There are a lot of firms that have not embraced BIM and may not even be investigating its use.

Before you start thinking that they are going to be left in the dust and will be out of business in 5 years or less, let’s ask the question first.

Is BIM push back just the plight of smaller firms? Are all big firms going to BIM?  Are there any big AEC firms that have not started moving to BIM and have chosen to stay on plain CAD or 2.5 D CAD?

Many firms have production capabilities built on tools other than BIM.  They are productive, accurate, design focused and getting the job done.  They think “Why move to BIM?”

Their thinking may be:

1. We are happy where they are – We are productive.  My team is trained.  We are making money and we are fine without BIM

2. We are forced to stay where they are by economic reality  – we cannot afford BIM.  It costs too much.  We have software now that is paid for.  The cost of upgrading is making us not even think about it.

3. We are forced to stay where they are by business reality – we have to compete on speed.  Transitioning to BIM will slow us down.

4. Training cost will kill us – money is the issue as well as time.  We cannot afford to have someone take 3-4 days off production to get trained.

5. None of my competition is moving in that direction – others are using CAD and getting work.  They propose and win and can do it cheaper in CAD.

6. I cannot convince my clients to make the jump – they don’t care about BIM or anything it brings to the table.  They just want their plan drawings done.  They don’t want any fancy 3D or animations or renderings or anything else.  They want to pay as little as possible and get it done fast.

Are there other reasons for not moving to BIM?  Do they relate to firm size?  Clients or markets?

Let me know by leaving a comment…  why are you not moving to BIM?

All of us think we are embracing BIM wholeheartedly.  We think that we are moving forward and making progress by expanding our talents in BIM.  We see more and more projects delivered using BIM tools and processes.  But are we free from legacy tools yet? There are so many that still use CAD tools for some portions of the projects that it still may be the crutch that not easily discarded.

Why can’t we all just jump into the future and use all  BIM tools now?

Here are a few statements that I hear people giving for not using BIM even though their firm may have started the march toward full implementation:

The old tools still work for some portions of the design process.

My staff is not fully trained.

We have a compressed schedule and cannot afford to miss deadlines.

Others on the design team have given us CAD files and we just kept on using them.

The client gave us old files that are in CAD.

CAD is dependable and I know how to use it.

We do not have enough software licenses for everyone to use it yet.

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Some of these reasons may be legitimate and reflect real issues, but sometimes they are excuses that people hide behind when they just don’t want to take the time or effort to move forward.  The BIM Manager has to address each of these issues and provide workable plans for getting past them.

The plan might outline stepped levels of progress to address the concerns.  Move forward should be done in stages.  Your firm may not progress if you just rip away the CAD platform and force everyone to jump.  I have heard about firms that have done that, but it is after the workforce has reached the tipping point.  They were embracing BIM with gusto and sweeping away the CAD platform was the last step of a managed migration.

So plan out the steps needed to get your staff trained, licenses purchased and processes for dealing with CAD files so that your firm can continue to making small steps that will eventually allow you to jettison the crutch.

BIM is a process – not a tool.  Revit, Bentley Architecture, ArchiCAD and others are BIM tools.  This is fairly common knowledge now.  Most of those that embrace BIM realize that the change is not just the adoption of a new software platform.  It is a change to the fabric of a practice.  The promise of BIM is that the models become more and more intelligent as they move through the design process.

With that in mind – why aren’t we sharing BIM models as the promise of BIM expands.  There are many who actually fear the concept of someone taking their model files.  What might they do with them?  What might they find out about our ability in BIM?

Would you be open to just passing your model file around?  Would you send it to others without a disclaimer?  What are the issues holding you back?

Let me know by making a comment below.

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I recently installed Revit 2010 on a MacBook Pro.  The MacBook had Boot Camp installed and also VMWare Fusion 3.  The install went onto the Boot Camp partition fairly easily.  The Boot Camp partition was Windows XP.  I installed Revit 2010 on my laptop with Windows 7 – so I am testing it out on that also.

Using Boot Camp is better with VMware Fusion. I no longer have to choose between Windows and Mac at startup. I can run my Windows partition side-by-side with the Mac OS. VMware Fusion automatically recognizes my Boot Camp partition and lets me run it concurrently with the Mac. I can also run it in Unity mode which makes the partition sit right alongside my Mac programs as if it were part of the Mac OS.

You can also go to Full Screen to see the entire Revit program.  Just click on the VMWare option…

Boot Camp supports the 32-bit releases of Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista. You can run either operating system on your Mac at native speed by booting into the Windows environment.

Boot Camp Assistant creates a partition just for Windows XP without erasing your existing Mac OS X information.  The drivers are automatically installed after installing Windows when you insert the disc into your Macintosh.

After running Boot Camp and installing Windows XP or Vista, you can switch between Windows and Mac OS X by holding the Option (Alt) key at start up.

When you start your Mac, holding down the Options (Alt) key, it will offer you the bootable partitions.  Select Windows to boot directly into Windows.

I have noticed that the direct boot method is best for long term work.  Quick checks of models in Revit can be done via VMWare, but it is much slower than a direct Windows boot.

Click the Rendering tab of the Options dialog to specify paths for files used for render appearances and decals, and to specify the location of the ArchVision Content Manager (ACM), if needed.

Render Appearance Library Location

If you move the Render Appearance Library from its default location, use the Rendering tab of the Options dialog to specify its new location.

The Render Appearance Library is a read-only library that stores all render appearances for materials, the default RPC content provided with the software, and related rendering information.

When you install Revit Architecture, this library resides in the following default location:

C:\Program Files\ <product name and version>\Data\Rendering\assetlibrary_base.fbx

If necessary, you can move the Rendering folder but I would not advise that – it just clutters up your install and updates.

Additional Render Appearance Paths

You can specify paths for the following:

• Image files used to define a custom color, design, texture, or bump map for a render appearance.
• Image files for decals.
• Additional RPC content that is stored in a common network location.

Note: You only need to specify paths for additional RPC content that you license directly from ArchVision. You do not need to specify paths for the RPC content that Revit Architecture provides.

Suppose you specify image files for render appearances and decals. When Revit Architecture needs to access the image file, first it looks in the location specified for the file, using the absolute path. If it cannot find the file in that location, Revit Architecture then searches the paths that you specify in this list, in the order in which the paths are listed.

What is RPC?   Revit Architecture includes ArchVision realpeople for more realistic renderings. ArchVision realpeople are pictures of actual people and objects from multiple angles that display using a technique called image-based rendering. They are part of ArchVision’s RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) product family.

ArchVision Content Manager Location

The bottom portion of this dialog box relates to additional RPC content that you can purchase and use.

Revit Architecture provides many RPC objects that you are licensed to use in rendered images for Revit projects. If you purchase additional RPC content, you must use the ArchVision Content Manager (ACM) to manage it.

Note:  Use the ACM only to manage additional RPC content that you purchase from ArchVision. You do not need to use the ACM for the RPC content that is provided with Revit Architecture.

Click on the Get More RPC toopen up a web page for purchasing or trying out more content…