Friday, March 1, 2013

Preparation of Amendment BIM e-Submission with Autodesk Design Review Compare Tool

In Singapore CAD Standard, “SS CP 83: Part 5” aims for visual checking by using colours. That aspect of visual checking is perhaps most important for submissions to authorities where certain colours have been specified for “proposed”, “existing” and “deleted” elements.
In BIM, Revit phase filtering process for A&A took a lot of time since that phases are applied to elements and controlled by views. For instance, in a residential project with several types of unit, after you did 3 colours changing in a typical unit group, it cannot update the rest of the similar groups in the Revit files. To gain the productivity by saving man hours, keeping smaller native file size (especially Revit) and avoiding creation of extra building objects (elements), alternatively we can use Autodesk Design Review to compare the original sheet to the revised sheet to identify differences in the geometry of building objects or elements by colors in accordance with SS CP83 Part 5 for projects previously done and approved with BIM submission and to re-submit the changes as amendment BIM submission.
Design Review can be used to compare differences in vector content (geometry) between two 2D sheets in separate DWF files that have the same sheet size and unit settings.
I am going to show you how to compare design changes with Design Review. First of all, open your approved DWF in Design Review, and select a sheet that you want to compare.



(Above figure shows a DWF Approved Floor Plan sheet: Elements in Cyan colors can be re-exported from Revit by overriding Phases Filters.)


Go to Tools menu, and then from Canvas tab, click Compare Sheets. The compare dialog box will open.


From the compare dialog box, click Options. The Compare Options dialog box will open. 
                                                         

Now you can change the default colors to the required Magenta and Yellow in accordance with SS CP83 Part 5. Click OK to go back to the compare dialog box.                                                          


   

From the compare dialog box, click Browse. Navigate to the folder to find the updated DWF file of the same drawing set, created at a different time and then select the sheet you wish to compare to the sheet currently in the canvas.  




Final result is essentially an automatic markup of the DWF sheet showing what are the proposed elements(NEW) in Magenta and what have been deleted(DEMOLISHED) in Yellow.  


               
Any changes between the 2D sheets are identified as separate markups, one for Additions and one for Deletions, in the open DWF file. The Additions markup identifies the geometry that would need to be added to the original sheet to make it match the second sheet. The Deletions markup identifies the geometry that would need to be deleted from the original sheet to make it match the second sheet.
Most of the time, contractor will receive a new version of a DWF file, but changes were not identified by the architect. The contractor can use Design Review to compare the original sheet to the revised sheet to identify differences in the geometry, including changes in polyline attributes such as line pattern or line weight.
Doing this electronically with a process that identifies additions and deletions goes beyond what we traditionally done by aligning and eyeballing sheets of paper or overlapping two CAD drawings and finding changes.
Occasionally, comparing DWF files may produce some unexpected results. Since DWF is a published file format, DWF files are susceptible to the output eccentricities of publishing programs.
Be aware that Design Review will identify all geometric differences between two DWF files, whether the difference is made intentionally by a designer or unintentionally by an anomaly in a publishing program.
I hope this process will improve over time with future releases of Autodesk Design Review.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Singapore BIM Competition 2013


BCA will be organising the 3rd consecutive Singapore BIM Competition this year, in conjunction with the annual Singapore Construction Productivity Week 2013.
The 48-hours virtual BIM Competition will be held on 1-3 July 2013.
The Singapore BIM Competition 2013 would open for registration on 1 March 2013.
The Multi-disciplinary Collaboration of both Industry and Education Categories would be open for International participation to bring the the Singapore BIM Competition 2013 to the next hype.
I would like to encourage you and your colleagues to form team(s) to participate in this key event again this year.
There is no limit in the number of teams each company/school could send.
Please refer to the website http://sgbimcompetition.com for more information and to register.
You can submit the registration online for your team(s) before 30 April 2013.
Besides the annual 48-hours virtual BIM Competition, they are also hosting the inaugural BIM Mobile Apps Challenge 2013.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

WE ARE HERE: FIRST 50 BIMMERS / BCA ACADEMY GRADUATES ARE AVALIABLE TO SUPPORT BUILT ENVIRONMENT TO RAISE CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY



I am one of the graduating students of the first two cohorts from the Specialist Diploma in Building Information Modelling (BIM) at this year’s BCA Academy graduation ceremony.

As I expected earlier, the course is useful and exciting for me. They provide us real-world training that enhances my work experience and knowledge. I found that the course materials are developed in conjunction with leading BIM practitioners, technology firms and educators.
I recommend this course to my friends who want to upgrade their knowledge of BIM in preparation to meet the higher demands for the upcoming mandatory BIM e-Submission.

Before I attended this course, I have assigned to lead the BIM team in our company. After we finished our pilot BIM project, I realized that I need to upgrade my skills to face with a potential career change. During this year Singapore Construction Productivity Week, we participated in the BIM Competition 2012. That is the first time competing in the BIM Competition for our team and won the Second Runner-up prize in the Industry- Architecture category. We have successfully implemented BIM in 2 major projects, Sky Habitat and Bedok Residences. My company is getting value from BIM but believe that there is more to gain.

The application for 5th intake of Specialist Diploma in BIM at the BCA Academy is now opened.

Click Here for more details.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Latest BIM Fund Enhancement

BIM Fund has been enhanced and the Web page has updated on Thursday, 04 Oct 2012. (Click http://www.bca.gov.sg/BIM/bimfund.html)
Below is summary of the enhancements/new requirements tighten by authority.
Enhancements
· Doubling of the number of applications from 3 to 6
· Doubling of the total per firm funding cap from S$105,000 to S$220,000
· Removal of the per project funding cap of S$210,000 to encourage more project partners
· Additional supportable item, 50 % of ONE TIME support for expenditure of manpower capped at S$10,000
New Requirements
· At least 20% instead of 10% productivity improvement for the 4th – 6th application
· Several BIM e-Submission via CORENET e-Submission system to at least a few key regulatory authorities
· 4th – 6th application must use >1000sqm project size for Firm Level Scheme, >10000sqm for Project Collaboration Scheme
· Setting up the firm’s BIM Deployment Plan for EXPENDITURE OF MANPOWER (only applicable from 4th – 6th application)

Autodesk® Revit® Architecture Certification Preparation, Part 2


Autodesk® Revit® Architecture Certification Preparation, Part 1

http://au.autodesk.com/

Let’s Prepare for the Revit 2013 Certified Exam

The Certified Associate exam will not be made available for Revit Architecture 2013. According to Autodesk Exam Preparation Road Map, Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 Certified User exam and Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 Certified Professional exam are available. Currently, the Professional exam is only available and many people are exciting for the Autodesk Sponsored Certification Day discount (not available in this region) and free exam at AU2012. To obtain Certified Professional status or to recertify your 2012 Associate status and/or 2012 Professional status, you only need to pass the 2013 Certified Professional exam.
Brian Myers who has taken the 2013 Professional test and proctored it a few dozen times wrote on Revit Users group as below:-
“Just know the software. Understand how to create a staircase; realize how you can select and modify a curtain wall; discover how to add levels (floor plates) to a mass object. Be able to draw a railing. Go into every menu and explore every command you use and don't use. This may seem daunting, but in reality the Ribbon in this case is your friend. Go to a tab, explore each command, go to the next tab. Understand worksharing and visibility graphics.”
The Autodesk Revit Architecture Certified User exam includes both academic and industry requirements designed to confirm that Revit Architecture users have the skills necessary to continue their design careers—whether they attend college, enter the workforce, or work toward additional levels of industry certification. The exam consists of 30 questions combining multiple-choice and performance-based items to ensure students understand and can effectively use Revit Architecture. The exam has a 1-hour time limit.
For more information, visit: http://www.certiport.com
The Revit Architecture 2013 Certified Professional exam is aimed at assessing Professional users’ knowledge of the tools, features, and common tasks of Revit Architecture 2013. The exam is comprised of 35 questions, of which the majority require you to use Revit Architecture to create or modify a data file, and then type your answer into an input box. Other question types include multiple choice, matching, and point-and-click (hotspot). The exam has a 2-hour time limit (in some countries, the time limit may be extended).