At this year’s Building Together Connect – Graphisoft’s digital event highlighting industry trends and ways to connect across ecosystems – the BIM software solution provider for architecture and multidisciplinary design announced the latest updates to their BIM software product line. These updates come, the company says, following their previously held Technology Preview Program in which they spoke with users and industry insiders about the evolution of their products.
The updates include the latest versions of the following products: Archicad, BIMcloud, BIMx, and DDScad. Graphisoft says the latest version of their offerings “boasts a brand-new design option solution, professional visualization tools, improved management of complex projects, and advances in open, multidisciplinary design collaboration.”
The announcement starts with updates to the company’s flagship product: Archicad. A BIM software solution designed for architects, Archicad allows users to design BIM models within the software, visualize those designs, collaborate with other stakeholders around the model, and create the required BIM documentation. The latest updates in the offering center around a new Design Options tool, which allows architects to more efficiently communicate design options to clients, which they say allows them to find the best design alternatives in a “significantly shorter” time.
“The introduction of the new Design Options tool is a valuable feature, aiding architects in realizing infinite possibilities and ultimately enhancing their creative expression,” said Kevin Lee, Director of Technology | BIM, at TZG Architects in Australia, in a press statement. “This tool is a much-awaited gift to the architectural community.”
Meanwhile, BIMcloud’s focus is around really enhancing the collaboration – which is a broad focus of Graphisoft as a whole – between multiple disciplines that is necessary in many large projects. This type of solution has only become more necessary in recent years, with the COVID pandemic moving many professionals into fully remote or hybrid working arrangements, in turn increasing the demand for digital collaboration capabilities. The latest updates to BIMcloud focus on security within the platform, adding better multi-factor authentication and a secure password mandate option. With data and information now being shared more than ever over digital platforms, it’s crucial for organizations to ensure safe practices to protect intellectual property and sensitive data.
Another collaboration tool from Graphisoft is BIMx, whose features revolve largely around the presentation and coordination between different stakeholders within a project, revolving around the BIM model. In this latest round of updates, Graphisoft has added a new Issue Creation tool within BIMx. This feature allows for markups to be made directly within a 2D or 3D model both on-site and remotely, with the issues being trackable throughout the design process. Additionally, many features previously only available within BIMx Pro are now available for free, requiring just a free sign in.
Finally, DDScad is a solution designed specifically for Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) projects with specific products tailored towards electrical projects, sanitary and heating, and ventilation. DDScad 19, their newest release, introduced new modeling functions to improve ease of design, as well as performance improvements to increase speed of information gathering and sharing.
“DDScad supports us greatly in our electrical design,” said Uwe Bullwinkel, Ingenieurgesellschaft Schnittger Wilde, Germany, in a press statement. “With version 19, we are now even more flexible. For instance, the parallel power feed of distribution boards comes at the right time, as we need it for planning photovoltaic systems, among other things. And with the new overview diagram, we can quickly review the respective power supply system. These and the other innovations make DDScad the best option for efficient MEP design.”
Speaking of the entire scope of updates announced by the company, Graphisoft VP of Product Success Márton Kiss said in a press statement, “Last year, we outlined a bold new vision when we unveiled our Product Roadmap — and we delivered. The 2023 release includes significant advances across the Graphisoft ecosystem with major enhancements and feature updates offering the greatest value in recent times for both new and existing users.”
