|
Why haven’t you gone to MicroStation
V8 yet?
The impact of V8 on personal productivity.
CLEARWATER, FL, USA — Among the reasons for not
migrating to MicroStation V8, the two most commonly cited
are the costs of updating custom programs and the time required
to move existing projects to V8. But with all the enhancements
inside V8, have you considered the costs incurred by not implementing
it?
 |
| With its new abilities, MicroStation
V8 helps plug up productivity-draining holes in your workflow
and saves CAD teams time and money. |
Saving time
With V8, Bentley completely redefines the MicroStation environment,
providing the framework from which all new enhancements are
made possible. Some of these improvements streamline repetitive
tasks, thus saving you time and making you more productive.
Lets illustrate this point using cell names as an example.
The V7 cell name “DRGL02” doesn’t describe
this symbol efficiently. To insure that this is the correct
cell to be used, you open the library, locate the cell, select
it and review the contents of the symbol. If this two-minute
task is repeated twice each day, then you are losing about
40 minutes every ten days staying with V7. That roughly approximates
$60 per month per designer. In V8, you eliminate the preview
step by using a descriptive cell name, such as “Door
with 2 Glass Panes.”
There are additional time-saving features found in V8 that
remove familiar limitations of previous versions. Now, the
number of levels allowed in a file are unlimited, complex
shapes can have more than 101 vertices, the number of references
files is unlimited and the “Undo” buffer is unlimited.
Ridding your design team of such limitations alone could boost
the overall production, which translates to time and money
saved.
Now, consider the invisible line that divided the 2D and
3D worlds inside V7. In previous versions of MicroStation,
3D designs could not be referenced to 2D files. Further, separate
libraries for 2D and 3D cells had to be maintained, even when
the contents of a cell were identical.
In V8, the two dimensions may coexist inside a single DGN
file. 3D models may be attached to any 2D file without having
to “flatten” the file or convert it to a 2D design,
a process still required with V7. How does make you more productive,
you ask?
Think about it. 3D models may be referenced inside any 2D
sheet. 2D sheets may be added to any 3D file. This means you
can work inside a 2D sheet without ever worrying about the
dreaded active Z depth. This feature alone has the potential
of saving a couple of hours every month if you were working
with V8 — at least $50 per month per designer.
Being accurate
Second, there is the cost of accuracy. The V7 file is limited
in its accuracy because it is integer-based. Have you wondered
why a line placed at 45-degrees sometimes measures less than
45? That’s because when an element’s key point falls
between UORs — or units of resolution — V7 moves
it to the closest UOR. However, the new DGN is floating point–based,
which is more accurate, thus removing all the issues associated
with UORs.
How does this promote personal productivity? Greater accuracy
allows working units to be predefined and standardized as
real-world values. This enables cells and references to be
placed or attached in true scale. Cells or reference files
created with different working units are automatically adjusted
to the units of the active model. No manual calculations for
scaling are needed.
Maintaining file fidelity
Finally, there is the cost of fidelity. Since V7 still requires
DWG files to be converted, you have to manually update every
change made to the original AutoCAD file. While V7 permits
design files to be saved as a DWG, a change made to either
one still requires someone to manage the changes made to both
files. Keep in mind that DWG conversions are still susceptible
to incomplete tables, missing fonts and symbols.
However, V8 doesn’t require translations of DWG files.
AutoCAD files are now read natively and may be opened as a
drawing or attached as a reference. When opened as a drawing
inside V8, the “DWG mode” is activated, ensuring
that only functions or the creation of elements supported
by AutoCAD are allowed. If you work with AutoCAD files, this
feature alone may prove to deciding factor for moving to V8.
Conclusion
By not migrating to MicroStation V8, you indeed avoid the
cost of migration, but at a significant cost to efficiency,
accuracy and file fidelity. With careful planning, the cost
of implementing V8 may be minimized. Simply stated, the new
DGN is one of the greatest achievements in CAD history. Bentley
has created a real engineering operating system with a language
to articulate design intent with MicroStation V8.
V8’s impact on personal productivity will become more
evident as workflows are adapted to the new abilities of the
package (which means, when we all stop propagating our old
bad habits!). The important question left is “How long
will you wait before going to V8?”
« Back
|
