I saw this via several twitters last night – NBS Exports to Vectorworks -and I agree this is important, first NBS who are without question, the top spec writing company in the UK have recognised the importance of Vectorworks, but secondly, and most importantly it opens up the whole spec idea within the emerging BIM technology we are seeing  in Vectorworks. The idea that NBS specs will be linked to the database of products is now not just a faint idea, but can be explored with real commitment. I hate the call out tool, is that to strong, no, I just don’t like it, and prefer to use my own little collection of specs I have created within my famed Steves bit library file, but if we can incorporate NBS specs onto the drawing, perhaps via the database library, then that’s something I will use.

Pity that the NBS technology is Windows only, I have had to work freelance in many offices and only one was Mac. so maybe they see the greater market, but people at NBS think about the Mac pease.

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Is this to far into the future, I don’t think so, this set of videos I found on Vimeo is impulsive viewing, I went to Manchester University some time back and saw a similar system, ok I was all gloved up and wearing some pretty heavy specs, but that was about 10 years ago, this little movie must be somewhere near the truth. The second video in the list to the side, show more what I expect to come out in the not to distant future, information there on every object, as I look, and I suspect that glasses will hold the technology, the object will be highlighted and information will be shown, can you imagine this with Vectorworks, the screen is so limiting when you look at these ideas, Follow the links to the side and watch the other two videos, this is not Scifi but almost there Science. If the computer is to leap forward, then the screen has to go,  is the message here, I want this technology so badly., you might be reminded of the film Lawnmower man, but I am reminded of Manchester Uni and I can see that my glasses with a small iPhone devise in my pocket powering this technology. You might want to look at the Augmented City: animatic (long cut) where a story board has been laid out to show the concept.

There is CPD here, but its research CPD, top end stuff, but without it, we will not get much further and the screen will be there for ever……….so sad.

Augmented City 3D from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

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Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

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michael erkkinen of Webnash Design, has again managed to post some excellent photos of his recent barn costruction, its realy is well worth your time  to review this latest collection, but please do not skim over the collectiion, spend time and look at the joints and what the members are doing, one ot two of the shots are very complex, but just spend the time to figuer out were the loads are and why Michael has used that particular timber and joint. I particularly like the opening photo I have taken from his site and the use of the iron braces to the lean-to section of the barn. The end set of photos, shows the Vectorworks 3D drawing Michael created, excellent.

This will be well worth at least 1 hour CPD, look at the timber, the joints, the loading, and sketch out  in your own mind,what Michael has done.

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The current issue of the AEC Magazine has some really interesting articles this quarter, from a reasonable survey of CAD for the iPad through to another review of the Orthography market, and the Leica Distro, you know those little red jobs that measure rooms, well this time it seems that if you measure a wall, this set up will draw it for you, the report says its a little ahead of its time, but interesting all the same, and worth a few CPD minutes. Laser scanning also has a three page article and although I still think its very much in it’s infancy, this technology will grow and become more useable, another article that is well worth the time to read.

Overall, a good read, and well worth 30 mins CPD, try the web site, there are some good links to the manufacturers mentioned in the articles.

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So the next little teaser is out, this time in German, (I actually think the speaker is Swiss), this time showing the new tools we can expect, in the form of the updated push-pull tool.

This is a real gem and very clever marketing by Nemetschek, using another language, although the use of an orange sub-title does not work to well in some shots, still the enhanced push – pull tool is very cool.

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No the above title, “My new client is blind”, does not mean that he is not paying attention of he does not like my design, it’s a simple statement of fact, he’s blind. So how do I explain the scheme to him. His requirements are really straight forward, a new large bedroom with on-suite shower with wash basin and WC, easy, with NO trip hazzards, so I have gone for a walk-in shower with toughened glass screens, a very slight fall to the floor to a central gully, with an easy to use none scald shower. As he went blind late in life, I can talk to him and explain what I have in mind, and he tries to visualise the room, but his wife, who is sighted has the difficult task of taking the final decision. One way I have thought of to help in the decision making, is to take them to one of the larger bathroom centres and getting him to play with one or two  of the designs, to let him feel what I propose, this goes for the glass screen as well as the shower unit, together with the WC, I have gone for a space saver corner unit. This is the first time I have had to design for the blind, and I have had to take a step back and think, just how to present the scheme, the CPD here is simple, presentation, and  the choice of goods to assist the blind. Chatting with Jon on Skype he mentioned 3D printers, now I have blogged these before and I think they are the way forward, and if the fee’s would allow, I would go that route, but allas they do not, but worth keeping in mind, perhaps a simple card model to define the layout. Jon also thought about tracing the extension on paper and be a little heavy handed, leaving an indentation, for him to read like brail, worth thinking about.

Todays picture is the 3D bench I made up in Vectorworks, one problem I had was to make the back raked a little, so a call to Jon and he gave me several options, so when I have time, I’ll have a little play.

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Ever since I have had my Macbook Pro, I have complained about the heat on the underside, it’s not hot, its dam hot, I have had in perched on two old scales to let air underneath it, but it still gets hot, so this week I purchased one of those cooling flan plate for laptops, great I thought, but I soon realised that the design of said plate was iffy at best, ok the plate was electrically sound, it runs of my USB port and even gives me 4 more external USB ports.

Now comes the bad part, the plate on top was flat, and when I sat my laptop onto it, there was no gap, its slightly smaller than my Mac so the very small feet were not in contact. so no gap and no air being pushed over the surface. So I pulled out the designer hat and thought of a way to allow my mac to sit on it with plenty of room to allow air to flow. My method was to cut 4 golf tee’s down to the cup, and glue them onto the four corners of the fan base, my mac sits on them nicely and air flows, and I have a cool mac.

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I have just had a note come through from DCE CPD Seminars re their event on the 15th Sept @ Worcester Rugby Club, they have pulled together 5 speakers looking at:

• Wood Boring Insects and fungal decay in buildings
• Tanking cavity drainage membranes and radon protection
• Heathy building concept
• Thermal and Acoustic solutions for referbs
• Specifying cold rolled light gauge steel purlins

For more information call 01630 673 3000 a UK number or go into the website at www.deccpd.co.uk, I have gone for the full morning events and the Thermal presentation.

Have a look at the site, the list of free events runs into some 40 evens all over the UK from now until the end on Nov 2010 an might just add to the 35 hour we have to achieve.

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I am now begining to forget how long I have been a member of the Archoncad tutorials, which Jon Pickup now calls the Short Sharp Training,  a bit of a miss noma really, they are anything but Short, for a meer few buck a month I get one of the best and, most comprehensive monthly show notes from any podacster, trainer on the net, adding all these up, you have a really comprehensive collection of notes to fall back on.

The topic in August was lighting and rendering, and as Jon states this should finish of nicely the area if visualisation, and he is now heading into 3D modeling, with Textures, lighting and rendering. If you are a member of the SST, go to Archoncad’s web site and download your updated show notes, I think Jon has added a few more videos and notes to the last two for July and Aug. I’m looking forward to this month, I have long told Jon the need to show how we can make a 3D model of a refurb building, I have several that just defy normal construction, mainly due to them being built at the turn of the century. Jon asked me for one of my jobs as an example, so I sent him one I just completed, which I have used for todays photo, it is a three-story dwelling, build about 1900, with a basement passage from front to back, and a basement to boot, the passage roof is and arch, but get this, the main party-wall is built on the top of the passage roof, I have joists of varying sizes and each floor has several levels !. The Windows are old Sash bay windows and I have yet to work out how to get this into 3D, without a problem., Oh and just to add some interest to the job, the walls are  a mixture of 9″ , 41/2″and some 13 1/2″  or half a brick, full brick and a brick and a half, all with plaster of about 1/2 inch to roughly 1″, I have used imperial measurements here, because the house is predominately built in Imperial products and I just find it easier to explain if I use inches, although I have drawn it in metric, !! welcome to the barmy UK system were we use both Imperial and metric in the same breath. Is the UK imperial the same as the US imperial ! My car is miles per hour, and shows fuel in Gals, and lets me know gals /mile, yet I have to buy fuel in litres, I measure buildings im metric yet my road signs are miles.

So September is going to be fun, I spoke to Jon and he is working hard to produce, what I consider one of the best yet, Oh have I mentioned the new 3D features in the 2011 Vectorworks release, see the little teaser video on the youtube Vectorworks site. it will be released by then, so I hope he uses it to build this months show.

Dates that Jon has set aside are :

Session 1  Tuesday, September 21, 2010, Time: 4:30PM – 5:30 PM NZST Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/615309491

Session 2  Wednesday, September 22, Time: 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM NZST Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/226213091

Session 3  Friday, September 24, 2010, Time:10:30AM – 11:30 AM NZST  Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/257933075

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I happen to be at my petrol station yesterday filling up with fuel, and I saw the headline in the Saturday FT, ‘New homes data spell declining market‘, it seems that a leading industry survey revealed that the number of people reserving new homes has fallen to its lowest level on record, is this the end of the world for Technologists working in housing, well it is if you bury your head in the sand hoping it will go away. Time, I think, to re-evaluate any future housing plans and think about other industries. Or perhaps not, this shakeup might just be what this tired old housing formula needs, and make us design housing to meet the market, or whats left of it. Developers need to get out of the traditional approach of static 2D plans and estate layouts and move into dynamic 3D showrooms. looking at sun angles, shading, 3D models and walk-through, and we as technologist should be perfecting 3D skills, pushing the boundaries of current technology. Marketing companies, who seem to rule the roost here need to wake up and take note of the way we work and the current excellent 3D CAD packages we are working with. We need to explore current planning laws, why should a house face east – west and have no solar gain, why not start designing for PV from the start, it’s not rocket science.

Ok you might say, lets move onto the refurb market and pickup some extension work, well that might be a way, but I have been working this market for a few years, and it’s not easy at it’s best, with draftsmen undercutting good rates, with no PI or insurance, or practice registration. Currently I have seen less extension work that ever before, the old adage of extending to meet growing families  and not moving, seems to be not the case, with house and land prices falling, and current mortgages V’s house values remaining quite high, people are not extending until there is a promise of either getting the cost of the extension back from increased  house prices, or they have a long mortgage and are prepared to take the long-term view of never moving.

So were does this leave us, well CAD training is certainly a high priority, that together with a rethink on house designs and presentation, but I would place a bet, that spending a little time in other markets might be one answer, such as new material development, or learning how other countries work, it might just mean going were the work is, and in that case, planning and construction techniques and laws of other countries might be higher on your agenda than in previous years. So for a future blog, I’m going to look into the construction regulations and techniques of different countries and list any links I can find. The UK, Ireland, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland are first on the list, but if anyone  can help with  the USA, Canada, Europe Australia, New Zealand, South Africa China, or indeed any country with work, I will give due credit for the link. Remember, with current broadband and dropbox, plus skype, and paypal for fee’s you don’t need to emigrate, just learn to work online.

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