AU bound

I'll be off to AU soon with 3 others from Neenan. If I make it in time I will be at the bloggers social tonight/AEC mixer/the lounge if you want to get together.

I just downloaded mastering REVIT arch to my iPad/kindle, maybe I will actually read it now that I don't have to carry around that Cinderblock of a book


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2011…move along folks, nothing to see here

I’ve been patiently waiting for a new release of QTO, which finally came out yesterday; a mere 7 months off of Autodesk’s release cycle for the rest of their software. I figured they must be doing great things with all the time they’ve had to work on the product right?

Well, not so much. The only notable new feature is takeoff coloring of the model. The rest doesn’t get me excited, which you can see here http://doddsandends.typepad.com/blog/2010/11/autodesk-quantity-takeoff-2011-released.html (sorry Jason)

3D is still unusable for the most part, none of the navigation tools have been brought over from design review. No sectioning, walking, hiding, etc. No split screen, can’t have multiple documents open. Still can’t total your quantities inside qto.

All that said, it is still a good program and we will continue to utilize it, I just needed to express my disappointment in the development of the product.

Scan to BIM

I haven’t seen this posted anywhere else besides a tweet that Beau sent out the other day. This is too exciting to not be talked about.

This should help reduce the cost of laser scanning since previously you generally had to rely on the scanning company to convert the point cloud to a model in AutoCAD. I have not tried it yet so I can’t speak to it’s usability but I am excited to find a project to use it on.

http://www.avatech.com/solutions/building-design/product-details.aspx?product=90

The Scan to BIM software add-in takes the ordeal out of the process of getting 3D laser scanning data into Revit. It enables you to import point clouds directly into Revit, visualize them directly in Revit, and interact directly in Revit with automated recognition and placement of walls and openings, as well as pipes and ducts.

Back in action

I just signed up for the blogger social event at AU and realized I haven’t posted since March (my jaw dropped a little when I saw that) I must admit I had lost my motivation towards BIM and it was a rough year while I tried to find my path in life. Some of you know that I found a deep passion for photography and this overtook my life; it was all I could think about and nothing else mattered. I couldn’t see balancing work life with my newly found purpose.

Recently I went through Dale Carnegie Training, which Darren Lewis explains nicely in his blog post How to be human.  This really awakened me and revitalized my passions for life in general. I have re-dedicated myself to BIM and am very excited for the coming year.

My focus will be helping implement Lean construction methodologies with BIM and really changing our entire process rather than simply inserting BIM into the same old processes. We continue to bring in lots of work at Neenan despite the economy, which speaks volumes of how great this company already is; I’m excited about the potential this company has.

Soon I’ll be posting about what we’re doing with Vela in the field using iPads on the jobsite amongst other things. No real content in this post, just a reintroduction to get myself motivated to post again. For those of you going, I look forward to seeing you at AU!

p.s. for those of you interested I am still fully immersed in photography as well and am selling my work for install in commercial/residential buildings. If you have any connections with interior designers I would appreciate you forwarding my contact info on! We just finished an install in one of our medical buildings which you can  see on my other blog www.kinghamphotographyblog.com and you can see my work at www.kinghamphotography.com