Kinship and Autodesk University

My friends Jose Fandos and Gary Sprague have been working tirelessly to develop a product they call Kinship. It offers an intelligent way to organize, search for and place Revit content and even more compelling to me is the project insight it can provide us. After a couple years of private testing they are opening things up for real.

They were kind enough to invite me along with them to Autodesk University (AU) this year. If you are attending AU please stop by to say hello and find out more about Kinship. If you're not here at AU then let me encourage you to visit their site to learn more.

Revit Technology Conference 2015 Summary

I hope by now that, if you frequently return to this blog, you've also noticed my references to the Revit Technology Conferences (RTC) that take place each year. It started out in Australia in 2005, expanded to North America in 2011, Europe in 2013 and now Asia with an event in Singapore this year.

If you've got an unlimited or at least a comfortable budget then let me encourage you to attend all of them this year. If you can't attend then consider sending your best, your most enthusiastic, your most accomplished staff in your place.

If it's more realistic to encourage you to attend just one RTC this year, then choose from any of these unique locations and events. Each region will offer its own unique flavor of location, people and sessions (based on the submissions of users like you or those you support/employ).

I wish it were easier to decide (click the links below for each event's info):

RTC Australasia 2015 - Gold Coast, Australia - May 14-16, 2015
RTC North America 2015 - Washington DC - July 23-25, 2015
RTC Asia 2015 - Sentosa, Singapore - September 10-12, 2015
RTC Europe 2015 - Budapest, Hungary - October 29-31, 2015

There are two adjunct events that will occur just before RTC in Washington DC this year. The Design Technology Summit is an ongoing invitation only event while the Building Design Content Summit is a new event that is focused on the ever important subject of content for BIM. Please visit their sites for more information

RTC NA 2015 - Design Technology Summit - July 21-22, 2015
RTC NA 2015 - Building Content Summit - July 22,2015

As always, I hope to see old friends and make new ones at RTC events this year!

Revit mEp - Design Master

I've been hearing good things about this add-on for Revit from Design Master.

If you're doing electrical work then you ought to have a closer look at it.

It has a tab for HVAC but it appears to only support AutoCAD for that, for now?

Autodesk M&E 3DS MAX Gunslinger Summit - Montreal

This post is to help spread awareness of an opportunity to be part of a Gunslingers event on behalf of the 3DS Max development team. I apologize if you've already read about it on another blog.

3DS Max Development Team writes:

Autodesk M&E 3ds Max Gunslinger summit is a design-focused participatory event in Montreal (Canada) between our users and members of the Autodesk 3ds Max product management, development and design teams. The event is comprised of a series of workshops, design reviews, validation discussions, design charrettes, and more.

We are looking to locate people who would be interested or available in attending. The Gunslinger is by invitation only as we can only accommodate so many, and other than travel, all shuttles, hotel, and meals are included by Autodesk. The meeting will be 4 days, Sept 16-19. It is an opportunity to meet our team and influence tools that could help you improve the way you communicate your designs.

3ds Max and 3ds Max Design tools and technology have been used by visualization experts to tell the story of a design in dynamic presentations and won many awards in the entertainment industry. Clients consistently respond to exploring their project or product in context, within their existing surroundings and bustling with life. They, and other stakeholders, also find that video helps them understand complex information about the design. This could be anything from construction logistics, complex function (such as a sliding roof), the impact of design options, or visualization of traffic, weather, stress, airflow and energy. Cinematic storytelling techniques can convincingly evoke emotions and convey these messages with style. Unfortunately, in the past, you’d need a large budget to deliver presentations that include these elements. There are many ways to solve these issues but your feedback is essential. This is why we’d like to meet with you in person.

If you are interested in the Gunslinger please let us know by completing A SHORT SURVEY. We will then be reviewing the submissions for selecting users but if you are unable to attend this specific Gunslinger but are interested in future events please do fill out the survey.

The Future of our Past

Autodesk's Tatjana Dzambazova recently gave a TEDx talk about some projects and technology she's been working on at Autodesk. Pretty cool stuff!

If you aren't familiar with Tatjana, as a reader of this blog, you are very likely aware of a product she worked on at Autodesk. She was the Product Manager for Revit Architecture from 2005-2007. The following is some of the information provided on the YouTube page for her talk:

Technology Whisperer, Tatjana Dzambazova, shares her passion for the latest developments in technology that offer new, exciting ways to archive, help protect, and experience our vulnerable cultural and natural heritage. From photo cameras and scanners, to drones, 3D printing and interactive online exploration, Tatjana introduces the concepts of RIP FIX BURN and RIP MIX LEARN.

Tatjana Dzambazova is Senior Product manager and Technology Whisperer at Autodesk Inc., where she focuses her energy on promoting powerful design technologies to make them accessible to a wide range of audiences. Tatjana passionately evangelizes and teaches internationally.

For more information on some of the covered projects:

http://www.africanfossils.org
http://www.3d.si.edu
http://www.tii.se/inside
http://www.hydro.us

Northwestern University - Now and Next in 2014

Northwestern University is hosting a symposium in August, read the following for more details if you are interested.

NOW AND NEXT 2014 Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction

WHAT
Meet thought leaders and colleagues interested in Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Open
BIM Exchange, Software Trends and more.

Learn about the innovations that are moving companies and people forward including:

• Where and how design and delivery is shifting
• Which software applications are transformative
• Best practices for collaborative project delivery
• How to engage with the global BIM community

Connect with and hear from the best and the brightest such as:

• Jordan Brandt (AutoDesk)
• Deke Smith (buildingSMART alliance)
• Ray Topping (Fiatech)
• Bill East (Prairie Sky Consulting - formerly of the US Army Corps of Engineers)

The symposium is coordinated by Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering’s MPM Program.

WHEN
August 13-15, 2014

WHERE
Northwestern University
School of Law, Thorne Auditorium
375 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL

CONTACT INFORMATION
To register, or for more information, CLICK HERE!

Early registration closes July 1, 2014. Space is limited!

CCTV Enhancement in Fuzor

I wrote about the Kalloc Studios product called Fuzor after seeing it at Autodesk University. I sat down with them at RTC in Melbourne and was really impressed with how much they've done since then (as in, "Oh! Did we tell you we've incorporated Clash Detection too?"). We chatted about a variety of things, one of which was security cameras.

I've worked with a few clients for whom security camera documentation is a big deal. I received an email this afternoon letting me know that they've got a cool addition they are eager to show me (and everyone) at RTC in Schaumburg next week, security camera features. Keep in mind that we sat down together less than two weeks ago and none of the below existed.

They've created three types of cameras so far: Small, Large and Dome.

You can switch between these types at will to achieve the look you want. They also have the option to choose black and white or color. Here's a sample screen shot. They've also taken notice of some important camera characteristics.

They've made it possible to save your current configurations as well as load previously saved configurations from the main Fuzor user interface. This is a sample dialog for selecting configurations.

That's a lot of ground to cover in two weeks!! If you think your firm could benefit from this sort of viewing and visualization enhancement then Fuzor's just presented another strong practical reason to check them out, ...and this is just a first pass, they'll be looking for feedback to make this a killer feature.