MieleBIM barely acknowledges Archicad

[KeesW]

I got an exciting promo from Miele this morning. Told me that Miele BIM files were available for download. They included Autodesk Revit Architecture (.RFA), AutoCad Architecture (.DXF and .DWG), Autodesk 3ds Max (.3DS and .MAX), Other 3D software (.OBJ). It continued to say that BIM files can be imported into other software: Graphisoft ArchiCad, Nemetschek Vectorworks, Google SketchUp, DataCad and Bentley MicroStation.

Anyone would think that Autodesk invented BIM!

What is ".OBJ"?

Some obvious questions:
Where are ArchiCad's "PLN" or GDL objects?
What does Graphisoft have to do, or who do they need to pay, to be included in initiatives such as Miele's?
Is Graphisoft even interested in being involved?

[Anonymous]

KeesW wrote:
I got an exciting promo from Miele this morning. Told me that Miele BIM files were available for download. They included Autodesk Revit Architecture (.RFA), AutoCad Architecture (.DXF and .DWG), Autodesk 3ds Max (.3DS and .MAX), Other 3D software (.OBJ). It continued to say that BIM files can be imported into other software: Graphisoft ArchiCad, Nemetschek Vectorworks, Google SketchUp, DataCad and Bentley MicroStation.

Anyone would think that Autodesk invented BIM!

What is ".OBJ"?

Some obvious questions:
Where are ArchiCad's "PLN" or GDL objects?
What does Graphisoft have to do, or who do they need to pay, to be included in initiatives such as Miele's?
Is Graphisoft even interested in being involved?

Sometimes I have the impresion that Nemetcheck/Graphisoft don't give a shit about Archicad.

[Anonymous]

Makes you wonder if we as users forgot to pay our select agreements occasionally in protest that they might pay attention.

[Fran_ois Chatelain]

Hi guys,
just for the record, OBJ is Maya/Wavefront file format.
Now this post encourages me to put forward what I've been thinking in the shower over the past few days 😉
Why don't we have in AC a proper add-on geared to handle file conversion/edition from external format to GSM/GDL?
Years ago we used to have GDLthingy (can't remember the name), got canned, then Abvent released ZoomGDL, got canned again, and more recently we've had MaxonForm and guess what, canned too. What does it tell you? Are we on our own or what? Not mentionning they were all add-ons one had to buy...
I still use MaxonForm daily along with AC9 (the only way to bring back maxon files as GDL objects), as well as ZoomGDl every now and then, to be able to convert/edit external files from manufacturers to usable AC objects.
I really think the Mothership should put their act together and provide us with that kind of ability built in AC, at no f*** cost. Digital age of information and communication, I don't think so...
Manufacturers are more and more inclined to provide us with 3D models in various formats, such as DXF, DWG, 3DS, OBJ, SAT, STL and even GSM for a few, and there's not much we can do with them (except GSM of course) unless we rely on external resources.
I really think this situation has to radically change, sooner than later.
That's my wishlist for AC 14 😉
Cheers
Francois

[Anonymous]

I emailed the MieleBIM people when this was first posted to see if they had any plans to release a natively coded GDL object for ArchiCAD. Their reply was simply "Thank you for your enquiry. We shall consider your request, and get back to you with an answer shortly". I'll post again if I hear anything more back.

Have any of the AUS/NZ users emailed and asked the same question? The more enquires they get, the more likely they will do something about it.

Regarding the Add-on to intelligently convert Revit objects, as I understand it Revit families seem to rely on geometry being attached to 'reference' lines to give them their parametricity - in GDL the geometry itself parametricly adjusts. I don't even believe there is an equivalent of a reference line in GDL.

Nevertheless, I agree it would be in GS's best interest to overcome this problem as soon as possible.

[Anonymous]

Peter wrote:
I don't even believe there is an equivalent of a reference line in GDL.

A reference line could b as simple as parameters to define the line. The trick is figuring out the code to mimic the functions.

[Anonymous]

Revit families are modeled in a completely different way. they flex by pieces being attached to reference lines, then you add dimensions between the reference lines etc. So it would be quite difficult to build so sort of converter.

eg a block in GDL is BLOCK 2,2,2
to form that in a revit family (basically), you draw a square on a sketchplane & attach the lines to reference planes, then extrude it.

Plus lets face it why would Autodesk bother? ArchiCAD started this BIM thing, but Autodesk really do have a hold on it now (sadly)

In NZ, we hear everyday about a manufacturer bring out "BIM content" in Revit format. They are normally very surprised when i tell them that there are still more AC users in this country....
what's going to happen if they release a mac version of Revit?

[SeaGeoff]

Autodesk certainly is not going to do it. Nor is Google. But Graphisoft had better do it themselves, and quickly. You’ve seen how much stuff is at Google Warehouse. And look how Autodesk Seek is filing up with manufacturer content.

The way Revit Families are created should not be the determinant. Underneath that UI is code, with parameters driving geometry and attributes, just like (but much more basic than) GDL.

[Anonymous]

I'm bemused by Nemetschek. They have three architectural BIM programs (Archicad, AllPlan and Vectorworks) each doing their own thing with their own file format and there is no effective way of exchanging information between them (ironically DWG is the best option). As it is now providing content is not viable for any of the three programs because their individual user numbers are too low.

If the three programs had a common file format providing content would be a lot more attractive because of the total number of users (600K+) that would be accessing that content.

The current situation is just plain dumb. Its not very strategic and gives Revit an easy own goal.

[Anonymous]

mikem wrote:
I'm bemused by Nemetschek. They have three architectural BIM programs (Archicad, AllPlan and Vectorworks) each doing their own thing with their own file format and there is no effective way of exchanging information between them (ironically DWG is the best option). As it is now providing content is not viable for any of the three programs because their individual user numbers are too low.

If the three programs had a common file format providing content would be a lot more attractive because of the total number of users (600K+) that would be accessing that content.

The current situation is just plain dumb. Its not very strategic and gives Revit an easy own goal.

Couldn't agree more. At the moment manufacturers only really want to provide Revit content, because if they provide AC content, they should also be doing vectorworks & allplan..... a more open format between those three products would make a huge difference.