Todays Seminar - SOM

[sbrown]

I feel so stinking proud of the REVIT /ADSK team. After all the people bashing revit "can't do large projects..." To see the WTC freedom Tower being done in Revit is just too gratifying. I have a grin from ear to ear. Its like all those anti revit terrorists are just being stomped on.

[Wes Macaulay]

Did you see the questions?

So when are you planning to cut and run?
So you're planning to take this all the way to CD's?
Many people STILL don't get it. Hey! Anyone want to take a crack at modelling the Freedom Tower in ADT? :twisted:

Had to say that. I'm hoping Revit will become the lead dog in sales, not just in capability. Amazing to see how people are scared of big databases. But other consultants use them all the time. Ya sure want to protect that data, tho -- interesting comment, too about gigabit connections for very large offices. I think you'd have to be pretty big for 100 Base T not to be enough bandwidth.

[sbrown]

I know, I have a friend that works for Ball Aerospace and they've been using parametrics for designing all kinds of huge projects since the late 80's and the databases are huge compared to revit. So many other industries have been using parametrics for years, we are just now starting to catch up.

[hand471037]

ha, yeah, watching the questions like that pop up was kinda funny... I wonder what it will take to convince some folks that Revit is a viable solution for many many project types. There are still questions popping up along those lines too! Shows what level of confusion there really is about Revit and what it can do out there in the general market...

But then I'm sadly certain we'll see posts about how things were 'faked' or how 'its not gonna work' any moment now... ;)

Congrats to SOM & Autodesk on such a impressive project!

(also happy to see SOM pressuring Autodesk & the Factory over interoperability issues & talking about how great it would be to be able to directly link the Revit info into things like that entering/exiting 'ant farm' program...)

[ita]

Great presentation!! What more can be said? Interesting comment about the raw grunt of Revit as opposed to the other systems initially trialled. And the size of the project file must have knocked a few into the aisles. About 190Mb!! - in total!!

A side note for those who have been requesting an API interface, this question and response was made in the questions afterwords:

Question: Is Revit capable of LISP or VBA programming customization?
Answer: Not at this time, we are developing an API for future releases that will allow custom programs to enhance Rev it's functionality

[Wes Macaulay]

I particularly enjoyed James' choice of images (the overloaded VW Jetta, the dump truck, and the hopped up quad with mags :mrgreen: ) in the webcast...

...and for having the cheek to slap around the big A. Good on ya, mate. (And credit to Autodesk for showing off a few warts :). If anything was perfect, Belinda Carlisle might be right. You can't have bad songs from the 1980's coming true.)

[gregcashen]

Great presentation!! What more can be said? Interesting comment about the raw grunt of Revit as opposed to the other systems initially trialled. And the size of the project file must have knocked a few into the aisles. About 190Mb!! - in total!!

A side note for those who have been requesting an API interface, this question and response was made in the questions afterwords:

Question: Is Revit capable of LISP or VBA programming customization?
Answer: Not at this time, we are developing an API for future releases that will allow custom programs to enhance Rev it's functionality

I liked the slide showing that a comparable project utilizing legacy systems (read: Autocad) would have been many GIGABYTES, not the 200MB total that the combined Revit models are.

[MikeJarosz]

Hey.... I answered the cut and run question. We have no intention of doing so. In fact JBB and Cantor have increased their commitment

[Scott D Davis]

Awesome presentation! Especially after it got into the Revit modeling portions. A bit slow at first, with the introductions and the history....and the polls! I know Autodesk is looking for feedback, but I showed the webcast to a group, and they would groan when another poll would pop up! Less 'talk', more Revit next time!!!!

Incredible model by the SOM team, it looks beautiful! I would love to drop a section line in there, and watch a complete building section appear before my eyes! The MEP components look promising, and a peek into what we might see in Revit Building Systems!

James, Mike, one of you guys needs to bring the RVT files on a laptop to AU!!!!

[Wes Macaulay]

Hey.... I answered the cut and run question. We have no intention of doing so. In fact JBB and Cantor have increased their commitmentYou did indeed -- but it was funny to hear them nonetheless -- frustrating.

[Scott D Davis]

Would there be any way to post a list of the Q&A? I had to cut out right at the end, and missed many of the questions. I would enjoy reading them.

Also, even though the polls were annyoing.....did you see the percentage af ADT users at the webcast? I wonder what they are thinking now. <fadetodaydream>yeah, i could do that in ADT....first, I'd have to attach 100 xrefs, one for each floor....well, first, I'd have to draw each floor in a separate file.....</daydreamoff>

[Wes Macaulay]

Oh, please! Who's driving the 20 ton dump truck anyway?

I cut and pasted the questions at one point - and I have attached them for our collective amusement. They were quite painful to watch.

[beegee]

Thanks Wes,

I took the liberty to extract a couple of 'gems" from the truck before it reached the landfill.

Question: how long was the training and implementation time? and cost?

Answer: The training for this team is typically done in 2 days for understanding the basics and then just-in-time training support to follow along as the new team member comes up to speed.


That should be interesting for large firms looking to jump into Revit. :)


Question: How far do you expect to take the Revit model before you have to cut and run - back into AutoCAD? DD? CD?

Answer: We do not expect to cut and run......



Yes, your Honor, asked and answered...8-)

[irwin]

My personal favorite among the questions: "it seems that revit is good for large projects such as the one youa re showing but if you are doing more specialized and smaller projecrs would revit be as useful"

[hand471037]

Irwin, that one kinda cracked me up too- you can't get any more specialized than what SOM's doing with the Freedom Tower. Like designing someone's house is going to even come close!

Unless that was Frank Ghery that was the one that typed question... How's Revit at doing giant fish sculptures? :D

But I kid. For someone who's never seen Revit before, and the first things they see are all large commercial projects, and they mostly hear about larger firms using it they might just jump to the conclusion that Revit isn't suited to smaller & more 'designy' projects. So I can understand their confusion, it's the same as the people who only looked at Revit years ago and are convinced that it 'can't do large projects'. :D

[ariasdelcid]

I just did a demo of Revit at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and one the students (who, I found out later works for Archicad) asked what was the biggest project being done in Revit and I immediately remembered the article in The Wall Street Journal about the Freedom Tower, so I said that. Then the student said: "well is true they started in Revit, but they switched to Archicad because Revit couldn't handle it" . Well, I am feeling very comfortable right now. It was just great! Thank you Leonid, Irwin, Marty, et al. Great Job!

[christopher.zoog51272]

Fantastic presentation, James did a wonderful job!!! I too enjoyed his choice of graphics ;)


I've never been to a net meeting with over 1200 people before, I'd say it went very well.

[JamesVan]

Awesome presentation! Especially after it got into the Revit modeling portions. A bit slow at first, with the introductions and the history....and the polls! I know Autodesk is looking for feedback, but I showed the webcast to a group, and they would groan when another poll would pop up! Less 'talk', more Revit next time!!!!

Incredible model by the SOM team, it looks beautiful! I would love to drop a section line in there, and watch a complete building section appear before my eyes! The MEP components look promising, and a peek into what we might see in Revit Building Systems!

James, Mike, one of you guys needs to bring the RVT files on a laptop to AU!!!!

Definitely! As far as the section-to-whole-building...I can do that with my new favorite tool, Camtasia. I'll see if I can get one that's not too revealing (security) and maybe post it or at least bring it to AU with me.

Thanks for all your kind words. I just got back to NY from Red Sox country - licking my wounds (pix to follow...). The Revit team is the most hospitable group of people I know and they never cease to amaze me. Kudos to Marty Rozmanith, Matt Jezyk, Ilya Bass, Phil Read and all those who make the magic happen. I could go on, but will acknowledge more in a future post.

It was very strange giving a webcast on this topic. I have presented this same topic internally many times over recent months, but speaking into a headset with no audience feedback is quite another story. I usually feed off my audience - play to the crowd. I also like to use various slide animations to complement my talk, but there are no animations allowed on Live Meeting presentations.

All in all, I had a great time sharing our findings with all of you and hope to bring more fantastic news in the coming months.

Sincerely,
JV

[Steve_Stafford]

Looking forward to the archival post in the near future...Danny and I got "shut" out of seeing the show...too many folks. The fire marshall cut it off I guess...:(

[gregcashen]

Great job James! Despite the ****** audio, it was well worth the missed lunch!

[MikeJarosz]

I just did a demo of Revit at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and one the students (who, I found out later works for Archicad) asked what was the biggest project being done in Revit and I immediately remembered the article in The Wall Street Journal about the Freedom Tower, so I said that. Then the student said: "well is true they started in Revit, but they switched to Archicad because Revit couldn't handle it" . Well, I am feeling very comfortable right now. It was just great! Thank you Leonid, Irwin, Marty, et al. Great Job!

How do people with such patently false information talk so confidently about activity happening thousands of mile away in which they have no part.

Every day, I sit down in front of Revit 6.1 and load up the Freedom tower. I do not even have Archicad installed, legal or otherwise.

The entire project from sewer lines to the aviation lights is done in Revit.

[JamesVan]

... sewer lines to the aviation lights ...
Is this the new "soup to nuts" saying for the AE industry?

[TroyGates]

I agree, awesome presentation. I will be showing it to the Principles when the recording comes out. I really enjoyed the approach to the presentation. I hope to use the presentation to help me to get the 'cautious optimism' from the higher ups, where currently there is mostly misunderstanding about BIM in general.

Thanks again James, SOM, and Autodesk.

[Joef]

Thanks James for a great presentation! I think your project has been a Revit Mythbuster (a Discovery channel favorite http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/mythbusters.html).
How is anyone going to be satisfied in the flatland of 2d drafting after being exposed to the power of the full building model.
Having spent many years toiling in dusty model shops, it was nice to see that you are still employing physical models in the design process. Everyone predicted the end of the modelmaker but they live on in spite of Revit!

Joe

[Wes Macaulay]

I just did a demo of Revit at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and one the students (who, I found out later works for Archicad) asked what was the biggest project being done in Revit and I immediately remembered the article in The Wall Street Journal about the Freedom Tower, so I said that. Then the student said: "well is true they started in Revit, but they switched to Archicad because Revit couldn't handle it" . Well, I am feeling very comfortable right now. It was just great! Thank you Leonid, Irwin, Marty, et al. Great Job!Can you, as a favour for me, take a substantial Nerf bat and smack that student around for me? That is just far too annoying.

[Scott D Davis]

This student probably misunderstood the Freedom Tower for the "former" tallest building in the world, which was modeled in ArchiCAD.

[Steve_Stafford]

This student probably misunderstood the Freedom Tower for the "former" tallest building in the world, which was modeled in ArchiCAD.At another forum someone we are all familiar with was informed that the Freedom Tower isn't the tallest bldg in the world, after making the statement that it IS the tallest.

Since it isn't built yet and there are other bldgs currently on the boards or under construction in the Middle East that will be taller, including one that I believe SOM is also doing. Anyway, I suggested that we could agree that it will be "BIG" when finished? :)

[ariasdelcid]

I will be back to Hawaii in December !! (Should get the Bat right now!)
Anyway it was also very interesting that James decided to include a slide of the work done at USC in rapid prototyping (contour crafting).

http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~khoshnev/RP/CC/Contour%20Crafting.htm