Bentley Architecture V8i a review by http://www.aecbytes.com
Conceptual Design and Space Planning
By virtue of being built on top of the MicroStation platform, Bentley Architecture has inherited its full range of sophisticated solid and surface modeling tools that can be used to model any kind of regular or freeform shape. While this capability is very useful for creating complex forms that cannot be created with regular building object (BIM) tools, it is somewhat of an overkill for creating conceptual stage massing models, which is why most architects have continued to use a tool like SketchUp for this purpose. This is true for users of Bentley as well as other BIM applications, and has resulted in a disconnect between the conceptual design and detailed design processes.
To encourage its users to start the conceptual design process within Bentley Architecture itself, version V8i now incorporates a capability similar to SketchUp’s Push/Pull, making it easier and more intuitive for creating massing models. Figure 1 shows how forms can be quickly modified by drawing shapes on them and pushing or pulling them out. Unlike SketchUp, you still have to select a dedicated “Draw on Solid” tool to create a shape on the solid, as shown in Figures 1-a and 1-b. But subsequently, the modification process works as quickly as in SketchUp, with the “Modify Solid Entity” tool letting you quickly move faces (see Figure 1-c), edges (see Figure 1-d), and vertices to manipulate the form as required (see Figure 1-e, which also shows the Top and Front views). By default, this tool works with all entity types, but you can restrict it to modify only faces, edges, or vertices by selecting the corresponding option in the tool dialog. In addition, the use of Bentley’s excellent AccuDraw and snapping capabilities allows the modifications to be as precise and accurate as required. Overall, Bentley’s implementation of Push/Pull for faster conceptual modeling is certainly better than that of Revit Architecture, which also attempted to overhaul its conceptual design capabilities in the 2010 version (described in my recent review) but could not capture the fluidity and ease of use of a tool like SketchUp. Bentley Architecture V8i also includes many other tools for quick form manipulation such as deleting vertices, edges, and faces of solids, filleting and chamfering edges, and so on.
Prior to version V8i, Bentley Architecture had some rudimentary space planning capabilities, as described in my review of the V8 XM edition. This has been significantly expanded in Bentley Architecture V8i with the integration of the Bentley SpacePlanner application. This is actually a separate application targeted towards AEC design professionals and facility managers involved with the initial layout and design of buildings and spaces. It can be installed both as a stand-alone application as well as integrated with Bentley Architecture, to which it adds a dedicated “Spaces” menu and other functionality to the application. With these tools, you can import a list of space requirements contained in a spreadsheet and use the associated area information to automatically create spaces of the correct size that can then be arranged to explore different spatial layout options. Figure 2 shows an example of a spatial layout created by importing the space program contained in the accompanying spreadsheet. The spaces can be resized, if required, and color-coded based on specified criteria.
While in the current version of Bentley Architecture, there is no way to automatically convert this spatial layout to a building model, this capability will be available in an updated release scheduled for the end of this month. It will allow walls to be created from spaces, avoiding overlaps, and will maintain the relationship between them so that if a wall is moved, the space and its area will adjust automatically. A current minor limitation is that the spaces that are automatically created by importing areas are limited to being rectangular-shaped, so more complex plans cannot be explored. However, using the regular space creating tools, other shapes for spaces can be created. The application keeps track of the actual areas versus the program areas, so that design development can be tracked against the program requirements. While the space planning capabilities are still not as comprehensive as those of a dedicated space programming and schematic design application like Trelligence Affinity, (described in the article, Supporting Technologies for BIM Exhibited at AIA 2007), they are a useful addition to the already large repertoire of tasks that Bentley Architecture handles. Also, competing BIM applications such as Revit Architecture and ArchiCAD do not provide any kind of space planning capabilities whatsoever, so Bentley Architecture certainly has the edge in this respect.
Dynamic Views
In the previous version of the Bentley BIM applications, drawings were section cuts that had to be extracted from the model using a Drawing Extraction Manager utility, with different “drawing definitions” specified for different types of drawings such as floor plans, sections, etc., to determine how they would be displayed. The extracted drawing maintained a link to the model, but was not live—therefore, if the model was changed, the drawing wasn’t updated automatically, but it would be recognized as being out-of-date when opened, giving the user the choice of updating it.
In the V8i version, the process of creating drawings from the model has been significantly overhauled with a technology labeled “dynamic views” with which drawings are now live views of the model that are automatically updated when the model is changed. This is a significant step in bringing Bentley Architecture up to speed with its main competitors: in Revit Architecture, drawings have always been live views of the model and synchronized with it, while in ArchiCAD, drawings can be set to update either automatically or manually. Bentley Architecture allows drawing views to be generated not only from the model but also from other drawing views, which is convenient. Figure 3 shows a section view being created from a plan view which is subsequently placed on the same sheet by dragging it from the Project Explorer where it is automatically listed after being created.
While the “live” aspect of Bentley’s new dynamic views can’t really be seen as cutting-edge, another aspect of the technology that is quite remarkable is the ability to position planes in different angles to explore sectional views and apply a wide variety of display styles to the forward, cut, and back portions of the sectioned model. This provides the ability to creating extremely rich visuals of plans, sections, elevations, and 3D sections. A few examples are shown in Figure 4. Each dynamic view can be stored with its own drawing rules, which will determine not only the overall display styles but also the display of individual elements such as walls, columns, spaces, stairs, etc.
The flip side to Bentley’s new dynamic views capabilities is that it adds an additional layer of complexity to Bentley’s already very complex interface. The drawings, which would typically be created from a master 3D design model referencing a number of individual 3D design models (refer to the review of Bentley Building V8 XM for an overview of Bentley’s federated approach to BIM) have to be stored in a separate 2D “container” called the “drawing model.” From here, they can be dragged and dropped into “sheet models” which are designed to hold the individual pages of the document set for the project. I found it quite confusing to figure out and navigate through all these various constructs. While the Project Explorer that was introduced in the V8 XM version does make it easier to manage all the different models, drawings, views, and sheets, as shown in Figure 3, I still found the process of creating views, drawings, and sheets more complex in Bentley Architecture compared to other BIM applications.
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