New Products

Allplan2011 3D Civil Engineering and Architecture CAD Release: July 2011

Allplan is the object oriented based 3D integrated BIM (Building Information Modeling) software developed by Nemetschek, Germany. This product supports the creation of 3D model with the attribution from the existing 2D drawing, and it also allows quantity survey. It uses the tools which cover a wide range including architectural design, structural design, interior design, landscape planning, and urban planning. This product consists of two type of design feature; Allplan Architecture for the architectural design and Allplan Engineering for the structural design. FORUM8 has the sales rights of this product in Japan. Currently, we are localizing Allplan 2011 into Japanese following Allplan 2009. The new functions of Allplan2011 broken down into four topics: platform function, improvement of performance, improvement of usability, connectivity.

Platform function

One of Allplan's design concepts is "Open BIM platform". It means that the platform of Allplan is open to various types of software and format. Allplan2009 supports for the import/export in many types of file format. In Allplan2011, it newly supports for the import/export of DWG format used in AutoCAD 2010/2011 and the export of STL format for the rapid prototyping. The export in DWG format enables the writing of room shape created with Allplan's room creation function (Room) with polyline(Figure1). The rapid prototyping is the creation of physical model using 3D printer. This 3D printer mainly uses STL format. On top of that, Allplan also supports for DGN format, IFC 2X3 format(BIM standard file format), 2D 3D PDF, and SKP format for GoogleSketchup. Additionally, the interface is improved and the reduction of file size is supported. The data linkage with Rhino, CINEMA4D is available as well. Figure1 Physical model created using STL format

Improvement of performance

The drawing speed is improved by the new graphics, and the reference view function is developed as well. The new graphical engine allows the movement of the model and view point even if a number of data is referred, and it can realize the drawing which originated from the change. It is speedier and enables the real-time process of hidden lines. In Allplan, a project consists of several files, and the sectional view and elevation view can be displayed by creating the model in one file and referring to it in another file. When you copy the model between different files, the attributes will be lost in some cases. This new "Copy and conversion" tool enables the copy of model while keeping the data attribution in several files. It enables user to effectively work with the data from old files.

Improvement of usability

The report function, layout editor, option dialog, facade and railing function, and interface of bar arrangement function are improved so that the usability is enhanced. In the report function which is used for the quantity calculation of reinforcement amount and room specifications, it supports for the Microsoft standard report format. The height, width, frame, font, size of cells and the color of text become much clearer then before, and the sort function is available based on the attribution. Besides, the customize window is improved as well (Figure3). Figure3 Report function In Layout editor, many functions are enhanced such as Print preview, improved display of color and gray scale, automatic scale adjustment of drawing, snap function to the layout element. One of the largest improvements is the design of option. Many windows opened by topics before, and now, these are integrated into one window. The display setting and setting of each tool for 115 topics can be set in a window. Moreover, the setting of option can be saved and transferred it to other computers (Figure4). Figure4 Integrated option dialog The facade function and railing function of Allplan Architecture have the predefined detailed model with texture and preview, and dialog is improved and becomes more easy-to-use. In the bar arrangement function, which is the important function of Allplan Engineering, the palette for the arrangement of the single and mesh reinforcement is added so that the clarity and uniformity of the interface is improved(Figure5). Figure 5 Mesh reinforcement and single reinforcement palette

Connectivity

In Allplan2011, the automatic update function and contents download service were added. Allplan automatically detects if the new updated program is available and the users can install it automatically or manually. The system administrator can control the update of the program in the entire office and the optimized latest version can be used. In addition, Allplan Connect service provides the contents download service. The texture and objects of kitchen and furniture are available(Figure6). Figure6 Example of models available for download

(Up&Coming '11 Midsummer Issue)

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