The CADDle Call

In this episode, we dive into who Autodesk Service Providers are, what they do, how to find them, and how they differ from Autodesk Value-Added Resellers.

In this podcast episode, we discuss the difference between Building Information Models and 3D Models, as well as determining which one you need.

It's our first ever live podcast broadcast! We're coming to you from the GBCA Tech Expo where we're talking with hosts and attendees about the technology that's important to the design build industry. Learn about the innovative ways people are using technology to make workflows more efficient.

Tim Yarris, AutoCAD Civil 3D Product Manager at Autodesk, joins us to provide a year-end wrap up on the 2024 release of the Autodesk Civil/Site programs and discuss the upcoming Autodesk University conference. We’ll also talk about a few other cool things happening at Autodesk right now and some of the features Tim’s team is working on for next year’s release.

Julie Keverian, Bricsys North American Technical Manager, is back with us to share the new and exciting tools in the latest BricsCAD V24 release. We'll also discuss the updates related to specific work processes in Civil, Mechanical, and BIM. If you use CAD, this is one podcast you don't want to miss.

In this podcast episode, we discuss digital scanning of facilities and sites and, more importantly, all the things you can do with the data once you have it. We'll talk about the benefits that 3D scanning provides throughout construction and post construction, and into facility management for the long term.

In this episode, we discuss how remote work ties into the design build industry and the practicality of making this type of work available to employees.

Increase your efficiency and consistency on all construction projects by using Bluebeam Revu templates. In this episode, we discuss the importance of creating pdf and email templates that you can reuse on every project to save time. We'll also talk about creating and using report templates to output markups to a consistent PDF format.

CAD Standards have an impact on every design you create. In this episode, Cyndy Davenport, Civil Tech Specialist at ZenTek, joins us to discuss the benefits of well thought out CAD Standards. We'll also talk about the practicalities of developing, or improving, your internal CAD Standards.

David Mills, Technical Specialist at ZenTek Consultants, is here to discuss how to best use Procore in a practical field-focused construction workflow.

Julie Keverian, North American Technical Manager at Bricsys, is back to discuss the newest features in the BricsCAD V23.2 update and how you can incorporate them into your daily workflow to maximize design efficiency and productivity.

In this episode, we discuss ways firms can properly handle technical training in this busy design/build environment. We'll look into how the focus of technical training shouldn't be on just software training, but a holistic approach that includes workflow processes. Knowing which buttons to push to get an output with understanding what that output means leads to major inefficiencies.

In this episode, we discuss a few of the new and exciting things that have happened in the design build industry recently.

Ramesh Sridharan, Product Manager of Infrastructure at Autodesk, is back to discuss the growing partnership between Autodesk and ESRI.

In this episode, we'll discuss how this partnership is making it easier for the industry to access and integrate GIS data into standard infrastructure designs and vice versa.

In this episode, we discuss using more than one CAD system in your firm and the benefits of doing so. In particular, we're focusing on the business and cost benefits of incorporating BricsCAD into your current design environment.

In this episode, we discuss the benefits of using the Spaces feature in Bluebeam Revu.

If you're using Bluebeam Revu for just marking up documents or viewing pdf files, you're missing out on its most powerful feature - creating estimates. In this episode, we discuss how you can ditch doing estimates by hand or in Microsoft Excel, and configure Bluebeam Revu so you can easily and quickly create takeoffs and estimates that meet your requirements.

In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of software subscription licenses and the effect they are having on the AEC industry.

In this episode, we discuss the process of designing roads and corridors in AutoCAD Civil 3D. In particular, we're focusing on Corridor EZ - a plugin for Civil 3D from Civil Survey Solutions. Corridor EZ automates the entire corridor and road design process, including cul-de-sacs and intersections, right inside AutoCAD Civil 3D. You can take your design time from hours to just minutes.

In the design/build industry, technology and work conditions are becoming tighter companions. Making sure your employees have the tools, skills, and time they need to be highly efficient while maintaining a reasonable work/life balance is vital. In this episode, we discuss how to adapt to the changes in the industry to develop more productive, happier, and loyal employees.

In this episode, we discuss recent news and how it affects the design build industry.

David Robison, President of Design Master Software, joins us to discuss MEP requirements in BIM and how these can be handled using BricsCAD. We'll also dive into the benefits of BIM for MEP engineers and designers.

Your CAD skills can make you a super user, but they won't really make you a manager. In this episode, we discuss what's required on the management side. CAD Managers need to understand the business from the ROI calcs to selling ideas to executives to preparing training and rolling out support for staff.

Ramesh Sridharan, Product Manager for Autodesk Infrastructure, is back to discuss the new features and functions in ReCap Pro 2024. He'll also provide tips on better integrating ReCap into your daily workflows.

Our new subsidiary in Canada is now open and Steve Fahie, President of ZenTek Consultants CA, is here to discuss how we can help Canadian firms.

In this monthly feature, we discuss the benefits and practical use of overlaying documents in Bluebeam Revu.

Andrew Milford, Autodesk Senior Product Manager for Civil Infrastructure, joins us to discuss the benefits of Collaborate for Civil 3D and how the tools and features have been updated for the 2024 release of the Civil Infrastructure tool sets.

Tim Yarris, AutoCAD Civil 3D Product Manager at Autodesk, is back to give us the breakdown on the new features and tools in AutoCAD Civil 2024 that will make designing more efficient.

While AutoCAD Civil 3D is still the king in the civil design world, it's always good for us to look for ways to improve functionality to make our designs better, more efficient, and to reduce costs. In this episode, we focus on the tools that work with AutoCAD Civil 3D to enhance its capabilities - or shore up areas we find frustrating.

Cyndy Davenport, Civil Technical Specialist here at ZenTek, joins us to discuss ZenPipe for Civil 3D Pressure Networks. These new tools were designed to help those who struggle with development and layout of pressure pipe catalog data in AutoCAD Civil 3D. Listen in to learn more.

In this episode, we're discussing the Compare Documents feature in Bluebeam Revu and how you can use it in single and batch mode to identify the differences between construction documents and contracts, whether they are drawings or text-based. While using this feature is a simple process, it's one that many construction professionals don't really take advantage of.

The Construction Industry has plenty of tools available to handle QTO and estimating. In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of these tools and where the industry is leaning. We'll also give our listeners an idea of what they should be looking at within their own firms.

We're introducing a new segment, where every month we'll recap recent news in the Design Build industry. While we will try to focus on the technology side, we may also touch on the business and financial aspects, depending on the news story.

This month we're discussing:

• Digital Twin technologies for infrastructure
• Gensler's Design Forecast for 2023
• Dodge Reports - the growth of Prefab and Modular Construction
• ConstructionDive - the lack of growth in commercial construction for 3D modeling

In this episode, we discuss construction estimating in Bluebeam Revu, and how using pre-defined tools to automate quantity takeoff, cost, and labor estimating can save you valuable time on your projects.

Procore Analytics is the process of integrating all your data Procore data with Microsoft Power BI to turn your construction projects into visual powerhouses. In this episode, we discuss the importance of converting costs, schedules, KPIs, and performance data into visual charts and graphs that update in real-time, so you and your team can see the data visuals in an easily understandable format when you log into Procore.

In this episode, we discuss AutoCAD, the kingpin of the CAD world, and viable CAD alternatives that provide impressive tools and features.

If you do any type of work in the AEC world, at some point you'll deal with markups. Whether you're creating them, reviewing them, or implementing them into a design, markups are the mainstay of communication during the building process.

In this episode, we discuss the processes and tools that allow you to effectively add markups, respond to them, make plan and real-world adjustments from them, and communicate changes with all those involved.

Over the last couple of years, we've seen a growing interest of US and Canadian local governments who want to make better use of their technology. In this episode, we focus on the technology and processes (both construction project management and CAD) that bring huge improvements in the daily work life of local government employees.

Cyndy Davenport, Civil Tech Lead at ZenTek, joins us to discuss the newest release of Stringer Topo - V23. We'll talk about how it's different from other systems on the market and dive into some of the new tools that are helpful for survey firms.

Tim Yarris, Civil 3D Product Manager at Autodesk, is back with us to discuss the new features in the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2023.2 update. We'll discuss the improvements in speed and performance, as well as the customer requests - like corridor transitions - that made it into this release.

Julie Keverian, Technical Manager at Bricsys, joins us to discuss the newest release of BricsCAD - v23 - and the cool new features and tools that will make your design life easier.

We have 2 special guests from Autodesk on the show today. Dave Simeone, Senior Product Manager for Civil Products, and John Sayre, Technical Marketing Manager, explain the fundamental shift in the way we conceptualize, develop and share civil design information.

We'll discuss this new concept of centralizing civil design into the cloud and integrating it with tools like BIM 360, Sheet Sets structures, Autodesk Forma, and more.

Ramesh Sridharan, Product Manager for Autodesk Infrastructure solutions, joins us to discuss the new features and tools in InfraWorks and ReCap 2023.1

Bluebeam released their newest version, 21, at the end of September and there are many major changes to the software. In this episode, we discuss the general changes to the product - licensing models, names, and prices - and then take a deeper dive into a new set of features called Bluebeam Cloud.

Jeff Perry of More Than Engineering joins us to define what a leader is and how you can move your career forward by expanding your leadership skills.

Special guests Shane O'Rorke and Andrew Banson from Civil Survey Solutions join us to discuss Civil Site Design & Stringer Topo. They'll explain the key new features of Stringer Topo, which has been completely redesigned, and the AI tools in Civil Site Design. They'll also discuss the direction of their products and the industry as a whole.

Tim Yarris, AutoCAD Civil 3D Product Manager at Autodesk, joins us to discuss the new announcements and tools for infrastructure.

In this episode, we discuss the concept of taking raw data that you already have and organizing it into an intelligent decision-making tool, which can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line in a very competitive market. Plus, others in the organization can easily view and interpret this data via dashboards.

Bluebeam Revu is not just another PDF reader. It's a fully-developed QTO and estimating system with built-in cloud collaboration tools. 

In this episode, we focus on one feature in Bluebeam Revu - tools sets. These can change the way you work and increase efficiency and profitability. We discuss what they do, why they're so important, and how they benefit everyone in the company.

It's a never-ending concern in the industry - you want to be better, faster and more efficient at design, but don't want the headache of changing your current design system.

In this episode, we discuss how to improve your civil site design process, from field-to-finish, without changing to a new CAD system.