BE Conference 2006: Bentley's Annual User Event

Bentley's annual user conference is typically held in May, and this year, it was held from May 21 to 25 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Named BE, which stands for Bentley Empowered, the conference this year drew around 2000 attendees, representing over 700 organizations from around the world. Bentley solutions primarily serve four vertical industries, all related to infrastructure, and the attendee representation was highest for Civil, followed almost equally by Building, Plant, and Geospatial. All Bentley's solutions for these four verticals are based on its two main platform products: the desktop-based design application, MicroStation, and the server-based collaboration and management application, ProjectWise. As in previous years, the first day of the BE conference was devoted to keynotes and general sessions related to the platform products for all the attendees, while subsequent days were devoted to more discipline-specific sessions. While I could not stay on for the Building-specific sessions this year, the general sessions and keynotes were very informative, providing ample fodder for discussion. The highlights of Bentley's product announcements at the general sessions, an overview of the BE awards, the products on display at the Exhibit Hall, and my overall impressions of the conference are captured in this AECbytes feature.

To compare notes with earlier BE conferences, see AECbytes Newsletter #20 for BE Conference 2005 and AECbytes Newsletter #9 for BE 2004.

The V8 XM Edition is Finally Here!

Those who attended the BE conference last year will recall that Bentley announced their next big release, the V8 XM Edition, at that event and spent much of their technology keynotes describing its features in detail. It was described as the next big release following the launch of the V8 (version 8) generation a few years earlier. As it turned out, the release of the XM Edition was delayed and it didn't see the light of day until the start of this year's BE conference. Therefore, most of the technology keynotes were again focused on describing the new features in the XM Edition, although this time, they were accompanied by actual demonstrations of the products as they were now ready for commercial release. The focus of the V8 XM Edition of MicroStation is on enhancing the capabilities of the application while making the interface simpler to use, and its key features are summarized below:

• It features better graphics with real-time interactive shading, allowing users to work directly in shaded views rather than working in line views and periodically shading them to better visualize the design. This has been accomplished by incorporating a new display subsystem leveraging Microsoft DirectX technologies, the same high-speed graphics technology use in the video gaming industry. Also new are features such as dialog and element transparency, integration with PANTONE colors, and display priority.

• A new interface feature called Task-based modeling has been introduced, which dynamically applies a specific set of tools, standards, and interface elements to a particular task in a work process (see Figure 1). Users can create their own task-based collections, which can be used individually or across a firm to standardize core processes and improve efficiency. Task-based modeling is different from customizing toolbars because a task simply makes a reference to a specific tool rather than physically placing in a designated toolbar. Thus, the same tool can appear in multiple tasks leading to greater flexibility in customizing the interface and improving the usability of the application.
  

• Links and references have been enhanced, along with PDF support. It is now possible to directly link an element in a MicroStation drawing to the particular sub-section in a Word document which describes its specifications, and this link is retained even when a PDF document is created from that drawing. This allows integrated project deliverables to be created that are hyperlinked for easy browsing. Also, with support for 3D PDF (as described in my review of Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional), an entire project including 3D models, MicroStation and AutoCAD drawings, specifications, and Microsoft Office files can be packaged in a single PDF document. A slick feature that was demonstrated during the keynote presentation was the ability to transparently superimpose a marked-up PDF file of a 2D drawing, say a plan or section, on a 3D model at the exact position where the plan or section would have been generated from, allowing both 2D and 3D to be viewed in conjunction with each other (see Figure 2).

• Other enhancements include a new Project Browser interface that makes it easier to organize and manage project information (see Figure 3); right-click context menus that make editing of objects easier; improved viewing and navigation in 3D; the ability to do an interactive daylight analysis of a space in a 3D model; keyboard mapping that allows each user to configure their entire keyboard as desired; improved visualization capabilities for photo-realistic rendering and new animation tools; and 3D modeling improvements such as creation of parametric 3D geometry, mesh modeling, and new handles for interactive editing.
  

• MicroStation now integrates with the popular Google Earth application by adapting its architectural coordinate system to Google Earth's geospatial coordinate system. This will allow site information from Google Earth to be brought into MicroStation so that the building design can be conceptualized in the context of the actual site. When the building design is complete, the MicroStation model can be exported back into Google Earth as a KMZ (compressed XML) file with the correct geo-referencing information, so that it can be viewed on the actual site by anyone using Google Earth who has access to that file (see Figure 4). This is similar to SketchUp's integration with Google Earth, as described in AECbytes Newsletter #23. MicroStation, however, goes one step further—you can set up an animation of the design in MicroStation and push the animation path to Google Earth, allowing that animation to be subsequently viewed in Google Earth. MicroStation also features the ability to drag and drop 3D content from the SketchUp-powered Google 3D Warehouse directly into a model, and in a topologically correct fashion, so that, for examples, trees will be correctly located on the ground even on an uneven terrain.

All of these features will also be available in the vertical solutions for different industries, such as the BIM solutions for the building industry. While MicroStation V8 XM Edition was officially released on the first day of the BE conference, the discipline-specific products are still in the process of beta testing but are expected to become available in a couple of months.

For those wondering that this "XM" name means, it doesn't really stand for something. My guess is that the name was inspired by Microsoft's "XP," given that Bentley continues to strongly align itself with Microsoft and is an ardent advocate of its technologies, as we will see later on in this article.

Other Upcoming Products and Services

At this year's BE Conference, Bentley executives did not dwell much on the V8 XM Edition of ProjectWise, Bentley's collaboration solution, except to highlight how it was addressing the key challenges for large, distributed enterprises along with MicroStation. Its feature list includes a project caching server for distributed data, access control, digital rights, and digital signatures for content management; smart search that can look for information inside files rather than being restricted to the file names only; integration between applications that can be achieved by standardizing on Bentley applications; support for all open standards and formats including PDF, IFC, aecXML, and ifcXML; and support for streamlined and concurrent workflows that can scale to the level of a distributed enterprise. All these are responsible for the growing adoption of ProjectWise by distributed enterprises, which includes 11 of the top 25 ENR firms in the US.

At the conference, Bentley took the opportunity to announce a new entry-level collaboration solution called ProjectWise StartPoint (see Figure 5), designed for smaller teams in a single location, as compared to the larger teams in multiple locations that the regular version of ProjectWise caters to. Like ProjectWise, one of the key features of StartPoint is its ability to integrate with Microsoft SharePoint, a portal and collaboration technology that includes features such as file access control with check-in/check-out functions, version control, powerful search features, calendars and message boards, and project websites with user-level customizations. Firms using StartPoint will have direct access to the SharePoint platform collaboration tools from within MicroStation, MicroStation PowerDraft, and AutoCAD. StartPoint is included in MicroStation V8 XM Edition and requires no additional server software beyond SharePoint technologies, so deployment for MicroStation users simply requires installing the new version. AutoCAD users can deploy StartPoint by installing a free downloadable plug-in. Both, however, require the purchase of a ProjectWise Named User License. StartPoint is intended to be a cost-effective starting point for organizations that wish to grow to high-end ProjectWise capabilities, and the fact that the name selected for this product is so similar to "SharePoint" (to the extent that it's easy to get confused between the two) again reflects Bentley's strong desire to be aligned with the world's leading software company.

In the Building vertical, an exciting development is the upcoming commercial launch of GenerativeComponents, a long-standing research initiative that has been in the beta testing stage for several years now. It can be thought of as parametric technology specifically for the creation of freeform shapes. Objects are created, not so much by modeling, but by defining an intricate set of relationships, which allows multiple design variations to be easily explored for a project simply by changing one of the controlling parameters. It is fascinating to watch a change in one variable ripple through an entire structure of complex geometric forms. The technology also helps in the fabrication of the individual components of these forms. Several signature buildings with challenging geometries have been designed with the use of GenerativeComponents by early adopters working with the beta version, such as London's Swiss Re building (also know as the "Gherkin") by Foster and Partners. The latest example of a project designed using GenerativeComponents, highlighted at this year's BE conference, is KPF's Bishopsgate Tower in London (see Figure 6).

Also relevant to the Building vertical is Bentley's new "Integrated Engineering" initiative, that was launched when it acquired two leading vendors of structural analysis solutions earlier this year: Research Engineers International (REI), developers of the STAAD.Pro line of structural engineering analysis software; and RAM International, developers of the RAM product line of structural engineering modeling, analysis, and design software. The focus of the Integrated Engineering initiative is to integrate engineering analysis, design, and documentation solutions by providing a direct connection from Bentley Structure to the STAAD and RAM products, allowing engineers to easily revisit decisions at any point in their workflow as they iteratively refine and optimize the design.

A new service offering announced at the BE conference was Bentley LEARN, an on-demand elearning program that is starting with over 800 hours of training. It is available on a subscription basis as a companion to Bentley's main software subscription program, Bentley SELECT, and is priced at 20% of the SELECT subscription.

Bentley also shared some features under development that will soon be available in the form of upgrades to the V8 XM Edition. These include new geometry creation and editing tools; improvements in fields, text, and title blocks; the ability to define geometric relationships and constraints between elements; support for the 2007 version of the DWG file format; and the ability for multiple users to simultaneously edit a shared file and have ProjectWise merge their changes when they are posted back to the master copy. Looking further ahead, Bentley will continue to integrate and work with upcoming technologies and innovations from Microsoft, such as Web 2.0, .NET, the Vista operating system, and the next version of Microsoft Office, which is Office 2007. Bentley took the opportunity to highlight the importance of having an open and accessible native file format like DGN as opposed to a protected and closed one like Autodesk's DWG by giving the example of Office 2007, whose native file format will be changed to a compressed form of XML—which is stable, open, and extensible. Bentley will also explore the possibility of switching to XML as the native file format for its own applications.

The BE Awards and Highlights from the Exhibit Floor

As in previous BE conferences, the BE Awards of Excellence were a major highlight of the show, being presented in an Oscar-like fashion at a special evening dinner ceremony. This year's host for the event was Peter Sagal of the National Public Radio program "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!", and his comic wisecracks at regular intervals made for a light-hearted and fun show. There were 260 entries across all the four verticals in the professional category, of which 29 projects received awards. In addition, there were some academic awards as well. Most of the awards for the Building vertical were based on the use of BIM, as shown in the listing of the winners in each category below:

It will be interesting to compare this list with the upcoming BIM Awards hosted by the AIA TAP group, which will be announced in Los Angeles at the AIA TAP conference next week, to see if there are any overlaps.

The Exhibit Floor at the BE conference showcased various products from Bentley and other vendors that work with Bentley solutions. Here is a quick round-up, starting with those who regularly exhibit at this show every year. Adobe, a leading partner, was demonstrating both Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional and the more recent Adobe Acrobat 3D, which allows design professionals to publish 3D design information from most of the major CAD and BIM applications in PDF format and share it for review with any computer user who has access to the free Adobe Reader software. HP showed an array of workstations especially configured for different levels of MicroStation users, starting from HP xw4300 Workstation for a standard user; HP xw6200 Workstation for an advanced user; HP xw9300 Workstation for a power user; and HP nw8240 Mobile Workstation for a power user on the go. Océ took the opportunity to demonstrate its latest product targeted towards design professionals: the TCS500 wide format color print, copy, and scan system which performs all these tasks simultaneously and includes features such as the automatic optimization of print quality and print settings when printing lines, text, and images on the same page, and color management for full control of color output. Other printing and scanning products on display were Ricoh 480W, a wide format copying, printing, and scanning system that includes a built-in document server for storing up to 80 GBs of document data and a scan-to-email option for instantly sending scanned documents by email; and Vidar's Titan H36, a low-cost wide format color scanner that can be configured for both stand-alone and network scan and copy tasks. On the 3D printing front, Contex—which acquired the leading 3D printing company, Z Corp, some time ago—showed its latest products: the DESIGNmate Mx monochrome 3D printer, and its color version, DESIGNmate Cx, which uses high-fidelity, 24-bit color capabilities to produce full-color models for better visualization of 3D designs.

Getting back to software solutions, there were also products from vendors that I had not seen at previous BE conferences. One of these was Altiva Software, which develops CADconform, a solution for managing corporate CAD standards for both AutoCAD and MicroStation. Another was Mill Creek Systems, showing applications such as Detail Manager PLUS for organization-wide management of standard CAD details for MicroStation V8, and RAS/EDIT for cost-effective editing of raster images inside MicroStation, very useful for making modifications to scanned drawings of older projects done before the CAD era. VisMasters, a new company that includes ArchVision, developer of the popular RPC content libraries, showed not only its RPC libraries but also other products it resells that work with MicroStation including Piranesi, an architectural rendering application, and TurnTool, an application that allows designers to enable others to view their 3D models. Bentley product resellers such as Axiom, ModernTech, and Archway Systems were also at hand to promote Bentley applications and their training and consulting services.

Overall Impressions

This was my third visit to a BE conference, and as I have pointed out in the past, it continues to have a very strong technological focus. There is, inevitably, some amount of marketing content, especially in events such as the BE Awards ceremony, and in the CEO's keynote that presents an overview of the company's performance. However, the emphasis is largely and overwhelmingly on the technology. The technology keynotes dwell not only on the new features of upcoming Bentley products, but also extensively on the technology underlying them as well as the technologies that future releases will build upon. As a result, attending the technology keynotes at the BE conference is always a very educative experience, which is terrific for those who welcome this opportunity to be enlightened on subjects such as .NET, Web 2.0, XML, 64 bit computing, Web services, Microsoft SharePoint, and so on.

The flip side to this, however, is that very often the discussion of the technology dominates the presentation of the new features and runs the risk of getting too technical. And most attendees, being design rather than software professionals, would probably care more about what the applications can do than about the underlying technologies. For those who attended both last year's and this year's BE conferences, the technological presentations must certainly have come across as an overdose, as they were both focused on the XM Edition, which is only just being released. Perhaps, in future years, Bentley can re-think its presentation strategy and tailor its keynote presentations to focus equally, if not more, on the developments it has engineered in its products rather than on the technologies they are based on.

Bentley's strategy of partnering with technology leaders such as Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, and of late, Google, seems like a smart one and should help to fortify its position against its many formidable competitors in the various industries in which its solutions are used. In past conferences, these partnerships have been highlighted by inviting companies such as Adobe to present their own keynotes in the opening day's general sessions. This year, the strong relationship between Bentley and Microsoft was highlighted in a special video in the keynote session. You certainly can't go wrong by partnering with the world's largest software vendor. At the same time, technology is advancing so rapidly that the dominance of Microsoft is no longer assured. From that perspective, Bentley users should feel heartened to see it also working on integrating with technologies developed by Google, which is doing extremely well as a company. And of course, who better to team up with than PDF leader Adobe to compete effectively against Autodesk's DWF format?

Talking of Autodesk, I found that the Autodesk-bashing in the executive keynotes was a little less than what I have witnessed in the past BE conferences, but it was there nevertheless. It mystifying to me why Bentley executives continue to draw the attention of their own user base to their competitors! And it's primarily Autodesk that is targeted, despite the fact that Bentley has other competitors like Intergraph and AVEVA in other verticals such as Plant. Autodesk came in for considerable flak for changing the DWG file format once again in the 2007 version, for continuing to keep it closed and proprietary, and for continuing to push proprietary formats such as DWF for electronic publishing instead of the industry-standard PDF.

While the BE Awards did reflect a lot of work being done with Bentley solutions, most of the winners, at least in the Building vertical, were long-time Bentley users such as NBBJ (which won awards in two categories), Arup, Building Design Partnership, and GHAFARI Associates. Most of these firms have also won the BE awards in previous years. There wasn't much evidence of new users, let alone new users winning awards. This highlights one of the key challenges before Bentley as a company—how to go beyond its existing user base in the AEC industry and attract new customers as they start to transition from CAD-based processes to BIM. In that respect, continuing to berate Autodesk's lack of support for openness and interoperability is not going to have much of an impact. I have found that most users who are looking to move to BIM are primarily interested in a solution that's powerful, intelligent, and at the same time, easy and intuitive to use. Bentley solutions have, so far, not earned high marks for elegance and ease of use, and it remains to be seen whether the XM edition provides this much-needed boost. We will find out in the product reviews of Bentley's BIM solutions, once their new XM versions have been released.

Bentley also needs to pay some attention to the construction side of AEC to develop BIM solutions for contractors that integrate with its multi-disciplinary BIM solutions for architecture and engineering. So far, there has been no move from Bentley in this arena, despite the fact that Graphisoft is already there with its Virtual Construction solutions (see AECbytes Newsletter #15) and Autodesk is starting to move in that direction with the preview of a quantity take-off solution that it demonstrated at Autodesk University 2005 (see AECbytes Newsletter #24). And while the acquisition of the STAAD and RAM product lines is a smart move towards integrating design and analysis, Bentley had no plans yet, as far as I could discern, to develop or acquire any other kind of analysis tool for other critical design aspects such as energy, egress, and so on. The concept of integrated engineering is great, but it needs to extend beyond structural engineering to include other aspects of building design as well.

Getting back to MicroStation V8 XM Edition, which was the focus of this year's BE conference, some of its features such as task-based modeling and the new PDF integration capability are truly innovative. However, other new features such as dialog transparency, organization of content into a Project Browser, right-click context menus, and handles for interactive editing have, by now, become quite common in other CAD and BIM applications; so, in that respect, MicroStation is simply playing catch-up. If Bentley wants to compete more aggressively with its competitors and try to capture their market share instead of simply continuing to upgrade its products for its existing new base, it needs to ensure that the list of innovative features in its next release is much longer than its catch-up feature list. Perhaps, it might help to turn to Apple for some inspiration rather than Microsoft for a change?

About the Author

Lachmi Khemlani is founder and editor of AECbytes. She has a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specializing in intelligent building modeling, and consults and writes on AEC technology. She can be reached at lachmi@aecbytes.com.