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AEC Newsletter archive:
Geoffrey Moore Langdon
CADENCE AEC Tech News # 44 (February 15, 2001)
AEC Tech News 2/15/01
In This Issue:
AllPlan
AllPlan 16.1 and new USA AllPlan support
The new version of AllPlan addresses some serious interface issues that hindered the adoption of the software in the past. Designers have always been extremely impressed with how AllPlan can smoothly help a designer from schematic ideas through 3D explorations and extensive design development ending up with comprehensive 2D construction document sets, which the demonstration gurus made seem virtually automatic. Many of the demos I watched with dozens of gray-haired designer/Principal types of architects ended in standing applauses, and comments that now, finally, we have the architectural software we have all been waiting for. That was six years ago. What happened was that many firms would get test versions, and find that the interface to the software was esoteric - showing off its Unix roots - to the extreme that it didn't even have the familiar File/Save in the upper left corner. Even if you got beyond that, there still were quirks - so much so that the AllPlan Designers Group which I helped Ivan Bereznicki, AIA start in Boston, had an expression "German thinking" for any of the unusual things they would encounter in the software.
Ivan has not only stuck with AllPlan, but has gone on to do incredibly intricate design work, all in object oriented 3D architecturally intelligent modeling which automatically creates sections, details, elevations, site models, animations, and renderings. I recently had the privilege of an extensive look at the extraordinary work his firm does with this software as well as get an update on the latest version AllPlan 16.1. This version truly does feel much more comfortable, with Windows standard toolbars and pulldown menus, and with great in-software help, tooltips, and better layout, it is dramatically easier to use. Yes, there are all sorts of new features (among them ACAD2000 DWG in/out) though adding yet more is phenomenal, when the software already has had features on par or above where ArchiCAD or Autodesk ArchitecturalDesktop currently are. The real news is the ease of use breakthrough.
Unlike some other news columns which leave you hanging, this Cadence AEC Tech news strives to help you interpret and find the relevance of such new innovations. For many of you, it may be news in the first place that AllPlan is even still for sale. Similar to several other companies in the past and some even now, the company behind AllPlan - Nemetschek - spent millions on a media blitz that lasted about 3 years (1994-1997) far exceeding any CADD sales revenue. The German company was convinced that US architects, on seeing something so far advanced over anything else available in the USA at the time, would snap AllPlan up in droves. The fact that the interface was too different (and difficult), the AutoCAD steamroller of compatibility, and the issue that US architects were not yet ready for that paradigm shift to 3D architecturally intelligent object oriented software, all combined to cause Nemetschek to scale down their US AllPlan marketing.
With all the excitement caused now by Autodesk ADT, Revit, and ArchiCAD in particular, for architects to transition from 2D CADD drafting techniques to 3D architectural CADD, it may be worth it for some designers to take a serious look at AllPlan. The anticipated paradigm shift is currently happening, the old 2D standards (AutoCAD's DWG/DXF) are only partially relevant, and because of this, the field is wide open for establishing a new 3D architectural standard. The AllPlan interface change finally removes that third barrier. Additionally, there is also a new AllPlan vendor/trainer/support place called CAD Consulting USA in Carmel, CA.
Even still, AllPlan is obviously not one of the mainstream CADDs in the USA (though in some other countries it is) so you may ask "who is even interested in this". One way to think of AllPlan is as though you had a powerful FormZ/3D Studio type modeler totally integrated with an architectural program like ArchiCAD/ArchitecturalDesktop along with a DTM, a photo-imager, sketching software, and a lot more. This kind of software would appeal to architects who do REALLY extraordinary design oriented stuff - ala Frank Gehry, Le Corbu, Saarenin. Imagine something weird like Ronchamps or Sydney Opera House or even Disney's Donald Duck house and being able to explore many different roofs and still have every singly construction document automatically adjust - AllPlan is the only software that will do it all so flexibly and comprehensively. For that reason, an office with a dozen AutoCAD drafters may indeed have a Gehryesque designer/principal on AllPlan, or a sole practitioner/small firm may want it for a competitive advantage. Regardless, any AllPlan office in the USA is a pioneer. Visiting the www.allplan.com website and trying to get real information about AllPlan is challenging (and decidedly low key compared to the aggressive AutoCAD, DataCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit sites) - as clicking on US support leads you to Nemetschek USA (which is VectorWorks) and clicking on AllPlan there just throws you back to the German site. Even the brochures on AllPlan are not terribly helpful, as, from the descriptions, it sounds like the wish-lists of virtually every other architectural CADD product. Finding out useful information about the new little-sister (presumably) program called PlanDesign is extremely difficult. Images of finished projects don't help, as you cannot see how much more of the CADD design process is in AI 3D (as opposed to drafted in 2D CADD). Instead, the only way to see the difference AllPlan makes in the Process is to visit an architectural designer actually using it. Right now, kind of a catch-22 in the USA, but the links below should help.
Links :
AllPlan = http://www.nemetschek.com
Ivan Bereznicki Associates = http://www.bereznicki.com
CAD Consulting USA = http://www.cadconsulting-usa.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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