tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post4175443021782552564..comments2024-03-28T10:29:24.304+00:00Comments on Construction Code - Blog about digital and the NBS platforms from Stephen Hamil: The End Of Babel - IFC promotional videoStephen Hamilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02249940911768910203noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post-55669914451382624832013-12-13T21:32:34.076+00:002013-12-13T21:32:34.076+00:00Thank you very much for the additional provenance ...Thank you very much for the additional provenance information and historical context, Richard!Jakob Beetzhttp://www.ds.arch.tue.nl/jakob/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post-12136657189623343592013-07-06T20:19:04.656+01:002013-07-06T20:19:04.656+01:00Stephen - Not so fast ;-)
Duncan - here is some ...Stephen - Not so fast ;-)<br /><br />Duncan - here is some history. (btw - I am sure you got permission from Autodesk to host this on your site .. right?)<br /><br />The script for "The End of Babel" was written by AEC industry and video development groups at Autodesk in early 1995. <br /><br />Ian Howell was recruited by Carol Bartz to lead the group and he recruited me to lead the "Interoperability Project". Other contributors to the script included Kate Degnan, AG Lambert, and Johnny (?can't find last name - sorry?) (who also produced the video). Much more important than the video, was the proof-of-concept software that was demonstrated on the show floor of AEC Systems in Atlanta (June 1995). These POCs were developed by a collection of 12 companies (6 Autodesk development partners and 6 large customer organizations). They demonstrated interoperability, based on a library of common base class objects developed by the Autodesk team in the previous 8 months. FYI - this is what led to the name Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) (in the same way Microsoft did for UI objects in the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)).<br /><br />Each of the POC applications added vertical market extensions to these objects that delivered the 'value add' for that application, but all of the applications could recognize, display, and edit the objects using the base class behavior and data. Note: two cycles of such development were completed in less than two years. This rapid progress, from concept to software, was possible because partnered with and trusted Autodesk to provide the foundation for this interoperability in software form. It could be argued that we have yet to see the same level of promise in the 18 years since. Why? Because the group (then Industry Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), now buildingSMART) was opened to any and all software companies. After this transition, none of the platform providers would trust Autodesk to provide a foundation that provided equal opportunity to all. As a result, the 'foundation' transitioned from a concrete software library to an ambiguous set of specifications that would be implemented (differently) by any vendor. This process (for defining a standard) was patterned after, and even borrowed from some existing specifications from, the Standard for Exchange of Product models (STEP) projects in the manufacturing industries. <br /><br />The twenty years versus two years is unfortunate for end users, yet very easy to understand. Each BIM authoring platform has, at its core, a building object model, which has a proprietary implementation. They are all different, even if many/most of the concepts (i.e. wall, door, and window) are the same. In order for the original approach (shared library of foundation classes) to work, all of these vendors would need to significantly change the object model core of their applications. This is the current foundation for their application feature set, so it is not reasonable to expect this will be done with a core developed outside their organizations.<br /><br />Still, it is unfortunate, from the end user perspective. I believe the original concept is still achievable, but it would be much more difficult when applied across multiple BIM authoring platforms. Such an effort (the Sable project) was started in the BLIS consortium about 10 years ago, but it failed to achieve critical mass.<br />Richard A. Seehttp://www.digitalalchemypro.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post-21815388347170848592013-07-06T13:35:25.412+01:002013-07-06T13:35:25.412+01:00Can I deduct from your reply that it may have been...Can I deduct from your reply that it may have been a young gentleman from England going by the name of Nicholas?<br /><br />:)<br /><br />If you have any other things (videos/photos) from the start of the "building modelling" period and want them on the web - please send them through Nick and I'll post them up for the world to see.<br /><br />SStephen Hamilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02249940911768910203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post-79399750970481337092013-07-06T12:08:29.987+01:002013-07-06T12:08:29.987+01:00I remember seeing this when it was news - and the ...I remember seeing this when it was news - and the presenter James Burke was the voice of science and technology television on both sides of the Atlantic.<br /><br />But who wrote the script ? Nick Nisbethttp://www.aec3.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092300065894914696.post-75759898408640663002013-04-12T10:12:04.844+01:002013-04-12T10:12:04.844+01:00A small addition or clarification. This was really...A small addition or clarification. This was really the starting point of the global industry interest in BIM - or Building Product Modelling as it was called at that time - and IFC development. However, the basic idea was introduced by Chuck Eastman already in early 1970s. So coming to the point where we are has taken quite awhile...Arto Kiviniemihttp://www.seek.salford.ac.uk/profiles/AKiviniemi.jspnoreply@blogger.com