans are combined, leading to gigabytes of data per survey. Also, while in a viewer the file may seem like a 3D capture of a site, the data is ‘dumb’, just a whole load of raster points. To generate a CAD model from this takes a lot of skill and experience and for a CAD package to properly display and provide editing tools requires serious software engineering.

For many years Pointools was one of the leading developers of point cloud display and editing. Its products made light work of manipulating huge point clouds and offered editing tools to manipulate and make sense of all those 3D dots.

The driving force behind Pointools was

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Faraz Ravi, a former architect, who got into programming and developed the product alongside a surveying company in North London. In 2011, Bentley Systems acquired Pointools and made Mr Ravi its director of product management for point clouds.

This month the AEC editorial team caught up with Mr Ravi, Richard Zambuni, global marketing director, geospatial and utilities, and Benoit Fredericque, Bentley product manager, MicroStation/Descartes Point Cloud, 3D City GIS, to discuss Bentley’s journey through the point clouds.

Integrating point clouds Like many AEC software developers, it did not take long for Bentley to realise just how important point clouds were going to be in its users’ workflows.

Three years ago it licensed the Vortex engine from Pointools and implemented it inside all its MicroStation-based products.

This was a passive implementation. It allowed its users to view and manipulate point clouds inside the familiar MicroStation environment, using what is widely regarded to be the industry’s fastest point cloud engine, but didn’t really provide a processing environment.

Building on this foundation, Bentley’s next step was to provide tools to process point clouds within MicroStation. And it decided that Bentley Descartes was going to be the product to do this in.

At first look, Descartes may seem like an odd choice. Originally developed as a 2D

Bentley Pointools is designed to work with multi-billion point datasets

raster management, clean up and raster to vector conversion tool, the MicroStation add-on made its name in mapping, GIS and civil engineering. But, once you consider Bentley’s wider strategy for working with point cloud data, it makes more sense.

Bentley sees point clouds as a fundamental data type and wants its users to use point clouds just like any other data type.

Just as Descartes first enabled raster data to be used and processed within any MicroStation-based product, the recently launched V8i (SELECTseries 3) release of Descartes now offers similar functionality for point cloud data.

In parallel to these new developments in Descartes Bentley was also on the look out for technology to enhance its in-house capabilities. This happened in November 2011 with its acquisition of Pointools.

While this brought the Pointools family of point cloud processing software into Bentley’s product portfolio, it also helped Bentley address the major challenge of how to manage huge point cloud files.

On the desktop handling gigabytes of data is not so much of a challenge, but in a server or web-based environment moving these huge files around can take a long time.

And sometimes it just isn’t practical.

Bentley has been working with the Pointools development team on a ProjectWise module called ProjectWise point cloud streaming service, which allows firms to manage, segment and stream point clouds into a client session. This could be www.AECmag.com

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The fundamental data type Just like a DGN or a 2D raster image, Bentley considers a point cloud to be a class one model, a fundamental data type. With this in mind it encourages the direct use of point clouds in engineering workflows in building, plant and civils applications. Just like a 2D raster file they can add context, be used as a backdrop for digitising and can also be edited.

This approach is different to the one taken by a lot of hardware and software vendors, which regard point clouds as a survey format and think they need to be turned into something else before they are useful. This could be 3D CAD data or, the current industry favourite, fully loaded BIM models.

Bentley regards scan-to-BIM to be a valid workflow, but thinks the point cloud representation should only be escalated when required — on demand. In any one project a BIM model may only be required for a single façade, while the rest of the data is kept as a point cloud for context.

To help support its so-called fundamental data type, Bentley is keen to point out that all of its point cloud capable products share a common data format, POD, which is the native format of Pointools. This means Bentley users do not have to convert into different representations, which can be a very lengthy process. www.AECmag.com

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Descartes vs Pointools Pointools is a standalone application for clean up and processing of point clouds. It is used when workflows are more point cloud-centric or when data needs to be prepared for downstream use.

Descartes runs inside MicroStation, Bentley’s design and engineering environment. It is used in workflows where a combination of point cloud and CAD geometry models are required.

Another key element of Bentley’s point cloud strategy is helping its customers reuse their MicroStation skills and knowledge. For example, in order to get the element properties simply click on a point; to increase the point size, increase the line thickness; to clip a point cloud, use the standard clipping tools; and to snap, the standard snapping tools.

Bentley Pointools While Bentley acquired Pointools in November 2011, it is still in the process of integrating Pointools Edit into its portfolio.

This will happen later this year with the release of Bentley Pointools, an enhanced version of the software.

Bentley Pointools is a standalone application and is designed specifically for point cloud centric workflows, for processing,

cleanup, visualisation and animation.

Point cloud data can be imported from a number of different formats, including proprietary formats from laser scanner manufacturers, Riegl, Faro, Leica and others.

Once inside, data can be pre-processed, to reduce noise or change the colour of points.

As the laser scan data is accurate, it is possible to take exact measurements. There are also some smart tools for point selection.

In terms of CAD data, Pointools can work with 2D and 3D data, but support is fairly limited, including 3ds and 2D DWG. CAD data import is sufficient for visualisation purposes, but if you want to start looking at engineering data, you really need an engineering package like MicroStation or Descartes. Interestingly, there is no support for DGN yet, but this should change soon.

One of the key features in Pointools is its ability to segment data down in order to make point clouds easier to work with. This is not necessarily for performance, as the software’s view-based streaming is very efficient at dealing with large models, but more from a visualisation point of view.

Segmentation can be done by gridding up the data up into cells, or into more logical sections. A typical workflow is to place segments on different layers.

Layers can also be used to help clean up noise and obstructions. For example, temporarily remove the exterior of a building in order to get access to the interior. Layers are also useful for exporting chunks of data out in multi user workflows.

September / October 2012

Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems

MicroStation, Bentley Navigator or the Bentley Navigator V8i for iPad app.

Suddenly point clouds can be everywhere.

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Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems

Bentley Descartes V8i (SELECTseries) 3 features intuitive point cloud navigation tools which can easily highlight areas of interest

In Pointools Edit the number of layers is limited to seven, but with Bentley Pointools this will increase to 128. This should have a big impact on workflow, offering users much more flexibility.

Another new feature for Bentley Pointools will be the ability to transform objects and manipulate them much more freely. In Pointools Edit moving objects is a little clunky and requires the user to type in values. With Bentley Pointools, this can be done much more readily, with the user directly moving objects around in the viewport. Here, the Pointools smart selection tools pay dividends.

In the context of a factory, an example could be the repositioning of a piece of machinery on the shop floor. For a building, a new HVAC component could be scanned in the yard and brought into the point cloud of the as-built building virtually. The common theme in both of these examples is users do not have to work with vector-based CAD data if they do not want to. If a CAD model does not exist, why not work with the point cloud directly?

Bentley Descartes All MicroStation-based products include the Pointools Vortex engine, which offers basic functionality for manipulating point cloud data, including view, clip and measure.

Bentley Descartes builds on this foundation, helping users get a whole lot more out of point cloud data in the context of CAD or engineering workflows. There are two main use examples. Firstly, to extract features and create a new geometry model and, secondly, to manipulate a point cloud model inside an engineering model.

As an application, Bentley Descartes layers on top of anything that is MicroStation-based.

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MicroStation PowerDraft, AECOsim for building design, plus all of the Bentley civil products. It is seamlessly integrated into these applications with a set of toolboxes appearing in the familiar MicroStation user interface.

Descartes includes a suite of point cloud centric tools that can be used in many industries. In short, they make it much easier to extract geometry, snap on point clouds and understand where you are in the point cloud. We will look at each of these in turn.

Classification editing: In civil engineering workflows in particular, point cloud classification can be extremely important. It helps users isolate and work with specific parts of a model. For example, ground, building, vegetation and water.

Classification usually requires specialist software, such as the MicroStation-based tool Terrasolid, and is often done by the surveyor prior to delivering the point cloud dataset. Sometimes, mistakes can occur during this process and adjustments need to be made. For example, vegetation may have been wrongly classified as ground or there may be unwanted noise. Descartes offers simple editing tools, which help isolate and remove points that have been wrongly classified.

In terms of workflow, this can be extremely useful when an engineer wants to create a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) from point cloud ground data. Doing the work up front reduces the need for surface terrain filtering post processing.

Drape lines: This neat tool allows users to drape a line on a point cloud surface with a view to using that vector geometry downstream. It is relevant to all AEC disciplines, but is particularly useful in civil engineer-

ing when extracting road geometry.

For example, in order to produce a road cross-section, traditional workflows require users to cut through a point cloud and trace the section manually. Now with Descartes, users can create an array of lines in MicroStation, drape them across a point cloud surface and it is done automatically. Cross sections can then be used inside a civil engineering design tool such as InRoads or MX. This same process can be applied to road alignments as well as other key AEC features including railways and buildings.

Point Cloud Visual Explorer: A big challenge when working with point clouds is how to properly understand the 3D scene.

Zoom out and you do not see the detail, but zoom in and it actually reduces the global understanding of what you are looking at.

Simply speaking, this is because there are larger gaps between the points.

To address this Bentley has developed the visual explorer, which dynamically recolours points within a 3D cursor, based on their 3D location and direction. This can help give a better understanding of the 3D point cloud model without having to change view or zoom level. For example, to better understand the details in a building or a plant, or to find the breaklines in a civil engineering model.

Visual Explorer can also help access the quality of the point cloud data and looks to be a very powerful technology. It comes as no surprise to learn that Bentley has a patent pending.

Smart snap: Using a similar principle to the 3D cursor in visual explorer, Smart Snap is able to isolate key points in the point cloud (such as the lowest, highest or www.AECmag.com

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Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems

Feature Bentley Descartes V8i (SELECTseries) 3 has powerful display and editing capabilities for point clouds

average). This could be as part of a digitising workflow or simply as a starting point for a new design.

Smart Snap can be used in a number of ways, including finding the lowest point that corresponds to a break line or when assessing clearance. e.g. measuring the lowest point on a bridge and the highest point on the road beneath.

Of course, there is a whole lot more to Descartes than the new point cloud tools.

The software also includes a range of bread and butter tools for raster image processing, cleanup and vectorisation.

Plus, the new Descartes V8i (SELECTseries 3) release can create and use scalable terrain models, which is particularly useful for large scale terrains.

Clash detection Bentley has big plans for point cloud data and claims to have some compelling clash detection technology in the pipeline.

Bentley could not confirm how it is being brought to market yet, but said that the technology is unique in that it has compelling performance and everything happens in real time. Clash checks can be performed between multiple point clouds and between point cloud and 3D CAD model.

This could be a very powerful tool for retrofit work and all types of AEC projects.

ProjectWise Point Cloud Services One of the biggest point cloud developments this year came inside ProjectWise, Bentley’s information management and collaboration software that forms the backbone for many of the world’s leading construction projects.

Serving up huge gigabyte point cloud data files in their entirety is not practical across multiple sites, so ProjectWise is now www.AECmag.com

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able to stream in data on-demand.

For a file of a gigabyte or more, it may only take a few seconds before the point cloud becomes visible. To start, this is a low-density representation, but as the user zooms in, the density increases with data streaming in depending entirely on the viewpoint.

Bentley had to fundamentally rework the way a point cloud model is served up and confirms this would not have been possible without the Pointools acquisition.

Streaming of point cloud data will be supported in a number of products, including MicroStation, Bentley Navigator and the Bentley Navigator V8i for iPad app.

Conclusion CAD software developers know that point clouds are becoming an increasingly common data type for customers. Both Bentley and Autodesk are acquiring and implementing new 3D capture and manipulation technologies with each release of their products.

One of the key take-aways from our conversation with Bentley is that point cloud data does not always have to be converted.

There is a time cost in doing this and it is not always of benefit.

In the future, we expect project models to combine data in multiple formats, residing in the right one for the job it does. Editing and viewing tools must become more open to displaying and accessing data from a variety of sources.

While Bentley has put point cloud in the foundation MicroStation layer it is also thinking about their management. File sizes are not getting any smaller and storage and distribution is already a major headache for point cloud consumers.

Bentley has identified this and is actively enhancing ProjectWise to remove a lot of that pain through intelligent streaming

technology. AEC Magazine thinks this will be an important game changer for increasing the popularity of point clouds within the design process.

For now, working with point clouds will still require a combination of products to provide each project member with the correct part of the model that they need.

There are clear scan, clean/edit, manage and use phases which can not be done currently by any one product. Here Bentley has Pointools for standalone preparation, ProjectWise for management and Descartes to integrate the point cloud into engineering projects.

While Bentley has many flexible offerings in terms of licensing products and swapping product mixes, Pointools is not yet part of the portfolio, so we look forward to Bentley Pointools coming out later this year as scheduled.

When Bentley Systems acquired Pointools many customers were worried as Pointools was a key independent player in the industry. The acquisition has certainly stopped or delayed expected products such as Pointools for Revit and most certainly stopped development of Pointools for Rhino. This is obviously bad news for the greater industry.

However Bentley did not acquire Pointools just to stop others from having it, or to sit on it, as the development work and integration with ProjectWise that we have seen demonstrates. Bentley is very serious about laser scanned data and the benefits its customers could get by using it.

Next year Autodesk will include technology it acquired from its Alice Labs in AutoCAD and with its concentration on the cloud, it will be interesting to see how the two companies’ solutions compare.

■

bentley.com

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The green team AEC Magazine checks out the latest product offering from Glasgow’s Integrated Environment Systems (IES) and discovers a user friendly package that is really pushing the boundaries of green building design.

by Martyn Day

G

Modelling (BIM) products, reen building Integrated which add many more layers, design has been Environmental and hence cost, to the design much lauded in Solutions and documentation process. recent years.

VE-Gaia from £700 Yet the more assistance However, the reality is that LEED Navigator from £1,200 from AEC software, the many of these exemplary BREEAM Navigator from £1,200 greater the chances of ‘sustainable’ buildings are VE-Pro from £320 per quarter exceeding minimum buildthe result of client demand Website: iesve.com ing regulation standards — or skill of the designer, not for the same cost. any high standards within Integrated Environmental the AEC industry. Most new building projects continue to adhere Systems’ (IES) 2012 product range has gone some way to closing the gap between cost to the minimum regulatory compliance.

Buildings that only reach minimum stan- and exceeding regulatory standards. Best dards are unlikely to use sustainability soft- known for its high-end VE-Pro modular sysware tools and Building Information tem aimed at building performance profes-

sionals, IES has updated most of its core products. It has recently launched an Optimise consultancy service and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian Green Building Council. AEC Magazine spoke to IES managing director Don Mclean to discuss the new technologies.

Latest release In 2013, IES has introduced a new Voluntary Environmental Rating Systems (VERS) service called IES TaP (Track a Project), which rates building projects against standards such as BREEAM and LEED. “In the past we have, through our Navigator products (LEED Navigator,

Green building design: alternatives Sefaira Green Building Software A relatively new kid on the block, Sefaira is a web-based sustainability analysis program that is easy to use and offers whole-building analysis — including energy, water, carbon and renewable energy usage potential.

GreenspaceLive gTools gTools is a suite of online tools that provide energy analysis capabilities for SketchUp models.

The service offers a gbXML plug-in with auto surfacing for SketchUp (gModeller), a collaborative workspace (gWorkspace), a building analysis application and certificate generator (gEnergy).

Models are exported via gbXML to the cloud

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The interface is simple and allows for quick iterative design options to be explored.

The software offers great charting and easy to understand numerical reports, together with response curves, which allow multiple design options to be simultaneously compared. Prices from $1,200 per user per year.

AEC magazine will evaluate this new software indepth next month.

■ sefaira.com

application for storage and viewing anywhere. gEnergy can be run on these models to get results and for iterative improvements. The system includes built-in versioning.

The software creates Energy Performance Certificates and interfaces with the SBEM engine to calculate the emissions for PartL2 and section 6 in Scotland and Part F in Ireland. Prices start from $29.99 a month.

■ greenspacelive.com

www.AECmag.com

17/9/12 18:11:24

Review IES has included a new rendering engine in its products. Derived from games technology, it has the capability to real-time render massive city projects

BREEAM Navigator) provided a step by step iterative process of simulating and analysing designs, through to producing complete reports suitable for submissions,” says Dr Mclean.

“The gathering together of all this information can be troublesome for customers, so we have introduced a new online management technology which reminds users when submissions are due and can monitor the accreditation process through the project against their targets. We have been working on this with BREEAM and now looking at other bodies. It means that accreditation can be achieved within the project, not after the building is built.”

IES recently received a BREEAM badge of recognition for TaP. “There is a lot of work for a BREEAM administrator to make sure they bring together all the logistics of a project. With our TaP solution, typically we can save two weeks a month in just managing those logistics. We accumulate all the information that is required for submission in one place, online and everything can be sent off with the click of a button.

“The next stage will be letting the BREEAM assessors access the data online, removing the need to send documents. We are talking to a number of other building rating accreditation bodies

around the world about how we can do that as well.

“We hope, as the process becomes easier, more firms will look for building rating compliance.”

IES’ latest release has also introduced spreadsheet editing of building elements for rapid change and optimisation without having to go back and edit the model; alongside enhanced HVAC and optimisation for construction; glazing and energy performance.

The company has been working with Daikin and Monodraught to enable the drag and drop feature of their window and ventilation systems into IES analysis

SketchUp

National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is both a software development suite and a developer platform.

■ openstudio.nrel.gov/google-sketchup-pluggetting-started

Sketchup has a number of low cost analysis tools.

EnergyPlus OpenStudio for SketchUp OpenStudio is a free, open source, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) collection of software tools to support whole building energy modelling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis using Radiance. It is created by the US government’s

Autodesk Ecotect and Green Building Studio Acquired by Autodesk and put in the cloud, Green Building Studio forms part of Autodesk 360 cloud services. The software performs whole building analysis, optimises total energy use and carbon footprint. It claims to have extensive weather data

www.AECmag.com

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VE-Ware for SketchUp VE-Ware from IES is free and does simple whole building analysis.

■ iesve.com/software/ve-ware

available for most project sites. It offers carbon emission reporting, ‘daylighting’, water usage and costs, and natural ventilation potential. As the software was developed in the USA it is LEED-centric and supports the Energy Star scoring system.

■ usa.autodesk.com/green-building-studio Ecotect is a visual analysis tool. While available stand alone, Autodesk is integrating some capability into Autodesk 360 cloud suite, Revit and Vasari products. ■ usa.autodesk.com/ecotect-analysis

September / October 2012

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17/9/12 18:11:25

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17/9/12 16:15:47

Review 1

2

1 Combining the new graphics with the graphical feedback, it is now much easier to visually see the impact of design decisions and compare different designs 2 IES’s GAIA application for architects provides many useful calculations for building design.

Here the Climate Energy Index (CEI) results clearly shows the energy required to maintain a comfortable working environment depending on occupancy

models. This will hopefully reduce model creation time.

Sun studies have been beefed up and now the software offers an Ecotect-like visual feedback that immediately tells the architect the solar impact on every surface.

There is also a new basic rendering engine that can handle huge models. Dr McLean sees this increase in analysis model size as a growing trend.

“More and more people are using our software for things like masterplanning and they want to get bigger models in, so we have developed the technology to deal with much bigger models than we have typically been able to manage.

“While we can handle large buildings — we have one client currently working on an 8,000 room model of a hospital — there is a need to analyse buildings simultaneously at the master planning stage and address the environmental issues raised at that scale. In our old software this would have been difficult to do.

“Clients are now looking at how to make the community, whatever size it is, as sustainable as possible, interacting with all the utilities as efficiently as possible.

“Unfortunately, when we talk about smart cities, what is really being talked about is just data collection, not the act of making it any more sustainable.

“While connecting up different aspects of the workings of city may help, it doesn’t make the city operate sustainably. So we have set ourselves the task of enabling our software to create masterplan models that can be taken through the design process, starting with optimising the performance of the individual buildings through to the efficiency of how the comwww.AECmag.com

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IES product suite VE-Ware Free download VE-Ware is an add-on for SketchUp and Autodesk Revit and provides annual energy and carbon analysis. VE-Ware is simple to use — create the geometry, set a location, define materials, heating/cooling systems, room types and press a button to get the results (energy consumption, CO2 emissions, SBEM compliance). Change the definitions and repeat to make improvements. This is a great free way to get immediate feedback of a basic design.

VE-GAIA VE-GAIA is targeted at architects for use in conceptual design. Analysis ranges from choosing the best site of a building, orientation, rainfall recycling, solar, daylighting, building loads, carbon output and mass. It can be used for quick checks but also allows customisation and much greater depth than freeware applications.

VE-GAIA is its own virtual environment, based on the high-end VE-PRO engine. Geometry is exported from Autodesk Revit, SketchUp, etc. It has an easy to use interface with graphical feedback and clearly written results combining numbers with explanations of the results. It creates reports and tracks progress.

LEED Navigator and BREEAM Navigator With increased interest in voluntary standards such as LEED and BREEAM, IES offers two specific compliance products, LEED Navigator and BREEAM Navigator, which analyse designs for key compliance in education, healthcare, retail, offices, core and shell. These applications offer step-by-step guidance to assist in submitting for accreditation.

VE-Pro modular system VE-Pro has a mixture of tools covering light, solar, low carbon, energy, HVAC, climate, regulatory compliance, costs, airflow, egress and validation. Models are imported in GBXML, DXF, SketchUp or Revit for analysis. It also offers management of compliance documentation.

munity in groups of buildings can operate efficiently. This is some way off but we are targeting our development towards this kind of system.”

Optimise This month IES has launched a new consulting service alongside Aecom, Mott MacDonald, Ingenium Archial, Davis Langdon (an Aecom Company), CIBSE and Loughborough University.

The service includes a tool that incorporates simulation-based optimisation for the automatic generation of design solutions, which minimise the carbon emissions, capital costs, and life cycle costs of a building.

This tool makes it possible to assess hundreds of design options simultaneously, and automatically score the results against selected criteria.

Conclusion Dr McLean feels the industry has made substantial progress over the past few years using analysis tools more often and earlier on in the design process.

“Five years ago architects were using analysis without really understanding the results. Nowadays there are many more literate and more demanding architects that actively want to understand the performance of a design. This is a significant change in the industry.”

IES has undoubtedly had a fruitful year, boosted by the growing interest in building design analysis. Perhaps we are entering a new age when engineering and aesthetics can work together to produce not only beautiful buildings but highly efficient ones too.

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AceCAD BIMReview

Categorised annotations, consisting of a leader and a colour-customisable text box, always face the user, regardless of model orientation

In the past year, AceCad has reinvented itself as a provider of BIM collaboration and project management tools. We look at its latest release, a low-cost, multi model, BIM project review and communication tool.

by Greg Corke

F

BIMReview is designed to or years there was only BIMReview be used across the entire one real choice when it AceCAD AEC sector, from architects, came to co-ordinating Product: BIMReview BIM managers, engineers and reviewing multiSupplier: AceCad Software and fabricators, to contracdiscipline BIM models. That was Price: £350 Website: bim-review.com tors, site managers, customNavisworks.

Launched by ers and suppliers.

Lightwork Design and bought by A key part of the software Autodesk in 2007 Navisworks is undeniably powerful, but has historically is its ability to bring in data from a variety of sources. In addition to industry-standard been quite expensive.

While it took a while for the AEC market formats like IFC, CIS-2, STEP and IGES, to catch up, there are now a number of lower AceCad has developed good links to Revit cost alternatives. Last year Tekla launched and Tekla Structures. Here, bespoke plugBIMsight, a free to download collaboration ins allow users of Revit and Tekla Structures tool, and more recently Gehry Technologies to export their models to BIMReview’s began a preview of GTeam, a cloud-based native BSWX format.

Those modelling to an exact co-ordinate 3D collaboration platform (see page 24).

Another new BIM project review tool is system should not have any trouble co-ordiBIMReview from AceCad Software. It is nating multiple models. However, when they new, as in the sense of it has just been do not line up, models can be adjusted for released to market, but not in terms of the scale, size and orientation — by eye or by underlying technology. BIMReview is an dialling in values. Typically this will be evolution of AceCad’s mature StruWalker architectural, MEP or structural models, but product, originally a companion to the steel could also be different sections of a particufabrication software, StruCad, which was larly large project.

BIMReview is 64-bit, so in theory there is bought by Tekla last year.

BIMReview is one of a range of new prod- no real limit to model size, as long as your ucts from a new look AceCad Software that workstation has sufficient memory and a focus on the wider AEC market, from multi- 64-bit operating system.

We tested on a more moderately specified discipline design to procurement, all the way 32-bit Windows machine with 3GB of RAM to construction.

AceCad describes its new collaborative and an entry-level professional 3D graphics BIM project review tool as a visualisation card. This handled most models well, but wrapper for rich BIM model data. It can co- larger models became a little sluggish in 3D ordinate all types of BIM models, visualise and the machine sometimes ran out of memdata in many ways, detect clashes, annotate, ory when combining three IFC models: a and perform construction planning — and 20MB architectural, 20MB structural and a complex 200MB MEP. all this for just £350.

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Once inside BIMReview there are many ways to visualise the BIM data. Entire models or specific components can be made transparent using a neat slider that controls how see through they are. This is very useful for looking inside buildings, perhaps to reveal the MEP model or specific components such as columns or stairs.

Models can also be cut away using clipping planes in any orientation. There is full control here, with everything happening in real time, so it is easy to drill down to expose a specific section of a building.

For presentations, the tools are pretty basic, but do the job. Materials can be assigned to the model to add realism. It is nothing fancy, and certainly not photo-realistic, but can be a good way of communicating material choices for buildings. For context, background images and terrains can also be included. Models can also be exported to Google Earth.

To add a little more spice to presentations, animations can be created. Simply move the model around to define points (key frames) that the camera follows. Then click play. It literally takes a few minutes to produce a decent animation, which can then be exported as an AVI or WMV file.

All about the data BIMReview is not just about visualising BIM models. It is all about the data, where the model acts as a 3D index to the underlying attributes. Users can enquire about any object within the model and it will instantly bring up the embedded information.

It is also possible to visualise a model thewww.AECmag.com

17/9/12 17:43:15

Review

matically, in relation to its attribute infor- Structures and Revit, the data can also be architectural, structural and MEP and, if required, pick specific parts of the model to mation. Models can be automatically colour read back into the authoring BIM tool.

Extended User Attribute data can also be focus on. Certain types of elements can be coded for example, by member size, material type, with a legend showing correspond- tied in with detailed Gantt charts for project filtered and ignored in the clash check, planning. With direct links to the model, including nuts and bolts. ing attribute values.

Once clash checking begins, the system For those that want to dig into the BIM each task can be visualised. For example, model database, this can be found in a grid showing which parts are completed, or due goes off and does its thing. This can take a while with large multi-discipline models, panel at the bottom of the screen. This for delivery on a certain date.

It is also possible to produce sequence but our 100MB architecture and MEP IFC spreadsheet style table enables users to browse the model by all types of attribute animations to help plan construction test files finished within two minutes. data, filter the information, and even per- sequencing on site. Next year, the software Clashes are presented in the modelling window as coloured 3D icons, and in a form simple spreadsheet operations, spreadsheet-like data grid. such as ‘sum’ or ‘average’ to produce From the data grid, users can summaries. Data can also be exportIf you are looking for a simple, yet step through each clash in turn. ed to Excel.

The system can be made to autoNaturally there are permanent powerful BIM review tool, with matically zoom to the problem in links to the 3D model. To view an an upgrade path to handle more question, at the same time making object in context, simply right managed workflows throughout the rest of the model transparent so click and it will zoom in on the the clash stands out.

3D window. the supply chain, we recommend As each clash is addressed, the BIMReview is not just about a test drive status can be changed from ‘not working with data that has been reviewed’ to ‘reviewed’, ‘logged’ or created in the BIM authoring tool. It ‘resolved’. This is also reflected in is also possible to add custom data.

These ‘Extended User Attributes’ can be will be able to compare planned sequencing the colour of the 3D icon in the model window so it is easy to get a feel for progress. used to define new collaborative workflows. with actual sequencing.

For sharing data, Gantt charts can be Notes can be added to explain the clash in Extended User Attribute data can take many forms including length, time, weight saved as part of the BIMReview file and more detail or how to resolve it. Files can and volume. Time is perhaps the most inter- viewed by other users. Data from Microsoft also be attached to the model — a PDF or esting as it means BIMReview can be used Project can also be imported. Primavera photo of a hand sketch, for example. These and CSV import will come in 2013. can be embedded in the BSWX file or a link to visualise project schedules. can be added to retrieve the document from For example, in order to plan the delivery a server or website. of building components to site simply high- Clash detection Tasks can also be assigned to an indilight the relevant parts of the model in the Clash detection is a very powerful feature 3D window, right click and add a date. This of BIMReview. Users can dial in specific vidual for inspection. Each clash also data can then be shared with other project values for overlap tolerance and mini- shows the spatial location (X,Y,Z) which will help locate the problem in the origiparticipants including engineers and con- mum distance. tractors. With bi-directional links to Tekla Simply select the models in question, e.g. nating BIM software.

‘‘

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www.AECmag.com

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ITshowcase.indd 1

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Review

As the clash report is essentially a database, the table can be organised in many ways. Columns can be sorted A to Z, data collated and everything can be exported to Excel for reports or further evaluation.

Annotation and communication BIMReview offers simple, but effective annotation tools. Categorised Annotations, consisting of a leader and a colour-customisable text box, can be added to any part of a model.

Annotations are ‘3D aware’ and are not specific to any one view. As the user rotates the model on screen the annotations move accordingly so can always be read clearly.

Annotations can also be managed from a data grid that appears on the right hand side of the screen. To help collaborate with overseas teams, a Google Translate plug-in translates text at the click of a button.

To draw attention to an area in the model, as opposed to a specific part, viewpoints can be created and notes added. Then simply click on the viewpoint and the model view automatically zooms in.

Measurements are pretty standard fare, with the software providing a range of selectable snap modes to help pick exact points. Redline tools are a noticeable omission but, according to AceCad, will be included by the end of the year.

Collaboration works best when BIMReview models are shared, but those without access to the software do not have to miss out. Screen grabs can be taken at any point and then sent via email in a single click. When annotations are included, this can be a simple but effective way of www.AECmag.com

p20_21_23_AEC_SEPTOCT2012_AceCAD.gc.indd 23

sending out a Request for Information (RFI), though there is no traceability.

To enhance workflow back to key BIM authoring tools, annotations can also be brought back into Revit and Tekla Structures, though these are embedded in the model as Extended Attribute Data, and not as a visible markup.

Conclusion AceCad has packed a vast amount of functionality into BIMReview, particu-

BIMProject & BIMServer BIMReview’s strength lies with its ability to review BIM models and add value to the data.

It isn’t so strong on traceability though, and working through each process largely relies on manual workflows.

This is where BIMProject, AceCad’s BIM content management tool, comes into play. To help manage more advanced workflows, particularly in relation to project control and construction planning, BIMReview can be tightly integrated within BIMProject.

For example, RFQs and RFIs can be handled

by BIMProject’s document manager, which keeps track of which requests are outstanding and logs every step of the workflow so there is a complete audit trail.

In early 2013 Acecad will also release BIMServer, a cloud-based service that will boast all the features of BIMReview, plus revision control, document tracking and supplier management all from within a browser.

Viewpoints can be created, and notes added, to help draw attention to a specific area in the model

larly considering it costs a mere £350. Its model review tools are impressive, but there is a lot more to the software than model co-ordination, visualisation and clash detection.

Where BIMReview really excels is with its tight integration between BIM data and 3D model. With good application of Extended User Attribute data there is huge potential to take more control over a project as it moves from design to procurement and into construction.

Having been privy to some future developments in the pipeline it is clear AceCad has big plans for the software. Improved markup tools, enhanced construction planning and support for major point cloud data formats are some of the highlights to look out for in the next two releases.

One downside of BIMReview is that it is file-based, which makes it more of a challenge to work with geographically dispersed teams, though standard collaborative tools like GoToMeeting get around this to some extent. It will be interesting to see how AceCad’s forthcoming BIMServer product solves some of these challenges by offering similar capabilities in a web-browser.

BIMReview is available as a 200MB download on a free seven day trial. If you are looking for a simple, yet powerful BIM review tool, with an upgrade path to handle more managed workflows throughout the supply chain, we recommend a test drive.

September / October 2012

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17/9/12 17:43:29

Preview 1

GTeam by Gehry

Technologies

Gehry Technologies recently launched a free preview of its new cloud-based file management and collaboration platform. GTeam is embryonic, but incredibly easy to use and with a well thought out workflow holds great promise.

by Greg Corke

I

t has been nearly ten years since Gehry Technologies (GT) launched its Digital Project Building Information Modelling (BIM) software, but the Catia-based application was a bit of a slow burner. Instead of the mainstream BIM tool that GT wanted it to be, Digital Project found a niche for itself in larger AEC firms including Skidmore Ownings and Merrill (SOM) and Zaha Hadid Architects. GT also used it with great success in its own consultancy.

While Digital Project continues to evolve, GT has also turned its attention to collaboration, with a cloud-based file management and BIM collaboration platform called GTeam. The browser-based service is currently available as a free preview, with a commercial release expected soon.

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With GTeam, GT is targeting a wide range of professionals, including architects, designers, engineers, contractors, consultants and building owners, and has the potential to give GT a more mainstream AEC presence.

Everything is done in the cloud, which helps ensure project members always have access to up to date information. There is no more emailing or FTP transfer of files — models and drawings are checked out directly from GTeam and checked back in once changes have been made in the relevant authoring software. Every download, message and update is tracked.

This is all standard fare for most project hosting services, but with GTeam there is also a powerful model viewing element.

Multiple models from different applications

— structural, architectural and MEP — can all be viewed together, measured, sectioned and checked for clashes. This type of functionality is common in applications like Autodesk Navisworks, Tekla BIMsight and AceCad BIMReview (see page 18), but with GTeam it is all done in a web browser, making it ideal for distributed teams.

File management Managing projects in GTeam is easy, but does not mean there is a trade off in capability. Each project is stored in a folder structure, making it easy to browse 3D models, drawings and office documents. For complex projects, or just for good housekeeping, files can also be collated in file sets.

Each file sports a thumbnail view alongside the file name. With 3D models there is www.AECmag.com

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17/9/12 15:32:48

Preview 2

1 The 3D model viewer reads in BIM files natively and offers rudimentary markup tools 2 In the file browser the 3D preview tool makes it easier to find specific models without having to open them

also a 3D preview. This is nothing fancy, it just allows the user to toggle through a dozen snapshots taken around the model, but does give a pretty good feel for the model without having to open it in the 3D viewer.

This feature works in all browsers, including those on mobile devices.

To start collaborating, participants can be invited to share any project. Simply type in an email address and a notification will be sent inviting the recipient to join (and open a GTeam account if they do not already have one). In this respect it is very much like the popular file sharing service, Dropbox, and the similarities do not end there. GTeam also includes desktop file synchronisation, which makes it possible to check out models and drawings for editing offline inside a BIM application such as Revit or Digital Project. However, unlike Dropbox, which syncs automatically, GTeam gives control over which files are uploaded and downloaded. Simply tick the appropriate boxes and away it goes.

Collaboration does not have to be done on a project-by-project basis, where participants are given access to all files. Users can also create ‘Release Sets’, which allows specific files to be sent to other companies.

In terms of communication between project participants GTeam has a simple messaging service built in. As all correspondence is stored in the system for reference, this should make email pretty much redundant. However, email notifications are also sent to the recipient’s inbox to advise that a response is needed. Messages can be general, or can be linked to a specific model, drawing, document or snapshot.

3D model viewing GTeam is much more than a cloud-based file management tool. It also features a powerful browser-based 3D file viewer, which enables users to view BIM data without having to own the BIM authoring tool.

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One of the big plus points of GTeam is the ease with which it handles all types of BIM data, currently including AutoCAD, Revit, Digital Project, Rhino, MicroStation DGN, SketchUp and IFC. Users simply upload the native BIM file and GTeam automatically processes it into an optimised 3D format. This is purely so it can be viewed in a browser; the native file format is always retained in the document manager and served up for collaboration. e.g. RVT, IFC or SKP. File conversion for the 3D viewer is not quick, which can be a real pain. It took a good 45 minutes before we could interact with our hefty 50MB Revit model (five minutes to upload and 40 minutes to process on the GTeam server). However, once inside GTeam, model rotation was incredibly smooth, even on a moderately specified PC. While GTeam runs on pretty much any platform — desktop and mobile — 3D file viewing is Windows-only, though GT is working on supporting other platforms.

There is also the small matter of a 4MB GTeam 3D file viewing plug-in, which installs automatically in all browsers including IE, Firefox and Google Chrome.

Users can combine multiple models in the same view, and filter which parts of the model are displayed — by structure, architecture, or MEP etc or, drilling down deeper into the model structure, by storey, doors, columns, walls, stairs etc. To reveal more detail inside the building, it is also possible to create sections, by elevation, plan or box, using a handle to change the position of the section in real time.

There is a collection of core collaboration tools including measuring, clash detection, and clearance checking. The markup tools are rudimentary, involving a snapshot view of the model to be taken and notes added.

However, all of this info is added to the project folder, alongside, 3D models, drawings and other documents, so is easily located.

Snapshots can also be linked to messages to aid collaboration. Here, the recipient is taken directly to the location inside the model.

Conclusion GTeam looks to be a very exciting proposition for sharing documents and collaborating on 3D BIM models in the cloud. There are other services that offer more powerful project management capabilities, but the beauty of GTeam is in its simplicity. Expert CAD operators and non-skilled users should all be able to get to grips with the platform with very little training.

For viewing 3D files, a powerful feature of GTeam, we love that CAD and BIM files are read in directly, as this means there is no need to go via neutral formats, such as IFC. We also like the workflow supported by the Dropbox-like syncing, which makes it easy to manage data as it moves from desktop to cloud and vice versa.

There is plenty of room for improvement though. We would like to see support for real time collaboration where users can all work on the same model as it is rotated on screen with no lag. The system is also crying out for better markup tools and iPhone / iPad and Android apps almost essential additions for the future. We would also like GT to speed up the processing of 3D files for viewing. Waiting an hour can be a real pain when you want to view 3D files in a hurry.

But, one must remember that GTeam has not yet been officially released. Currently available as a free preview, GTeam is, by GT’s own admission, still a work in progress.

We sincerely hope when it comes to a commercial release, GT gets the pricing right. One of the reasons Digital Project became a niche tool was because the costs were too prohibitive for some AEC firms.

GT has the potential to become a very influential tool used throughout the entire AEC industry, but it also needs to be affordable.

■ GTeam.com

www.AECmag.com

17/9/12 17:45:47

BIM model collaboration: alternatives CADfaster Collaborate This £499 tool focuses on real time collaboration using 3D models, as opposed to managing and distributing project files. It uses plug-ins for BIM tools, including Revit and MicroStation, to shrink large BIM models for easy sharing.

Models can be distributed for individual or coviewing sessions, allowing annotation and discussion in the cloud.

Autodesk 360 BIM Glue ‘Glue’ is just one of the new cloud services inside Autodesk BIM 360, which are offered to Autodesk customers on subscription. According to Autodesk, ‘Glue’ offers a cloud-based approach to multidisciplinary co-ordination, model aggregation, clash management and BIM collaboration.

From what we have seen, the software looks

Tekla BIMsight Tekla BIMsight is a free BIM collaboration tool for construction that enables multiple BIM models to be combined in a single environment, for markup and clash checking.

In terms of application support, there is a direct, one button link from Tekla Structures to Tekla BIMsight. Revit, ArchiCAD and other applications are supported via IFC.

Bentley Navigator Bentley Navigator is designed specifically to help teams review and analyse project information.

The Windows-based software can work with a range of data, including i-models, native DGN and DWG files and point cloud files. It can be used to measure distances, areas, and volumes, plus simulate what-ifs, optimise schedules, and dynamically resolve clashes.

Aconex Aconex is a fully featured online project collaboration and document management platform.

It can be used to manage the flow of drawings, BIM models, contracts, reports, schedules and other documentation between project participants. Project communications are tightly integrated and it can manage standard industry processes around RFIs, bids and tenders.

When the master model view is adjusted, all session members’ views are updated in real-time to reflect the component or building element that is being discussed.

In a single or collaborative session, it is possible to add comments and attach them to objects in the 3D view. These comments are stored on the server and can be accessed at any time when viewing the model.

CADfaster also offers a free iPad viewer.

■ cadfaster.com

like a thinned out version of Navisworks, which operates via a thin client. Models are uploaded to the cloud where they can be merged, explored and analysed for clashes. Re-analysis can be rerun when models are updated ‘Glue’ provides in-product, round-trip support for co-ordination and clash detection for all the major Autodesk products, including Revit and Civil 3D, but also supports co-ordination across more than 50 industry file formats.

■ autodesk.com/bim360

The software runs on Windows PCs and tablets, but there is also an Apple iPad / iPhone version, Tekla BIMsight Note, which is designed specifically for use on site.

Tekla BIMsight Note relies on full Tekla BIMsight to be used in the design co-ordination process; the findings, like clashes, design issues, RFIs or change orders can be communicated from Tekla BIMsight to users of Tekla BIMsight Note.

■ teklabimsight.com

There is also an iPad specific version, which enables users to navigate 3D design models using the motion sensors of the tablet together with the touch screen. It is possible to add annotations and interrogate elements in the model, and pre-select ‘points-of-interest’ to navigate around big models.

Navigator also has strong links to ProjectWise, Bentley’s management and project collaboration software. Prices start at $360.

■ bentley.com/navigator

Aconex includes a web-based BIM Viewer which supports IFC, DWG, DGN and others. It offers real-time simultaneous viewing and mark up of models. An iPhone / iPad app allows users to access and capture project information and review drawings. There is a plug-in for Revit.

Aconex has an interesting approach to pricing.

It can be deployed on a single project and cost is based on project value, duration and complexity, not on numbers of users.

■ aconex.com

• Solibri Model Checker can perform clash checks and analyse BIM models for integrity, quality and physical safety ■ solibri.com • Autodesk Navisworks is a powerful, mature project review tool for integrating, sharing and reviewing models ■ autodesk.com/navisworks • ASite cBIM (part of Adoddle) for cloud based sharing of BIM models, merging of multiple models, review and markup, plus more ■ asite.com

www.AECmag.com

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17/9/12 17:45:48

Designviz Changes to a ceramic floor tiling plan creates a lighting challenge for Italian visualisation specialist Tiziano Fioriti.

by Stephen Holmes

Tiziano Fioriti 28

The time-saving trickery of a photorealistic visualisation can play an important part in selling a building’s interior.

This project by Tiziano Fioriti is a great example of how lighting can help transform a scene, bringing a design project together in a believable manner.

Produced for Tagina, a specialist ceramics company based in Italy, it was requested that the floor of an existing room be replaced with a different tiling plan.

“The company gave me the shot and the type of structure they wanted. At first I worked on the material in a simple base scene. Tagina creates art ceramics that are pretty complex so I had to test the reflection and diffuse options,” says Mr Fioriti.

The tiles were lightened so all the surrounding artefacts had to be brightened as well, with more direct light through the window adding additional shadows.

“Once I had achieved a satisfying result

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17/9/12 14:46:53

Gallery

Before www.AECmag.com

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with the reflections I proceeded to cameramatch the shot and model the geometry I needed to cast the shadows of the objects in the scene. The final stages involved working on lighting and rendering settings.”

Mr Fioriti worked with Autodesk 3ds Max, using VRay for the rendering, while Photoshop was used for post-production to “amalgamate” the image.

“Though I prefer to work with Autodesk Maya I really love the camera projection techniques and tools in 3ds Max, for visual effects, it has great resources.”

Mr Fioriti says to achieve realism a digital artist must observe and study reality to find the common aspects with the work. “It’s the only objective way to achieve a good result.”

■ tizianofioriti.net

September / October 2012

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17/9/12 14:46:59

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Feature

ArchiCAD U K In the last edition we looked at the latest release of Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD. Since then there have been a number of changes to its product range and pricing.

by Martyn Day

G

raphisoft’s UK operations have recently been restructured.

Reseller AppleCore Design now operates as Graphisoft Connect, the only UK reseller of commercial ArchiCAD, taking on responsibility for other areas such as marketing. Scott Berry of AppleCore Design talks to AEC about how this will affect its product offering.

ArchiCAD Solo Last year AEC looked at an entry-level product bundle from Graphisoft called ArchiCAD Start. This was based on the previous release of ArchiCAD and would get architects into BIM for less than £1,000.

This product has segued into ArchiCAD Solo, which was put together at the request of Graphisoft UK, and offers great entry-level value for money.

While the Start version of ArchiCAD always lagged the current version, Solo ships at the same time as the current Teamwork version. The package includes energy evaluation, workbooks, a range of 2D detailing objects (roof tiles, brick and block, etc), and local content as well as 12 months service for upgrades for £1,699.

ArchiCAD 16 Solo includes all the modelling capabilities of Teamwork such as Morph, Shell, new multiplane roof, complex profiles as well sketch rendering, publisher and the renovation workflow. It does not include Lightworks rendering nor the BIM Server/Teamwork technology.

The MEP variant of ArchiCAD Solo is also available at the same price (but does not include the detail library).

Graphisoft offers a unique model sharing capability called BIM Explorer (BIMx), which allows for the distribution of models.

The self-extracting files run on PC, Mac, iOS and Android. BIMx can be added at the point of sale bringing the cost of the whole Graphisoft BIM Solo package to a total of £1,899.

ArchiCAD 16 Solo supports multi-core processing and runs natively on PC (as a 32-bit application) and Mac OS (64-bit). On upgrade to the full version of ArchiCAD all money paid for Solo is discounted off the www.AECmag.com

p31_AEC_SEPTOCT12_ArchiCAD.indd 31

full copy of ArchiCAD Teamwork.

ArchiCAD Solo is a powerful entry-level system, a good starting point to get into BIM from 2D CAD, with a no-loss upgrade path.

Firms that need multiple seats will be better off with the full version with Teamwork capability.

The omission of high-end rendering could be easily rectified with the purchase of the Abvents Artlantis, which costs from £391 and integrates well with ArchiCAD.

ArchiCAD 16 Correction In the July/August edition of AEC we quoted an incorrect price for full ArchiCAD 16. The actual price is from £3,899 plus VAT for a first licence, including upgrades and email support. Multilicence discounts are also available. In addition, there is a special UK only version, ArchiCAD 16 Solo, which has been tailored to the smaller design studio.

Licencing ArchiCAD licencing works on a concurrent basis, with users free to install software on as many machines as required. Both versions use hardware keys as software protection. While this locking annoys some, it allows considerable flexibility when using the software dynamically. For instance a license of ArchiCAD can be ‘borrowed’ for

up to 28 days, say, for a laptop while on site.

It enables software rental based on three, six or 12 months. Prices start at £657 per quarter (including upgrades in the rental period) and works out at £477 per quarter over a 12-month hire.

This could be used to evaluate the software or for overflow requirements should a project require more users, without adding to future software overheads.

Conclusion The entry level BIM market will become a battleground over the coming year. Autodesk has quietly announced the availability of Autodesk Revit LT, formerly Project Spark on Autodesk Labs (see page 8). With Graphisoft offering a very capable entry level solution, designers will have a choice, or could afford to have copies of each should a project demand it.

■ gsconnect.co.uk

September / October 2012

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17/9/12 18:14:40

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03/07/2012 21:06

Review

Scan 3XS GW-MT15 A quality workstation for CAD or BIM, but there is no compelling reason to upgrade from Sandy Bridge Intel’s ‘Ivy Bridge’ processor did not exactly have CAD users rushing to put in a purchase order. But Intel’s third gen Core processor did offer a small boost in performance and better power efficiency over its predecessor, Sandy Bridge.

Compared to the Intel Core i7 2600K, the darling of Intel’s second gen Core family, the new Ivy Bridge Core i7 3770K saves a cool 18W, down from 95W to 77W at peak.

Its base clock speed also moves up a notch from 3.4GHz to 3.5GHz. Not one to be content with off the shelf performance, Bolton-based Scan has done

Lenovo ThinkStation E31 SFF A compact entry-level 3D CAD workstation with excellent build quality

Monitor not included in Price

They say the best things come in small packages. And Lenovo obviously thinks so.

Its new ThinkStation E31 SFF (Small Form Factor) is a great little machine, perfectly proportioned for cramped design offices, but still kitted out with workstation-class components.

This is encapsulated by the Xeon E3-1230 V2, a quad core Ivy Bridge CPU. At 3.3GHz it’s slightly slower at core tasks than the popular CAD

www.AECmag.com

p33_34_AEC_SEPTOCT2012_Workstations.indd 33

Vertex 2E look somewhat its trademark job of overclockProduct spec pedestrian. ing, taking the quad core i7 Scan has also upped the 3770K up to 4.4GHz. The prob■ Intel Core i7 3770K capacity of its companion ‘data’ lem is, this is 0.1Ghz less than it (3.5GHz overclocked to 4.4Ghz) (Quad drive and the 2TB Seagate achieved more than a year ago Core) (Ivy Bridge) Barracuda 7,200 SATA will with the ‘Sandy Bridge’ Core i7 ■ 16GB (2 x 8GB) give plenty of space for complex 2600K in its Scan 3XS P67 X3D Corsair PC3-12800 CAD datasets. Scan has been workstation (tinyurl.

(1600) memory equally generous in its memory, com/3XSAEC). And despite the ■ Nvidia Quadro 2000 (1GB GDDR5) delivering 16GB of Corsair PC3small architectural improvegraphics 12800 (1600) RAM in 2 x 8GB ments Intel has made to Ivy ■ 120GB PNY modules leaving two slots free Bridge our Professional SSD + for future upgrades. tests show 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200 HDD Despite approaching its two performance ■ Gigabyte GA-Z77year anniversary, the PNY has literally D3H motherboard Nvidia Quadro 2000 is still a stood still.

■ Microsoft Windows solid 3D graphics card. It does There have 7 Professional 64-bit not reach the heady heights of a been some ■ 3 year warranty Quadro 4000 but remains a tweaks in 1st year on site, 2nd & 3rd year return to good option for mid range CAD other parts of base (mechanical and BIM. Scan’s new hard drives only Overall, it is hard to fault the 3XS workstacovered for 1st year) Scan 3XS GW-MT15. It is a good tion, most £1,208 solid mid-range workstation. noticeably in 3xs.scan.co.uk Unfortunately, there is no comterms of storpelling reason to upgrade from age. The new last year’s model. I guess those 120GB PNY Professional SSD boasts that have invested in an overclocked Sandy excellent performance. Its 550MB/s read Bridge workstation will have to wait for and 520MB/s write makes the 285MB/s some Ivy Bridge upgrades. and 275MB/sec of last year’s 120GB OCZ Greg Corke

chip, the 3.4GHz Core i5-3570K, but with ThinkStation E31 SFF’s standing of an support for HyperThreading it gives a wel- entry-level 3D workstation.

Despite its slimline 337 x 369 x 100mm come boost when rendering. Its Xeon crechassis, the E31 SFF has dentials also mean support for retained Lenovo’s trademark Error Correcting Code (ECC) Product spec serviceability. A lever at the memory, which can be impor■ Intel Xeon E3-1230 back unlocks the solid case tant for CAD users who put a V2 3.3 GHz (Quad and the hinged side panel premium on stability.

Core) (Ivy Bridge) CPU flips open. Everything is pretECC does come at a price so ■ 8GB (2 x 4GB) PC3ty cramped inside but to keep costs down our test 12800 1600MHz upgrades are straightforward. machine was kitted out with DDR3 memory The hard drive caddy, mount8GB of more prosaic non-ECC ■ Nvidia Quadro 600 (1GB DDR3) graphics ed on plastic clips, comes out memory. This is a good amount ■ 1TB 7,200RPM with ease, giving unobstructfor entry level CAD and BIM, 6Gb/s SATA drive ed access to the memory. though there are still two slots ■ Lenovo The ThinkStation E31 SFF free for future upgrades. motherboard is not for everyone, which is Storage is nothing fancy — a (Intel C216 chipset) why Lenovo also produces a 1TB 7,200RPM 6Gb/s SATA. ■ Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit larger ThinkStation E31 To boost capacity, 2TB and 3TB ■ 3 year on-site Tower, which offers more drives are available and there warranty expandability and higher-end is also space for a second drive. £750 graphics options. But for Those looking for more perforlenovo.co.uk those in the market for a commance can opt for SSDs or 10K pact entry-level workstation SATAs. for CAD or BIM with excelOne area where there is no flexibility is with graphics. The low-pro- lent build quality the E31 SFF is one of the file Nvidia Quadro 600 is the only real best we have seen. option for CAD confirming the Greg Corke September / October 2012

33

17/9/12 15:18:39

Review

Workstation Specialists WS1850 Nvidia Maximus 3D workstation A specialist GPU-accelerated workstation for simulation or rendering workflows

Maximus drivers, the user has pretty good control over where the workstation’s processing ■ Intel Xeon E5 2670 2.60GHz (eight core) resources are deployed.

■ 32GB (8x4GB) PC3Firing up our CAD software If ever there was ever a need to 1600MHz quad we made some tweaks to a match hardware to software, channel DDR3 model and sent it off to render this is it. The WS1850 Nvidia memory in Bunkspeed Shot using the Maximus certified 3D graphics ■ Nvidia Quadro 4000 (2GB) graphics Tesla C2075 GPU. As the proworkstation has a very well ■ Nvidia Tesla C2075 gressive ray trace renderer defined role. It is designed spe(6GB) compute refined the image, we were still cifically to reduce compute ■ 120GB Intel 520 able to carry on designing in times in Computer Aided Series SSD + 2TB our CAD tool quite happily.

Engineering (CAE) software 7,200RPM SATA 3 hard drive The software was responsive and ray trace renderers using ■ Intel X79 Express with no impact whatsoever on powerful GPUs (Graphics motherboard 3D performance.

Processing Units).

■ Microsoft Windows To take things up a notch, we This is commonly referred to as 7 Professional 64-bit used the Xeon CPU for mental GPU compute and when a work■ 36 months full ray rendering in 3ds Max and station features Nvidia GPUs, it parts and labour system warranty the Tesla GPU for ray tracing is called Nvidia Maximus. in Bunkspeed Shot. With some To give a bit more detail, £4,995 tinkering to CPU resources we Nvidia Maximus workstations workstation specialists.com probably could have left some feature multiple GPUs: one free for 3D modelling in our dedicated to graphics and one CAD application. or more dedicated to compute.

Beyond processors, the WS1850 is amply In our WS1850 workstation there is a Quadro 4000 GPU for 3D graphics and supported with 32GB PC3-1600MHz Quad Tesla C2075 GPU for simulation or render- Channel DDR3 memory. This is particularly ing.

In terms of workflow, the big play for important when hanNvidia Maximus is that it allows engineers to dling simulation work‘design and simulate’ or ‘design and render’ flows as jobs tend to at the same time, with little to no slow down. start and end on the Then, when deadlines are looming, or CPU, with certain eleperhaps during lunch time or overnight, ments getting served up every available GPU and CPU resource can to the GPU as and when be thrown at a problem to speed things up. applicable.

The WS1850 does not In the WS1850, there is quite a bit of difference between the Quadro 4000 and hesitate when getting Tesla C2075, so do not expect too big a data to and from the speed up when using both GPUs. To CPU. The 120GB Intel express this in numbers: the Quadro 4000 520 Series Solid State boasts 243 Gigaflops double precision per- Drive (SSD) boasts the formance while the Tesla C2075 delivers excellent read and write rates of 550MB/s more than twice that with 515 Gigaflops.

The WS1850 is not all about GPUs. It also and 500MB/s respecfeatures a powerful Intel Xeon E5 2670 CPU tively. A high perforwhose eight CPU cores also happen to be mance 7,200RPM 2TB pretty good at number crunching. Between SATA 3 hard drive is the simulation / rendering software, the provided for longer Windows operating system and the Nvidia term storage.

34

Product spec

September / October 2012

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As mentioned at the outset, the WS1850 Maximus workstation needs to be matched to applications. There has to be a simulation / rendering element to your workflow, and while this is limited to certain software, the list of compatible Nvidia Maximus applications is growing.

For simulation, the main ones include Ansys Mechanical, MSC Nastran, MSC Marc, and DS Simulia Abaqus. For design visualisation, there is Bunkspeed Shot, 3ds Max Design, DS Catia Live rendering and RTT DeltaGen. GPU compute can be quite a hard technology to get your head round and buying into the technology is a serious investment.

A good way of thinking about it is to compare the WS1850 Maximus to a more traditional dual processor workstation.

All design and engineering workflows need a single CPU. The second CPU is really used to better support multi tasking or accelerating multi-threaded processes like rendering or simulation. With Maximus that second processor just happens to be a GPU. In certain applications, particularly in simulation, it has been demonstrated to get the job done much quicker.

As a closing comment, we feel it is important to mention that the Quadro 4000 and Tesla C2075 are first generation Maximus products, based on Nvidia’s ‘Fermi’ architecture. Nvidia has just announced ‘second generation’ Maximus, based on its new ‘Kepler’ architecture, and machines with the new Quadro K5000 and Tesla K20 should appear in early 2013.

We would expect there to be quite a leap in performance, if you can wait that long.

Greg Corke www.AECmag.com

17/9/12 15:18:40

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9/5/12 10:14 AM