Tchau RTC, Welcome BILT!

bimstore summarises the final RTC event in Porto

Last month I had the privilege to attend my first RTC Europe (Revit Technology Conference) event in Porto. At the time I was unaware that my first would indeed be the last of these events as we know it. So, as we say tchau (or goodbye) to RTC I thought I would take the opportunity to recap my experience of the event at the Alfândega Congress Centre and let you know what BILT by RTC offers going forward!Prior to RTC, a full day was assigned to BCS 2016 (the Building Content Summit), an event dedicated to discussing and improving BIM content - something which we at bimstore hold in high regard and is integral to what we do! The professions of those attending the event were widespread which offered the opportunity to discuss various perspectives the global industry has on BIM content.

Architects, designers, engineers, software developers, content creators and manufacturers all gathered to discuss what is good and what is bad about the content the industry currently provides. The debate was often heated with contrasting views on the subject still very clear. A typical view from Architects was that current content is over detailed or contains too much information for the stage of the project. This is something that I hear regularly when working with our manufacturers to create content. Personally, I think this view is rather blinkered by personal outcomes and solely what they want the content to do. Should we create multiple versions of the same file, which provides only the required information at that project stage? To me, this approach creates problems in maintaining multiple source files and requires the user to swap in and out updated content on multiple occasions, not a valuable use of time!I believe that the issues the industry has had with structuring data and trying to achieve Product Data Templates somewhat reflect how we should best approach content creation. A PDT aims to anticipate the information sought by every party, from specification through operations to decommissioning and replacement. So why shouldn’t one BIM component for the product also satisfy this? Yes, it may have more detail than what you would like to see at an early stage but why remove or complain about it if the next person down the line will require some of that further information and detail. As a content creator, I have strong views on the content I create and the direction I help push bimstore in. Whilst my views are my own and others may disagree, BCS 2016 offered the perfect environment to address content creation and give it the emphasis I feel it deserves. Our projects are created using a combination of components and parts. Without BIM content, we cannot do BIM! I hope that when the BCS returns in 2017 we see an increase in attendance from all but particularly manufacturers as they are the ones being asked to supply BIM content. Having a better understanding of the various parties that are coming into contact with BIM content allows us to establish what it is required to do. Following BSC, the 3 day RTC began in full flow with opening introductions from event organisers Wesley Benn and Silvia Taurer. Outlining the hopes for the conference, a strong emphasis was placed on the community aspect of RTC and that people from around the world are here to share their experiences, problems and solutions for the benefit of all. Collaboration is key!

The keynote presentation was provided by Benjamin Dillenburger (Professor of Digital Building Technologies at ETH Zurich) and highlighted some extraordinary work being done to use programmed digital geometry and 3D printing. Creating printed structures that were optimised at every level for performance, fabrication and material usage. Whilst the printed structures did visually appear like something straight from Ridley Scott’s Alien the tagline ‘An architecture between chaos and order’ was very apt for this unique project. Digital Grotesque presented design solutions that are so complex we are not able to draw them, but computers can. If you would like further information on the project, please visit www.digital-grotesque.com

RTC was jam-packed with insightful, extraordinary classes illustrating how the use of BIM (particularly using Autodesk Revit & coding Add-In Dynamo) has benefited the design process. Unfortunately, you can attend only one class at a time and I will not go through every individual class as this would be a long article however some of the highlights for myself included Marcello Sgambelluri’s class ‘Revit Families in Motion’ and Havard Vasshaug’s ‘Impossible’ session which highlighted the use of software packages Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper and Dynamo to create the complex façade of French media company Le Monde’s new headquarters in Paris. And all without placing a single panel in Revit! Amazing stuff! One of the main announcements of the conference came direct from Revit provider Autodesk, announcing the release of the first-ever public Revit Roadmap. Previously Autodesk supplied users with the opportunity to feedback on current release versions and products as well as suggest ideas for improving the software via www.autodesk.com/RevitIdeas. Autodesk now also want to hear our thoughts on the plans they have for the future of software platform. To get further information on Autodesk’s plans and view the road map visit www.autodesk.com/revitroadmapI thoroughly enjoyed my RTC experience and was excited to return to Newcastle to put some of the things I had picked up into action. The quality of the classes and presentations was only matched by the social networking events that had been laid on for attendees, including a trip to Taylor’s Port Wine Cellars and the Gala Dinner at Palacio da Bolsa, hats off to RTC events the organisers and the sponsors for accommodating us so well.

As I previously mentioned I was not aware that my first RTC experience would indeed be the last. This is not because the event is disappearing but more that RTC is rebranding their focus stating ‘We are transitioning away from a non-exclusive focus, but a focus nonetheless on Revit’ and have rebranded becoming BILT (Buildings, Infrastructure, Lifecycle supported by, Technology) with the aim of Building and bringing Industry Leadership Together.

With BILT Asia, Australia and North America already programmed for 2017 and BILT Europe heading to the home of the Vikings Aarhus, Denmark. I'm sure the team behind RTC will continue to provide an event that helps the industry and users engage, as well as continue to grow the already established community. I for one will be looking forward to the next event. For further information regarding the BILT conference please visit http://www.rtcevents.com/bilt/

About bimstore: bimstore is the UK’s original BIM object library. Developed by specifiers for specifiers, we create and host high-quality manufacturer specific BIM content, making it easy to browse and download the world’s best collection of BIM components. If you need any help with BIM content creation then get in touch with the bimstore team today.