Hey all,
It is me again. I was firstly super busy and later stayed sick in bed doing nothing for a couple of days (nothing serious just some virus).
Update below. I made it much more positive and more fun to read - I also added some info here and there .
Let's start to finalise it! Opinions, mistakes, proof-read are all very welcome especially now;)
@lukas Thanks, to make it easier I will keep editing this post
It is your fight too!
Open-source against the big tech companies
Intro
Last month Nordic architectural associations send an open letter to Autodesk expressing their concerns. They listed many problems and challenges which are well-known to anyone who use daily its software.
In a few words Autodesk was criticized for its slow development of core programs, a lack of communication with their users, disregard of their needs and latest changes in their licensing system which made Autodesk software more expensive to use. Sadly, it is not the first and probably not the last open letter send to Autodesk which voice these problems.
Link to the letter:
<link >
Read the letter, and if you have not signed it yet, do it now!
But what next? You might post something about it on LinkedIn and during Friday beer with your colleagues you might tell them how much you disapprove tech giants' practices and how their behaviour is harmful to the whole AEC industry. But you know that it will not change anything because next Monday you will have to as always “create your local model” and continue your work as nothing happened… To the next letter, which for sure someone else will write soon.
Sounds hopeless!
We should not feel this way. We are architects, bim coordiators, designers and other professionals who on daily basis envision better future for our cities and communities, better ways for people to live and work, and more sustain ways of using scarce resources we have. We need the best tools we can have because our work makes a difference!
In this short article I will show you that the change is coming. And what is even more important, this time is up to us how the software, we are going to use to design the buildings, will look like!
Story of Blender
We are not the first ones who feel that our position with software vendors is desperate and that we are doomed to pay whatever they want for whatever they provide. If you go back in time to 2002 and take a deep look at the 3d graphic industry, you will see similarities with our current architectural scene. It was a time when big software vendors dictated the rules for the whole computer graphic scene. At that time, you could not make anything related to 3d without buying extremely expensive software.
But there was a man with a vision, Ton Roosendaal and a community which wanted a change. In 2002 Blender Foundation was founded by them and after collecting €100,000 from the community to “free Blender”, the 3d graphic scene had its own free and open-source alternative.
The beginnings were tough, but nowadays, Blender is one of the most popular 3d graphic software used at the same time by professional studios and hobbyists around the globe. The number of Blender users has grown significantly in the last twenty years. “In 2020 Blender has been downloaded over 14M times from blender.org. With 4 major releases during the year, this is an average of 3.5M downloads per release.” In many areas, it managed to be better than commercial programs, accelerating the growth of the whole industry.
Some people even say that its popularity pushed Autodesk to create much cheaper “indie” licenses for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya. Also, other software vendors started offering much cheaper licences for so-called “hobbyist”, “small studios”, or “freelancers”.
Meanwhile Blender’s large community of driven individuals creates countless tutorials, models and add-ons accessible for everyone, mostly for free. They are giving back into the project, making it easier for everybody to start and do whatever they want. And people are doing amazing things with it! They constantly push the limits of what 3d graphic programs can do. You can easily find online the whole movies made with Blender, models ready for 3d printing, games or examples of stunning art.
It is a force of pure creativity, unbound by monthly subscription fee or proprietary code!
For more information, visit project page at: https://www.blender.org/
Open-source programs for architects?
So, where are we in terms of creating “our” BIM Software? Somewhere at the beginning, which means we still have our fight for free and open-source software for architects ahead of us. But there are several initiatives which need your help and involvement right now!
BlenderBIM Add-on
So, I already have told you how great Blender is. Obviously, there are several cases to use it in your practice, just to name a few - architectural visualisations, concept design, parametric design (geometry nodes and Sverchok), analyses (ladybug for blender) and many others. But what if you could do “BIM” in Blender?
Developers of BlenderBIM Add-on are responding to this question. Their add-on allows its users to open IFC models and work on them in Blender. It opens the entire world of Blender to IFC format. By doing it, it creates a space, a framework, for its further use. BlenderBIM developers are already implementing several “OpenBIM Utilities” like clash detection, IFC validation or tools for COBie.
It sounds even better when you take into consideration all existing and future options provided by Blender like precise and easy modelling tools, real time rendering engine Eevee, geometry nodes or grease pencil.
With time and resources, this project has a potential to seriously influence the industry by combining BIM approach and IFC format with a sophisticated 3d graphic program.
Personally, I am already using it at work. For example, BlenderBIM is a perfect tool to check the quality of IFC files even when most of the IFC viewers have problems with opening them. For some reason, this tiny addon is always able to open them. After taking a quick peak you can easily see where the problem is and if needed export your file to a different format.
For more information, visit project page at: https://blenderbim.org/
FreeCAD Arch Workbench
FreeCAD has an enormous potential. This program was released in 2002 as a CAD software primarily aimed at engineers. It was designed as a 3D parametric modeler rather than computer aided drawing board. Think about it as an alternative to Autodesk Inventor or Solidworks rather than typical CAD program known in architecture.
But then came “BIM” and idea of working in 3d environment instead of making 2d drawings gained popularity between architects. Happily, FreeCAD was designed in a way which allows us to extend it as a BIM authoring software. From the beginning its developers wanted it to become a platform with unique sets of tools dedicated to different fields of work. Because of that FreeCAD is divided into so-called “workbenches” which contain sets of special functions and commands. For example, for AEC they develop a separate “architectural workbench”. We can easily imagine that in future this approach could result in establishing new workbenches for structural engineers, HVAC consultants or facade engineers.
The software is in an early stage of development but by now we can create 3d models by using basic elements (walls, floors, windows etc.) and generate simple views from them (plans, sections, and elevations).
For more information, visit project page at: https://www.freecadweb.org/
IFC.JS
Nowadays increasingly more of us work on online CDE platforms, software vendors are creating their own markets with apps and there is constant discussion what to do with all the data created during design and construction stages. Of course, big companies are already trying to gain control over it to make us more dependent on them. This time not only during the design but also during the whole lifespan of a building.
But there is IFC.JS. It is a fast and easy to learn toolkit which allows opening IFC models inside your browser. Because of used technology it is compatible with all major platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS) and it is extremely user friendly. You just need some basic knowledge about building webpages (HTML, JavaScript and CSS) and you are ready to go.
For more information, visit project page at: https://ifcjs.github.io/info/
Speckle
Everyone in the industry is aware how risky and time consuming is bringing data from one program to another. 3d models, simple 2d lines, even data in spreadsheets – all of them come with problems and challenges. Best case scenario, each time you do it you lose parts of it or its editability. Additionally, there is always a big chance that there will be something seriously wrong with how your model shows on other software. Worst case, you are simply unable to do it or imported data are useless. For sure you will waste a lot of time doing it. Because of that we end up staying in the realm of one software vendor, sometimes using separate set of programs for concept design and other set for design development and construction.
But what if you could decide? Frankly speaking I am sure that you should be able to decide. Some programs are much better in one area but are lacking in another. What is more important we have different strengths. Why someone who is a great façade designer should struggle simply because he does not know software used in one project. It does not make sense!
We often forget that we are much more than the software we use. Developers of Speckle are trying to remind us about it by closing gaps between different software. They developed “connectors” between the most popular AEC applications allowing smooth exchange of data between them. At the same time their platform introduces many other features like version control, collaboration, automation and easy access to data by others (You can use .NET, Python and JavaScript).
For more information, visit project page at: https://speckle.systems/
Other software for your practice (not-only AEC)
The list of open-source software does not stop here. We just present the major ones, but it does not mean that there are no other open-source projects worth supporting.
Meanwhile please find below my personal choice of programs you may use in your office and your daily life. Their development and current friendliness vary, but you should check them all:
LibreOffice
Thunderbird
Gimp
Krita
Scribus
Inkscape
LibreCAD
QCAD
Conclusions and Open-Source Architecture Community
Open-source software for AEC is slowly emerging. It is created for us by people like us. So, get involved however you can. Support its developers and always be ready to learn new open-source programs. Become developer yourself. Convince your university to teach open-source software instead of closed source software – In the end they use taxpayers’ money to teach it and it makes people dependent for life on paid solutions. Install open-source software on your workstation. Instead of learning expensive 2d graphic software, invest few hours to learn Gimp or Inkscape. You do not need to spend a lot of money to change contrast of a photo, draw a few lines and add some text. If you are a director, change the way your office works and give more chances to the people who know open-source programs. Sometimes all they need from you is a permission to install it on company computers.
For more information and more ways to help visit us at osarch.org. The Open-Source Architecture Community brings together like-minded users and developers who share a common goal: that the built environment can be designed, constructed, operated, and recycled with free/libre and open-source software, with increased transparency, and a more ethical approach. We are creating a place where everyone involved in the built environment’s conception and life can meet, inspire and collaborate to develop empowering digital tools.
Blender Foundation and all the people involved in the development of Blender proved that it is possible to make a breach. They changed the computer graphic industry forever. We just need to “the same thing” again! This way we will not have to sign any another letter to Autodesk ever again.