New Export Formats for Cubed

Hi All,

We've recently been looking at adding additional exports from Kubla Cubed, allowing it to work better with other software and hardware.  I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on what formats would be most useful to you.  At the moment we have been thinking of:

1) LandXml
2) SketchUp
3) Machine Control (would be useful to know which machine control formats are most popular with Cubed Users)
4) BIMS formats (e.g. IFC)
5) PDF (we currently export images instead)

...But we'll only do some of these initially based on what is most important to users.

Leo

Hi Leo,
Initially I thought I would not have a use for additional exports, but after reviewing how I present the 3D images after cut and fill calculations I would find IFC exports very useful.
With an IFC file I would be able to produce a 3D PDF using Bluebeam Revu.
Let's hope it could be included in some future update.
Cheers
Tim

Hi Leo,
Initially I thought I would not have a use for additional exports, but after reviewing how I present the 3D images after cut and fill calculations I would find IFC exports very useful.
With an IFC file I would be able to produce a 3D PDF using Bluebeam Revu.
Let's hope it could be included  in some future update.
Cheers
Tim

Thanks Tim.  

That was news to me - I didn't realise that Bluebeam could load IFC files.  A lot of our users also use Bluebeam Revu so that's a good justification to prioritise that one.  We are keen to develop BIMS exports anyway, especially with BIMs being mandated now on UK government projects.

I'll let you know when we have added it to the development schedule and have a release date for IFC exports.

Cheers,

Leo

With the current export of 3D DXF to Revit can you preserve the color shading of the proposed?

With the current export of 3D  DXF to Revit can you preserve the color shading of the proposed?

Hi Jules,

I don't use Revit, but the dxf export saves the colours for the existing and the proposed.  I would expect these colours to show when loaded into any AutoDesk product.  It certainly does in AutoCad.

Can you upload a screenshot of what you are seeing at the moment when you load the dxf in Revit?  It would be good to get an idea of how it looks and it might give me some clues.

Leo

Hi Ted,

The Bim, IFC, Sketchup and existing dxf export format would be perfect as all these four suit us fine. Hopefully the Bim, IFC and sketchup export can be included in next update.

Thanks and Regards,
Bernard.

Hi Ted,

The Bim, IFC, Sketchup and existing dxf export format would be perfect as all these four suit us fine. Hopefully the Bim, IFC and sketchup export can be included in next update.

Thanks and Regards,
Bernard.

Last we checked the IFC format was waiting for them to finalise the topography component.  I will check again to see what the situation is with this.  The sketchup format sounds interesting I wonder if there is a library we can use to create sketchup files.  

The next update is going to include LandXML.  It seems that although not everyone uses this directly it is an excellent transfer format as in that most machine control software takes LandXML directly and without problems whereas DXF importers sometimes don't work.  Autodesk Civil3D can export a surface to LandXML with a few clicks and you will then be able to import as triangles (rather than contours, points etc...) directly into Kubla Cubed. For some users we see this being a big boost as often people want the power of Kubla Cubes calculation engine but have there own workflow for generating TINS already and don't want to repeat work in Kubla Cubed.

We use Topcon GPS

We use Topcon GPS

Hi Chris,

That's good to know.  We're currently developing LandXml for the next release, which I think you can import into Topcon and other machine control and surveying systems.  I'll do some more research into how you go aboiut this and let you know when it's released.

Leo

Hi Leo, that's great to hear. My vote would have gone to LandXml too. We use this export frequently too. Any ETA on the new release btw?

Hi Didier,

That's great!  Glad to hear that will be useful for you.

Although the LandXml work is pretty much finished I think the release will be a couple of months from now.  There's a few other things to go in, such as vertical exaggeration to help visualise sites which are quite flat.  Then there's the testing of course, which takes quite a while.

I've attached a preliminary image of the LandXml export from Kubla Cubed as viewed in Carlson's Precision 3D software.  As you can see the export includes the surface as well as the cut/fill lines for staking out.  I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has any other items that are represented in Kubla Cubed that they would also like to see included in the export.

Cheers,

Leo