What is the proper way to market on the web

What is the proper way to market on the web?

The web is a powerful tool for getting the word out but also can be detrimental if one is not careful.

As we have been marketing the FAR Process on the web I have received comments that we are not explaining it in enough detail to potential customers.

Our approach from the beginning was to intentionally provide a ‘high level’ description of the FAR Process in order to intrigue people about how we developed a process to automate the creation of Revit Families. We did this so they would ask what it was and if they could see a demo. Frankly, this approach has worked beyond our wildest dreams. We have been providing demos for some of the largest architect firms in the US and across the globe.

However, we feel we are walking a fine line between providing enough detail for potential customers interested in the product while guarding the proprietary information from competitors. We do not want to ‘show all of our cards’ before we are ready to do so. If you have been following me via Twitter or my blogs you will notice we are providing more detailed information about the FAR Process with each blog. We plan to continue providing more details through these blogs until it is released, which will be occurring in the near future.

My question to you is, “What do you think about marketing on the web and the most effective approach that should be taken?

Do you think we have taken the right approach?

What would you recommend?

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Here is an example of the new approach we are taking.

We have a video on Searching for a Revit Family
New blog on the BIM Manager Utility



Thank you.



Patrick Johnson

President - CAD Enhancement, Inc

Partial drawing

In AutoCAD 2009 you may run across what I term is a ‘bug’ when it comes to partial drawings. I have had an issue when starting a new drawing that it will actually start as a partial drawing. This can become annoying, especially if you have any customizations that may be dealing with layers. What is even more amazing to me is that this ‘bug’ has not been caught in any of the service packs.


In a nut shell, AutoCAD has a new variable - openpartial which is defaulted to 1 which allows you the ability to open a drawing in partial open. It is my feeling that when you are starting a new drawing, you should not have to be concerned that it has a ‘bug’, especially an inconsistent one that does not ‘show up’ all of the time. Therefore, in order to alleviate the worry of a ‘bug’, the very first thing that should be done is to change the variable to 0.

Partial open is suppose to work when the drawing is saved in paper space and the variable INDEXCTL is set to non 0.


The following are the definitions for these two variables:openpartial - Two conditions must be met for this system variable to have an effect. The drawing must have been saved with paper space displayed (TILEMODE is set to 0), and the INDEXCTL system variable must be set to a non-zero value.


Indexctl - To receive the maximum benefit of demand loading, it is recommended that you save any drawings that are used as xrefs with layer and spatial indexes.


The point I wanted to emphasize in this blog is if you do use partial open drawings, you need to be aware that your new drawings may start off with the ‘bug’ described earlier and you need to deal with it. If you do not use partial open, set both variables to 0.



Patrick Johnson

BIM Manager Utility

Within the FAR Manager there is a utility exclusive for BIM Managers allowing specific capabilities that general FAR Manager users can not utilize. The login will allow only the BIM Manager to gain access into this utility.



Some of the exclusive capabilities within this utility allow the BIM Manager the ability to:

· Set the path(s) of where the users will be able to read and/or save families from within the FAR Manager.

· Add parameters and values in a batch mode. The general user will have the ability to add parameters one at a time; following a similar process as is found inside Revit. (We felt this ability was better suited for BIM Managers to handle than giving that kind of control to the general user.)

· Set up the search functions for all users allowing the ability to search not only items such as family name but also reaching inside the families and searching data inside the family quickly.



Attached is the BIM Manager Utility video file which demostrates these capabilities in greater detail.



Patrick

Inventor ilogic and Far

As we continue moving forward with our development of the FAR Process we have been digging deeper into automating the creation of Revit families from Inventor. Inventor iLogic (a free product add-in for Autodesk subscription users) will play a huge role in the ability to make this happen. I look at iLogic as a ‘rules based’ logic that is attached to the models within Inventor. To me, this is one of the best moves Autodesk has made in a while. I look at iLogic as a tool that is very simple to use but very powerful - oh yeh, there is even a help document with it.

The ability to return and pass data to outside applications and databases is one of the true powers of iLogic. The way we intend to use iLogic for the FAR Process is only one method for using this ‘rules based’ tool. Once you understand how this tool works, its use will be limited only by your imagination.


I know we are only scratching the surface when it comes to utilizing the capabilities of iLogic for our use with the FAR Process. iLogic is worth looking at for the capability to put rules on any or all parts and assemblies, as it will only make your model that much smarter.

View the video showing an Inventor model to a Revit Family automatically.

Contact us if you are interested in scheduling a demonstration of the FAR Process using Inventor iLogic.

Patrick K. Johnson

Far Creator

The FAR Process is built from 3 main components; the FAR Manager, the FAR Data and the FAR Creator. The FAR Creator is the piece of the puzzle for the Manufacturers that will take their product data whether it originates in Inventor, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Pro E, etc. in order to create the FAR Data set required to automate the creation of a Revit Family.


The FAR Creator really is not one application but a set of API's that will be built for each Manufacturers, based on their software and their industry. The ultimate goal is to get the FAR Creator set up for the Manufacturer so they will not be dependent upon an outside provider for creating and maintaining their Revit families. Each Manufacturer will be able to use their own set of API's to create the FAR Data necessary for automating the creation of their own Revit families using the FAR Process for custom and future product developments.


Another cost advantage with the FAR Process is that the FAR Creator allows the Manufacturer to have the ability for updating architect data automatically when changes are made to the engineering data - thus eliminating the need to manage multiple sets of data.


In addition, we feel one of the greatest advantages of the FAR Process for Manufacturers and Architects is found when working with customized product data. The FAR Creator allows the ability to create the FAR Data set for customized products for Architects automatically, thus eliminating the cost and reducing the amount of time for both the Manufacturer and the Architect to create this data.


The FAR Creator creates the data and automates the creation of the Revit Family to appear as if it were done manually. The FAR Process has the ability to automatically create an efficient, effective and high quality Revit family consistently, each and every time.

Feel free to watch the video of going from Inventor to a Revit family Automatically.


Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in seeing a demonstration of the FAR Process.


Patrick Johnson

Far Process and Manufacturing

As we started putting together the plan for the FAR project one objective we were trying to accomplish was to automate a process where Manufacturers could create Revit families without the investment of purchasing Revit software, training, and the staff to manage Revit. Our original plan was to create a way for the product data from the Manufacturer to be passed to the Architect who has the FAR Manager and Revit software so Architects could create the Revit family on their side automatically, since Manufacturers were focused on producing products instead of creating data.


For the past 6 weeks we have been presenting demos of the FAR process. Those initial demos were designed to get feedback from both Architects and Manufacturers. One item that we were hearing from the Manufacturers is the desire to create the Revit families themselves. The reason behind this was coming from the marketing side as they want the ability to decide where the Revit families reside in order to get the most exposure for their families and ultimately, their products. As a result of that feedback we are now offering the option for Manufacturers to implement the entire FAR process which includes both the FAR Manager and the FAR Creator to enable the capability for automating the creation of their own Revit families.


I think this was the beauty of these demos, not only did we obtain feedback regarding the concept of the FAR process but we also learned how companies plan on managing their architect data moving forward.


Again, I would like to thank everyone who participated in our initial demos of the FAR process and welcome other Architects and Manufacturers to contact us if interested in scheduling a FAR demo.



Patrick Johnson

Updating Sheet numbers

Updating sheet numbers in your Paper Space tabs automatically can be a challenge and time consuming when doing it manually -especially if you do not use the simple approach of 1 thru 10. Updating of your sheet numbers happens any time automatically when a template is added, deleted or changed. If you are using the scheme to give each sheet the same name as the Sheet Number (e.g. M1, M2, M3 for Mechanical drawings and E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 for Electrical drawings) and you want to label your drawings as (M1 of M3) or (E1 of E5) a new challenge arises when you remove a sheet or add a sheet and need to be able to update all the remaining sheets correctly (e.g. M1 of M4 when adding one additional Mechanical sheet).

CAD Enhancement Inc. has developed an application that automates the process of updating sheet numbers as described in the previous examples. This is one of those tools we have found helpful to eliminate the need to go into Paper Space objects and is extremely cost effective with a quick ROI.
If you are interested in implementing this tool at your facility all we would need is to review your sheet number standards.

Feel free to contact us if you have comments, questions or interest in this application.


Patrick K Johnson

Paper Space

When I look at Paper Space and when I talk to customers - I always say, “Think of Paper Space as a piece of paper.” As you start thinking of Paper Space in that way while setting up your standards and procedures correctly, Paper Space can become a way to print and/or publish your drawings without the need of opening up those tabs. We’ve actually been able to set up a customer so they never have the need to go into their drawings what so ever. Of course, not everyone will have that ability but I want to show you there are ways you can minimize the need.

To begin with you need to look at what is available to help you minimize or eliminate the need to open up the Paper Space tabs such as:

Fields - These are items that you point to in order to see data that you want to read. For example, you can point to the tab name for the sheet number. I actually like to point to properties in the custom properties within the file for filling in the Title Block. Using this data from the fields you start building consistency in your Title Block which also allows for quick changes, no matter how many sheets you have to work with. examble.

Layers – Generally speaking, you can control specifically what layers are frozen, thawed or on and off. An example of this is found in the view ports within each Paper Space object.There is more available to help minimize the need to open Paper Space tabs such as Annotative Text which can be applied to more complex drawings.

The point I want to emphasize is ‘Whatever you do is dependent upon your standards and setting up your templates correctly.’ Also, we have found that sometimes having an application in place helps with these matters. One small application we have developed and like to use is discussed in the blog Updating Sheet Numbers within Paper Space. We feel it becomes non-productive if you are doing work in Model Space which also creates a need to do work in the Paper Space object. With the proper setup you can minimize or eliminate the need to go into the Paper Space items to do any work.

Feel free to contact us with your questions and/or comments regarding Paper Space.

Patrick Johnson