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AEC Newsletter archive:
Geoffrey Moore Langdon
CADENCE AEC Tech News # 43 (February 1, 2001)
AEC Tech News 2/1/01
In This Issue:
Mac OS X - Parallel Multiprocessing
Calendar Quicknotes
OS-X -- Parallel Multiprocessing
On March 24, Mac OS-X, (pronounced "O S ten") will be released by Apple (selling for $125 or so). It includes, built-in, a number of features already touted in this column as being great productivity advances, such as Adobe Acrobat pdf. The most significant feature, for the world of AEC Tech and CADD, is its support for symmetric multi-processing (SMP). The reason this is significant for ALL CADD users, even those exclusively using Windows, is that you can pop in second (and third, fourth, ...) processor boards and the system truly will automatically run 2 (3, 4, ...) times faster. Sure, you may say, Windows NT supports SMP, and, years ago, ALR teased us by offering "dual-Pentium" and even "quad-Pentium" systems. Unfortunately we quickly found that these systems did not help us much in CADD, as, with WindowsNT the CADD software had to be specifically re-written to be able to support dual-processors.
There are only a handful of CADD programs that actually make use of a second (or third ...) processor, among them AllPlan, and 3DStudioMax (not Viz) (not AutoCAD, DataCAD, ArchiCAD...), even then only on a "dual Pentium" machine, only on those running Microsoft Windows NT, only if running the right version of software, only if the system has actually been setup to run enabling that second processor, even then only for certain operations such as background rendering. SMP ability is there, in Windows NT, however the trick that is yet needed is in simplicity to make it actually work - so that a programmer does not have to specifically re-write their software to take advantage of second (or third ...) processors if they are present.
The key to OS-X is that it is AUTOMATIC. OS-X will automatically detect the presence of second, third, etc. processors, and automatically make use of them all without requiring a special version of the software. If an application does have specific calls to secondary processors it will run even faster. Suddenly your computer truly is twice as fast, or more, depending on how many processors you can afford - a huge leap for CADD users.
In reality all of our computers currently do only ONE thing at a time, they can just switch tasks very quickly so that it looks as though they can do things simultaneously. However, so-called "background" applications must therefore ALWAYS come at the expense of the speed of foreground applications. Fortunately, though, there are a lot of milliseconds to use between hitting keystrokes in normal applications, so this time-splitting system usually works almost invisibly. If the foreground application is very processor-intensive, though, like high end CADD, then this system slows down both applications noticeably, so that the only band-aid "solution" is to keep getting faster computers.
The only area where any parallel processing has been common is with OpenGL (and other types of) video boards, where at least the screen update tasks can be separated, making for faster responses. As with adding hard drive space, and RAM memory, this can all help up to a point but it doesn't actually make your computer processor faster. Having more processors, with an operating system that actually makes use of them, however, will. SMP or Parallel computing is the basis of supercomputing like the Cray XMP.
(More on "Network rendering" render-farms and technologies like Backburner to use other computers on your office network to speed up processes in our next issue...)
For years, real computerphiles have been telling us that unix is better, and one of the ways in which it really is better is that it allows for multi-processing. In fact high end unix oriented manufacturers no longer even list machines with only one processor, and specifying 8 or even 16 processors is considered commonplace. Most people in AEC, though, need to run a wide variety of common applications still available only for Windows and Mac based microcomputers. (Someday, you will have to tell your grand-children how you ran computers with only one processor - and I doubt they will believe you could really accomplish anything - just as some of you may wonder how we actually did CADD, and even 3D modeling and rendering on 4mhz systems with only 640k (not meg) worth of memory.)
So why is computer speed so very important to architectural CADD ?
At one time CADD was indeed the top most complex thing people did on microcomputers, and we used to have to add extra features ourselves such as pop in math co-processors, high res video cards, and even add mice so that "conventional" microcomputers could even run any CADD. Now, any off the shelf system can run any CADD software. Thanks to the general public discovering online communications, databases, multimedia and games the pressure has been off us in the CADD world to have to spec out exotic high end computers. For a while yet, digital video and the web will still be pushing the envelope for computers. However, architectural CADD is the black hole of computer power needs -- which will never end.
On one side, the future of architectural CADD is pushed by links to robotic systems that actually build our designs, as is already happening in the Mechanical CADD world (check out "CNC milling", "Stereo Lithography", and Rapid Prototyping" in my colleague's Mech Tech Cadence newsletter). In some highly advanced high rise office construction sites, already humans are not allowed, as so many different specialized robots are running around so quickly it can be dangerous.
The need for speed is also from virtual reality systems pushed to the limit, where every architects conference room is expected to have an immersive experience, instantly seeing alternate designs of spaces, not only with accurately rendered materials and textures, but also the nuances of lights, and sunlight (oh, and meanwhile automatic instant structural analysis, energy analysis, and building cost analysis as you dynamically make changes). Since the Trek Holodeck has already set an impossible to reach standard in virtual reality, architectural CADD developers will now strive, essentially forever, to come close, pushed by architects continually demanding more accuracy.
Dispelling Rumors
It is the inherent superiority of this OS-X operating system, and the fact that AutoCAD 2000i automatically creates a "Mac Install" folder, that has lead to rumors of a future AutoCAD for OS-X, with people logically reasoning that Autodesk would not want to miss such an opportunity. Let me dispel the rumors now, and definitively tell you, no, do not expect a re-appearance of a Macintosh AutoCAD. To make use of this technology you will have to use other software already designed for the Mac, such as VectorWorks or ArchiCAD. Also contrary to rumor, Mac OS-X is not designed to run Windows software (you still run third-party software like SoftWindows, or a thin client like Citrix MetaFrame, for that - though I don't recommend doing that for serious CADD work).
Try out the beta OS-X yourself
So why tell you all this now rather than in March ? Well, for one thing, this is exciting stuff and I just cannot wait to tell you about move that could be a whole new dawn for AEC tech and CADD, and also because, you can still download the beta version and try this out for yourself right now for free (at least for the next few weeks). You may not be able to try out the multi-processing abilities, unless your G3 or G4 system already has secondary processors, but you can try out some of the other wonderful features of what is now probably the most powerful and easy to use operating system, which includes digital video and multimedia, network collaboration, preemptive multitasking, automatic virtual memory, automatically read files in any format Mac/DOS/Win/Unix, Adobe Acrobat pdf, and advanced internet features.
With this much power, though, combined with a number of other things only a Mac can do (too extensive to go into here) every design office should probably have at least one Mac.
Calendar Quicknotes :
3D StudioMax4 available as of Feb 1.
Check out Architectural CADD College event with tutorials on AutoCAD and FormZ in Boston on Feb 7.
Catch the Revit3 Webcast launch Feb 12 at 1pm EST.
I keynote the Greater Boston AutoCAD Users Group on architectural design software on Mar 6.
OS-X intro Mar 24.
DataCAD Conference, Connecticut Apr 20-21.
Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, Arizona Apr 26-28.
Links :
OS-X = http://www.apple.com
3D StudioMax4 = http://www.discreet.com/animation
Architectural CADD College = http://www.architecturalcadd.com/seminars/cadd2001feb.htm
Revit3 Webcast = http://www.revit.com/webcast
DataCAD = http://www.datacad.com
COFES = http://www.cofes.com
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About Geoffrey Moore Langdon, AIA
Prof. Langdon is a registered architect and is the principal of Architectural CADD Consultants, a firm that specializes in helping architectural firms with computing and CADD. He has taught Design, Solar Energy, and Architectural CADD at a number of colleges in the Boston area. He is the author of Architectural CADD: A Resource Guide to Design and Production Software Appropriate for Architects, a guest speaker at many AIA events, and the founder and organizer of the Designers 3D CAD Shootout competition. contact him at aectechnews@architecturalcadd.com, or through his website: http://www.architecturalcadd.com
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