POSSIBLE ARCHITECTURAL PLUGINS FOR BRICSCAD... NO THEY DONT REPLACE THE BIM MODULE!

Ken Taylor

Hi all

I have just emailed Chuck Valli (Instant series of scripts) and Goh (1001bit scripts) to see if they will look at porting Sketchup architectural scripts to Bricscad.
www.valiarchitects.com
www.1001bit.com
I have used these scripts in SU for years and they are very good, so good they should be transferred if it is viable.
They would supplement rather than replace the BIM module and provide more functionality without having to reinvent the wheel. Some of these routines rival what Archicad can do with the NZ plugins, and certainly things you cant do with Autodesk product.
Have a look and judge for yourself, and if you like it tell Erik....he's a good listener from what you see in these forums! Oh and please tell Chuck and Goh....they have contact email forms on their web sites,
Cheers
Ken Taylor Designshop Architecture New Zealand

Knut Hohenberg

[code]No, they don't replace the BIM module![/code]
I guess that is correct - as far as I understand, the BIM module does not aim to become another vertical application, but to provide a kind of eco-system for further development by third parties (just like the two you mentioned), or even by advanced users. This is what I really like about it...

But IMO your hope to see ports of your favorite SketchUp tools sometime soon is a bit overenthusiastic, since this would probably rather require to rewrite them from scratch.

Erik De Keyser

 Hello Ken,

I took a look into those plug-ins for SketchUp - very, very nice. We can offer extended assistance and support for those developers who pick this up. So let's see if and when we can start with this. We see this indeed as a way of enriching the basic BricsCAD BIM module. If this can happen in parallel by as many partners as possible that speed up things and can create a very interesting diversity of features. 

BTW, thanks for bringing this up and contacting Chuck Valli and Goh.

Best regards,   erik

Tom Foster

Not wishing to reinstall SketchUp, I can't go see just what these PlugIns do.
But it wd seem like a good plan for BricsBIM to concentrate on superb do-anything geometry creation and modification tools, resymbolisation for drawing extraction etc -
and leave clever optional-extra 'productivity tools' to be provided as add-ons - such as automated roof, stair, ballustrade builders, and other specialities.
Then we can blame their designers, not Brics, if they turn out to be naive and limited, as usual so far!

Ken Taylor

Hi All

Erik thanks for the nice reply and offer to these guys

Tom there are videos and pdfs showing how these things work on their respective web sites....even the paid versions run on SU free version

And using them for a number of years I can assure you they do what it says on the box

You are right some routines on the market are too clever by half and lose sight of the objective.....show pony stuff

With v16 of course you can even as of now create the geometry quickly in SU then import it to Bricscad.....the few objects I have imported convert to nice clean ACIS solids....good programming inside Bricscad

Cheers

Ken T

Tom Foster

Now there's a thought - but I couldn't get on with SU, despite much trying - problems and untraceable ambiguities compounded it seemed, as the accurate-dimension load increased.
I longed for SU but with Acad-like ease of geometry - and suddenly that's just what we're promised with Brics!

Ken Taylor

Hi Tom

By the way its Ken not Mr Taylor! Us Kiwis (Australia is an island off our coast if that helps locate us) are a pretty informal lot!

Yep my thoughts precisely on SU too....I have seen brilliant work done with it but at times stability seems to be an issue round here....the Aussies have produced a full CAD system based on this core.

Bricscad is leading the way of that I am sure, great product and support, not super expensive, not tied to proprietary formats or objects. Its got a way to go in the BIM department yet but its well under way and the use of ACIS is the way I have worked with architecture since the eightys....Bricscad is blending SU simplicity and speed with
ability to edit the shapes you make, and get IFC  intelligence into them. And I am prepared to pay a few hundred bucks for the mature BIM.....money well spent.

Better get back my hotel design work

Cheers

Ken T

Ken Taylor

Hi all

Meant to apologise for caps on topic heading....in some countries it as viewed as "shouting" ..assure all not meant that way

Cheers Ken T

Erik De Keyser

 Hi Ken,

We are a bunch of pretty informal people too - we are OK with caps. And even if you shout we don't get angry ;-)

Best,   erik