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William Sutherland

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May to
September 2002..


Allplan FT user pages
News & views...
House porch modelled in Allplan - simple screendump - click to see a bit more of the scheme currently at the design stage
Fri 27.09.02
Allplan v17.0 SR3 - Those hard working programmers have got out a further service release before the weekend!
Good one this - it seems to cure ('touch wood') the occasional crashes described below when switching to the animation window.
What else it does (apart from the info posted with the release) we will have to see. It includes SR1 and SR2 which makes it quite a big download (except for you lucky people with a broadband connection!)
Available direct from nemetschek.com via 'Service->Downloads' or more cautious users (or those who don't like form filling) might prefer to wait until cadconsulting-usa.com post it.

Update - SR3 unfortunately does not seem to cure the following problem introduced in v17 as far as I can tell:
the Modify Region with Placed Ele. 'Modify Region with placed elements' tool does not seem to be working properly. The 'Plus / Minus' areas dynamic toolbar does not appear most of the time and the alterations to the region being edited are often not made. This used to be a very impressive tool in v16 - I wonder why it has gone peculiar?


Wed 25.09.02
Allplan v17 - after running v17 for a few weeks I would say that it is definitely worth upgrading from v16.3. While there is nothing startling on the surface - I think quite a lot of work has been done 'under the bonnet' (i.e. in the 'engine') to help usability. There are also thoughtful improvements to tools. Stability is good - although I am currently having a problem when starting the animation window after switching projects - sometimes keying F4 the first time after opening a project crashes Allplan - running the hotline tool 'Cleanup' fixes the problem for that session.

later... I notice that if I close Allplan, backup the project and then restart Allplan then key F4, Allplan crashes, as described above - not every time, but quite often.
Strange...
Update - SR3 seems to fix this.
Sat 21.09.02
Wildcat 6110 - after much testing I seem to have found the best configuration for using the 3D Labs Wildcat 6110 graphics card with Allplan...
Set the 'offscreen memory' value to 'All'. On a test model this reduced screen redraw times from 12 seconds to 2 seconds!
The Wildcat 5000 also benefits from this setting but as it only has 7Mb of memory allocated for this purpose compared to the 38Mb of the 6110 available at my working resolution of 1600 x 1024 (to suit the 16:10 aspect ratio of the Sony 24" monitor) it managed a redraw time of 6 seconds on the same test model.
The 5000 runs on a dual Athlon 1.2GHz processor machine and so it will be interesting to see if the 6110 results improve when I add a 2nd Xeon 2GHz processor to it's machine.


Sun 15.09.02
Allplan v17.0a SR2  - can now be downloaded from the cadconsulting-usa.com site.
Note that if you have already applied the earlier SR2 download from the nemetschek.com site - the one which gave an error message during the installation of 'File exists.... ' or similar then it is necessary to 'overinstall' v17.0a.


Thurs 12.09.02
Wildcat 6110 - the early indications are that the 3D Labs Wildcat 6110 in the Dell Precision 530 workstation is going to be very fast. Just a single P4 Xeon 2GHz cpu and 1GB rambus memory (I've ordered a second processor) but in Cinema 4D XL7 you can see the difference immediately. Rendering speeds will halve with a second processor.

I am waiting for another 18Gb scsi hard drive to be delivered as I prefer to have the Allplan program and data folders on different drives.
The online retailer has so far sent me one empty box (!), a box with the wrong drive and now we hope, the correct drive.
I am also hoping that using scsi hard disks with high spindle speeds (10k) will help speed up Allplan when dealing with complex layouts - there is still some hesitation in 'picking' elements when there are lots of elements onscreen.

Nemetschek Campus - just browsing through the courses available to Nemetschek customers in Germany - they seem very good value for money. There is even a course on Plandesign FT.
I guess we will just have to sign up for German lessons!


Friday 06.09.02
Allplan v17 SR2 - looks like there are still some gremlins in SR2.
A new patch is likely next week possibly together with some fixing of those Help files which are currently still in German.

3D Labs Wildcat 6110 - took delivery today of a Dell Precision 530 workstation containing a Wildcat 6110 graphics card - Dell prices are so low it is no longer worth the trouble of building your own workstation - although I will be customising this one with more memory and hard disk space and a second processor soon.
The Dell case and layout are very impressive.

Thurs 05.09.02
Allplan v17 - lots of subtle improvements which improve workflow - for example not only can you now edit 'rabbets' to openings (tapered reveals or scuntions as they are better known) but they 'stick' to their openings if moved in elevation - and best of all the window cill line extends to meet them! :)

Wed 04.09.02
Allplan v17 graphics problem solved - thanks to the kind efforts of cadconsulting-usa.com.
The solution was - reassuringly - very simple. For some reason during the upgrade process from v16.3 to v17.0a texture display in the animation window is set to OFF. Animation settings have moved from 'Tools->Options' to 'Modify->Presentation->Animation'.
I have tried a 'clean' install of v17 and textures default to ON.
Why? Who knows...

Tues 03.09.02
Allplan v17 graphics - I seem to have a problem with v17 and the 3D Labs Wildcat 5000 graphics card I use in my workstation. For some reason textures will not display in the animation window. The UK distributor tells me that they have 2 users out of those upgraded to date who have this problem - myself and one other (the other is a laptop installation which can often be problematic anyway).

Update: I guess the question now is - do we uninstall v17 and go back to 16.3 which we know works fine with the Wildcat card and lose a small amount of work already in the v17 format - or do we stick with v17 in the hope that this will eventually be fixed?
Hmm, I notice that Allplan renders the textures OK - it is just the display in the animation window which does not show them.

Update: I use screendumps from the animation window all the time and so I have uninstalled v17 and re-installed v16.3

Update: I upgraded my backup installation of v16.3 which runs on a pc with an Elsa Gloria III card - and it has the same problem! No textures displayed in the animation window.
I wonder if a clean install would fare better?

Mon 02.09.02
Allplan v17 - SR2 is now available for 17.0a
It is available for download from www.nemetschek.com by clicking 'Service->Download' and then entering at least your email address in the form that appears after the description page.

Sat 31.08.02
Plandesign v3 demo - 30 day fully working English demo version of Plandesign v3 now available for download from the nemetschek.com website (or you could ask your local distributor for a copy I guess). Go to 'Service' then 'Download' and follow the link to a form where you just need to enter your email address. It is a 50 Mb file but I think you can download it in sections if you wish.

Tues 27.08.02
Allplan v17 - installed tonight - very smooth upgrade from 16.3.
First impressions are good.
Here are my thoughts after the first few hours use if it is of interest.

Sat 24.08.02
Allplan article - the July/August issue of AEC Magazine arrived while I was on holiday and contains an article on using Allplan in a small practice which I wrote some months ago. Pending appearance of the article on the publisher's website (cadserver.co.uk) I have scanned the original and posted it here as a pdf format file. The scan is a bit rough but readable.

Fri 23.08.02
v17 service release 1 - users lucky enough to have a license for v17 will be interested to know that Nemetschek have released the first service pack.
Update 25.08.02- apparently the patch is corrupt and will be fixed during the coming week
Update 27.08.02 - original patch installed no problem when I tried it...
Update 29.08.02 - No, it only appears to install... fix coming soon
It is available for download from www.nemetschek.com by clicking 'Service->Download' and then entering at least your email address in the form that appears after the description page (scroll down for the English text). Some small but significant bugs are fixed.
I am always impressed by how few bugs appear in Nemetschek products even after a major upgrade - the benefits of thorough beta testing I guess.

Regarding the non-appearance of the license files - well, you might argue that it is a good thing to have SR1 out before installation! (always look on the bright side of life? :)

Tues 20.08.02
v17 - it is now 2 months since the Nemetschek press release announcing the release of the international version of Allplan v17 and nearly 3 weeks since I received the actual CD... and there is still no news of when we might receive a license file so that we can install the software.
Short-staffed? Floods? ... no-one seems to know.

Mon 19.08.02
Holidays - well, we made it back through the floods - just!
We were very lucky - our hotel in Prague was flooded a few days after we left and we were then trapped for several days by the rising water in the historic town of Cesky Krumlov. When we did get out last Wednesday it meant an unforgettable car journey from the south to the north of the Czech Republic. So sad for the damage to the country but great memories of the art, architecture and hospitality.
Coat of arms of Cesky Krumlov latest update from Cesky Krumlov

Allplan v17 - hardly seems important by comparison but ... still waiting for license files apparently. Maybe Munich is on holiday.

Sat 03.08.02
Holidays - yes, it is that time of year again when I manage to fit in 2 weeks of holiday!
This year we are off to the sunny Czech Republic.
Thus there will be no site updates between 4th and 17th August.
 I notice that the award winning Philosophy Library at Masaryk University in Brunn (Brno?) was featured by Nemetschek at Plancom in Berlin last week as it was designed using Allplan FT but it seems to be in a different part of the Czech Republic to where we are going - and anyway... this trip is meant to be a holiday! :)

Allplan v17 CD arrives - but will not install without a new license file - D'Oh!... never mind, something to look forward to after the holidays.

Thurs 01.08.02
Plandesign v3 -
You can download the 'What's new in Plandesign v3' and a full V3 manual also from nemetschek.com
click on 'Products->Design->Plandesign FT'

A 30 day trial version of Plandesign v3 German version is available for download from nemetschek.com - go to 'Service->Download' - but it is a 48 Mb file and I have not succeeded in downloading it yet. The genuine article should be with us soon anyway.
A downloadable English version is planned also.

Wed 24.07.02
Plandesign v3/Allplan v17- Nemetschek have presented these packages at Plancom in Berlin ...
While we wait for CDs to arrive here, another interesting press release ...

Archicad 8 - announced by Graphisoft at the World Congress of Architecture (as you would expect) - for the 'fall' - i.e. autumn to you and me - is, on paper at least, a major improvement to Archicad.
Maybe the irony is lost on Graphisoft but the press release quotes a beta user praising the inclusion of a boolean solid modeller...
well, it amused me ! :)

Sun 21.07.02
Plandesign... there must be a more difficult package to understand than Plandesign - Maya perhaps?
I have just spent (again) an entire precious day trying to make sense of the way this package imports Allplan drawings - and am no further forward.
It is the way scales are handled between drawings and layouts but also the way projects are organised that is the problem. The actual work tools are pretty intuitive.
Oh, well - run out of time again - perhaps I will come back to it again in another few months unless I come across someone who has worked this out.

Thurs 18.07.02
... coming up to 1 month since the official announcement of the availability of the international version of Allplan 17.
Software companies seem to do this for some reason - I had to wait 3 weeks for Adobe Photoshop 7 to arrive after the 'launch day'.

Thur 11.07.02
Sony 24" monitor - took delivery of a Sony GDM-FW900 widescreen monitor yesterday.
Rather expensive but what a display!
If you want to see what Allplan looks like using the most comfortable resolution of 1920 x 1200 @ 90Hz in 32bit color - here is a screenshot (86Kb) reduced to 800 x 500.
My Wildcat II cannot reach the Sony's max resolution of 2304 x 1440 @ 80Hz!


Thur 04.07.02
surfaces to solids - some wonderful exchanges on the Allplan webboard about complex surfaces to solids in the 'Architectural modelling' and 'Rendering/Presentation' Forums. Also an explanation of how to export a section in 3D (which we all thought was impossible! :)

v 17 - not yet... oh well, perhaps it will be 17a we eventually receive? :)
update (apparently yes, it will be 17.0a)


Sat 29.06.02
v 17 Allplan now available in USA - Cadconsulting-usa.com have announced that v 17 of Allplan is now available in the US and Canada. The 'What's new in v17' file is available for download from their site in the News section
(If they have their CDs now - perhaps we will see some in the UK soon too! :)

Cinema 4D offer - Maxon are offering Cinema 4D XL 7 and the junior version Cinema 4D Art at nearly half price to owners of Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator or After Effects - the offer runs until 31st July.
Available from cadconsulting-usa.com and other international Nemetschek dealers as well as direct from the Maxon shop.

It is a rather clever offer this - targetted at professional graphics users and countering the dramatic price drop of Maya, Lightwave etc - and possibly paving the way for a new version as well?


Thur 27.06.02
Model holiday? - while looking online for a hotel in the Czech Republic (for our summer holiday) I noticed that one hotel in Ceský Krumlov was using what appeared to be an Allplan model instead of a photograph...
I have a feeling I have seen it in a gallery somewhere.
Anyone know if it is an Allplan model? Just curious... it is not important.

Allplan v17 - well, it should have been here by now along with Plandesign v3...
it will turn up eventually I guess - maybe after the German roadshows are complete.


Thur 20.06.02
Allplan v17 - Nemetschek press release announces release of v17 in English. It might be a short while before we see the CDs but it all sounds very interesting.
Probably just a coincidence but no sooner do I put up this note than www.nemetschek.com goes down

Update 21.6.02 Nemetschek.com still offline today but here is a direct link to the press release page
(very strange - maybe it is just the front page that is not working?)

Update 22.6.02 Nemetschek.com back online again - someone has been working overtime! :)


Sat 15.06.02
Plandesign FT v3 - if my translation is correct Nemetschek seem to have merged Plan2 and Plandesign in v3. Whether this will be made available as an upgrade to Plandesign v2.5a users or even separate from the D-board we will have to wait for the English language version to appear - I was told late June.
Maybe it is prompted by the release of Architectural Studio by Autodesk which also runs on a Wacom Cintiq and which seems to be a combined vector/bitmap product.

Fri 14.06.02
More changes - well, well, well... I had a feeling something was in the air but it's a surprise all the same - Gerhardt Merkel has resigned as CEO of Nemetschek AG.
A terse press release issued by Nemetschek today and carried on tenlinks.com.

Tue 11.06.02
Interbuild 2002 - just returned from a visit to Interbuild 2002 - this is the largest building show in the UK and takes place only every 2 years at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham...

- very few CAD companies attended ( a trend worldwide) - thus Trial Systems Ltd dominated the 'traditional' CAD with their excellent Wacom-tablet-driven Drawing Express package while Graphisoft UK dominated the 3D CAD with their very impressive Archicad stand overflowing with workstations and 'goodies' - I took away a demo copy of Archicad 20th anniversary edition and the new GDL object adapter. I also had a very long and interesting discussion with Gary (who seems to have been the 'face' of Archicad in the UK for years) about the relative merits of Archicad and Allplan. It cleared up a lot of my misconceptions about Archicad. There is a lot to like in Archicad but for me Allplan is still the more powerful package.

Now, let's see if they've included any textures or other 'goodies' on the demo CDs! (many thanks to Graphisoft, by the way - it must have cost a lot to attend the exhibition but since it is the one exhibition most UK architects actually attend then they seem to think it is money well spent).


Fri 24.05.02
v17 - sounds like v17 release may be sooner than I thought - probably just waiting for CDs to be manufactured

Mybau.com merger - Nemetschek press release - interesting this one for the future - merger of Buildonline.com and Mybau.com

Adobe Photoshop v7 - I have been away for a few days on a Photoshop v7 training course (at Symbiosis.com ) ... a real 'must have' product these days I think for the final touches to rendered images - particularly when inserting them into a background image, but also useful for making textures tile seamlessly and many other things.


Thur 09.05.02
V17 nemetschek.de press release - Nemetschek.de is carrying a press release which I assume indicates the formal announcement of v17 in Germany - it mentions the new 3D sketching feature amongst other things - which certainly sounds very interesting.
Just a guess but I would be pleasantly surprised if the English version is available before September.
It may have been announced but presumably beta testing is still ongoing as the German language 'new in v17 pdf' link posted to the Allplan forum by the Nemetschek webmaster is still not active.
Update - the Nemetschek webmaster has corrected the link (thanks)


nemetschek.it - always one of the better official Nemetschek sites, Nemetschek Italia seems to be steadily improving its website. There is far too much on it to describe here but the 'e-newsletter' and helpful tips and downloads stand out as features that make you want to return to browse around it. I like the way it includes Cinema 4D stuff as well
There are some brilliant images in their gallery - not one but six(!) galleries including a first.... a D-board/Plan2 gallery.
Wonderful :)

...more although in Italian (obviously) it is worth having a look through the FAQs on the nemetschek.it site - there is some quite advanced stuff and the many diagrams help get round the language difference - I liked the one about using the roof frame tool to model outward leaning walls.


Thur 02.05.02
V17 Roadshow in Germany - Hannover today... tomorrow... full itinerary at nemetschek.de ... a chance to get out of the office.. register and maybe win a chance to drive one of these
Mercedes SLK Cabrio for a couple of weeks... (nope you can't keep it :)

Meanwhile back in the land of the mini, trying to find information on Teamwork 2002 is proving difficult this year - anyone know anything about it? (it's that event where all the big name 3D cad systems work together to design a project to demonstrate their interoperability ... at least that's the theory)
Update 07.05.02 - the RIBA tell me that the Teamwork event is being held at the RIBA in London June 10th to 14th inclusive. (Buro Happold say there is a temporary registration site for anyone interested here pending a 'proper' site.)

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