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View an e-Training demo webinar! Feb. 7, 2012

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Our innovative e-Training solution provides a viable and important complement to the traditional MasterGraphics classroom training. In addition to the comprehensive and accurate content consistently offered through MasterGraphics, e-Training students can also enjoy the following benefits:

  • Flexible scheduling to ensure work schedules remain the priority
  • Interactive and engaging methodology for increased retention
  • All learning methods are accommodated: visual, auditory and hands-on
  • Competency-based progress to ensure understanding of topics
  • Cost-effective, as courses are not limited to class sizes or start dates
  • Enterprise and Individual Pricing Available!

Attend our upcoming webinar to learn more!

  • Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 12pm Central

Contact your MasterGraphics Account Manager at (800) 873.7238, who will then send you the webinar information via Outlook appointment.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation: News from the Frontline – Embarking on Your First Revit Project!

Friday, January 27th, 2012

by Dave Webster, BIM/CAD Specialist for the AECOO Industry

OK…let’s talk about your very first, real project in Revit and clear the air about a few things. The first and most important fact about your pilot project is that you scheduled your training within two weeks of beginning your first project…right?! (If you have not scheduled training yet, please…go back and read my last blog entry!) Now assuming you do not have the luxury of modeling and documenting a fictitious project, it is time to set some realistic expectations for your first project.

You will find that after successfully completing a Revit Fundamentals course that you will have about %75 of the tools you will need to create a typical project. What I mean by typical is that there is not an abundance of complicated architectural designs like canted walls, intricate curtain wall systems, complex roof structures, etc. Keep your initial project fairly simple if you can. Second, be sure you have ample time built into the project schedule for some additional learning and getting acclimated to the tools you now have. I would not advise you to implement Revit on your first project if it is on a fast track schedule! Don’t be fooled by statistics out there that promise a %20 to %30 reduction I project time with Revit; it certainly will not happen on your first project…but efficiency gains will be visible by the completion of 3 successful projects.

Next…choose your team wisely! Be sure to identify those designers who are excited about the new process and possibilities; the rest will follow out of curiosity. This really is an important factor in your success. We have worked with many firms that initially have naysayers about the software or those who are simply comfortable with their existing CAD skillsets; this does create a direct impact on the pilot project. These personalities will take some extra time to bring up to speed and excitement and you do no need the negativity on your first project. Set yourself a team of excited new “Reviteers” who will focus on possibilities for your first project.

  • Establish and Train the Right Team at the Right Time
  • Drive success through this team

Now please understand that this is not just another CAD Team; there are different roles and responsibilities. Manage this team as a contractor would; be sure to have a model manager and then divide the model into logical sections for each builder to work on without tripping over someone else’s work. Also, Building Information Modeling requires much more communication across a project team so be sure to provide them with the ability to communicate in proximity or provide the tools for instant communication. If you can, start small and don’t try to do a multiple office project on your first time around the track. Set goals that are attainable and measureable so you can track your progress and efficiency over your next few projects; you will be amazed how much efficiency you gain on each project after your first! Last…be sure not to over model your project simply because you can. Designers have an innate tendency to want to model everything now that they have been given the ability to. Be sure you have a good handle on what is needed to accomplish your set of presentation and construction documents and keep yourself from getting too detailed in your modeling. I will talk about this a bit more in the next blog entry.

A Few Important Tips:

Tip #1: Install Revit Worksharing Monitor so Revit users can clearly see who is affecting the model and how.

Tip #2: Implement an internal instant messaging system if the teams can’t be physically moved together.

Tip#3: If you are not going to see an object in 3D, it only needs to be depicted in 2D. Not everything in a Revit model needs to be in three dimensions for a successful project. Save the time and look like the hero who brought the project in on time!

Now remember…don’t over extend yourself on your pilot project. Identify your limitations and do yourself your biggest favor and hire an outside consultant or advisor who has been through the process and can help guide your team through success in your first project and overall BIM efficiency. If you face a crunch, please don’t do the CAD thing and hire more “CAD Monkeys”, (sorry for the derogatory term but I was once a monkey myself!). Get advice on how to best accomplish the issue by leveraging Revit tools. I have seen way too many times teams approaching a deadline and either fudging in a whole lot of drafting lines or worst yet…exporting everything to AutoCAD to finish the project! Don’t do this! Call MasterGraphics. Call in a consultant you can trust! You will defeat the purpose of the model and burn a whole lot of project budget by exporting everything. Set a goal to never go backward!

Stay tuned for more helpful hints for kicking off your pilot project

Posted in Building / AEC | No Comments »

Is Virtualization Viable for Vault?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Autodesk Vault and Virtualization
By Darren Hartenstine
1-19-2012

In nearly every discussion with IT professionals, we are being asked if Autodesk Vault runs (or is supported) in a Virtual Environment.

The Short answers is Yes - with a slight SQL disclaimer.

Here’s a page I found from the support team at Autodesk on this topic. It describes the limitation with a particular feature available with SQL called Snapshots . It seems that Microsoft is providing the disclaimer, not Autodesk.

http://crackingthevault.typepad.com/crackingthevault/2011/04/autodesk-vault-and-vmware.html

Now, let’s talk about our experiences (MasterGraphics and DataWorks).

Is this supported - yes. Have we installed this in a production environment - yes? If you want to run your Autodesk Vault within a Virtual Server, go for it. Understand this; if you have any kind of database glitches, errors, system crashes, or something catastrophic - and Autodesk needs to get involved - the first reply will be this:

Can you replicate the issue on an actual piece of hardware and not a virtual environment?

From a support stand-point, if you removed the virtual environment from the equation; it becomes easier to diagnose and potentially fix the issue. However, if the issue remains, then you have provided enough proof to Autodesk to take the next steps - sending and evaluating your Vault Backup. And honestly, I can’t recall any clients that are using a Virtual Server that have needed to escalate issues to this level.

So, you can do it…now, what can you expect from performance and stability?

Before I go on, I have to state some obvious assumptions about Virtualization. If you have 10 Virtual Guests running on an old Pentium 4 Server with 1 GB of RAM - this is not the best scenario. We assume that your Virtual Environment is setup properly and your Host Server has enough resources to support another Virtual Guest.

My personal experience is that there is a threshold of users and data that will cause performance issues within a virtual environment. If you have more than 15 users (+/- 5) and less then 30K (+/-20K) CAD files stored in your Vault, then I would not be pursuing a Virtual Server setup. You will be creating a performance bottleneck and the end user experience will be poor and potentially unstable.

For those smaller user environments, Virtualization seems to be a perfect fit for supporting the Vault Server. We do hear of issues here and there, but the overall performance and user experience seems to be favorable.

Some basics settings with Virtualization are RAM and Processors. At a bare minimum, I would give the VM as much RAM as you can spare - like 4-8GB. SQL likes RAM and it will help with performance of the Server.

Processors - again, give the Virtual Server as much as you can spare on your Host Server. Vault is not just one application, and the more resources you can provide, the faster the experience will be for your users. I would recommend 2 Cores with 2 Processors - for a total of 4 Processors. You can always adjust the settings during the life of the VM.

If at all possible, do not let the CAD Files, or Filestore as it is called within the Vault Admin console, live within the Virtual Server environment. Attach a drive to the Virtual Server from a SAN or NAS device. This will drastically increase performance for your environment.

DataWorksMGI Lab - Yep, we have a lab containing a Vault Server living in the Microsoft Cloud. Besides letting our clients have all the fun, we have been testing Virtual Environments and utilizing the Microsoft Azure Server Cloud environment. Our intent is to beat this technology up as much as we can, since we feel it is definitely the next-step after Virtualization becomes mainstream (which it basically has).

I have tested both VMWare and Micrsoft’s HyperV and both seem to be equal in their setup and configuration. As to their performance versus each other, I can’t (at this moment) give any feedback as to which we prefer.

I plan to write more blogs on our tests and results coming out of the Lab on this topic, so come back for more.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation: News from the Frontline – Who Needs Training?!

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

by Dave Webster, BIM/CAD Specialist for the AECOO Industry

Now I want to take a moment to talk to you all about the importance of training. I am going to take my consulting hat off for a moment and simply talk to you as a fellow architect. For many generations, our industry has not understood the value of properly training our staff because we are too concerned about the “Bottom Line”. “We simply don’t have the time or the money to train our staff and incur all the downtime”. OK…let’s think about this a bit. I think we can all agree that our investment into software is one of our biggest expenses in the process of design and documentation. Why would we not consider taking the time to learn how to absolutely maximize the software to its fullest potential! This has a larger effect on your bottom line!

Look at it this way…a good colleague of mine introduced a great analogy on this for me…picture this…you come home one day and find a formula 1 car sitting in your driveway!

How cool is that!! Your neighbors are all staring at you now! You take a long stroll around this machine to admire its power and then wiggle your way into the cockpit, struggle to figure out the seatbelts and grab the keys. Hopefully at some point, someone hands you a helmet as well! You might even put this baby into first gear and take it slowly around the block. But some of us, (myself included), won’t even figure out how to get it out of the driveway! “What’s the motto here Dave? Where in the world are you going here?”…you ask. Simply this; you have been given a very powerful vehicle for design and documentation and it might be fairly easy for you to get it started and use some of the fundamental tools…but we have not even talked about getting into a race yet! You can’t! You can’t enter a formula one race without the proper training in driving this vehicle let alone some practice before you get on the road with the rest of the pros!

I can’t encourage you enough to take the time to hire a trusted partner to train your staff in Revit and give your team ample practice laps before you put them on that high profile project that has design complexity and a pretty demanding project schedule. When we all dove into AutoCAD, it was pretty much dumped on our laps and we figured out what we needed to know on our own. This was possible because it was built on our familiar standards of drafting and we could understand the correlation of the two processes. Revit is not about drafting; it is about information modeling. It is not a process we are used to. It is not simply 3D CAD. We need to understand the theory and intent of information modeling in order to get the most out of our software investment and leverage the power of BIM. Don’t make the mistake of reducing Revit to simply another drafting and visualization tool!

The software applications we use for building information modeling require a much more thorough understanding and proficiency in the tools; I hope the analogy helped you understand this. Now that I have hopefully convinced you to consider training; here are a few tips for you…

  • First: identify a typical and simple Pilot Project as the first project for Revit.
  • Target your training 2 weeks before the project. Figure about 30 hours for fundamentals training.
  • Be sure the pilot project has a reasonable schedule.
  • Find an Authorized Training Center (ATC) for hands-on, instructor led classes.
  • Find an ATC who can customize the content, delivery and location of your training to best meet your schedule and business needs.
  • Look for process teachers not software instructors. Seek out industry experts who can truly help you get competitive.
  • Look for trainers who can apply the tools and training to your active projects and continue to support you on billable projects.
  • Be sure that your partner in training can also provide ongoing support through advanced technology connections.
  • Did I mention we do all of this here at MasterGraphics?…
  • Remember: the shorter your path to proficiency; the less frustration and sooner arrival at profit.
  • Bottom Line: Take the time to train!

So…who needs training? If you ask me…Everyone! Simply to get started on the right foot and then ongoing training to evolve, stay ahead of your competition and maximize your services and improve your profitability! Only then will you be ready for the races!

Happy New Year to you all!

Posted in Building / AEC, General | No Comments »

Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation: News from the Frontline - Considerations before the Transition

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

by Dave Webster, BIM/CAD Specialist for the AECOO Industry

Based on our past two discussions we’ve had, I hope by now you can see clearly that transitioning to BIM is far more than another software upgrade. The transition to BIM needs to be a business decision made by all major stakeholders of a firm; from COO to CAD operator. There are many factors to consider when determining how BIM fits your business plan or how your business plan needs to change to accommodate a building information modeling process.

So many times I have seen firms that have been wowed by a Revit Demo and get a spark of inspiration to get out there and “get some BIM”! Revit is not simply a new CAD replacement tool; it takes careful planning. I had the privilege of working with a firm that purchased and rolled out Revit without an implementation plan. After several years into the venture they realized something was fundamentally wrong and they were losing money on projects. The steps to recovery involved meeting with the firm’s directors, interviewing each of the users for Revit skills, CAD skills and attitude towards change. We studied their present process and gathered information regarding their optimal process. We took a dive into the CAD standards to help them see beyond these trusted methods in order to begin to consider possibilities with BIM. We then helped to establish a game plan specifically for this firm at this point I time for the optimal BIM adoption. It involved custom training, consulting and ongoing guidance to the team. Eventually, even their most resistant CAD user became a Revit champion!

A proper implementation plan looks something like this…

Situation Analysis – fully consider your present process and situation; both pros and cons.

Implementation Strategy – Align your business goals, project schedules and staff allotment.

Process Assessment – Identify what you would like to accomplish with a new process.

Implementation Plan – with the help of someone who has been through this…document your plan with established milestones and goals.

Software Deployment – Be sure to consider present state of hardware and potential hardware upgrade needs. Use these upgrades as incentive points for staff!

Training Delivery – Training is a must for a successful BIM adoption. Again, with the help of a trusted advisor, establish the best means of training delivery so as to provide a cohesive training delivery while minimizing disruption to your project schedules.

Maintenance – the tools for BIM are under constant change. Be sure to partner with someone to keep you posted on all the best tools that would be beneficial to your particular process

So in summary…be sure to consider the three main components for a successful BIM adoption; people, process and technology. A Revit implementation should provide a clean slate from which to revitalize your present CAD standards and process; be sure to find a trusted advisor who can help you understand the potential and make the best educated decisions on how best to move forward. Oh…and be sure to leverage the users who are excited and will embrace this change; train and support them first; the rest will eventually follow…or fall by the wayside!

Posted in Building / AEC | No Comments »

MasterGraphics Specialists to Present at Upcoming Autodesk University

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Three technical specialists from MasterGraphics have been invited to present at Autodesk University, the nation’s largest gathering of software design professionals in the design, engineering and entertainment industries, November 29 through December 1 in Las Vegas.

“Our technical experts are among the most talented in the country,” said Michael Wilkes, MasterGraphics president. “Not only do they possess a keen understanding of the latest industry solutions, but they are dedicated to educating themselves and others on practical applications of those solutions. Autodesk University is an ideal venue for them to continue this commitment.”

The presenters include:

Dan Banach, 3D Mechanical CAD Consultant

Dan Banach is a nationally recognized author and educator in the Mechanical CAD field and co-author of 15 books on Autodesk Inventor software. Banach is also an Autodesk Inventor 2012 Certified Professional and Autodesk Certified Instructor. He has presented at every Autodesk University since 1997 and this year will be leading a hands-on lab titled Inventor Publisher: Some Assembly Required.

Louisa Holland, E.I.T., LEED AP, Application Engineer - Civil Industry

Holland is an accredited professional of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as well as an AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Professional.  She has been training customers on CAD-based products since 1997, and this will be her 2nd year presenting at Autodesk University with a session titled AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 for Beginners.

Russell Nicloy, E.I.T., LEED AP, Application Engineer - Civil Industry

Nicloy is an AutoCAD Civil 3D Certified Professional with more than ten years of experience in the civil design industry and eight years of experience in consulting and instruction. This will be his 1styear presenting at Autodesk University with a session titled Importing the Most Useful Data Into Survey in AutoCAD Civil 3D

About MasterGraphics Inc.

MasterGraphics is an Autodesk Gold Partner for the manufacturing, architecture and education communities and is headquartered in Madison, Wis., with offices in Milwaukee, Appleton, Chicago and Minneapolis. Serving as a trusted advisor to its clients, MasterGraphics helps to streamline the design process and utilization of CAD data through an integrated mix of software, hardware, professional services and digital imaging and distribution offerings.  For more information, please visit www.mastergraphics.com.

Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD and Civil 3D are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Keys to a Successful BIM Implementation; …News From the Frontline.

Monday, October 24th, 2011

by Dave Webster, Application Engineer for the AEC Industry

Greetings MG Blog followers!

Let me introduce myself…my name is Dave Webster. I am a BIM specialist here at MasterGraphics and have been working with clients of various size and focus over the past four years to help get their Building Information Modeling adoption on the right track. Previous to working with MasterGraphics, I practiced architecture for over 20 years here in Chicagoland. I had the privilege of working on many project types as a designer, (my favorite), technical detailer, and project manager to name a few. No…this is not a blog about me and my bragging; I simply want you to know that I have been in the trenches and have a good idea what architects want and need.

That said…please stay tuned for an ongoing discussion about what my associates and I have seen on the frontline as we have been helping firms adopt a BIM process. I will be sharing many tips of what we see across the industry and give you insights as to what are successful tips…and what are not so successful things we typically see. I will look forward to your comments and concerns on the topics so please chime in when you can!

Lesson #1: Understand: This is not just another CAD program!

One of the most common problems I have seen in firms is the misunderstanding that this is just a better CAD software. Building Information Modeling is a process; not a software. By the way…you will see over months, maybe years to come that I refer to Autodesk Revit quite often; please understand that this is simply a tool for authoring BIM models that I happen to know the most about. Many firms know something about BIM; maybe they have seen a pretty impressive demonstration of Revit and have even made the investment into the software. But please understand that this is just a small portion of a BIM adoption process and this should not be the first step!

To truly adopt a building information modeling process, it takes a business decision of all stakeholders in the firm to make. It requires careful planning, many key decisions and an overall process change. The way the design process is budgeted in a firm needs to change, proposals need to be reformatted, (based on value instead of time and material), a change in marketing focus, teams restructured and clients reeducated to name a few considerations. I hope to expound on many of these in upcoming posts.

Now please understand this as well…it is not complicated. BIM does not require you to have every detail worked out and all standards in place prior to getting your feet wet! The process of adoption typically takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months. I will be sharing many tips with you on how to best achieve smaller steps to minimize your company’s downtime and maximize the resources you already have.

So step #1 looks like this…find someone who has successfully been through the adoption process or call MasterGraphics and become a partner! Set goals and plan the milestones. Be sure to include training in your goals…this is not your father’s CAD program! It is fairly easy to learn but takes some time to master!

Stay tuned and please comment to keep this Blog as useful as possible! I will be diving much deeper into helpful tips in posts to come!  I will look forward to hearing from you…

Posted in Building / AEC | No Comments »

Autodesk 2012 Software Certification Prep Classes

Friday, October 14th, 2011

By, Dan Banach

If you are planning on taking an Autodesk 2012 Certification exam Autodesk is offering virtual certification prep classes. The virtual classes will be hosted on the Autodesk University (AU) Virtual class site starting on October 18th, 2011. The list of prep classes is located at: http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=au2011_certification_preparation_classes

Enjoy the classes.

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Autodesk University 2011 registration now open!

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Early Registration for the AU Las Vegas event, and the AU Virtual event are now open - register soon to get the best class selection and pricing! Learn more

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

Save up to $1,000 on Autodesk suites & get 0% financing!

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

From now through October 14, 2011, you can take advantage of Autodesk’s ‘Better Together’ promo AND their 0% financing promo to save big bucks! Read more

Posted in Building / AEC, Civil, General, Manufacturing | No Comments »

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