Estimator Technology Topics

Autodesk University 2007

2007-12-07T17:06:00Z

So I went to Las Vegas last week for the Autodesk University 2007 show. It was awesome. Some really cool technology was unveiled by Autodesk that allows for really advanced visualization (3D) of buildings/developments/parts. Go to http://labs.autodesk.com/ for more information. I'm posting pictures in the photo section. The other cool thing was meeting Jeff Han from Perspective Pixel (www.perspectivepixel.com). The only way to understand their technology is to go to the website. Just imagine a wall that you could do takeoffs on with your hands. Yep - it's really that cool.

My 3 other favorite things about Vegas:

1) The inclinator at Luxor (not elevator - inclinator) - late at night you can watch people slam into the wall when it gets going sideways up the pyramid - very funny.
2) The buffet at The Bellagio - absolutely an awesome food fest - you won't eat for 2 days afterwards
3) Ceasar's - a very cool casino with a cool bar called Pure

Anyway - it was a very enlightening trip and a great conference - I highly recommend it to all. Also check out Revit by Autodesk - it's going to totally change estimating.

Cool estimating tech

2007-11-21T05:01:00Z

So I've been reviewing a couple of estimating and takeoff packages just so I understand them a little better and I wanted to mention two packages that I thought were pretty cool. Winestimator (www.winest.com) was demo'd to me and really played up on their integration with revit (http://www.autodesk.com/fo-products-revit-arch) the 3D modeling system created by Autodesk (www.autodesk.com). I thought this was neat because of the ability to integrate a 3D model of a proposed commercial building with your own cost calculation and then click on a part of a building, say a roof, and find out the cost of the component. I could see some major time savings there, especially if architects were to release public revit models for use by commercial estimators (doubtful, but one can hope).

The other tool was Vertigraph (www.vertigraph.com). I really liked this package because at its heart is is an extension of Excel, which allows for infinite customization. A user can perform a take-offs and have the data flow straight into Excel. Rather than dump data into excel it actually is connected with the sheet, and the takeoff is launced from an Excel sheet - really a neat concept, seeing that the product is improved every time Microsoft releases a new version of Excel (Yes, it is compatible with Office 2007). The other product from Vertigraph that was cool was Siteworx, a new tool for dirt work that allows the estimator to actually model a site in 3D and do real time cuts and fills. Its functions were definitely something that would take me at least a week to fully explore, but I think its worth looking into. Talk to Erich there at Vertigraph if you get a chance.

While at the On Center show, a rep from On Center mentioned that the new version of their software was going to bring back some of the favorite user features from 2.7x and was going to make some of the features for loading files more simple. I'm looking forward to seeing this next version, as I'm sure all of you OST fans are.

My other cool technology that I saw at the recent On Center show was a tablet PC company (I'll get their name later) that was marketing a hardened, rubberized Toshiba tough book that had built in cell phone wireless cards. Basically, you could get a truck mount and have a complete solution that would be online all the time. This wasn't the first time I've seen Toughbooks or the like, but I thought the combo with a built in cell wireless card was a definite winner. They can sell the laptop with any estimating software pre-installed - ready for any kind of field situation.

That's all for now - as always I'm open for any comments/corrections/suggestions.

Free estimating magazine subscriptions

2007-11-16T15:15:00Z

The following are links to sites where you can subscribe to construction magazines for free:

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008

2007-11-13T16:27:00Z

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 is coming up in Las Vegas, NV on March 11-15, 2008. It is said to be the largest construction show in the world for 2008, and is only held every 3 years. Find more information at the show website, http://www.conexpoconagg.com/. CommercialEstimators.Com will be there and will post blog entries and photos of the conference.

Autodesk Conference coming up in Las Vegas

2007-11-07T17:25:00Z

Check out http://au.autodesk.com/2007/ for information on the Autodesk conference going on the week after Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. One of the more important items being discussed here for estimators is the use of Revit to calculate quantities and in turn estimates. We'd love to see you there!

User Conferences

2007-11-03T04:22:00Z

There are a wide varitey of software user conferences going on this quarter. On Center software just held their user conference on the last weekend of October in Houston, Texas, and Sage Timberline is holding their conference the first weekend of November in Chicago, Illinois. Please leave a comment with other user conferences you may be attending.