3D Components for BIM, Owners Using BIM, and Bentley's BE Conference

AECbytes starts this month with a Viewpoint contribution from Fred Abler, CEO of FormFonts.com, and design instructor and researcher, CAL POLY. He has spent 15 years in the software industry working on research prototypes for professionally developed building components and a multi-platform database for 3D modelers and BIM applications. He describes various emerging technologies such as expressive graphics, object agents, and generative components that will soon benefit 3D building simulation and better enable virtual delivery of AEC professional services.

This is followed by a Building the Future article that captures the highlights of an "Expotitions" meeting I recently attended focused on the use of BIM by facility owners. Expotitions is a group of real estate, design, and construction professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area, and this particular session had a panel discussion comprising representatives from Intel, the GSA, LucasFilm, and Walt Disney Engineering.

The Tips and Tricks section this month features for the first time, a tutorial on the architectural rendering application, Piranesi. In addition, a tutorial on Adobe Acrobat Professional will show how several PDFs from different source applications can be combined on one page, so that, for example, architects and engineers can include specifications, notes, tables, along with drawings on a sheet.

And finally, we will check out the highlights of Bentley's annual user conference, BE 2006, that was held from from May 21 to 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Thank you!

Lachmi Khemlani

Editorials > May 2006