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Six new tools for today’s architects
By Deborah Snoonian, P.E.

With Revit 6, team members “borrow” design components from a single file to develop them simultaneously.

Revit 6
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
(for Windows only)

Ever since acquiring Revit two years ago, Autodesk has been banking on this parametric design tool to entice its large customer base into the world of 3D CAD. Progressive releases of Revit have improved its collaboration and team communication tools. The major upgrade in Revit 6 is a “design option” feature that allows architects to produce, present, and simultaneously track different versions of the same project for a client within a single file (e.g., options for interior layouts, colors, and materials). This shortcut eliminates the need to create multiple memory-hogging versions of the same project and decreases the chance that designers will lose track of changes and revisions as design options are developed simultaneously. Another new feature allows a user to “borrow” one or more components of a design (e.g., a wall, stairway, or detail) even as another user is working on the same design, which enables different team members to work on multiple aspects of a project simultaneously.

Architects can create and explore interior spaces with Adobe Atmosphere and its free viewer.

Atmosphere
Adobe Systems
www.adobe.com
(for Windows only)

Adobe’s new tool lets users create 3D content and animations at a lower cost than most high-end design software programs. It consists of three products: Atmosphere, the tool for creating the environments; Atmosphere Player, a plug-in similar to Macromedia’s Flash plug-in that lets anyone using a Web browser have access to files created with Atmosphere; and an optional, publicly available server where users can meet online to view, change, and annotate 3D content. Using simple keyboard and mouse commands, a viewer tours a 3D environment built in Atmosphere from different angles and viewpoints.

Pictometry and EFS give users dimension information directly from aerial maps (above, an image of Arlington County, Virginia).

Pictometry Online and Electronic Field Study (EFS) Software
Pictometry International
www.pictometry.com
(for Windows and Mac)

Pictometry has patented a system that combines aerial photography with measurement software in a service that lets users download high-quality digital images on which dimensions can be measured by a simple click of a mouse. The company has a database of aerial photographs of 11 states and the District of Columbia; users can search by street address, county, or landmarks such as airports or well-known buildings. Images can be purchased and downloaded directly from Pictometry’s Web site, and with the aid of Pictometry’s Electronic Field Study (EFS) software, users can get dimensional data for any feature—in a building, street, even a grove of trees—by pointing and clicking directly on the maps themselves. The company will add photographs of more locations over time.

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