AECbytes.com Blog » Product Reviews

Solibri Model Checker v7

Lachmi Khemlani — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:19:26 +0000

This review looks at the recently released version 7 of Solibri Model Checker, a model-checking tool that allows BIM models to be checked for potential problems, conflicts, or design code violations, with additional capabilities for visualization, walkthrough, interference detection, and model comparison. The enhancements in the new release include significant updates to its already user-friendly interface, new capabilities for the BIM QA/QC (Quality Assurance/Quality Control) process and workflow, as well as improvements in processing power and performance.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/SolibriModelCheckerv7.html

ArchiCAD 15

Lachmi Khemlani — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:01:11 +0000

This review takes a detailed look at the new release of Graphisoft’s BIM application for architectural design, which is focused on the theme of “design freedom” and has new tools and features that greatly expand ArchiCAD’s ability to model freeform buildings while still retaining the BIM nature of the model. These include a brand-new Shell tool that is capable of modeling a broad spectrum of forms, a revamped Roof tool that allows quick modeling of complex roofs, and several interface enhancements that make 3D modeling easier and more accurate.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/ArchiCAD15.html

Revit Architecture 2012

Lachmi Khemlani — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:19:21 +0000

This review takes a detailed look at the enhancements in the latest release of Revit Architecture, including its support for point clouds to facilitate modeling of renovation and retrofit projects, the ability to divide a building element into parts reflecting how that element will be constructed, the ability to group elements into assemblies and create sheets of the different assembly views, improved worksharing display that uses color-coding to provide greater visibility into element ownership and status, and several additional improvements to its visualization, user interface, DWG export, and dimensions capabilities.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/RevitArch2012.html

Acrobat Acrobat X Pro and Bluebeam PDF Revu 9

Lachmi Khemlani — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:11:07 +0000

This review explores and compares the latest versions of the two most commonly used electronic publishing solutions in the AEC industry, Adobe Acrobat and Bluebeam PDF Revu, both of which include capabilities to create, modify, and markup PDF documents and drawings, conduct collaborative online reviews, and include 3D PDF support.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/Acrobat10-Revu9.html

Vectorworks Architect 2011

Lachmi Khemlani — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:28:59 +0000

This review takes a detailed look at the BIM capabilities of Vectorworks Architect, a relatively late entrant into the field of architectural BIM applications, and explores if it is indeed possible to create a full-fledged BIM model with it. With advanced 3D modeling, rendering, and documentation capabilities, a price that is almost half of that of other BIM applications, cross-platform capability, and strong IFC support, Vectorworks Architect has a lot to recommend it, even if it does not have all the bells and whistles of more established BIM solutions.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/VectorworksArchitect2011.html

Newforma Project Center Eighth Edition

Lachmi Khemlani — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:18:29 +0000

This review takes an indepth look at the recently released Eighth Edition of Newforma’s PIM (project information management) solution, which finally includes the long-sought BIM integration that can potentially revolutionize how BIM is managed and deployed in the AEC industry. In addition to the BIM integration enabled by a Revit add-in, the new release includes additional add-ins for contract management and mobile access, along with several enhancements to the core application, Newforma Project Center.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2011/NewformaProjectCenter8.html

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended

Lachmi Khemlani — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:08:19 +0000

This review looks at the new release of Photoshop, which includes a number of breakthrough capabilities for image retouching, superior image selections, and realistic painting, as well as native 64-bit support for faster performance. It also looks at the 3D related enhancements in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, the specialized version of Photoshop that is targeted towards some specific fields requiring advanced digital imagery including AEC.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2010/PhotoshopCS5Extended.html

Nemetschek’s Scia Engineer

Lachmi Khemlani — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:40:56 +0000

This review takes a detailed look at the capabilities of Scia Engineer, a structural design tool that includes both sophisticated modeling and advanced analysis capabilities in one application, in contrast to other structural tools that only do either modeling or analysis. Well established in Europe, the application has many other advantages including a modern interface that allows for fast and easy modeling, the ability to create as well as analyze complex freeform geometry, support for a wide range of structures and materials, optimization and auto-design capabilities, bidirectional links to other structural tools, and IFC support.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2010/SciaEngineer.html

ArchiCAD 14

Lachmi Khemlani — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:39:12 +0000

This review explores the fey focus of ArchiCAD 14, which is on promoting “open collaboration” between architects and engineers by providing IFC-based translators for leading engineering applications used worldwide, as well as specific add-ins for Revit Structure and Revit MEP to further improve the accuracy of the model exchange. It also looks at the improvements made to ArchiCAD’s Teamwork module and several additional productivity and performance enhancements.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2010/ArchiCAD14.html

Revit Architecture 2011

Lachmi Khemlani — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:36:21 +0000

This review explores the wide variety of useful enhancements in Revit Architecture 2011 spanning across all areas of the application, including a concerted attempt to fix the interface issues faced by users in the last release and make the UI more modern, new tools and options for conceptual design, several productivity enhancements for design, documentation, and content creation using the Family Editor, improved display options and rendering speed, improvements in linked files and workset visibility control, and expanded API functionality.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2010/RevitArch2011.html