Over the past few years reality capture has taken the AEC world by storm, with ever increasing attention to being able to collect, process and import data more efficiently and accurately. New technologies and the cloud have created the opportunity to use reality capture more affordably and efficiently, so that many more users can take advantage of the data collected. This technology is considered disruptive because in many cases it displaces previously used technologies and processes, that were more laborious, costly and less efficient.
The construction industry is driven by documentation in the form of submittals, contracts, record sets, and RFIs. While this is still a priority, the design teams are adopting BIM, and there needs to be a way to consolidate all the information coming from various stakeholders on the project.
View and navigate 3D models, access object properties, use sectioning tools and explore models with gravity-based walkthroughs.
Autodesk’s BIM 360 Docs web service was just made available as a commercial product. Designed for the entire construction project team, BIM 360 Docs ensures that the entire team works from the correct version of documents and plans. Addressing the entire AEC lifecycle, BIM 360 Docs includes tools for publishing, managing, reviewing, editing and approving all project plans, models and documents from the beginning stages of the project all the way through owner occupancy. The cloud-based service is available on all devices or desktop, so that it is a complete collaborative tool.
Quickly navigate between 2D plans and 3D models on any device, without having to close the viewer.
Unlike typical document management platforms available on the market, which are generally in the form of document management platforms, AEC drawing viewers or model viewers, and project management apps, BIM 360 Docs goes beyond the focus on specific people or goals to putting the project at the center of the technology instead. The single cloud-based repository holds all project documents, models and plans for the entire project team.
Recently Graphisoft hosted a webinar outlining an historical project where they used laser scanning point clouds and ARCHICAD 19 to produce as-built drawings of the Arizona State Fairgrounds Grandstand Building.
AECCafe Voice recently interviewed CEO of Newforma, Ian Howell on topics including the management of project information today and how to make information from disparate systems talk to other.
Given the huge rise in the amount of digital information generated today, what do you think is the most effective way to manage all that information?
Ian Howell, chief executive officer, Newforma: “Huge rise” is true: When Newforma began in 2004, a large project generated 100 gigabytes of data. Ten years later, the largest project being managed by our customers generated 6.5 terabytes of data – 65 times as much! This growth is a consequence of a few factors: building designs are more ambitious across the industry, as illustrated by such high-profile projects as the one-kilometer high Jeddah Tower and the Apple Campus 2 headquarters; and building requirements are more complex as a result of factors such as sustainable design, concern for carbon footprints, etc.
To manage this explosion of digital data, customers have had to scale their systems and implement a project information management strategy that dovetails with the applications and systems already in use.
A consequence of handling so much more information on every project is the burden of trying to keep it organized. However, our experience shows that busy project team members rarely have the time to comply with the filing rules and meta-data tagging required by structured document management systems like SharePoint.
Trends that are shaping the built world are powered by the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, institute BIM mandates across the globe, the need for convergence or collaboration of AEC teams, the need for the “smart city,” emergence of the owner/operator extending the lifecycle of a project into operations and maintenance, and provision of tools that are right for the job. These trends are linked, as one will benefit and nourish the other.
1 Merchant Square, London, Robin Partington & Partners Architects
The first week of January AECCafe Voice will publish a Trends/Predictions article, looking forward toward what might be the big trends for the new year, as well as the next five years.
This year software companies are talking a lot about convergence, and Autodesk is no different in that respect. What is different is that the software company is making a significant investment in the “make” side of things, which it has promised for the past few years. This focus is moving into the building side of things with many technologies that we have traditionally thought of as strictly manufacturing.
