I am Anthony Frausto-Robledo, editor-in-chief at Architosh.com. I assemble the monthly INSIDER Xpresso—heir apparent to our ToshLetter—to help us understand emerging technologies (emTech) and social forces impacting CAD industries like AEC and manufacturing.
This month. We have another special feature on the Revit Open Letter topic. This time it is focused on the multiplatform futures of AEC apps by Autodesk, straight from the words of its CEO. This naturally touches on a Mac Revit and we discuss Apple Silicon throughout this issue; our Curated emTech section is dedicated to analysis and commentary about Anagnost's comments about Revit Mac and Apple. And we finish with...the Biggest CAD Industry News Last Month in the last section.
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The Top Five Must-Reads
I've combed the Internet to find the most interesting, compelling, or controversial stories about the AEC and manufacturing industries, and the social and emerging technological forces at play on both:
1 - Autodesk Revit Controversy Is A Warning to Industrial Software Makers, is the title of this Forbes piece from Andre Wegner who chairs Digital Manufacturing at Singularity University in Silicon Valley. Andre says the Revit open letter is a warning shot to industrial software makers about being fed up with being locked into closed platforms. He cites Siemens PLM, Dassault, and Autodesk as examples. He says, "Customers are revolting because it is increasingly clear that incumbents cannot or do not keep up with demands but also because user needs to have changed." (Forbes)
How are user needs changing? The reason I selected this piece to head off the Top Five this month is that it aligns with our three-story analysis of the Revit open letter story. "Alignment" is actually an operative word in the present era where the next generation of digital innovations are increasing—not decreasing—the capabilities of installing a mature flexible production structure in the second half of the ITC (information technologies and communications) revolution. As Wegner says, too, "the pace of software development shatters the claim of incumbents to be providing best-in-class along the entire value chain." Users need faster and more flexible workflows that offer up best-in-class capabilities at all stages of their work. The monolithic larger applications do not align with the tenets of a modern, cloud-based, flexible digital production infrastructure for AEC and manufacturing. To get alignment they must adapt.
2 - Cloud Trends to Watch Going Into 2021 We all know that the COVID-19 crisis has changed the work landscape in the here and now. But what about the future? Increasingly, we hear big news from FAANG companies about when things will look normal again—and it's way off in the future. As for AEC, remote work has increased the need for cloud-based tools. This article says something really important about another benefit of cloud that speaks to the story above: "Cloud computing allows digital transformation at the pace of innovation..." (DevPro)
What’s the low-down? COVID-19 has made more companies more familiar and now dependent on cloud tools; this temporary pandemic will shift and/or accelerate R&D into cloud technologies and workflow processes. All of this means that post-COVID-19, how businesses function will be far more cloud-based. The cloud will increasingly be "the platform."
3 - Future of Design: Making AI work for you. This ArchitectureNow article by Mott MacDonald's Maria Mingallon explores some practical applications. In particular, it looks at using AI to make the dangerous roads of New Zealand safer without resorting to extensive new construction. (ArchitectureNow)
What is essential in this story? The essential take-away from this detailed story is that AEC professionals shouldn't wait to find the perfect project for AI but start taking small steps now. The New Zealand-based Intranel took on the task of trying to make the roads of New Zealand safer by using an AI strategy that involved computer vision and a core AI application to track the location, and velocity of vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists in visual range. The story of how it all goes together is the learning lesson, showing how available components exist today to assemble a flexible AI system to tackle the challenge at hand.
4 - BIG plans artificial intelligence-run city campus in China. Danish architecture studio BIG has designed a new AI-run campus in China named Terminus AI City Operating System, on the campus in Chongquing, China. AI City will feature automation extensively, such as adjusting solar panels and digital assistants to run homes. For example, as sunlight hits houses, windows will adjust their opacity to allow the natural light to wake "sleepy residents." (Dezeen)
BIG has designed a new AI-run campus in China with stunning ambitions for automated urban life. (Image: BIG / All rights reserved.)
How far can AI go? But that's just the beginning. An AI virtual housekeeper named Titan selects your breakfast, matches your outfit with the weather, and presents a full schedule of your day using Terminus Group's smart transportation solution.
5 - Apple's A12 Bionic in the new fall 2020 iPads introduce 2x GPU leap Apple's fall September Event introduced the new iPad product line with the A12 Bionic SoC (system on a chip) processor. The new A12 Bionic is twice as fast as the processor in the top-selling Windows laptop in the iPad's price range. But more importantly—and this touches on the discussion of Apple Silicon Macs with Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost—the performance improvements Apple achieves each year with its own chips trounce the paltry performance gains Intel has been achieving. (see feature story this issue). The new A12 Bionic's CPU performance is 40 percent faster than last year's chip. And the GPU is 200 percent faster. (Apple)
Apple's A14 is Cupertino's latest chip and it is assumed that the first Mac with Apple Silicon will feature either this exact chip or a more powerful version of it.
How Apple Silicon leads Intel today? The new A12 Bionic is also 300 percent faster than the top-selling Android tablet, a stunning performance delta. But the real interesting comparison is to Windows computers in a like-for-like comparison format. TrustedReviews published an interesting piece that noted that Intel's latest, 11th generation processor for thin and light laptops—a like-for-like comparison to a MacBook—is based on Intel's Tiger Lake, 10nm mobile processor series with four cores. The first Apple Silicon Macs are rumored to feature the brand new A14 as is in the new iPad Air or an enhanced version. The A14 in the Air is a 6-core CPU, a 4-core GPU, and has something Intel's chips don't have at all—the Neural engine for machine learning calculations, which in the A14 is a 16-core engine.
Apple's future Macs will feature Apple Silicon (custom ARM chips) that are world-leading in their class. Currently, ARM chips power the world's fastest supercomputer. Of particular interest to us is the Neural Engine (for AI and machine learning) and the other ML technologies getting added to Apple chips, like the ML accelerators. The reason why AI and ML are important is that increasingly, both will feature prominently in helping accelerate processes in AEC and manufacturing design and engineering software. Today, several BIM providers in AEC tap into machine learning algorithms to accelerate useful tasks and this will only increase. Intel chips don't have onboard equivalent dedicated ML engines.
Apple's new A14 is the first chip in its class to be built on a 5nm process technology, which means it is smaller and tighter and more energy efficient. We believe that this processor may support all-day battery life for the new MacBook. It will certainly crush Intel's latest mobile processor in terms of energy efficiency. And as Digital Trends says, "Did Apple just give us a preview of the first Apple Silicon Mac?" I actually think the Apple Silicon Mac chip will get a letter designation behind the A14 moniker—like A14M.
ZDNet has an interesting take on the advantage Apple is providing itself with the use of Apple Silicon, versus Intel. We won't provide a spoiler but it's a great and logical read and it has good news for Apple fans.
Five More Stories
6 - Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends for 2021
7 - AI is being used in a massive BIM project in the UK to cut costs and emissions
8 - Is open-source architecture's digital disruption?
9 - Toyota's robot butler prototype hangs from the ceiling like a bat
10 - Will Apple Silicon slow enterprise Mac deployment?
These additional stories and our analysis, commentary, and images are all available to yearly INSIDER Membership subscribers, inside our upcoming "Member Access—(emTech) Section" feature. Lands 9 October 2020 - see Architosh home page.
More (emTech) Below Our Special Feature
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Anagnost Follow-Up: Multiplatform Futures and AEC Ecosystem
This feature follow-up delves into how the AEC ecosystem must change ultimately to resemble manufacturing but albeit in its unique way. We also take a look at Mac Revit.
WELCOME TO OUR MAIN FEATURE IN October's issue of Xpresso, our monthly newsletter. We wanted to unpack a few items from our feature article "What's Beyond Revit—Anagnost on Autodesk AEC Futures."
In my call with Andrew Anagnost for that piece, he touched on a few areas at a deeper level than I could afford to cover in the main feature already published on Architosh. One of those was the comparison between AEC and manufacturing. The other area had to do with the possibility of Revit on the Mac platform—a longtime request from many in the industry—along with comments about future AEC solutions being developed to run across platforms and devices.
AEC and Manufacturing
In the above-mentioned feature, Anagnost discusses how Fusion 360 (Autodesk's modern cloud-driven tool for manufacturing design) may play a role as a type of template or guide for the future development of Autodesk Revit. Fusion is technically a "thick-client" application, meaning it is not a light as a web app running in your browser but offloads computational and data components to the cloud. Fusion has a 'product information model' that sits in the cloud "between the file and the application," notes Anagnost. That is not how BIMs today work, including Revit.
"We need to move BIM from a file to an infrastructure. That's the real end state of interoperability." --- Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
Additionally, Fusion's product information model, or PIM, segments the file down into useable pieces of information. Anagnost says the rate on which it is segmenting the file down further is actually increasing. "That actually allows people to talk to specific parts of the problem, and it allows two people to work on a specific piece of the problem simultaneously," says Anagnost.
This is the destiny for BIM and why Fusion is a type of template or guide for future AEC solutions and ongoing development of Revit at Autodesk. "We need to move BIM from a file to an infrastructure," says Anagnost. "That's the real end state of interoperability."
"But I think we can all agree that the future is not files; the future is a BIM representation in the cloud with data APIs and things that go with it. That's the world we are heading to."
The Ecosystem Must Change
Anagnost cautions, however, that this kind of transformation isn't going to be easy. "Technology can take us halfway there," he adds, "the ecosystem has to take us the other halfway there." Noting that he sees the AEC industry as a very immature version of what has "ultimately happened in product design and manufacturing," he says that architects may need to give some control up in the process for the ecosystem to work better.
As the AEC ecosystem moves ever closer to our abilities to have multiple stakeholders essentially working on various BIM models simultaneously, the question of who owns the model or who owns the single-source-of-truth (SSOT) or 'golden truth' model becomes an issue. Keeping track of who made changes in specific models and what those changes were isn't beyond what is already available in manufacturing CAD pipelines; it should be reasonable to insert those technologies over time in BIM tools.
"I do believe our knowledge of the manufacturing space will be an asset to our ability to solve the AEC ecosystem challenges." --- Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
The bigger issue Anagnost warns about is getting the AEC ecosystem to agree on workflow issues in a world with many BIM model representations, where the BIM models are "wired up" together. Still, at the end of the day, the AEC stakeholders must agree on a golden truth model.
Anagnost says in manufacturing agreement is easier because design, engineering, and manufacturing are usually in one company. "The supply chain is usually subservient to the design and engineering piece in most manufacturing companies," he further notes. "And there is always a type of assembly process that coordinates all these things. It has been historically easier to do that in manufacturing than in AEC."
One factor that provides advantages for Autodesk in the AEC software industry is its long history in MCAD. "I do believe our knowledge of the manufacturing space will be an asset to our ability to solve AEC ecosystem challenges. It's not going to be the same or a cut and paste. They are different types of ecosystems. But technologically, what lubricated that ecosystem can lubricate this [AEC] ecosystem."
Revit on Mac
Another major area to unpack from the previously published feature is this possibility of Revit finally coming to the Mac platform. As discussed, AutoCAD today is a true modern application with web versions, desktop versions, and mobile versions with a cloud-based data backbone. Fusion is a different type of modern application (much more modern than Autodesk Inventor or SolidWorks) as it acts as a "thick-client" with a cloud-based data backbone. That "thick client" also runs on Mac and Windows.
"You cannot be cloud-native without being multi-threaded, that is oxymoronic. And cloud-native means multi-device native." --- Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
In the previous article, we are informed that both Fusion and the modern AutoCAD will both inform the future of both Revit and other upcoming Autodesk AEC tools. All the future tools will be SaaS-based (cloud) tools, Anagnost told me. These tools will begin to surround Revit and will communicate with it and also BIM 360.
Anagnost notes, "You cannot be cloud-native without being multi-threaded native, that is oxymoronic." He adds, "And cloud-native means multi-device native." This means these future SaaS tools will work on the Mac platform and often come with mobile app versions.
"I will make no promises of Revit on the Mac," says Anagnost. "What I will say is that anything we build that works with Revit and ultimately starts to encroach on Revit's territory is going to be multiplatform."
"I will make no promises of Revit on the Mac. What I will say is that anything we build that works with Revit and ultimately starts to encroach on Revit's territory is going to be multiplatform." --- Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
When I brought up the Mac's Apple Silicon transition and how powerful future Macs may be—not to mention the new form-factors Apple may create and drive users to—Anagnost agreed. "I totally agree. The iPad Pro—I'm not sure how much you have used them—is a killer platform, in many respects! While some believe the future is all browsers, I believe the future is the app model, where you have a reasonable thick app—it's not too thick—with a lot of stuff behind it in the cloud."
I press Anagnost once again on Apple's chip transition noting that they may crush Intel in less than five years’ time. What if Apple has the most powerful computers in the world like they have the fastest tablets and smartphones?
"I am not going to rule out a Mac Revit, I'm not going to promise a Mac Revit," he says again. "The lift and shift for Revit might be greater than is appropriate, but new development is mentally going to be multi-platform in all cases."
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Curated content: Emerging Technologies and their potential impact on CAD-based industries.
Unpacking Anagnost
Further Analysis & Commentary: In my discussion with Anagnost he expressed strong enthusiasm for Apple's iPad Pro hardware, as noted above in the special feature. Yes, Apple's iPad Pro really flies! So what happens, I said, if Apple Silicon in future Macs really fly as well? What happens if Revit isn't on that platform but others are and they gain that benefit?
This is the part where Anagnost says he will not rule out Revit making that shift, but he's not committed to doing it either. So there is a bit of wait and see on two fronts: (1) internally about what strategies to incorporate with modernizing Revit and (2) waiting to see how big an impact Apple may make with Apple Silicon.
The issue of Revit on the Mac is a hypersensitive issue at Autodesk. My long history on this topic with Autodesk staff is it is always a hot button topic, responded to, or expressed, in cautious and cagey language. And why is that?
A view of Autodesk BIM 360, a cloud-based SaaS tool. Autodesk sees future "thick-client" app tools supplementing Revit communicating with BIM 360 and vice versa. (Image: Bentley)
I've had lots of personal theories over the years, including one that involves Microsoft. But Anagnost makes it clearer above when he says "the lift and shift for Revit might be greater than is appropriate..." This word "shift" isn't necessarily about code only, it also applies to their users. A substantial minority of users would come over to use on the Mac. But what does that gain Autodesk beyond goodwill? Would it make them more competitive with their BIM competitors already on both platforms? Not likely. Folks on the Mac on ArchiCAD or Vectorworks have proven their loyalty and entrenchment through the dark years of the last century and the early years of this new one. If you stayed with Apple and one of those platforms from the 90s on till now, your loyalty is pretty phenomenal. Not only that, your firm spans three generations—with "digital immigrants" at the helm.
If you read our Firm Profile story on the German architecture firm, ARP ArchitektenPartnershaft, such firms are often not as agile with technology adoption as computer competencies vary widely. There is a loyalty factor Autodesk has to overcome but there are also practicalities of asking Baby Boomer (digital immigrants) who had a difficult enough time with the analog to digital transition to make a big change so late in their career. These folks have developed command over their first CAD/BIM tool and they can be passionate (like most Mac folks are) and committed! Just because there exists a Revit for the Mac doesn't mean they are going to move.
But Apple Silicon Macs could change dynamics for Autodesk. Anagnost agreed with me that Apple could introduce exciting new form-factors due to the new chips they are creating for Macs and this could be an inflection point in the computer industry. Another interesting statement of Anagnost is his comment about future AEC tools and that they will be SaaS-based but "thick apps" and based on the "app model." Such apps will be both multithreaded and built for multiple devices (Macs, Windows, iOS, Android, Web). These Fusion-like apps will encroach on Revit's territory, says Anagnost, and are "going to be multiplatform."
That's it on the Revit front this issue. We've covered a lot across a three-story series, our Open Letter reports, and now the special feature in this issue.
Our curated (emTech) content is short this month but we will have a more diverse section next month in November.
What's Cooking: Future Xpresso Features
One of our features coming up on Xpresso before it arrives on Architosh is on Apple Silicon and its potential impact on the next-generation Macs and their impact on the CAD and 3D industries. We have spoken to several interesting experts and developers about what may happen if Apple does to desktop computers what they have delivered for smartphones and tablets. It's exciting!
Tim Millet, VP Platform Architecture, Apple, inside an Apple Lab focused on Apple Silicon. (Image: screengrab from Apple Event in September)
We look forward to sharing this story in Xpresso #21 in November.
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Biggest CAD Industry News Last Month
(the biggest news and features from September)
Feature: The Sensible Pathway to Open BIM — One German Firm's Story. This article documents the details of how a mid-sized German architecture firm moved from a 2D production workflow to full Open BIM. [6-9 min. read] (Architosh). Highly recommended for AEC professionals not yet committed to BIM or those doing Little BIM.
News: Bentley Systems IPO — Shares Now on NASDAQ
The global leader in technical software for infrastructure projects in addition to buildings has finally moved to the public stock market. So far the stock has seen a reasonably strong start. [3 min. read] (Architosh).
AEC News: Autodesk Joins ODA to Fast Track Improvements to Interoperability
Following the demands in the Revit Open Letter, Autodesk has joined the ODA to bring stronger IFC support and interoperability to its customers. The company says the decision to join the ODA was already in the works but the timing of the Open Letter was encouraging. [5 -min read] (Architosh).
News: Vectorworks 2021 BIM and Design Software Launched
The US-based CAD leader has announced its annual update to its Vectorworks product line. We cover the highlights. [2 min. read] (Architosh).
News: Maxon Receives $200,000 Epic MegaGrant by Epic Games
This is very exciting news for Cinema 4D users as Maxon receives a grant to further advance Unreal Engine into the Cinema 4D pipeline. [5-min read] (Architosh). News for Visualization pros!
News: Maxon Announces Cinema 4D Release 23
The Nemetschek Group's daughter company, Maxon, has announced its annual software update to Cinema 4D, release 23. The new software packs dozens of updated and new capabilities and features. [5-min. read] (Architosh)
News: Chaos Czech Releases Corona Renderer 6 for 3ds Max
The latest Corona Renderer 6 is now available for Autodesk 3ds Max software, adding Powerful Sky Model, adaptive sampling, and other new features. [5-min read] (Architosh). More visualization news!
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Remember you can sign-up for architosh INSIDER Xpresso here -- a unique CAD industry newsletter with a special focus on emergent technologies (emTech) like AI, ML, robotics, 3D printing, AAD, computational design, and smart cities tech.
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Warmly,
Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
This is a free newsletter and companion publication to Architosh.com.
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Companies mentioned in this newsletter where I have a financial interest will be listed in this section. This is consistent with Architosh's Disclosure statement on our Ethics page here.
Architosh or its owner has a financial interest in Simulicity, which was mentioned in this issue.
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