AEC Mag.com is the online presence of AEC Magazine, UK’s number 1 journal for decision makers in Architecture, Engineering and Construction. AEC Magazine has a bold agenda that reflects the evolutionary nature of this fast-moving sector with its proliferation of software and hardware technologies and the collaborative working practices that are integral to today’s design and engineering workflow.

Greg Corke, Managing Editor for AEC Magazine, offers a first look at GRAITECs first release for this year: ADVANCE Steel 2013. For version 2013, the software remains focused on quality and enhanced efficiency: “Having done a major re-write last year, the 2013 release is about improving user productivity. GRAITEC has focused on four main areas — user interface, raw performance, modeling enhancements and drawing issue and re-issue.”

The start page is new, offering users a quick look at recent projects, videos, tutorials, FAQs and others. For the interface however, the biggest change is found in the tool palette, from which many of the model manipulation commands are found. In terms of performance, the graphic engine has been optimized, new viewing modes are available and the general speed has been improved. “GRAITEC has placed a big emphasis on performance and 64-bit support means there are now no limitations on model size, providing the workstation has enough system memory.”

The modeling process has been improved thanks to new intelligent tools made ​​available to users. This reflects directly to the production and quality of the drawings, which are now “less manual”on the way these are updated or referenced.

“While the performance improvements will no doubt be welcomed with open arms, it is the workflow enhancements that will arguably have the biggest impact — particularly when it comes to minimizing the amount of manual re-work required on re-issued drawings”, Greg Corke concluded.

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