reviews

Gareth Spencer, on the GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit in AUGIWorld

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AUGIWorld is the official magazine of Autodesk User Group International (AUGI), distributed on a monthly basis to all AUGI members around the world.

In the June 2016 edition, Gareth Spencer, BIM Consultant working for GRAITEC and certified professional in Revit Architecture and Structure, presents the advantages of using GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit for enhancing concrete detailing. Gareth explains the necessity of modeling reinforcement in the 3D Revit model, and introduces the GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit as a versatile add-on for Revit, which can help users work more efficiently.

Gareth Spencer, on the GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit in AUGIWorld

Gareth presents some of the most useful tools in PowerPack, such as:

  • Rebar Visibility, used for changing the view’s visibility state, so as to show rebar unobscured and/or as solids in 3D views, or for hiding certain elements;

Gareth Spencer, on the GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit in AUGIWorld

  • Copy Rebar, allowing users to select element rebar, and then copy it to an identical or similar element with no reinforcement assigned;
  • Transversal Distribution, which automatically generates transversal rebar sets with multiple spacing for linear elements.
  • Trim/Extend, used for adjusting the created reinforcement to the shape and particularities of the host element, in a quick and intelligent manner.

These useful new tools are complemented by several commands and functionalities for increasing productivity while working in Autodesk Revit:

  • Family Manager, used for managing Revit families (by searching, selecting or filtering family lists to select the desired families to be imported in a project), either on a local computer, or in a company network;

Gareth Spencer, on the GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit in AUGIWorld

  • Family Exporter, allowing users to select and export all families at once, or select desired families from the list;
  • Auto Section Box, which automatically creates a 3D view of the selected elements, and even duplicates it;
  • Dimension Annotations, a set of tools for automatic generation of dimension lines for overall dimensions, grids, external geometry, structural, and openings.

Read the full review here, on page 14

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Video: Direct link between Advance Steel and BIM – Review from AceCAD

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GRAITEC and AceCAD offer a direct link so that a 3D model done in Advance Steel can be successfully imported in BIMReview and then StruMIS.
This movie demonstrates how users may take advantage of this link by exporting the Advance Steel model to a *.gtcx file format and how this fully detailed model is imported and can be viewed & manipulated like any other BIMReview model.
As you can see with this movie, GRAITEC Advance Steel is fully BIM compliant allowing easy and seamless data sharing with BIMReview for easy project collaboration.

Advance Steel – Stairs and Railings review by CAD Digest Magazine

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Advance Steel offers an extensive library of smart objects, automatic joints and specific tools for creating not only standard structures, but also stairs, railing and miscellaneous steel work. CAD Digest, one of the most popular online sources for CAD, CAM & CAE articles and testimonials, reviews the ADVANCE Steel – Stairs and Railings feature set.

For this review, the author created two sets of stairs, one straight andone spiral, describing each step of the process – drawing, editing stairs properties, adding, removing or modifying landings or handrails – highlighting the efficiency and ease-of-use of the software: “I was impressed with how easily Advance Steel creates stairs to my specification, and the ease with which I could modify their properties, along with associated components.”

With Advance Steel, it is easy to create, modify and customize all types of stairs, landingsand railings. Using the software’s advanced tools, with a few clicks defining the height, the tread width and the direction, the entire stair can be created.

Other benefits of the stairs and railing feature of Advance Steel include the large library of predefined objects and the automatic creation of all necessary documents (including NC files). “GRAITEC includes a large library of stair tread types, and I had the option to define my own types and save them as templates for future use. I recommend anyone looking for an efficient way to design and document miscellaneous steel projects to consider GRAITEC’s Advance Steel Software.”

Read the full article here

ADVANCE Steel 2013 reviewed by AEC Magazine

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AEC Magazine

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.”

Advance Steel 2013 reviewed by AEC Magazine

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.

Click here to read the full review 

CAD Digest review of ADVANCE Steel 2012 – Connections & Joints

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CAD Digest, one of the most popular online sources for CAD, CAM & CAE articles and testimonials, reviews ADVANCE Steel, not as a design tool, but as a solution for accelerating the design process. James Finkel, author of the review (with experience in mechanical engineering, programming, custom design engineering, QA and software testing) explains why ADVANCE Steel is a powerful tool for all types of projects.

ADVANCE Steel introduces three versions of the software, depending on the scope and versatility of the project: Standard, which is a “light version”, limited to 10 tons of steel, Professional, which has no limits to the weight of the steel and can be tested for free as a 30-day Trial Version (this being the version used by James Finkel for his review), and Premium, which also includes the multi-user technology. Each of the available packages has been created to meet users’ business needs, depending on key software selection criteria: ease-of-use, interoperability, drawing output and, of course, cost.

For this review to be as accurate as possible, the author requested the assistance of Benoit Lalonde, a GRAITEC technician from our offices in Canada, in creating a model with a large variety of joints: beam-beam, beam-column, column with four beams of unequal sizes, plate work, column-to-concrete footers, and beam-to-wall connections. The creation of the model was the first step in determining the capability and efficiency of the software in handling unusual or complex requests.

Concerning input and output of data, ADVANCE Steel 2012 offers many solutions – use built-in CAD tools or import the model from AutoCAD or Revit and, as a result, generate reports in plain text, Word documents, XML, Excel spreadsheets, and so on, and issue a full suite of the projects’ drawings.

Advance Steel - Generating reports in Excel from drawings

Throughout the modeling process, users are provided with an extensive library of smart objects, libraries of customizable automatic joints (more than 300 joints), customizable drawings, and generation of all detail drawings required by fabrication shops. ADVANCE Steel provides all the necessary tools to create, save and reuse simple or complex custom connections. “This flexible software handles a wide range of steel design situations”, states the author.

Advance Steel - Selecting joints, which can be customized

Regarding operability and features, James Finkel tested the customization of joints, the stress at joints, generation of reports and defining new and more complex shapes. His conclusion was that ADVANCE Steel 2012 offers a full-featured structural steel design system, with a wide range of output formats, according to customer needs. “Starting from an AutoCAD model, Revit, or working within the CAD supplied within the software, users have a wide array of tools for joint construction with point and click for individual or multiple joints. The software has an equally wide array of output formats and features”, James Finkel declares.

Creating new shapes in Advance Steel

Read here the full article

AEC Magazine reviews GRAITEC Advance Steel 2012®….

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….the BIM software for structural steel engineering, detailing and fabrication

AEC Magazine is the UK’s number 1 journal for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries. 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.

The June edition features an extensive review of GRAITEC’s Advance Steel 2012® software. GRAITEC is a leading developer of CAE and CAD software technology, fully BIM enabled for the construction industry.

Advance Steel® BIM system is specifically designed for structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators who require a comprehensive yet user friendly 3D structural steel detailing software that automates the production of drawings, BOMs and NC files. Advance Steel 2012 is in a league of its own offering users the freedom to run with or without AutoCAD.

AEC Magazine reviews GRAITEC Advance Steel 2012

Click here to download the pdf version of the AEC Magazine – May/June edition