flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

AEC firms leverage custom scripts to bridge the ‘BIM language gap'

AEC firms leverage custom scripts to bridge the ‘BIM language gap'

Without a common language linking BIM/VDC software platforms, firms seek out interoperability solutions to assist with the data transfer between design tools.


By David Barista, Editor-in-Chief | November 5, 2014
Thornton Tomasettis computational modeling and R&D incubator, CORE Studio, has
Thornton Tomasettis computational modeling and R&D incubator, CORE Studio, has developed numerous digital tools since its found

As AEC firms dive deeper into BIM/VDC modeling and simulation workflows, the number of software tools put into play on a given project keeps growing exponentially. Firms recognize the value of implementing a mix of digital modeling tools, but the language barrier that exists between the different software platforms leads to tremendous waste and inefficiencies during the design and construction cycles. 

Without the free and rapid exchange of data from the earliest stages of design through construction, Building Teams are forced to perform double work, such as manually inputting data and rebuilding early conceptual design models in a BIM platform. They also miss out on the potential of iterative design, where, for example, the results from daylight and energy modeling simulations can be fed back to the design team so it can make more-informed design decisions. 

What is  inadequate interoperability costing Building Teams? The most recent research—a NIST study published a decade ago (http://tinyurl.com/NISTsoftwareReport)—put the cost burden to the construction industry at $15.8 billion annually.

“When you look at the cost burden from a project budget perspective, interoperability accounts for 2-3% of the total construction budget,” says Nathan Miller, Associate Partner with BIM consulting firm CASE. “Just making a dent in that small percentage can yield a ton of benefits downstream.” 

Firms are itching for interoperability solutions to establish data pipelines between software platforms and streamline workflows. This demand has led to growth in the emerging field of computational scripting, where firms develop (or commission third-party consultants like CASE to create) custom “hacks” that link digital tools and automate, accelerate, or eliminate wasteful processes. 

“There are huge advantages to leveraging computational scripting and the broader concept of being able to customize your applications,” says Miller. “As a core capability, you’re going to see a greater need and desire among AEC firms to develop this skill set in-house, or have access to consulting firms like CASE.”

BD+C profiles two recent computational scripting projects that are making waves across the broader industry: Thornton Tomasetti’s TTX platform and CASE’s Rhynamo application.

 

THORNTON TOMASETTI’S TTX PLATFORM LINKS SIX DESIGN PLATFORMS

When structural engineering giant Thornton Tomasetti launched its in-house computational modeling and R&D incubator, CORE Studio, in 2011, one of its first objectives was to solve the BIM/VDC software language gap. At a minimum, the firm’s staff uses six primary design and modeling tools, none of which speak the same language. Incompatibility was costing Thornton Tomasetti thousands of staff hours annually by requiring its engineering teams to manually transfer project data from one design tool to another. It also impeded the exchange of data between team members during the design and construction cycles.

In the past, the firm had employed and tested a range of tools to translate project data from one platform to another, including IFC models and a suite of custom translators developed in house. But none of the solutions provided the ability to update and sync project models across multiple software platforms in real time, nor did they allow past versions of a model to be retrieved for analysis. These translators essentially performed “whole hog” imports that would completely overwrite the previous version, according to Benjamin Howes, Architect and Computational Designer with Thornton Tomasetti. “For example, if a draftsperson had been tagging and adding annotations to a Revit model and the model needed to be updated via a translation, all of the tagging and element-specific annotations would need to be redone.”

The firm’s solution was to make its design workflow software-agnostic by moving all critical project data into a custom database called TTX. More than two years in the making, the TTX platform provides real-time read, write, and sync capabilities across six software tools: ETABS, Grasshopper for Rhino, RAM Structural System, Revit, SAP 2000, and Tekla. 

Using any one of these applications, Thornton Tomasetti’s engineers can “check out” the latest data on their project from TTX, work on the design and documentation, and then “check in” the updated version.  

 

 
CORE Studio’s most prominent project to date is the TTX platform, a custom database that serves as the central repository for all of Thornton Tomasetti’s project data. Using TTX, the firm’s engineers can work on project models in any one of six software tools. Shown above is a project model displayed in all six software platforms supported by TTX: 1) SAP 2000, 2) Revit, 3) Tekla, 4) ETABS, 5) Grasshopper for Rhino, and 6) RAM Structural Systems. Screen shots: courtesy Thornton Tomasetti

 

“We may have 20 people working on any given project,” says Jonatan Schumacher, Director of CORE Studio. “It’s very difficult to coordinate between all team members. TTX serves as the coordination piece. Someone who’s been working on one platform can essentially update the database, and then the next morning everyone can checkout the latest data from the database and work in their respective modeling platform.”

Since the beta release of TTX in July 2013, more than 100 of the firm’s projects have been moved to the database, and nearly 12,000 data check-outs/check-ins have been executed. The firm currently has 95 regular TTX users. It also employs two full-time staff members to maintain the database, track updates to the major software platforms, and create custom tools for TTX. 

“One tool we’re developing will allow us to easily compare two versions of the same database side by side,” says Robert K. Otani, PE, LEED AP, Principal with Thornton Tomasetti. “The first thing that any client wants to know is: What changes were made from the last issuance to this issuance? This tool will allow our teams to search for and highlight any change or series of changes, in real time. It’s going to be a huge time-saver.”

CORE Studio is also working on a Web-based dashboard for TTX that will allow clients and team members to view models remotely using any browser or device. “It’s essentially a lightweight version of a BIM model viewer, where users can spin around in the model, zoom in and out, and hover over elements to reveal the design attributes,” says Schumacher. 

For more on TTX, visit www.ThorntonTomasetti.com/blog/post/43-Announcing-TTX.

 

RHYNAMO CREATES DATA BRIDGE BETWEEN REVIT AND RHINO

What started out as a nights and weekends coding project for CASE’s Miller has turned into one of the BIM consulting firm’s more exciting endeavors. Aptly named Rhynamo, the custom application serves as a bridge, linking two heavily used 3D modeling platforms—Rhino/Grasshopper for conceptual modeling and Autodesk Revit for BIM modeling—utilizing the open-source Dynamo graphical programming interface as the go-between.  

Rhynamo offers AEC firms the ability to bypass the excruciatingly time-consuming process of rebuilding from scratch early conceptual Rhino models in the Revit platform.

With a few keystrokes, vital project data embedded in a Rhino model, such as geometries, coordinates, design parameters, and massing, cam be automatically imported into Dynamo, which can then be used “to build all sorts of systems on top of the BIM framework that Revit offers,” according to Miller.

“What Rhynamo does is provide a series of visual scripting nodes for Dynamo that allow a user to bring into Dynamo just about any geometric piece and different parts of data that are embedded inside a Rhino file,” says Miller. “That may involve translating geometry or using Rhynamo to coordinate parameters that might have been developed inside the Rhino environment—or simply providing an overall assist with that pipeline.”

 


In this YouTube video, CASE's Nathan Miller demonstrates the Rhynamo script.

 

Besides speed gains (which are difficult to measure, says Miller, since any time gained will likely be allotted for additional design work), Rhynamo offers Building Teams the opportunity for rapid iteration to occur throughout the design cycle. 

“Instead of having to stop design at a certain point because the project deadline is looming, this seamless connection between design and production software allows design teams to move decisions further downstream and adapt to the changing conditions of a project much quicker,” says Miller.

“Design never stops,” he says. “When construction documents hit there are always going to be decisions that need to be made and studies to be done. Rhynamo is attempting to make the process as defined and efficient as possible.”

In less than three months since CASE launched a private beta test of Rhynamo, more than 300 BIM power users have downloaded the code for review. In the coming months, the firm plans to release the program as a free, open-source product, which will allow other firms to customize the code for their operations.  

HDR and RTKL, two of CASE’s regular clients, are among the early adopters of Rhynamo. Others include a major retailer that used the tool to migrate its library of 2D drawings to Revit in order to automate the creation of 3D BIM elements.

“We were able to translate from 2D drawing to a coarse 3D Revit model in seconds,” says Miller. “Interoperability technologies allow us to leverage data in new ways across many platforms.”

For more on Rhynamo, visit: http://content.case-inc.com/rhynamo.

Related Stories

| Aug 30, 2013

A new approach to post-occupancy evaluations

As a growing number of healthcare institutions become more customer-focused, post-occupancy evaluations (POE) are playing a bigger role in new construction and renovation projects. Advocate Health Care is among the healthcare organizations to institute a detailed post-occupancy assessment process for its projects. 

| Aug 29, 2013

First look: K-State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium expansion

The West Side Stadium Expansion Project at Kansas State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium is the largest project in K-State Athletics history. 

| Aug 27, 2013

Industrial Sector Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]

Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest industrial sector design and construction firms, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.

| Aug 26, 2013

What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets

BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets. 

| Aug 26, 2013

Chicago Bears kick off season at renovated Halas Hall

An upgraded locker room, expanded weight room, and updated dining room with an outdoor patio greeted the Chicago Bears when they arrived at Halas Hall for practice this month. The improvements are part of a major expansion and renovation of the Bears’ headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill., completed by Mortenson Construction in less than seven months.

| Aug 22, 2013

Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]

This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.

| Aug 22, 2013

Warehouse remake: Conversion project turns derelict freight terminal into modern office space [slideshow]

The goal of the Freight development is to attract businesses to an abandoned industrial zone north of downtown Denver.

| Aug 21, 2013

AIA: Architecture billings on the rise in July

The Architecture Billings Index for July was 52.7, up from a mark of 51.6 in June. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).

| Aug 20, 2013

40 Under 40 retrospective: ‘U40s’ take on continuing ed, snake’s blood

Every month we’ll be touching base with past 40 Under 40 honorees to see what’s been happening in their professional and personal lives since winning the award. This month: An accomplished author of test-prep books and an architect who headed to China when the American economy turned sour.

| Aug 20, 2013

Top Data Center Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]

Corgan, Gensler, HDR head Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest data center architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Museums

The Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a $110 million expansion

In Tampa, Fla., the Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a 77,904-sf Centennial Expansion project. The museum plans to reach its $110 million fundraising goal by late 2024 or early 2025 and then break ground. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and with construction manager The Beck Group, the expansion will redefine the museum’s surrounding site.



Reconstruction & Renovation

Movement to protect historic buildings raises sharp criticism

While the movement to preserve historic buildings has widespread support, it also has some sharp critics with well-funded opposition groups springing up in recent years. Some opponents are linked to the Stand Together Foundation, founded and bankrolled by the Koch family’s conservative philanthropic organization, according to a column in Governing magazine.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021