Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

Managing your discipline and coordination models with Autodesk Vault

Today I want to share with you a workflow for coordinating models that are stored inside Autodesk Vault. This allows everyone on the project team to have access to the most up to date models, and share the coordinated model easily within the team. And with a clever integration to Autodesk Buzzsaw you can easily receive individual discipline models and share aggregated results with external partners.

What exactly is Autodesk Vault?

At its core Vault is your central place to manage all documents, models, and other files for your projects. Everyone knows where to put information, and therefore where to find it. Some call it the single source of truth. So you might ask why one would use Vault, as a network share surely does the same thing? Yes it does, and Vault does a whole lot more that you probably care about when managing projects with lots of data. Examples are:

• Built-in audit trail and document history
• Finding documents easily and quickly
• Capturing document relationships (XRefs, Revit linked models)
• Quick previews of models and sheets topped with the ability to
  manage the workflow of these documents

If you want to learn more please visit this page about Autodesk Vault features.

So if you're already using Vault to manage your AutoCAD drawings, Revit models, Office documents and other project documents, let's take the next step and look into coordinating models that are in Vault. I also suggest you visit the links mentioned above to see how you can improve collaboration in your project.

Streamlined workflow

The advantages of using Autodesk Vault to manage your coordination model are the following:

• Central location for discipline and coordinated model
• Easily append and update coordinated model with discipline models
  
  

  Vault ribbon in Navisworks
• Receive, share models and results with externals by extending Autodesk Vault data management to the cloud through synchronizing with Autodesk Buzzsaw. This allows for automatically pulling down discipline models from external companies into your secure Vault environment.
• Control workflow states of discipline and coordinated model directly from within Navisworks
  
  

  Vault browser in Navisworks
• Relationship and history tracking of discipline, coordinate model and sheets
• Easily import 2D sheets that are already inside Vault
• Quickly see status and key data of discipline and coordinated model inside Navisworks
  
  

  Details in Vault browser

How do you make it work?

Here's a step-by-step guide to make this work for you:

1. Ensure discipline models are available inside Autodesk Vault
2. Append from Vault to create your coordination model
3. Save the Navisworks file set (NWF) locally and check in to Vault.
   This will add the file to Vault, build the relationship to the discipline models and make it available for others on your team.
4. Optional: save as Navisworks NWD and also check this into Vault.
   This will make it possible to share easily and regularly with externals via Autodesk Buzzsaw through the synchronization feature.

You can take this further by applying lifecycle states to your discipline and coordinated models. This will help lock it down and make sure only authorised users can make edits. 

Updates to the discipline model

When the discipline model gets updated, i.e. a newer version is available in Autodesk Vault this will automatically update your coordination model next time you open it with Navisworks. Make sure to capture important milestones as Navisworks NWD and check these back into Vault. If the discipline model gets updated while you have the coordination model open in Navisworks you will be notified through the Vault browser status icons that there is an updated version and you simply refresh from Vault.

 

Refreshing data from Vault directly in Navisworks

 

Workflow diagram

If you like a visual overview of this process below you will find a diagram that illustrates the steps

Keep it all tidy in the Vault, 

Thomas

Feedback?

We would love to hear from you! Can contact us at [email protected].

Welcome to Beyond Design, the blog for contractors to get the most out of BIM

Hello everyone! Welcome to the refreshed Beyond Design blog. As the construction industry grows and technology on-site advances rapidly, we realize that the reasoning behind Beyond Design when we started it two years ago is already becoming outdated, so the changes we make today should reflect this. The intention of the blog still remains the same; to give you the information and the tools to better manage projects, increase productivity, improve workflows and we want empower you to get the most out of the products you use every day.

Beyond Design will expand to cover the following topics: taking technology into the field, industry trends, new tools, tips and tricks and much more. Beyond Design is now your one-stop blog for construction information!

What's changed you ask? Aside from a refreshed look and feel, we have added more authors with expertise in a wide range of relevant fields. Say hello to:

• Anthony Governanti, Technical Marketing Manager for Construction with experience across Autodesk's portfolio in the construction, architecture, and infrastructure segments
• Pete Billante, Product Manager for BIM 360 Field who has worked to develop BIM 360 since inception
• Thomas Schwaiger, Technical Consultant for BIM 360 Glue with a background in data management
• Sunny Hira, Industry Marketing Manager with an emphasis on the construction industry

As well as Paul and myself, whose roles have shifted since we first started

• Paul Walker, Product Manager for BIM 360 mobile solutions
• Lee Mullin, Solutions Engineer for Construction across Northern Europe

There's more detail about all four under the Author's section.

We also want to say a special hello to new our followers from the BIM 360 Field blog. We would love to hear from you and you can contact us at [email protected].

Thanks,

Lee, Paul, Sunny, Anthony, Pete & Thomas

What can we learn from the entertainment industry?

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited with a number of our customers from Architecture, Construction, Manufacturing and the Entertainment worlds to a screening of the third instalment of Iron Man at BAFTA in London. For those that don't know, Iron Man 3 had the 2^nd biggest opening of all time, only superseded by The Avengers last year. As a big movie geek (I have far too many 'making of' and 'art of' books at home), it was great to see a big film like this in somewhere completely different from the local multiplex, but for me the real treat was to hear from a couple of our visual effects customers, Simon Stanley Clamp from Cinesite and Alexis Wajsbrot from Framestore talk about how key scenes from the film were put together followed by a Q&A session.

 

For me I was fascinated by the parallels between the problems the entertainment industry has faced over the years and how closely it aligns with the issues we see you in the construction industry facing.

• Large datasets - With terabytes of information being passed around the world, there's a number of issues with how this is stored, how it is accessed and how it can easily be found, it's partly about working intelligently with data, not transferring every piece of data across with each revision, only the parts that have changed. Often projects are spread between internal offices, different firms, and across time-zones, that isn't likely to change any time soon so the issue of data needs to be addressed, the quality, size and version control are all vital to the eventual delivery.
• Consistent organised up to date content - There are a number of challenges around ensuring that the latest version of some content is passed and filtered across all companies, all relevant shots, and there isn't a manual process to ensure that you are up to date at the start of each day. Being able to find the right up to date content quickly and easily speeds up the whole process and reduces the chances of mistakes.
• Regular reviews – In Iron Man 3 the director was running reviews of daily work with 18 different studios, using mark-up tools to point out areas of concern, in Cinesite's case, they only had 9 weeks to produce over 100 shots, something that would normally be spread over a much longer period, regular review cycles were essential to get quick turnarounds. The faster an issue can be identified, the sooner it can be addressed.
• Working together! - In the case of Iron Man, not every firm on the project was looking after a shot in its complete state; different elements were brought in from different firms, and collected in a single place for additional post production work like atmosphere effects and color grading. In our world, you will often have multiple companies working on the same end goal but the processes to do this efficiently, although in everyone's best interest, often are hit by hurdles that we struggle to overcome.
• Information sharing – As the end product needs to have consistency, everything is shared between teams, the IP is owned by the client, and information, textures, objects are all shared between the teams at different firms to prevent downtime of redoing the same job again, at the same time everyone learning better ways to do things, improving the overall final product.
• Learning's from previous projects - In Marvel's case, this isn't the first project they've done, and although the look, feel and make up of a film like Thor is very different to Captain America or Iron Man, they haven't been starting afresh each time round, they've learnt that organised projects, reusing common elements, and continuous improvement on processes is helping turn around effects heavy films under increasingly tight deadlines. Compare this to construction, it's very rare you get two identical projects, but the processes will largely be the same, from conception through to handover, common libraries can be reused and then custom elements brought in as needed.

These issues can be solved today; they're not a distant pipedream we can admire from afar. Using tools like BIM 360 Glue, Vault and Revit can help you can manage the huge task of organising projects and data into a state where no one needs to know what is happening behind the scenes, just that it is there on your desktop or tablet device ready to work on.

And if you're wondering about the film, all I'll say it Ben Kingsley's performance as The Mandarin is worth watching the film alone.

Here's the only chance I'll get to post a film trailer on the blog, if you want to know more about our Entertainment division, I highly recommend following Jamie's Jewels blog for behind the scenes videos and more on how our software is used!

Autodesk® Construction Magazine: First Edition Digital Magazine from Autodesk!

We've just launched the first digital edition of the Autodesk Construction Magazine. Inside this edition, you will learn about key trends and capabilities of the Autodesk BIM for construction solutions. Hear from our customers directly and get insight into the latest trends in the construction industry from our thought leader, Dominic Thasarathar.

Autodesk® Building Design Suite offers a comprehensive set of tools to manage all phases of design and construction at an exceptional value. By combining Building Information Modeling (BIM) and CAD tools, Autodesk Building Design Suite helps you design, visualize, and simulate more efficiently. Check out the digital Autodesk Construction Magazine in the link below, and learn more about how Autodesk BIM for construction solutions can help you overcome construction challenges and accelerate paths to new business.

To gain access to Autodesk Construction Magazine, sign up here:

http://www.autodesk.com/constructionmag

Find your serial numbers and product keys for Autodesk Revit, Navisworks, QTO and the suites

Sorting through the piles of notebooks, manuals, boxes for hardware and software and emails, there's plenty of times people think there must be an easier way to get your serial numbers and product keys. Luckily there is!

This link shows you how to find your Autodesk serial numbers and product key in Subscription Center and this link shows how to find the product key for your Autodesk product.

These links also have a full list of all the product keys for the last few Autodesk releases: -

2013: Product keys for Autodesk products
2012: Product keys for Autodesk products
2011: Product keys for Autodesk products
2010: Product keys for Autodesk products

Have you got any unique ways to store your serial numbers and product boxes? If you do send us a photo by July 1^st 2012, we'll send prizes to the best ones.

Practical tips on starting and maintaining a BIM user group

Further to a blog about starting a BIM User group a couple of weeks ago and a worldwide list of BIM in Construction User groups, James Vandezande from HOK has kindly passed along a series of posts he has written about running effective user groups.

These are well worth a read whether you are looking to start a group or contribute towards a local group with more detail about locations, speakers, hardware and sponsorships.

http://www.allthingsbim.com/2012/01/effective-user-groups-part-1.html
http://www.allthingsbim.com/2012/01/effective-user-groups-part-2.html
http://www.allthingsbim.com/2012/04/effective-user-groups-part-3.html

Since we launched the BIM in Construction User Groups page we've added lots more groups across Europe and the Americas and Australia thanks to your suggestions. If you have a group to add, email us!

Be the face of Autodesk Construction products

Have you ever wondered how we put together the splash screens that you view every time you open the product? Have you wondered how Silver Cross Hospital or Blackfriars Station were selected to be the 'face' of Navisworks? Have you ever wondered how you would get your project to be the one everyone see's on a daily basis? Well wonder no more!

The Autodesk Construction team are inviting customers to submit images of your use of Navisworks for inclusion in the next release of Navisworks. We are looking for impactful and inspiring images of how you are using our technology on your projects. For all selected images, we will require you to complete a consent form, granting unrestricted use of the imagery to Autodesk. For the image that is placed on the product box and splash screen, we will request access to the model dataset so that Autodesk graphic artists can create the final renderings. All image usage will display a credit line as defined by you.  

What is the value of participating?

• Expanded marketing reach - You can dramatically increase the visibility of your company's work since the images generated from the datasets may appear in a variety of high-profile web and print marketing assets, with attribution to your firm. For example, customer imagery was prominently displayed on more than 100,000 units of AutoCAD® 2013 product packaging and receives more than 280,000 views per month on Autodesk.com
• Enhanced brand recognition - Close associations with Autodesk, a leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, can enhance your brand, build industry recognition for your company as a technology leader, and be a strong selling point to your clients, increasing your competitive advantage.
• Using resulting imagery - While the imagery created using your data sets is usually subject to embargo dates associated with product launches and campaigns, it will eventually become available for general use. In most cases, you can then use the resulting imagery for your own marketing purposes upon request.

One selected image will be used for the next release of Navisworks product box and splash screen. Here is the 2013 image of London Blackfriars station, courtesy of Network Rail and Jacobs®.

 

Other selected images will be included in the Navisworks installer (see below for 2013 images):

If you are interested in participating please email [email protected] or [email protected].  We will be happy to answer your questions and provide you with additional details on the submission process. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 11, 2012.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you,

Autodesk Construction Team

Join or start a BIM in Construction User Group

You've got the software, you've been to the training, but you want to learn more, you want to bounce ideas off others, and you have no one inside your company to speak to about them. This is where User Groups come in, we have hundreds of users of our different technologies starting and participating in groups across the globe providing networking opportunities, chances to learn about workflows, tips, 3^rd party plugins and new features run by some of our most knowledgeable users. We have set up the BIM in Construction User Group page to list as many worldwide user groups and communities as possible to allow you to easily find someone in your area to talk to. There's a range of ways to interact with other users, from forums and discussion groups, to monthly or bi-monthly phone-calls and webcasts, to live meet-ups.

Prominent BIM thinker, James Austin from BIM Technologies has recently decided to set up a Navisworks User group in London:-

"For me, user groups are the lifeblood of emerging technologies. When something new and relevant arrives on the scene, it must be driven forward, first by early adopters, and then by technology receptive organisations. User groups seem to appear and flourish when there is a healthy mix of these. At present in the UK, BIM is moving out of its early adopter stage, and we are seeing some pockets of growing maturity, coupled with enthusiasm. Amidst a healthy social media community, and several Revit User Groups across the nation, there are still relatively few user groups that focus on Navisworks, so I took it upon myself to see if there was interest in forming our very own Navisworks User Group in London. Response to date has been very good, and plans are now underway to set up a first meeting in London before we enter into the forthcoming Indian summer (!). The intention is to provide users with a source of high quality information, as well as an environment that will support genuine knowledge sharing and foster some of genuine community spirit that surrounds BIM in the UK right now."

Using online resources such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Meetup it has been possible for many of these groups to get set up with minimal cost and access to a wide range of users instantly than previously possible.

Scott Wood from HOK has been running the New York City Navisworks User Group for over a year, he has some advice for anyone looking to startup a user group:-

"The New York City Navisworks User Group is focused on the software, and third party extensions that enhance functionality. Our goal is to further the use and understanding of the tool, while feeding user requests to the software engineers. In addition to reviews and demonstrations, we also focus on process and uses for the tool. The benefits of this group are bidirectional, that is both the software vendors and the users can gain knowledge from the open interaction in our meetings.

Building a group does take some thought, and a little work to start. However there are a few tactics that I would recommend:

A) If the meeting is live, have food and beverages, and advertise that.

B) Attend other industry meetings to promote the group, and learn what might interest others.

C) Utilize http://www.meetup.com/

D) Utilize social media like Twitter and LinkedIn

E) Enlist the help of a few people, and give them a stake in the success of the group.

F) Even if the meeting is live, try to broadcast a Webex to get broader participation, of our 103 members, over 10% are from other cities, some as far as California."

If you have a user group we need to know about, email us and we'll update the BIM in Construction page, if you don't see one in your area, start one and let us know and we'll be happy to help promote it!

UPDATE: James Vandezande has sent us a link to some more practical tips for setting up user groups.

New AEC API Developer Blog

We know that many of you are looking to improve productivity and access to your information models using the API. This new AEC DevBlog will cover Revit, Navisworks and other AEC and BIM technologies and their APIs from Autodesk.

So far there are already posts about the following topics:-

• New features in the Navisworks 2013 .NET API
• How to access the Revit SDK
• How to get a primitive from solid of Navisworks
• More details on the BIM Coordinator 

Head to the blog and subscribe to the RSS feed for new posts: -

http://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/

You can also ask API related questions through the Navisworks API forum.

Installation of Autodesk 2013 products, things to remember

I've been getting round to installing the Autodesk 2013 products on my main machine and I wanted to put up a quick post to remind you of a few things to check before going ahead with installation and reduce the likelihood of problems further down the line.

1. Get Administrator Permissions. If you don't have them then speak to your Systems Administrator.
2. Check the System Requirements, can your machine cope with the new software, do you need upgrades, do you need to clear some space. Suites provide lots of useful tools but will need quite a bit of memory. Look at Autodesk System Requirements for more information.
3. If you have beta versions of the software on your machine, UNINSTALL THEM. It's amazing how often problems revert back to this. Beta versions are never intended to be used on production machines; we'd hope that you completely clean your machine first to avoid unintended problems.
4. If you have an intermittent, slow or problematic network connection, don't install from a network location, install from a local drive.
5. Switch off anti-virus whilst installing. This might seem like an odd step but many antivirus packages are constantly monitoring changes to the machine, these can prevent registry keys being registered or files being placed in the correct directory.
6. Make sure your Operating System is up to date, any updates have been applied and the machine restarted.
7. Last but not least, read the documentation. We hope the installation process is easy and intuitive for you, but it's always worth checking the documentation to familiarize yourself with the process and the readme files for issues that may affect you, this is available in the installer and on the relevant product support site.

For more help when installing your software including video guides and lots more detail about deployments and licensing go to the Installation and Licensing support site and the Installation and Licensing forums.