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Industry News
Nemetschek North America Press Day Report: New Parasolid Software
By Susan Smith

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Recently I attended a Press Day presented by Nemetschek North America in Baltimore, announcing their upcoming Vectorworks 2009 line of products. Nemetschek is not a “marketing” company, so to speak, in other words, the press don’t generally receive invitations to user group conferences, and we don’t receive many press releases from them. They are relatively quiet in the midst of an industry that clamors for airtime.

Not that Nemetschek doesn’t have anything to say – they do. The purpose of the visit to Baltimore was to hear the announcement that they are including Siemens PLM Parasolid engine as the new foundation for 3D in Vectorworks 2009. For those unfamiliar with Parasolid, it is a solid modeling engine made by Siemens’ PLM that is used by over 350 of the world’s software applications.

Sean Flaherty, CEO, Nemetschek North America

According to Sean Flaherty, CEO of Nemetschek North America, Vectorworks users are already 3D users, with rendering built into their products. They do have a separate product for rendering, Renderworks, whose sales they track for gauging advanced 3D usage. 49% of Vectorworks customers buy Renderworks. Although changing from the previous solid modeling engine to Parasolid is no small feat technically, Flaherty feels that the change is well worth it.

“The aerospace and automotive industries have been doing model based design for years,” Flaherty pointed out.

Backing up a bit, this announcement was preceded by the usual company information. Why we don’t hear much from Nemetschek was explained: Nemetschek is not known outside of Europe. The company has spent the past few years acquiring a lot of smaller companies. They now have a new logo and have consolidated into ten operating divisions.

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Design, build and manage are the sectors into which the products fall. Nemetschek did make a blip on the radar last year when they acquired Graphisoft, creators of the competing product, Archicad. In fact, Nemetschek owns three competing 3D modeling BIM products: Archicad, Vectorworks and Allplan. Rather than attempt to move users all over to one package, they elected to keep the product lines separate, and continue on the paths that have made them each successful within their own market space. Allplan is used strictly in Europe, Archicad competes with both Vectorworks and Allplan, Vectorworks only competes with Archicad.

With competing products within their own company, Nemetschek seems reasonably unconcerned about the competition, including that outside their company. And rightly so: with each version, about 40% of their users upgrade. Flaherty cited their distribution model as the reason their revenues aren’t as large as those of their competitors. Another interesting fact about Vectorworks is that it was a Macintosh only application for many years, and still remains a favorite among the Mac community.

This is another area that clearly differentiates Vectorworks: Vectorworks was “the most widely used Mac product in the AEC market with 75% of the market worldwide,” according to Flaherty. Although the percentage of Mac users fluctuates from year to year, he said that they are “heavier” with Mac users this year. Presentation graphics has been the #1 selling point for their products for the past five years.

Flaherty remarked that Vectorworks is a “pluralistic” company, which he believes is a differentiating strength from their competitors. All Vectorworks employees in the world report to him.

Nemetschek is over 40 years old, with 1150 employees worldwide in 17 countries. There are 270,000 customers in 142 countries. Financially, Flaherty cited growth through acquisition as a real strength, adding that “Vectorworks has close to tripled in size since its acquisition. We are on our way to beating last year’s numbers. $22 million is a possible projection.”

The Nemetschek product portfolio includes the following categories:

• Design - Vectorworks products, Graphisoft, Allplan, Scia
• Build – construction management division, products such as Glaser, and Auer
• Manage
• Multimedia

A quick view of Vectorworks history:

1985 - Vectorworks started out as MiniCAD
1991 - Diehl Graphsoft IPO
1996 - first cross-platform edition
1999 - Vectorworks Architects and Renderworks
2000 - acquired by Nemetschek AG, renamed Nemetschek North America
2001 – complete design series, Landmark, Spotlight, and Machine Design
2007 - Vectorworks 2008 introduction

The products:

Vectorworks Fundamentals is a basic package at $1295
Vectorworks Designer includes all four industry verticals – Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, and Machine Design and includes Renderworks photorealistic techniques for $2,895.

Most revenue is derived from design, Flaherty noted. Asia/Pacific is Vectorworks’ biggest market at 41%, with Europe a close second at 36%, North American market 22%, and other 1%.

Building design accounts for 69% of the Vectorworks customer base, with general design (characterized as machine design, boat design, exhibit design) 22%, theater lighting at 5%, and landscaping 5%. The Landmark product has only been out for four years but has enjoyed 35% growth in that time period.

“42% of our growth is from new users,” claimed Flaherty. “Experienced CAD customers are switching to Vectorworks.”

Now flash forward to the present moment:

Flaherty outlined Nemetschek’s recent product focus. The issues that plague the building industry have been explored by numerous software vendors and experts over the last few years. Various tools such as BIM have been developed to address this problem which is attributed to an interoperability problem.

Nemetschek has taken a closer look at BIM, to note that architects are not using it.
“Architects are not going to get paid more for using BIM,” said Flaherty. “The only way to adopt it is for them to see what good it does them. They don’t get paid more because it costs the owner less.” Until now, BIM has not added much to the conceptualization stage of the process, so why, indeed, would it interest architects?

What does work for architects is free form modeling, which has become one of Vectorworks’ key strengths in the marketplace, particularly in the AEC space, Flaherty noted. Free form shapes then make modeling more complex, but to represent this cutting edge architecture, BIM is needed.

Architects want a corporate lobby to impress clientele. In order to get to BIM, Flaherty sees a 3D maturity curve, starting with 2D only, moving to 3D conceptualization or visualization, then to integrated design and development, then model-centric BIM.

At the integrated design and development stage, “You are using 3D for most of your design development and you become more efficient at this stage. We would like to see most people getting here,” said Flaherty.

Barriers to 3D use

• Modeling limitations
• 3D speed and robustness
• More complicated UI.
• BIM slows down design
• Good visualization is hard to get

Without free form modeling, it’s hard to represent what you are trying to build. Further, said Flaherty, if you have to switch between 2D and 3D there is a lot more to deal with.

Flaherty said that Vectorworks users are 3D users; they are accustomed to the rendering engine resident inside Vectorworks, even before buying Renderworks, and the percentage of customers who purchase Renderworks is 49%. Vectorworks customers are early adopters, which definitely differentiates them from AutoCAD users who tend to languish with older versions and Bentley users, who enjoy software that is historically backward compatible.

In a conversation with chairman of the board, Richard Diehl, Diehl said that former versions of Vectorworks are supported but not developed once the new version is released. They really encourage customers to upgrade. This is the second time they have switched the kernels; eight years ago they switched from GSS to Solid++, and now to Parasolid.

Parasolid – Siemens PLM Software

Dave Shook, senior vice president and managing director for Siemens PLM group, introduced his company as a PLM software and services company with a workforce of 7,750. Siemens PLM has 5.5 million seats of software and 51,000 customers, and Siemens PLM Software is #1 or #2 in all market segments.

Toolkits behind all the products have components made up of Parasolid, D-cubed, PLM Vis, Geolus, JT Open, and PLM XML. “We are allowing our toolkits to be used by our market partners, Nemetschek being one of those,” explained Shook. “We’re not in the AEC marketplace. Partners don’t have to make the investment in Parasolid, it’s standard, We want to make sure it works and has features we need and they need.”

Shook noted that Parasolid is used by a number of Siemens PLM competitors including Dassault and PTC. “We like to think we’re ‘open by design,’ letting our toolkits promote interoperability. We have an open published XT file format. Parasolid is used by over 2.5 million engineers globally.”

With 2.5 million seats, the Parasolid toolkit is easy to embed, noted Shook, pointing out that Bentley Systems uses it.

Parasolid will allow Vectorworks to more easily handle the increasing complexity in the BIM market space, said Shook. “We are the least expensive Parasolid modeler on the market now and we are the only Mac Parasolid modeler in AEC,” Flaherty said.

Vectorworks Architect 2009

The new product, Vectorworks Architect, offers architectural BIM with planar surfaces, solid modeling, NURBs surfaces, and 3D parametrics, the latter added in Vectorworks 2010.

In the area of conceptualization and visualization, other products besides Vectorworks offering these are SketchUp (planar only), Cinema 4D and Rhino (both do planar and NURBs surfaces, and Rhino has 3D parametrics). Allplan is the same as Archicad but just has planar modeling.

“We are running almost all our 2D and 3D through the Parasolid modeler because they are almost 12 times faster (the 3D),” said Flaherty. “Conversion of smooth shapes is 4 to 5 times faster. Pricing is more expensive but policies are fundamentally the same. We shortened the cycle to 2/3 of prior length. In raw dollars it’s cheaper to upgrade to 2009.”

Although it is more expensive internally to have Parasolid, Parasolid is multithreaded, better algorithms are the result, which translate to speed gains for Vectorworks. “We are beginning to think maybe we don’t have to develop so much on our own,” noted Flaherty.

The bottom line, as with all architectural projects, is constructable 2D drawings, no matter what path takes the user there. “The big projects will be supported by paper for a long time to come,” concluded Flaherty.

The Parasolid Challenge

Biplab Sarkar, CTO, Nemetschek North America

Nemetschek has prepared itself for taking up the challenge of transitioning to Parasolid, which everyone agreed is a difficult task. The way the data is stored in Parasolid is significantly different than how it is stored in Solids++. Dr. Biplab Sarkar, Nemetschek North America's Chief Technology Officer, said that 60% of the kernel has been changed out to the Parasolid kernel at this time, but the rest of the kernel will be incorporated in the 2010 version of Vectorworks.

Dr. Sarkar said that the file format is not affect by Parasolid. Data is stored in Vectorworks in a neutral way, it will be saved as a “blob.”

What will it be like for 2008 users interacting with a 2009 user? “There is a translation step because we have had to change the modeling schema,” explained Flaherty. “There are a lot of extreme cases in Parasolid that can’t be represented in the old kernel. For advanced 3D modeling, you’re going to want to upgrade. However, if you’re all in the same offices, geometry will be generated on the fly and shouldn’t have translation issues.”

Customer Stories

Mike Pacylowski, president, ProBuilt Home Solutions, a design/build firm, uses Vectorworks Architect on the Mac. A beta tester for the new 2009 version, he used Architect 2009 on a theater that needed theatrical lighting and used information from the county auditor’s office, plus shape files and census data, and Google Earth. Using a detailed sketch in Vectorworks, he can send all 2D boolean operations to Parasolid which is faster and turn the 2D drafting in to a concept of spaces.

In Vectorworks Architect, Pacylowski said, all the architectural objects have intelligence. Free form modeling is “becoming a requirement,” he noted, adding, “This gives all functionality in surface and solids modeling to create any shape.”

VectorWorks Landmark users can import satellite imagery to create DTMs and georeferenced shape files are also supported.

In the van on the way to the airport, I spoke with Todd McCurdy, ASLA, director of Landscape architecture and planning principal for Morris Architects, who was a presenter at the event.

McCurdy said that they are able to use a drawing tool in Landmark (Vectorworks’ landscape design tool) to do preliminary drawings of designs. They can then use Landmark on top of that original design, and then also sketch on top of the digital 3D model.

“We’ve chosen the tools and methods we have because they help us be better designers,” and what they find is the tools give them better flexibility and versatility, and help them visualize and present concepts, and “allow us to present our work in our style,” concluded McCurdy. Also, they spend far less time training others because the Vectorworks tools are so intuitive. “Vectorworks is not viewed as just a CAD program, it’s a design tool for us, part of our design workflow.”

More images from the conference will be posted on AECCafe.com

Note: All travel, lodging and meals for this trip were covered by Nemetschek North America.

Top News of the Week

Adobe Systems Incorporated announced the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family, a milestone release of the industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow. Delivering radical workflow breakthroughs that bring down the walls between designers and developers — and packed with hundreds of feature innovations—the new Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, mobile, interactive, film and video production. With new levels of integration and expressiveness for Flash technology across the entire product line, Adobe’s biggest software release to date includes Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design editions, Creative Suite 4 Web editions, Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Creative Suite 4 Master Collection, as well as 13 point products, 14 integrated technologies and seven services.

Acquisitions/Agreements/Alliances

Solibri LLC announced that it has appointed Digital Vision Automation, Inc., with offices in Irvine, CA as a Solibri Authorized Reseller Partner.

TRIRIGA has extended its partnership with RealFoundations, Inc., a management and technology consulting firm focused on the real estate industry, to deliver the first integrated software and environmental advisory services solution that measures, manages and reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. TRIRIGA integrates TREES (TRIRIGA Real Estate Environmental Sustainability) with leading environment-focused real estate practices from RealFoundations to get organizations started in just 90 days on a clear, measured path toward reducing their carbon footprints.

Autodesk, Inc. has signed an agreement with Ambercore Software to license its point cloud technology and incorporate it into future releases of Autodesk software. Point clouds are extremely large data files usually created through the use of laser scanning, high definition surveying, or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). They provide a more accurate representation of existing conditions whether of a terrain surface or urban center, a roadway or bridge, or the interior/exterior of a building.

Announcements

Autodesk has made a call for submissions for its 2008 Design Show Reel, which will be premiered at Autodesk University in Las Vegas. Artists are invited to send Autodesk their most recent design visualization animations and renderings created with 3ds Max, Maya or Revit for potential inclusion in the reel. The submission deadline is October 1, 2008. More information is available on Autodesk.com

Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced the launch of a new group dedicated to helping architects, engineers, construction professionals, and owner-operators design, build, and operate better-performing, more sustainable buildings. Bentley’s new Building Performance Group will focus on software solutions and products that address the immediate global need to create and maintain energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, safer buildings that also set the benchmark for occupant comfort. Among the new group’s current offerings are Bentley’s recently acquired Hevacomp line of leading building services design software that includes products for energy analysis, heating and cooling load calculations, pipe and duct sizing, and electrical system design, and Tas software for fast, in-depth energy analysis and simulation of demanding and challenging large-scale building environments. Together, these products make Bentley the clear global leader in building analysis and simulation products for improved building performance.

Bentley Systems’ BE Careers Network announced the opening of its 2009 BE Awards student design competition – an integral part of Bentley’s annual BE Awards of Excellence program honoring the extraordinary work of its users. University, technical college, and high school students are invited to submit projects they’ve designed using Bentley software, along with a short essay describing their work. The judging will focus on creativity and skill in applying design and engineering principles. The program welcomes both individual and team efforts, but teams cannot exceed three members. All submissions must be received by Feb. 20, 2009. Bentley will award a $1,000 scholarship to the winning individual or team in each of the five submission categories. For more information, visit BE Careers Network.

Microsol Resources Corporation, a recognized leader in BIM technology solutions, as well as a leading Autodesk Value Added Reseller serving the Building and Civil Engineering Industries and an Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider (PSP), is pleased to announce that they are now an authorized reseller of Reed Construction Data's SmartBIM Library."

McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC), part of The McGraw-Hill Companies released the first-ever global look at green building market trends in a new SmartMarket Report, Global Green Building Trends: Market Growth and Perspectives from Around the World. Key findings from the report, which covers market activity, key triggers and obstacles, and trends in renewable energy driving green building in seven regions around the world, were presented at MHC's 2008 Green Building & Energy Efficiency International Conference at the Shanghai World Financial Center.

Financials

Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced it will release its financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, before the market opens on Monday, September 29, 2008. The Company has scheduled a conference call for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day. See press release

People

CH2M HILL, a global full-service engineering, procurement, construction, and operations firm, announces that Chairman and CEO Ralph Peterson will step down as CEO effective January 1, 2009. Lee McIntire, who presently serves as the firm's President and Chief Operating Officer, will become the firm's CEO at that time.
Peterson will continue to serve as the firm's Chairman through the completion of his current term, and will retire in October 2009.

New Products

Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced the release of SewerCAD V8 XM Edition, a powerful tool for sewer design and rehabilitation. SewerCAD V8 XM provides innovative modeling tools featuring an easy-to-use interface and advanced capabilities that enable engineers from municipalities, utilities, and consulting firms to get the most value from their capital improvement funds.

Eagle Point Software Corporation announced the release of Data Reduction, its second third-party software solution built to run directly on AutoCAD® Civil 3D®. Data Reduction provides a link for those who need to import survey data from various manufacturers’ file formats into Civil 3D. Whether users download directly from the collector or import a job already on the PC, shots described in the field using Eagle Point’s popular coding methodology are imported into Civil 3D with linework automatically generated. With its support of over 30 survey file formats, Data Reduction saves time both in the field and the office.

QuadriSpace announced the release of the Document3D Personal Edition, a completely free edition of their popular 3D communication and documentation suite. The Personal Edition is ideal for sharing 3D with co-workers, friends, suppliers, vendors, management and marketing. QuadriSpace products are known for ease-of-use and affordability when using existing 3D outside of design. The Personal Edition takes affordability to a new extreme.

“CADLearning" by 4D Technologies releases a 92 lesson Advanced Tutorial Series for users of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2009.

Available Online or DVD, this series is for the experienced user and/or CAD Manager. Watch screen recordings as the instructor explains multiple techniques using the various interfaces available. One can also follow along using the supplied data sets.

Bricscad V9 - based on IntelliCAD - is the 2D and 3D CAD platform by preference for users who want to extend their number of professional CAD seats or just want to replace other to expensive CAD seats.
Bricscad V9 reads and writes the native DWG format and offers compatibility with AutoCAD 2009. Bricscad V9 has a very recognizable intuitive user interface and requires no extra training.

The new MagiCAD version 2008.5 is now available to the market. The new edition of MagiCAD is developed to provide wider opportunities and better functionality for customers worldwide. Completely new features and improved functions, implemented in MagiCAD 2008.5, will speed up work routines and improve the quality and efficiency of projects.

Archway Systems, Inc., developer and marketer of design software solutions including VersaCAD, versatile, computer-aided design and drafting (CAD), announces VersaCAD 2008 will ship on October 1. The new XML based file format offers openness and extensibility, and is designed for production design drafting.

The IFD Library Group - a division of the buildingSMART organization - has chosen Bricsys Vondle technology to manage the IFD Library project.
IFD is the International Framework for Dictionaries, a standard for ontologies used by buildingSMART technology. The IFD Library project is derived from internationally-accepted open standards developed by ISO (International Organization of Standards), most importantly ISO 12006-3:2007.

Sage Software announced the availability of Sage Timberline Office Version 9.5, the newest version of the company's award-winning construction management software, offering an array of features designed to improve system security and business productivity

Autograph Technical Services introduces two METRIC CADCARDs - one featuring ISO Sheet Sizes, and the other, ANSI and Architectural Sheet Sizes in metric conversions. Text heights, dimensioning operations, and all other functions have been revised and updated to be the perfect metric productivity, reference, and educational tools for use with AutoCAD.

Océ introduced the Océ cx2100, a desktop color MFP with the ability to copy, print, scan and fax. This powerhouse desktop device, available from the Océ North America Document Printing Systems division, provides users with a wide range of features and functions while taking up a small amount of space. The Océ cx2100 is an all-in-one office assistant that features rich, full-color laser output. Providing the ultimate in flexibility, the Océ cx2100 comes standard with a variety of features so that businesses can obtain maximum productivity.

Bluebeam Software Inc. announced the release of Bluebeam PDF Revu 6.5 with PDF form filling and batch text stamping. These new features provide users in any industry including AEC, Legal, Government, Education and Finance with a professional and affordable alternative for sharing and communicating ideas through PDF.

To support the productivity of its customers, Autodesk is previewing a new navigation tool for AutoCAD software on Autodesk Labs. The Navigation Tool allows users to quickly switch between active drawings, and easily alternate between multiple layouts and viewports through browser-style options. Designed to operate with AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD 2009, as well as the vertical solutions based on these platforms, the Navigation Tool is a free* technology preview available for download at Autodesk Labs.

Around the Web

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