The Way Things Were: Settling For Mediocrity

The biggest challenge we may be facing is the need to adapt to the technology around us.  I am sure that there were amazing wagons being designed and built when the automobile first hit streets.  Stories can be told over the radio, but it sure is nice seeing them in black and white or maybe even color.  As a child, I remember our first cordless home phone.  You could talk on the phone in your home and not be attached to the wall in the dining room.  My children will never know what a home phone looks like.  Stay mad at MTV for not showing music videos, while you search YouTube for the current hit song stuck in your head.

In every facet of our lives, things are constantly changing.  We can choose to live with existing technology and be happy.  How much extra work are we burdening ourselves though?  When I watch a video of a robotic arm cutting wood to length and then splitting it for firewood, I can’t help but think of the poor guy with an axe.  He works very hard to get the wood prepared, but takes ten times as long and lies down with a sore back when it’s all over.  I’m not just talking about wasted time in physical labor.

I remember getting my first TI-85 Graphing Calculator.  Our school teacher wasn't entirely sure what to make of them.  The problem was that the students quickly realized the power of the devices in saving time and double-checking math.  I began to write my own executable programs to perform problems that provided a result based upon variable inputs.  I would write out the math, step-by-step, to show that I knew the process.  However, using the calculator to rework the problem was cheating?  A short time later, teachers were telling us to format our calculators in hopes that we would not ‘cheat’ on exams.  Obviously, the calculator was a tool and I was still responsible for knowing the material.

Spreadsheets quickly became a great tool for developing ways to perform repetitive calculations.  Engineering can involve many varying possibilities.  Why spend many days hand calculating the information when it can be done in a spreadsheet or specific program in hours or less?  Now imagine that those calculations have a direct effect on the design documentation.  What does that mean?

Drafting is truly an art.  Taking an idea and developing it on paper with pencil is not easy.  Representing the idea in 2D based on three dimensions takes a trained eye.  Now we are modeling in 3D and trying to find ways to document the 3D into 2D to represent the 3D.  But are the 3D models, created manually, taking just as long as the man with the axe?  Wouldn't you want the robotic arm helping out?  

Some people have accepted BIM and 3D modeling because it was required in order to get the project.  The problem is there isn't any benefit to a 3D model that is manually developed just to produce documents.   Why limit yourself to a manual process when there is the potential to automate it? Why not use modeling content that is designed around the entire industry? Why do it the way it was done last year, only because that is the way it was done last year?  Isn't it beneficial to spend some time finding a quicker way that will save more time in the end?  Why accept mediocrity and not continuously push the capacity to perform work in a more accurately and timely manner?

-Craig

www.ModelingDynamics.net

Image Credits:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cordless-telephone-pictures.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-85

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO77ms-eeTY

Standards: Buying Into BIM Without Busting Open Your Wallet

Revit is a tool used to help the development of buildings from conception through construction.  There is no magic button or miracle macro that can take a design and make it happen while you sleep.  Not yet at least.

Revit is a great tool that is meant to help shave hours off project designs by standardizing some aspects and automating tasks.  If the user only uses Revit to draft the design in 3D and has nothing set up in templates or other preferences, then this tool will easily burn through the fee of a project and the team will wonder why they even bother.  It isn’t until the team builds the framework for their design that the time savings begins.  Develop Templates and Preferences that can be implemented into a project.  The Leap of Faith is to invest time into this process that will save more time in the end which then saves money.  

Beyond the Project Model Settings, the Model Elements used in a project will also determine how efficient the design progresses.  One idea is to have basic, generic 3D Families that represent selected equipment regardless of any specific manufacturer.  Simple cubes and cylinders that carry basic properties can be used initially.  In the Schematic Design, the basic families and drafted schedules based on note blocks can be developed to rapidly produce simple plans for discussion with the building owners.  As decisions are made, the families can be swapped out with more accurate Custom or Manufacturer content and Live Schedules.

How is this possible? Autodesk has published a Standard Library of Shared Parameters, yet barely anyone knows about it.  The other problem with this Library is that the Shared Parameters carry generic names that could already exist in a company’s own established library.  That led to the creation of the Master Labeling Convention and its use in the Master Library of Shared Parameters.  The best reason to adopt this standard is that many major manufacturers are already using this library in their product representation.  Having the Master Library preloaded into a Project Model helps identify which Parameters are included when Washing the Shared Parameters.

One issue that is preventing a building being developed within one model through the entire process is how the different users need to use that model as the building is developed and constructed.  The conceptual design is not as concerned about every hanger and bolt as it is with how the systems perform and connect.  Designers are more focused on the performance of the building systems and use developed content that focuses on that aspect.  The problem is in the real representation of that content, which is almost entirely useless for the team tasked with building the design.  Keep the design simple and let the contractor do what they do best.  As time passes, and content becomes even further developed, we may see a day when designers are using families and setups that provide design feedback as well as material accuracy.

There is a lot of available content developed for use in Revit.  Look outside your office before busting open your wallet and trying to do it all yourself.  Recognize which content is built around a purpose of community development rather than isolation.

-Craig

 www.ModelingDynamics.net

Simplistically Complex: A Modeling Leap of Faith

Solving problems in Revit tends to be a simple solution to a seemingly complex and confusing problem.  As technology gets more involved in our lives, we may think we have become more complex.  Jumping from pencil to CAD seems like an easier leap now than CAD into BIM is currently requiring.  For generations, we have been trained to visualize the 3D design and develop 2D drawings.  With BIM, we can truly model in 3D what we are visualizing in 3D.  The problem is that we are still holding on to the 2D representation, because that is how it’s been done traditionally.  Don’t look at the monitor and think in 2D.  Don't draft for the purpose of simply developing construction documentation.  The screen is a window out into a virtual world.  Visualize the design and create it in the model.  What you see is 3-dimensional and should be envisioned as such.  Allow the documentation to occur after the model has been developed.

Problems in life can seem too complicated to solve and overwhelming with no end in sight.  In reality, the issue can probably be searched deeper to a simple problem that has plagued all people for millennia.  At our core, we are dealing with psychological desires that will impact our decisions.  When looking at the problem, don’t necessarily think about how to prevent the symptoms, but look deeper to find the root cause and make the change there.

When it comes to troubleshooting 3D models that have developed some form of difficulty, most cases are solved by one or two options somewhere in the settings for the model environment or a model element.  Fixing the symptom is like manually hiding the problem element and hoping that it will stay away.  It is more important to find the root of the visibility problem and to deal with it there. 

There is a lot involved with modeling an entire building, yet be able to isolate certain levels or systems.  Add in the options to exclude or hide elements so that the views are automatically controlled without the need to develop each view independently.  It is a delicate balance between relying on the system settings and being able to negotiate those settings when problems develop.  The immediate decision is to manually draft content for the sake of saving time and working with the level of staff available, but the results will lead to longer production time and staff development stagnation. 

Growth in staff and capabilities rely on the BIM modelers making the commitment to learn the virtual environment and using it to their advantage.  The clues are there, but it takes a bit of courage to make that first step.  Indiana Jones was faced with many challenges in The Last Crusade[1].  One of the most simple and complex problems may have been the Leap of Faith.  Mr. Jones stood at the edge of one cliff with the need to get to the other side, across a deep gorge.  His clue, “Only a leap from the Lion’s head shall he prove his worth.” From the start, the task looks impossible with no way of ever getting across.  After the first step in faith, Indiana realizes that he just needs to walk the path that he didn’t initially see.  Once he is across, he looks back and sees how easy the path was to cross and continues his mission with a smirk on his face.  

So are you standing in front of the first step, not sure about where to start, or across the bridge looking back at how easy it is to know the steps?

-Craig
www.ModelingDynamics.net

[1] Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford