Sunday, February 24, 2013
Introducing Autodesk FormIt
YouTube: Introducing Autodesk FormIt. the 1st Architectural Form Modeler for the iPad. FormIt is an intuitive, easy to use mass modeling application helping designers make informed decisions while accessing site & climate data. The building and site aware app allows designers to sketch proposed design options that can be compared with program requirements and then shared with the project team for continued collaboration through Autodesk® 360.
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9 comments:
Wow. Wow. Wow. I have never been a fan of the iPad, but I am a huge fan of tablets in general. I have never seen such comprehensive software on a mobile device, and I have in fact see uses for it in the field. I think that the part of the software where you can see airflow around the structures is a really cool feature, and answers some really annoying permitting questions people have out in the field.
I think this is awesome. The iPad is an interesting thing....it has more capabilities than the iPhone but less capabilities than a MacBook. I recently acquired one, and I have found it to be great for everyday uses such as taking notes or quickly sending e-mails. In class, people often don't want the distraction of computers, but I've never had anybody complain about the iPad. I think it makes the student feel better about being able to use technology, and the professor feel better about not having the student hiding behind a screen. That being said, I think it's great that more and more technology is being developed for the iPad. It has so much potential, and the more versatile it becomes, the more practical it will be to own one. The technology has the ability to change industry, it's just about developing the right tools to get there.
I'm legitimately mesmerized by what this software can do. It just seems so simple to be able to design something. I'm sure it is more complicated than what it showed in the video, but it has the potential to be simple. I think it's an interesting idea to design on a touch screen... it seems to me that it would take some of the exactness out of a design. It might look the way that the designer wants it to look, however it might be a nightmare in dimensions. nevertheless I think this is such a cool idea, I think it could really make design meetings go very differently because a designer could just do a quick mock up while conversing with the director, and I think it would be a fantastic benefit for the theater world.
I think this seems cool. I specifically like that you can see how it will look in semi real life on the satellite map thing. Its good because you can see how it will potentially look in its environment; How it will compliment and be complimented by the buildings or nature around it. I wonder if it's actually as easy to use as they made it seem.
It worries me that an Ipad makes students feel more comfortable like Cassandra says. I don't want to have to depend on technology as much as i love it. I guess its because i dont want to be crippled when i dont have it, but with the way the world is moving with technology, we are using it more and more with our daily life and thats not going to change.
This would be great way to anticipate Peter Cook taking apart design models and asking "what if"
but in all seriousness I do see a potential for touring shows like Ringling Brothers circus to create blocks for their trailors and rigs and plot out how they are going to occupy their next location. The production manager of ringling was telling us during our visit that his next big issue is figuring out where to store all of their rigs while they go back to florida and that fortunately the google earth camera took the picture of the lot where they are going to be staying while they were there last time
The video makes the software seem amazing but I feel like a software like that would take much more processing power than the pad has available but even if that is not the case the ipad is touch based and youre usually trying to be very precise when using software like this so I would imagine that it could get frustrating quickly trying to click on a specific point with the imprecise end of a finger.
I don't think this is meant to be a terribly specific tool for an architect...just a way for them to sketch/conceptualize a building quickly, with the added bonus of doing so in the buildings likely location and taking even further to see if your design will totally suck in that environment. This is in no way a product that will help the entertainment industry unless you want plot of the location of some tents or a concert rig and see how the weather may effect your site.
Who can keep up? It seems every week there's a new 3D modelling program trying to be the next big thing. What stands out in this one is the site specificity. I used to have a book in my (ahem) throne room called "Permaculture" that was all about how man made structures inhabit the environment and how they can benefit from understanding that environment. It used to be a common understanding of builders, an architectural vernacular that ensured some of the common sense practices of environmental integration. In an old town, like Gloucester Mass., for example, you can often tell which way is north by noticing which exterior walls of the older houses are shingled instead of sided. The carpenters knew which was the "weather wall" of the structure, and would clad it with a more resilient and, perhaps even more importantly, easily replaceable material. Of course engineers and architects do consider lots of environmental variables in the design process, but this software brings that ability to the everyday user. How will it affect our built environment? No idea. Hopefully by making it more solar and wind-power friendly for starters, as carbon energy goes away.
As an aside, I do wonder where the data for the thermal and wind studies shown in the video comes from and how reliable and available it is to the public.
As another aside, is it now just mandatory to associate these types of things with San Francisco?
So this program reminds of a lot of Google Sketchup. The basic concept of a very quick and easy way to build 3-d shapes with in a software. The additional shadows effects on the building, I will give a point to Autodesk pretty amazing. Also the wind? program, showing the movement of the wind around the building in that area. Again pretty amazing, point to autodesk. So I am not sure, having it on the I-pad, would someone really pull this out in a meeting. I just wonder about use, and usefulness. Do not get me wrong it could be incredibly useful, I just need to do more research on the software.
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