10. Good to Great – “First Who… Then What”

Do you have the "right" people to fuel your implementation and innovation?  If you have not asked this question then your efforts, desires and passions may not be able to be fulfilled.  The "right" people are your most important assets, not just people.

9. Architects We are the 99%

This post was one of my fastest idea to generation topics of all time.  It all came together between the train station and my office at the time.  I would have to walk past the Occupy Boston protesters and a whole bunch of ideas flooded my mind.

8. BIM Is So Last Year

This post outlined how just about everyone is doing the "BIM" thing.  How does one measure one firm against another?  How many answers would you get if you were surveying what the definition of BIM is?  What will be after BIM, will it be more defined or will it be as general as CAD is?  It is not that you own the tool, it is how you use it.  Are you a rough framer or a master carpenter?

7. "Super Revit Families" - Are They Good?

Is it best to use a lot of static or slightly parametric families or a couple "Super" families that can adapt to numerous needs.

6. Revit Copy From Project to Family #Fail

Always a point of contention, you want to layout something in a project and use that within a family but that is not the intended workflow.

5. Faster Revit Render

Basic premise is why render something one does not see.

4. Stair Planning Family

Stairs are always difficult within Revit but this family which was adapted from my Autodesk University 2010 fun during the Fuzzy Math session helps schematically layout your stair needs. 

3. Revit For Presentations - Graphics That "POP"

This year's Autodesk University 2011 has alrady made the top of the charts for hits.  Graphics are an important part to relaying information.

2. Autodesk Showcase or Galileo, For Architects?

A continuing struggle for many is how to present the model to a client and unfortunately there is not one solution that matches the needs, in my opinion.

1. Sheet Creator App for Revit

I am surprised that this little app that I created for Autodesk University 2009 still gets so much interest.  You may have noticed that I had the 2012 version in the download area but never really announced it. http://jasongrant.squarespace.com/document-download-area/ If you have issues with the app not running it is a security issue and it can be resolved by following the instructions here: http://revitoped.blogspot.com/2011/07/unblock-your-app.html

So what does 2012 hold?  Not much Revit but a lot of interesting technologies, trends and business thinking.  Are you happy with your current processes, workflow and abilities within the available software?  If you are or are not but want to help provide feedback on the next generation of software.  Sign up to be part of our feedback community at:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LiveBuildingsAEC-FeedbackCommunity

Thanks to everyone who filled out the surveys.  David and I beat the average rating for every category and we enjoyed hearing what you thought in the comments.  Also, thanks to the bloggers spreading the word and showing an interest in what we presented. Revitdialog, What Revit Wants, Shades of Grey, Revit Sticky Notes and probably others I am missing.

There have been a few questions since the session and I thought others might benefit from the responses:

QUESTION: Why did you use BASIC ROOF to model the parcels and roads?  Can an In-Place Mass be used instead?

ANSWER: There are a couple reasons to use basic roofs after one has modeled the site using a conceptual mass.  The first reason for me is that one can model the sloped site and then the roof elements applied to the mass can be raised or lowered a specific elevation.  This helps show curbs and road depressions better.  The second reason is that less information needs to be entered in the roof compared to a conceptual or in-place mass to control through material assignments and filters.  Usually, in-place masses are mostly instance driven and the larger the project the more one would have wished they could have used type parameters.  The final reason is that I found it easier to schedule roof elements for things like green space, impervious surface and other site requirements.

QUESTION: I have been reviewing the content for use in some Urban Planning work by our planners and I have a question about the below graphic which is not part of any of the datasets.  Were these all in Revit?  The bottom one looks like a rendering while the left one looks like Revit with some transparency added.  The left one is very pleasing with a kind of sketchy feeling. Is it two view composited, one with linework only and another with shading or real colors?

ANSWER: You are correct that the bottom image is the only one in the entire presentation that was rendered.  The left image that you are refering to is just one image with the obstructing buildings being ghosted.  I appologize for the file not being in the dataset but here is a link to it: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6543805/Revit%20Graphics%20Popular%20Colors.zip

OTHER QUESTIONS: If I missed an email or comment please let me know and I will get back to you.

Other materials can be found here:

Handout - http://www.box.com/s/ai4gm0bhzxc7ify5yax0

Powerpoint - http://www.box.com/s/uhpcami65z24kjcpxpe0

Dataset -  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6543805/AB4564-Dataset.zip

Handout (Mirror Site) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6543805/AB4564-Handout.zip
Powerpoint (Mirror Site) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6543805/AB4564-Presentation.zip 

If you want to help provide feedback on the next generation of software.  Sign up to be part of our feedback community at:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LiveBuildingsAEC-FeedbackCommunity

I want to offer a unique opportunity to everyone in the industry.  This opportunity is to help shape software through your feedback.  Typically, software is developed, sold and then you may be asked for feedback on how to alter what has already been created to better align with your process.  Those who developed the software are invested in what they spent time creating and many times the tools are difficult to change.  I would rather help provide the industry with actual solutions based on your needs before it is difficult to change.

That is where your feedback is important.  Without it, we would create solutions for a few rather than the masses.  When you sign-up for our Feedback Community you will be able to help influence decisions on development through your responses.  I look forward to collaborating with you.

You can sign-up here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LiveBuildingsAEC-FeedbackCommunity

Also follow us on Twitter @LiveBuildings and Linkedin

With that as a base, the second part was on my research over the last year on presentation graphics that can be seen on the daily postings on the Archdaily website.  I kept a feed and would grab each image that I deemed as an intriguing graphic.

From that research, I determined that the current graphics used in presentations included life/feeling while at the same time having simplicity/focus.  From this research, I explored ways of adding life and feeling through new custom built content within Revit.  At the same time, I struggled with how to add the simplicity and focus within the limitations of the visibility graphics controls and that led me to filters which have an immense amount of control ability.  My hope was that this research and testing would reduce the need to go to multiple other software packages to get a graphical “feel” because it was believed that it could not be done within Revit.  The more software packages used for one portion of the process greatly increases the disconnect and rework in each package while reducing the time you can spend designing since all the time is spent coordinating software. 

While you wait for the recording to be published by Autodesk University, grab our presentation, handout and the dataset which includes numerous examples of entourage, analysis, annotation, site and other content as well as hours of fun deconstructing the settings to work them into your office’s best practices.  Enjoy and let me know what you think…

Handout - http://www.box.com/s/ai4gm0bhzxc7ify5yax0

Powerpoint - http://www.box.com/s/uhpcami65z24kjcpxpe0

Dataset -  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6543805/AB4564-Dataset.zip

What does this announcement have to do with this building?  It does not have anything to do with one of my previous firms Margulies Perruzzi Architects having designed the LEED Gold Base Building.  If you look in the top right corner of the metal panel façade you will see the name Dassault Systemes who are the makers of Catia and other products as well as the parent company to Solidworks.  This is the new building complex they moved into during the last month in Waltham, MA.  Have you guessed the news yet?

After having worked for Architecture firms since 1997, today will be my last day working directly for an architecture firm.  I have decided to pursue a different career path to better utilize my skills and passions.  I have joined DS Solidworks as a Product Manager for their AEC software.  Yes, I did say Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) software.  As hinted in my post on Sunday, this blog will take a slightly different direction based on this change.  The specifics of what that is be will be shown in time but it will definitely be new and exciting.  I have enjoyed getting to know the top experts in large firm BIM as well as those in small firms being innovative at a different scale and everyone in between.  With your help we can create something great.  I look forward to working with all of you further in the future!

It was a really interesting post and I thought it could be applicable to AEC software with some rewrites.

1. Lots of competition means there’s lots to write about

With competition, there is more to write about for all of the bloggers out there.  Sure, there is never an end to the how-to posts but the real excitement comes when you can compare products, get the scoop on something new or theorize what the future may be.

2. More competition means more idea sources

The more I get into software, the more I see how so many tools and logic have been merged from other sources.  With competition there is a greater ability to increase the idea sources for further development and new ideas.

The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.

Daniel H Pink - A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

3. More competition means more channels for your content

With more people passionate about different software there are more possibilities for your blog, twitter, facebook, linkedin being shared with a greater audience.

4. More business models to follow

Each company is different with their business models.  Where one may be innovative through acquisition another may be through internal development.  Where one is guarding it’s development another may be more open to their customer requests and needs.  Each business model will change the process of development of new tools and processes.

Plans let the past drive the future. They put blinders on you. “This is where we’re going because, well, that’s where we said we were going.” And that’s the problem: Plans are inconsistent with improvisation.

Jason Fried - Rework

5. More opportunities to partner and mastermind with top players

If one is open to discussing the pros and cons of a software with someone who uses another software, that would allow them to learn from each other.  If the top players (masterminds) of different software packages compared notes could their combined efforts help create a super product?

“Good to Great companies think differently about the role of technology.  They never use technology as a primary means of igniting a transformation.  Yet, paradoxically, they are pioneers in the application of selected technologies."

Good to Great by Jim Collins

6. More competition means more opinions and points of view

How many times have you thought that this tool or process cannot be the only or best way to accomplish the task at hand?  Common knowledge is not an excuse for accepting that your current practice is the best way to work.  Challenging what works and what does not is the only way that one can force innovation if adequate changes are not being made in the industry.  Do you want to be heard more? Do you want to see changes instead of talk?

The more expensive it is to make a change, the less likely you are to make it. Huge organizations can take years to pivot. They talk instead of act. They meet instead of do. But if you keep your mass low, you can quickly change anything: your entire business model, product, feature set, and/or marketing message.

Jason Fried - Rework

7. Competition forces you to be the best you can be

Without competition, how would there be innovation to challenge the status quo?  What would be the reason to take a chance without competition?  If you are the only one who does this particular thing, where is the challenge to be the best you can be?

99% of the time, in my experience, the hard part about creativity isn't coming up with something no one has ever thought of before. The hard part is actually executing the thing you've thought of.

Seth Godin

A few great ones listed on their blog are:

• Most Spirited: “I dance even if everyone’s watching.” -mlmpoto 
• Toughest Narrative Arc: “Twins enter life together. Die seperately.” -lilikoi92
• Most Meta: “Six Words. My kind of commitment.” -MachV
• Most Earthly: “My heroes all have stretch marks.” -Huck
• Most Insightful: “I’m not walking away, just forward.” -lovethelittlies from SMITHTeens
• Even Better Wordplay: “Older. Wiser. Patience improving. Gaining wait.” -Loon
• Best Metaphor: “License revoked, words were driven home.” -endlessness

It is intriguing to step back and think about how to define your life in six words.  Some people have fun and some are deep.  Off the cuff here are a few that I came up with... The challenge is choosing what defines you the most.

Family, Friends and Technology equals fun

Life Best When Challenging Status Quo

Would Not Think Of Changing Anything

Make Next Thing Better Than Last

Six Word Memoirs: The Video Story

BIM even has Wikipedia wondering what is going on stating that the article might be confusing.

 The problem is that I think there are currently 4 distinct types of BIM and each one means different goals and work plans but owners have been marketed that BIM is all of them.  These are:

• Design Intent BIM
• IPD BIM
• Fabrication BIM
• Owner/Facilities BIM

Basically, one BIM cannot easily be another and that is a huge misconception that many do not understand.  The issue with this is that while one would think the data and model can be used throughout the life cycle of the project, the reality is that a lot of time is lost between project phases.  In the graph below is what I think happens throughout the life cycle of a project.  With each phase, one builds up the data and model only to have a lot of the effort lost as the project goes to the next phase.  Modeling needs to be recreated and data entered again.

What does Wikipedia say about Building Information Modeling?

Building information modeling (BIM) is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle.

Wikipedia

What it says is that you are managing data throughout the life cycle but I don't think that has been realized and if you read further down it starts to explain what I think is after BIM or the goal of what BIM should have been.  That is Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Under the guidance of a virtual design and construction project manager (VDC) BIM can be seen as a companion to Product Lifecycle Management(PLM), since it goes beyond geometry and addresses issues such as cost management, Project Management and provides a way to work concurrently on most aspects of building life cycle processes.

Wikipedia

BIM has never been the whole story but a companion to what I always thought BIM was suppose to be.  If you are anything like me, the description of PLM from Wikipedia is exactly what the industry needs.  Just think of the building and your deliverables as the Product.

In industry, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal.  PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.

Wikipedia

If the data and modeling can be more easily reused from phase to phase then PLM could be the game changer that we all thought BIM should be.  So, you think we could drop the whole BIM concept since it is too undefined and confusing?  Below is the type of graph that PLM could provide which constantly builds upon the data and modeling so that the end is more beneficial.

Almost nothing worthwhile is easy, and it’s hard to just jump in and be good at something difficult right off the bat…

The only reliable way to succeed at anything is to actually do it, repeatedly, with concentrated effort. True for individuals, and true for organizations. Athletes, artists, businesses.

—John Gruber in Cutting That Cord

As of today, I have been blogging on BIM and technologies for 5 years which began at Archin3D.blogspot.com and now this squarespace site.  It is definitely not easy keeping up with writing between family and work but it is worthwhile for all the relationships I developed over these years.  I started blogging after having utilized Steve Stafford's blog to help get through the struggles I faced learning Revit through self teaching and trial + error.  This was at Revit release 7 when there were not as many web resources as there are today so I started blogging because I wanted to help those like me.