Archive for December, 2009
Point Cloud and Photosynth
Dec 31st
Photosynth creates an amazing new experience with nothing more than a bunch of photos. Creating a synth allows you to share the places and things you love using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the mind-blowing detail of the real world.
Point Cloud and Photosynth
How Does it Work?
In simple terms, Photosynth allows you to take a bunch of photos of the same scene or object and automagically stitch them all together into one big interactive 3D viewing experience that you can share with anyone on the web.
Photosynth is a potent mixture of two independent breakthroughs: the ability to reconstruct the scene or object from a bunch of flat photographs, and the technology to bring that experience to virtually anyone over the Internet.
Using techniques from the field of computer vision, Photosynth examines images for similarities to each other and uses that information to estimate the shape of the subject and the vantage point each photo was taken from. With this information, we recreate the space and use it as a canvas to display and navigate through the photos.
Providing that experience requires viewing a LOT of data though—much more than you generally get at any one time by surfing someone’s photo album on the web. That’s where our Seadragon™ technology comes in: delivering just the pixels you need, exactly when you need them. It allows you to browse through dozens of 5, 10, or 100(!) megapixel photos effortlessly, without fiddling with a bunch of thumbnails and waiting around for everything to load.
We deliver this immersive viewing experience to users on multiple operating systems by tapping into the power of Silverlight, Microsoft’s rich web application technology.
Rafter+ FF for Revit Architecture 2010
Dec 30th
New Rafter+ FF v.2010.2 is released!
New features:
- improved existing functions;
- added specific functions for new market regions;
- extended functions for opening’s framing;
- introduced functions for dormer’s framing …
Touch screen monitors to be obsolete soonish
Dec 28th
MIT is showing its advances in 3D gestural computing with a bi-directional monitor: it senses your hand movements, and then directs the computer to move the 3D model. (Optical sensors are embedded behind the LCD screen.)
…gestural interfaces, which would, for example, allow computer users to drag windows around a screen simply by pointing at them and moving their fingers, or to rotate a virtual object through three dimensions with a flick of the wrist.
Gestures would certainly solve one problems created by touch screens (greasy glass) but not the other one, tired arms.
TOKMO
Dec 27th
TOKMO stands for Total Operations and Knowledge Management Optimization: we help owners and contractors optimize operations through better use of digital project information (BIM), better process planning (Lean Construction), and BIM data delivery for facility management (COBIE).
Tokmo Production System, the leading production management solution for construction firms, is a collaborative online Software-as-a-Service and an integrated 3D-based desktop software.
Revit + DWF + Design Review a Total Win.
Dec 23rd
Revit + DWF + Design Review a Total Win.
With many firms successfully navigating the waters of migrating to a BIM solution for design work, a new issue has developed. Senior designers, project managers and or management people have been left behind on the technical front. It is too costly, hazardous or sometime downright unfeasible to install a full seat of Revit on their computers so they can view or print sheets out of Revit. The solution is to either install Revit on their computer (If the hardware can run it) and wait for it to time bomb or to have your users remember to print updated DWF files for design staff to use with Design Review. The issues with that are numerous and can add to frustration and confusion as to the process involved.
The solution is a small application that installs into Revit and automates the process of generating the DWF file. The products name is AutoDWiF Generator (ADG) and costs only $65 an install. Every time a designer works in the Revit project and saves and closes the project file ADG prompts if the user would like to create updated milestone DWF files. It also always updates a master DWF file that resides in the root directory of the project so that DWF is always guaranteed to be up to date.
Color fields in Revit Schedules
Dec 22nd
Revit Architecture – Conditional Formatting
Ever wonder how to color fields in Revit Schedules?
In the Element Properties of the Schedule, click on Formatting.
In the Formatting Tab, ALT + N… “The super sneaky shortcut”
You will get a dialog like this:
The first row gets the color code, but you can always rearrange the row location after you applied the conditional statement.
Stereoscopic
Dec 22nd
Always trying to push the envelope… here is a 3D stereoscopic image (3d glasses) of a project I am working on. I am not sure if this technique will make it into the clients hand, but with a little refining it could make for a great presentation; a presentation they will not forget.
stereoscopic
Performance Driver: 3ds Max Performance Driver 2010 D3D
Dec 21st
Now supporting 3dsMax 2010, the 3ds Max Performance Driver gives optimal Direct3D performance for Autodesk 3ds Max when using NVIDIA Quadro® FX professional graphics solutions. Developed in close collaboration with Autodesk, the 3ds Max Performance Driver is a free, downloadable performance driver capable of delivering dramatic performance improvements across a wide range of uses (up to 100% over native D3D support in some situations).
Fix Highlights for Standalone Installer:
-Crash when a mesh contained a zero-sized index buffer has been resolved
-There is no longer corruption where instantiated geometry was not displaye
3DS Max Sketch
Dec 15th
The below image is a technique I am trying to master. Using a series of textures and shaders inside 3DS MAX Design 2010, using V-Ray as the engine, I am able to render out my scenes to look as if it were sketched.
3DS MAX Design 2010 Sketch
Winter Scene
Dec 15th
I can find at least one good thing about winter…. being able to do a winter scene. Below is a quick scene I converted into a winter scene for a client.
Roy Lake Lodge
QTO 3D Model Display Error – Solved!!!
Dec 13th
I figured out what is causing the 3D graphics issue with QTO 2010. As previously known, some graphics cards do not work in 3D mode in QTO with hardware acceleration turned on.
It seems that QTO and Design Review share the same registry switch for the model driver selection. So when you select “Direct3D” as your model driver for Design Review it turns it on for QTO which causes the problem. If “Direct3D” is selected as the View Settings for the model driver in Design Review, Deselecting “Enable Hardware Acceleration” in QTO does not turn hardware acceleration off.
To fix this, open the options dialog for Design Review, in the Model tab, in the View Settings section set the Driver to “OpenGL” or “Software (OpenGL)”.
The next time you open a 3D Dwf in Design review and “Direct3D” is not being used a message appears:
“Direct X Driver Found, Autodesk Design Review has detected the presence of the DirectX graphic drivers on this system. Would you like to switch to DirectX to take advantage of better 3D model performance?”
Select “Do not show this message again” and select the cancel button.
I have tested this both in Vista 64bit as well as XP 32bit and it appears to work in both.
Make Way for Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010
Dec 9th
Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff cost estimating software helps cost estimators collect and synchronize multiformat design data and high-quality images, providing comprehensive support and enabling a smoother design-to-cost workflow. Use Autodesk Quantity Takeoff to leverage property data to automatically or manually measure, count, and price various building objects.
See this great little video, which introduces QTO 2010 and a number of new features.
Jason Pratt, a subject matter expert here at Autodesk, recorded this video and made it available to all of us.
Thank you, Jason.
Please let us know of any comments or suggestions you may have. Thank you.
Enjoy!
Sage Advances BIM Capabilities
Dec 9th
With advancements in Building Information Modeling (BIM) creating new opportunities for architects, engineers, contractors and owners (A/E/C/O) to significantly improve efficiency, integration with related systems is vital to realizing the potential gains. Sage today announced the market’s first integration with Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010, providing a critical link with Sage Timberline Office Estimating. The new integration will enable users to automatically export quantity information from Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010 to Sage Timberline Office Estimating and generate a cost estimate with one click, resulting in faster and more accurate cost estimating for BIM users.
“The beauty of BIM is that it gives designers and contractors the ability to quickly identify and resolve issues in the model, helping them avoid issues in the field where they’re more expensive and time consuming to resolve. We’re adding another layer of efficiency by automating cost estimating from the BIM model with absolute precision using the Sage Timberline Office Estimating plug-in to Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010. This will save real dollars on every job,” said John Geffel, Senior Vice President and General Manager Sage Construction and Real Estate Solutions.
Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010 is the highly anticipated design-to-cost tool that enables cost estimators to collect and quantify multi-format design data and high-quality images seamlessly with the Autodesk Revit platform for BIM. The new link to Sage Timberline Office Estimating is already in use at selected customer sites and is the first plug-in with Autodesk Quantity Takeoff on the market. It will be made broadly available in Summer 2009.
“Since the BIM process is built on the use of coordinated, reliable design information, Autodesk feels that providing an accurate link from design to cost estimation is a critical step in the process,” said Timothy Douglas, Industry Segment Manager, Autodesk Construction. “Our customers can now pull data from the model directly into Sage Timberline Office Estimating and use that quantity and cost information throughout the design and construction process.”
John Tocci, chairman of the Associated General Contractors BIM Forum and an ENR Top 25 industry newsmaker in 2008, sees this type of innovation as vital to progressing BIM.
“We were pleased to play a role in bringing together two of the construction industry’s most important software firms,” said Tocci. “The smooth exchange of vital cost and quantity information between the industry’s leading BIM application and estimating software is a major advancement toward our goal of a fully integrated virtual construction tool. This collaboration will measurably advance the promise of BIM and Integrated Project Delivery to eradicate waste, propel productivity and restore relationships.”
The plug-in is the latest in a series of new developments from Sage over the past six months designed to deliver improved customer experience through usability and performance enhancements in Sage Timberline Office, including 64-Bit compatibility, estimating with multicurrency functionality, and an innovative integration between Estimating and Project Management.
Sage has a growing portfolio of business management solutions specifically tailored for the construction and real estate industries. The portfolio is designed to provide support through the growth cycle of a business and includes Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting for Construction and Sage Master Builder. For medium to large companies, Sage Timberline Office offers integrated financial, operations and estimating software and provides the most sophisticated level of functionality in the Sage portfolio of construction solutions.
About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. At Sage, we live and breathe business every day. We are passionate about helping our customers achieve their ambitions. Our range of business software and services is continually evolving as we innovate to answer our customers’ needs. Our solutions support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage North America employs approximately 4,800 people and supports 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs more than 14,500 people and supports more than 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com or call 866-308-2378.
Antics Technologies – 3D animation software can interface with SketchUp
Dec 2nd
Alex brings Brad from Antics Technologies into the studio to discuss how Antics 3D animation software can interface with SketchUp to bring your models to life. If you know us, you know that we love case studies, and this episode is no different. Production Designer Dave Blass narrates how SketchUp and Antics have transformed his profession and, more specifically, how it saved his life while he was designing the set for Bravo s ‘Shear Genius’.
