Trimble Acquires Vico Assets!
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Hi Guys,
I've Just learned that Trimble has acquired the 'assets of Vico Software' http://www.vicosoftware.com/, a company that offers consulting services and has developed a suite of 5D virtual construction software. The following image explains at a glance what Vico does.
I personally think this is great news as it shows that Trimble is very serious about becoming a big player in the Construction Industry and this can only means that SketchUp will be further developed with a strong emphasis on AEC
Vico Software's head man is Mark Sawyer. Mark was heading @Last when the Google acquisition took place so I would imagine that there will be some special relationships between SU and the suite of Vico products. Currently Vico programs import .skp. Time will tell
Here is the Press Release, http://www.trimble.com/news/release.aspx?id=110212a
Mike
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Sounds great, it's all coming together.
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The case study videos help to demystify QS processes, well worth watching for anyone in the construction industry particularly designers that hate this end of the building spectrum!
Designing (a building) to budget is always a tricky proposition but with systems like Vico Office this would appear to be more user friendly, at least if there is coordination from the beginning and if the designer has carried out similar design work in the past that Vico Office can use as a benchmark.
It can be quite frustrating for the designer to go back to the drawing-board and start chopping and changing a design. This can often lead to some of the brief's original aims being side-lined rather than incorporated in the initial design at an appropriate level. Knowing in the early stages how far the budget will stretch to is definitely a huge help.
From what I can see, I think the Vico Office estimating process will appeal to designers and I can see them getting involved early as its not as boring a process as it used to be. Estimating has come quite a long way from the days of taking off measurements with a scale rule and costing individual building components! Vico Office goes a long way to eliminate the 'back and forth' process!
I think I notice a trend / possible objective in Trimble's acquisitions! It looks to me that they may well come up with a very integrated design / build system that will prove to be very efficient. I also think that, gone will be the days, that individual architects will work to a large extent by themselves. I can see where processes like Vico Office will act as a costing coordinator between many design disciplines. With fast BB connection this does not necessarily mean all parties will be in a single office, just connected in real time.
After all, as with most things we are involved with, cost / price is often the bottom line and anything that helps to manage this must be worth adopting. An additional bonus to adopting the process will an easier time organising, from the offset, the initial and ongoing maintenance of the building! This something that I feel many designers currently don't get involved in, but can now!
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Well now, this is special!
If you look at the asset management spectrum of offerings from an architect's perspective you are always amazed that nobody used the attributes of emerging cadd programs beyond trying to make them look like 'old' drawings.
Trimble had the satellites in space a long time ago, just to make surveying accurate...now geo-positioning is the key a 'new' view. And to think that almost everyone on the planet 'voluntarily' allows a 'tracker' to be on or near them on a cell phone is even more amazing.
Using the 'attributes' of a 3D tool along with the 'modeling' of work-flows and schedules with other analysis tools allows a greater 'language' or 'pattern' as the WiKi folks say, for a team to collaborate on a design...
The real advantage Trimble has right now, is they have kept it open platform and oh-so simple. While you can purchase slightly more robust versions of all of the software tools from ESRI, AutoDesk, Bentley or others, SU is free to the masses and there are a myriad of other 'free' or open platforms like 'Gimp' and 'Google Docs' that make it possible for a team to collaborate in a 'model' design that 'tests' the various components feasibility before a spade of earth is turned (I am an architect!)
The trick is to get the 'noise' that was mentioned in the BIM article isolated and then mixed at the right time.
Nevertheless, it still starts with a 'concept' and SU makes that creative process about as easy as anything I have used, even a pencil on a cocktail napkin...now, it is my finger on a tablet!
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@goatboy said:
The trick is to get the 'noise' that was mentioned in the BIM article isolated and then mixed at the right time. !
Thanks 'goatboy' for joining and commenting on this thread. And as I'm at it, thanks for reading my BIM article. I am now sure that at least two people have read it
I look forward to seeing how Trimble's version of BIM develops with SketchUp onboard . This, I imagine, will be a great opportunity for the SU Dev Team to move SketchUp to where it should be.
You mention the 'pencil and napkin' for those very prelim all important doodles! SketchUp does, to a great extent, achieve this 'feel' but not quite in my opinion. I'm still looking for possibly an iPad app that will allow this freedom. I also think one or two might be getting close to something usable.
Mike
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I went through the whole Vico Office 1/2 hour video the other day.
I saw a real value to the first module where the various formats are share-able and view-able in 3D. The fourth module that had to do with collaboration and change management was also cool. The two modules that had to do with cost estimating are relevant and cool but very specific to a 'niche' group and do not have the same level of appeal to me, as they deal with a level of detail that I don't 'dig into'.
The sliding cross-section viewer was awesome, as was the 'high light revised stuff' view.
Still, Vico has too much of the Microsoft Project/Sharepoint look, that I have found folks in the western united states really don't like. The 'Google' style of button interface with a three-part (maximum) screen and 'zoom from space to neighborhood' really appeals, as does the 'rotate my model'.
I hope that Trimble breaks the Vico modules down into 'bite-size' pieces with some of it being made 'free-ware' to SU users, like parts of render programs and materials/models/warehouses are currently. I think that is the way to 'win over customers'.
As to the app for a Android phone...like you, I am still waiting
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