Has anyone else noticed this?

I was telling one of my colleagues about AU and why its the most wonderful week of the year...

....And what kind of positive impact this event has had on my career 

....And how it has been worth it to pay for the thing out of my own pocket some years

...And what a great value it is when you consider that the meals and hotel are INCLUDED!!!!

I started telling him about all the tips and tricks i learn at the event and how it has made me the Fire-Breathing-CAD-Monster that i am today....

The first class i ever sat in was a Lynn Allen "90 tips in 90 minutes" rundown of all the new features in AutoCAD 2006.  I was awestruck...

....not just by the material (which was awesome for an AU freshman)

....not just by Lynn's enthusiasm for the material (i thought i was the only person who got excited by CAD tips and tricks)

....but also by the big bodyguards who escorted her out of the hall and around for the week.  (I guess when you're the only hot blonde in a sea of CAD geeks, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.)

No disrespect is intended to Lynn by this post.  I think she is GREAT...i just thought the whole situation was kind of amusing.  So i am describing this to my co-worker, and i decide to look up "Lynn Allen" on Google Images to illustrate my point...

"Lynn Allen on Google Images"

As we are looking at the pictures, there is another quite attractive blonde who has several photos mixed in.  And that's when i realize that the real name of Ginger Lynn, 80's Porn Star, also happens to be "Lynn Allen"

ouch...

AU 2012 starts now....

I thought he was referring to me

The Trouble With BIM

Its a very interesting article.  It seems that a lot of the facts are finally bubbling up through the fiction.  It doesn't discredit us, but a more realistic picture is coming to the fore.

"While I like the vision and the commitment to this drive to improve efficiency in the UK construction market, I am worried about where we are now as an industry versus where Mr Morrell wants the industry to be in five years, especially considering the capabilities of the current BIM software, the average user’s skill-set and the general lack of experience in completing 3D BIM projects in the UK.

The other dynamic at play here is the ingrained culture of working and the contract structures that do not reflect the shared risk/rewards that a truly collaborative project would require. BIM is not just about buying some software and training, it is about learning to work with other project participants differently and striving to make efficiencies."

All the more reason i am thrilled to see governments kicking industry in the a55 to get moving on this.  The same process is underway in Singapore, although with a bit more financial support from the government.

The technology isn't new.  It isn't 'untested'.  Lets cut the crap and get on with it already.

Today i was in a meeting with one of the design directors from one of the largest projects going on in the country and representatives from the Building Construction Authority.  In explaining his company's position on mandating BIM for the job , this design director gave me the quote of a lifetime.

"We are builders.  We count every nut and bolt.  If we didn't believe this was worth it, we wouldn't be doing it.  We're not doing it because of a theory.  We aren't doing it for the future.  We are doing it because its what we need to do in order to finish this project effectively"

I owe that guy another pack of imported contraband chewing gum.

Noah's Loaf - Curtain Panel Goodness

This step took some tenacity...But tenacity starts with "T" which stands for Trouble!

First step is to do this with a curtain panel by pattern:

If you don't know what it is, shame on you!  Go read here:

Au Bon Panel

Thank you Bob-Man and Shaggy

So with that panel pattern in my back pocket, i could go ahead and start screwing around with my base model from last time:

For what became my first attempt (thought this would be easy), I started by picking the edges between each rib and hitting the CREATE FORM button.

I did this several times to fill the whole boat

And then divided the surface and applied the appropriate Curtain Panel Pattern:

It looked okay at first blush, but upon closer inspection, the shell edges weren't squaring up right.  Actually, they looked downright sloppy:

I'd rather be accused of fastidiousness than having too much time on my hands...Semantic argument for sure....nonetheless i tried again.

This time I took the "Tedious Brute Strength" approach.  First off, i hosted a bunch of reference points along the shell profile:

And repeated this process for all 3 profiles and it worked exactly as i wanted:

Then I hosted a parameter driven rectangle  on each reference point.  CREATE FORM again and voila!

It worked as expected,

but 2 problems remained:

1) All my lengths were now curved and i wanted straight segments, broken at each joint for scheduling and measurement

2) It was a damn lot of work and i got bored

Okay...Trial #3!

Because I set up the original Curtain Panel Pattern using the correct point orientation, I realized i could do the whole shell in one shot.  The trick was going to be to use DIVIDE BY INTERSECTION in order to control the break points:

My segments divide out properly.  If i did some work with reporting parameters, I could get some cool data out of this.  Implanting MODEL LINES in the curtain panel would give me a structural stick model too!

The joints go straight through which i am not overly keen on, but i suppose if i wanted it perfect, i could take it into Rhino or ACAD and perform some additional boolean operations...

yikes....what a day....

It's my Birthday

No Really.

Today is my birthday....and i really hate it.

With consideration and gratitude on a horrible anniversary.

TBT

Slicing Noah's Loaf

Previously, I went through an explanation of how to develop this form.  In this post, i will look at the process of slicing it up.

First things first, i laid out a series of reference lines along the length of loaf.  I then went ahead programmed some parameters to control the spacing of these lines which are intended to locate the center between ribs.

These are the parameters involved:

Then I pick each line individually and hit the CREATE FORM button.  It extrudes a nice 2D surface upwards.

This is where it gets interesting.  Then i pick the edge lines of each surface, you may have to hit the TAB key once or twice to cycle through the options.  Having selected the edges of the surface, i hit CREATE FORM again and a box is extruded.

I link the positive and negative offsets of the box to the VOID_Thickness Half parameters.

And the boxes all line out to exactly how i want:

And I can start slicing using the CUT command....

Oh how happy I am!

Until i try to flex the form, which was the point of the whole exercise anyways, and then:

AAARARRARAGGGGGHHH!!!!!  I made the fatal error of using model lines to define the ends of my form.  I go back and start from scratch, generating the profiles as REFERENCE LINES!!!!  9 out of 10 times, when forms don't do what i want, its because i used model lines rather than reference lines.  I am a forgetful troublemaker sometimes....grrrr....

But NOW, I am kickin' it with a big smile.....

Star Wars - Lego Porn

A long time ago, I gave up the right to think that anybody has too much time on their hands....

I love this kind of crap...Its probably old news but when a guy who calls himself 'Marshall Banana' makes a 3 foot long Sandcrawler out of Legos, I don't think there could be enough recognition and applause.

Marshall's Flickr Gallery

Work in Progress Images

Good on you buddy!

Noah's Loaf - Resorts World Sentosa

I am a strong proponent of learning to use the Conceptual Massing Editor in Revit by modeling the buildings we see everyday.  Well, this one, The Maritime Museum at Resorts World Sentosa, had been bothering me for a while.

I am not aiming to accuratley recreate the form.  I am more interested in generating a family that could get me there!  So in this post i'll tackle the general, boat-like shape and in another week I'll go for the ribs and other stuff.  So join me as we look at how i did this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

Its a long way to the top....



This is the list of parameters if anyone is interested, notice that none of them are reporting parameters, this is all straight-forward behavior.

Here is a link to the family:

Noahs Ark.RFA