In an interview with AECCafe Voice, John Bacus, director of SketchUp product management at Trimble, discussed the new features of Trimble Connect, that offers a new way for designers, builders, owners and operators to collaborate, share and view project information. It is based on GTeam, the collaboration platform developed by Gehry Technologies.
AECCafe Voice
Archive for the ‘mobile’ Category
Announcing Trimble Connect for collaboration across multiple markets
Wednesday, November 19th, 2014
TurboSite version 4 automates field reporting
Friday, November 14th, 2014Royal Farros, CEO IMSI/Design, talked with AECCafe Voice about the new version of TurboSite, version 4.
Bentley’s CONNECT Edition explained
Thursday, November 13th, 2014Bentley’s newly announced CONNECT Edition provides a very complex and deep common environment to extend across work groups and enterprises, without changing the basic file format of the products that users have an investment in already.
Bhupinder Singh, senior vice president at Bentley Systems, gave a keynote Thursday, November 7th at the Bentley Year in Infrastructure 2014 event in which CONNECT Edition was explained to the audience.
Singh began by saying that Bentley’s platform approach is to extend it to include your desktops, servers and handheld devices.
“When you have suites, there is still a disconnect,” said Singh. “A goal was to improve information mobility with CONNECT Edition. When you begin you connect to a project, everyone connects to a project profile, then there is a project playbook, and personal playlist – an individual set of apps for the user.” This is similar to the playlist you get with your Apple iTunes music list.
The benefits are: reducing time it takes to get project started, to get supply chains on board, and the data you have becomes increasingly more valuable.
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Hikvision integrates with BIM
Monday, October 20th, 2014The ability to integrate video surveillance into building information modeling adds a new very important dimension to the design of buildings.Vince Lupe, director of Business Development, Hikvision USA (pronounced “HikeVision”), discussed the way Hikvision’s cameras and video surveillance systems are made an integral part of all architectural design, by being considered in the Building Information Model from the early design phase.
AECCafe Voice: How are Hikvision’s cameras considered CAD elements?
Vince Lupe: System layout and camera field of view are accurately viewed at the earliest stages of the design process, improving device placement, decreasing incompatibility issues, and boosting efficiency overall. In this way, video surveillance is transformed from an afterthought to an architectural cornerstone – a trend that is especially suited for Hikvision’s user-friendly and highly scalable products.
Hikvision’s award-winning array of video surveillance solutions, including bullet, dome, box, turret, PTZ, and fisheye cameras, as well as rackmount and standalone DVRs and NVRs, are all available options. With functionality and usability as Hikvision trademarks, the BIM counterparts to the real-life technology follow suit.
AECCafe Voice: Who are your customers?
Vince Lupe:
- Security consultants, architects and engineering firms, security specifiers
- End-user customers, building owners, property managers
- Security dealer/integrators/installers
- Security distribution channels
AECCafe Voice: Do users utilize Hikvision content in Autodesk Seek or can it go directly into Autodesk Revit?
Vince Lupe: They can access the content in Seek for use in Revit.
AECCafe Voice: Is the content in the cloud?
Vince Lupe: Not yet. It will be part of our AE portal for easy download and accessibility for our customers.
AECCafe Voice:Can you suggest a sample workflow including Hikvision?
Vince Lupe: An architect, engineer, or security system designer can download Hikvision camera models directly into their BIM model to see exactly where a camera will be placed, what the scene will look like through the camera lens, and what its blind spots might be, allowing for adjustments to be made in terms of the physical construction of the structure, or in terms of the types of cameras and where they will be placed. The BIM model can even be dropped into a three dimensional area of the neighborhood where the building will be located, in order to get a glimpse of what the fields of view of any exterior cameras would be. Important details such as product features, model numbers, and physical characteristics are included in the models for a quick reference to designers and can be changed with a click of the mouse. One of the most important elements of such a streamlined workflow is that it allows for a true collaborative process from the very earliest stages. Electrical wiring, lighting, location of building entrances, and other design elements can be taken into consideration to create the most efficient and effective video surveillance system.
AECCafe Voice:Is the federal government interested in this product or using it currently?
Vince Lupe: We’re thrilled at the prospect that the federal government will be able to incorporate Hikvision into their BIM models, and we’re eager to hear of the success stories from that market.
Nemetschek AG will acquire Bluebeam Software, Inc.
Thursday, October 16th, 2014Nemetschek AG Vectorworks CEO Sean Flaherty spoke with AECCafe Voice about the recent acquisition by Nemetschek of the PDF workflow solution company Bluebeam Software, Inc. Nemetschek will acquire 100% of Bluebeam Software. Headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. Bluebeam is a provider of PDF-based workflow solutions for digital processes and collaboration in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) industry with more than 650,000 users worldwide. Over 74% of the top U.S. companies in the construction industry are Bluebeam customers. According to the company’s own calculations, the use of Bluebeam solutions increases productivity by 60%, reduces the costs of paper and distribution by up to 85%, and leads to a reduction of schedules of 40%. Bluebeam Software offers Bluebeam Revu, which provides PDF creation, markup, editing and collaboration, Bluebeam Vu, a free PDF viewer and Bluebeam for iPad, providing the functionality of Revu especially for mobile users, Bluebeam Q, automating the production of PDFs from original source files, and Bluebeam Studio Enterprise, a server-based solution for collaboration in a locally hosted environment.
Bluebeam Vu
AECCafe Voice: What PDF solution for collaboration was Nemetschek using previously?
Sean Flaherty: For years, Nemetschek Group products have produced high-quality PDF files so we have many customers already using PDF in their standard processes. Until the Bluebeam acquisition, we didn’t have a PDF-centric workflow solution.
HP announces split into two different companies
Thursday, October 9th, 2014Hewlett-Packard Co said it would split into two listed companies, separating its computer and printer businesses from its corporate hardware and services operations, thereby eliminating another 5,000 jobs that would be part of its “turnaround plan.” The company currently has over 300,000 employees.
The 75-year-old company has been trying to keep pace with the new era of mobile and online computing. HP has no plans to try to go into the consumer mobile devices market. Shares were up 4.4 percent at $36.78 in Monday’s late morning trading.
Chief Executive Meg Whitman told Reuters the newly created HP Inc would mostly stick to its mainstay products– PCs and printers, while exploring related markets such as 3D printing.
Shareholders will own a stake in both businesses through a tax-free transaction next year, said HP. The two businesses each contributes about half of HP’s revenue and profit.
HP’s revenues have increased over the past few years so that they are splitting the company at a time when they have a position of strength. The idea behind the sale is that HP will be able to focus on the more profitable side of its business.
“Shareholders will now be able to invest in the respective asset groups without the fear of cross-subsidies and inefficiencies that invariably plague large business conglomerates,” Ralph Whitworth, former HP chairman and founder of Relational Investors LLC, said in a statement.
Autodesk Excellence in Infrastructure 2014 Awards Showcase Winning Civil Infrastructure Projects
Wednesday, October 8th, 2014Autodesk Excellence in Infrastructure 2014 Awards take into consideration those project that offer some concrete solutions to infrastructure challenges, rather than just citing problems. This approach is inspired by the recent USA-focused Making the Grade report.
Large scale “One Digital Factory” hybrid infrastructure and architecture 3D model. Image courtesy of HKM.
Trimble acquires Gehry Technologies
Friday, September 12th, 2014
Earlier this week, Trimble and Frank Gehry announced that they have entered into a strategic alliance to collaborate by further connecting the office to on-site construction technologies. The terms of the strategic alliance are that Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies, the software and consulting services arm of the company that has powered Frank Gehry’s visionary designs while tracking client’s cost and schedule requirements. To make things clear for this audience, Gehry Partners is the architectural firm of Frank Gehry. Gehry Technologies, is the international leader in technology-driven project delivery founded in 2002 by Frank Gehry, that provides BIM, 3D project collaboration and project delivery around the world.
The IAC Building by Gehry Partners. Image © flickr user swisscan
Autodesk launches A360 to North American market
Thursday, September 4th, 2014Around 2011, we began to hear about cloud project-based collaboration tool, Autodesk A360, and since that time around 1.5 million accounts have been created to use the tool. In January of this year, the tool evolved into a A360 Tech Preview beta, that attracted over 10,000 users.
Autodesk A360 addresses findings of two recent studies on collaboration, outlined in a recent press release from the company:
The A360 dashboard gives you a view of recent activity streams for all active projects.
Trimble acquires Manhattan Software
Thursday, August 21st, 2014Trimble announced this week at a media briefing that it has acquired privately-held Manhattan Software, a real estate and facility management software leader, headquartered in London. The acquisition is not replacing any technology but it does extends Trimble Buildings’ portfolio of design-build-operate (DBO) solutions by providing building owners, facilities and real estate managers with integrated, end-to-end property, asset and facilities management systems.
Manhattan Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) provides an enterprise solution for planning and managing any organization’s real estate portfolio of buildings and assets. The deep functionality of the Manhattan IWMS is designed for the entire facility lifecycle to maximize resource utilization while reducing the total cost of occupancy (TCO).
