Bentley's V8i Launch, a Case Study of HOK, and Tekla Structures 14

Last week, Bentley Systems hosted a launch event for the next version of its solutions, a glimpse of which had been provided earlier this year at its BE Conference. It was dubbed the Athens version at that time, and has now taken on its final name, V8i. The V8 indicates the continuation of the V8 generation that Bentley had launched in 2002, and subsequent versions were named V8 2004 and V8 XM. The “i” in the new V8i version stands for several things, according to Bentley executives: intuitive, interactive, intrinsic, incredible, and interoperable. AECbytes takes a look at what these terms refer to and what the new V8i portfolio of Bentley solutions brings to the table for its AEC users.

This will be followed by a case study of the leading architectural firm in the world, HOK, that looks at the range of technologies that are being implemented by the firm, not just for BIM but also for project management, knowledge management, collaboration, coordination, and other aspects of architectural practice.

Also on the agenda is a review of the new version of Tekla Structures, a BIM application for structural engineering that also includes comprehensive tools for detailers, fabricators, manufacturers, and constructors, which was first reviewed in AECbytes last year. Tekla Structures 14 features more task-oriented user interface and menus, a more flexible licensing system, improved tools for managing and sharing a BIM model between software users and construction project participants, and the ability to work on models twice as large as before without the risk of running out of memory. A just released update, version 14.1, also features a solution for construction management, allowing a Tekla model to be used to carry out and manage construction projects all the way from conceptual design to pre-construction planning and site management.

The Tips and Tricks issue for this month features a tutorial on how to use the revamped Composite Map in 3ds Max Design 2009 to design complex materials more easily, and a tutorial on how to create new view types in Revit's Project Browser in order to customize it for individual use.

Thank you for your interest, and do continue to check out both the AECbytes Blog for reader comments and the VendorHub to get information about the technology providers in AEC.

Lachmi Khemlani, Ph.D.
Founder and Editor, AECbytes

November 2008