Architizer’s Tech Directory is a database of tech tools for architects — from the latest generative design and AI to rendering and visualization, 3D modeling, project management and many more. Explore the complete library of categories here.
The amazing response to our recent series on SketchUp has proven that Trimble’s software is as popular as it has ever been. While the designers of other modeling applications continue to test technical boundaries with complex new tools, those behind SketchUp have worked hard to maintain the program’s core quality, the one that has kept architects coming back time and again: accessibility. While BIM is now an essential branch of the profession’s work-flow, there remains something about SketchUp’s intuitive interface that has seen its usage largely undiminished in the early stages of design.
Herein lies the key: SketchUp’s strengths pertain to the speed and ease with which one can digitize ideas at the outset of a project. Autodesk’s Revit has had no problem dominating the market for the more advanced stages of architects’ work-flows, but it is not necessarily the go-to program for sketching out possibilities at those initial, conceptual stages. Recognizing this fact, Autodesk developed a brand-new weapon in its software arsenal: FormIt.
FormIt has been around for a number of years already, but recent updates and a serious marketing push in the fall of 2016 make it worth reexamining, particularly in comparison with SketchUp, its natural competitor.
The makers of FormIt describe its modeling tools as “familiar yet powerful” — a direct nod to SketchUp’s much-loved interface, with the added “power” of BIM; via YouTube.
“Every project starts with a sketch … capturing the essence of what the project wants to be,” says Tobias Hathorn, UX Designer and Product Owner at Autodesk. FormIt aims to bridge the gap between pencils and pixels, giving architects the ability to sketch out their ideas in three dimensions right at the beginning of the process. Of course, this sounds a lot like SketchUp, and that is precisely the point: Autodesk is looking to take a bite out of Trimble’s market, or possibly eat the whole pie, so to speak.
On the face of it, the two programs possess very similar controls and aesthetics — the push-pull functionality that has made SketchUp such an intuitive design tool has been co-opted by Autodesk, as has the cartoon-like visual style, which eschews photorealism in favor of running as smoothly as possible. Both programs are dedicated to design development — these applications are about the creative process, not the finished package.
In case you were wondering, that’s not SketchUp … that’s FormIt; via YouTube.
So, what makes FormIt different — and potentially better — than SketchUp?
A single word comes to mind: integration. From the outset, FormIt supports a Building Information Modeling (BIM) work-flow, with the ability to import models and associated data seamlessly to Revit for advanced development. Given that Revit is used by an overwhelming majority of architects to create construction-ready drawings in collaboration with engineers, this is a crucial advantage. Furthermore, FormIt models can be paired with other Autodesk products such as Insight 360 to quickly generate energy data from simple massing models. There are certain tools relating to building performance that are simply not available using SketchUp alone.
So, should the makers of SketchUp be worried that their reign as the number one 3D sketching tool might be coming to an end?
FormIt works seamlessly with Autodesk’s hugely successful Revit software; via YouTube.
Well, probably not, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, SketchUp’s existing user base is, quite simply, vast. John Bacus, Product Management Director for Trimble’s Architecture & Design Division, estimates that some 35 million people use the software every year. Given that architects are creatures of habit, it would take an astronomical shift in designers’ preferences for this to diminish significantly. Secondly, each new version of SketchUp is innovative in its own way, and its open-source library of plug-ins lends it a different kind of flexibility that no other company is ever likely to replicate.
FormIt should prove undeniably intriguing for architecture firms already familiar with Revit and the rest of Autodesk’s array of BIM tools. That said, Trimble’s application will always have an audience, largely down to customer loyalty, brilliant branding and incredible accessibility. John Bacus described SketchUp as “3D modeling for the rest of us.” It may take a few years yet for Autodesk to contend with such a much-loved program.
Architizer’s Tech Directory is a database of tech tools for architects — from the latest generative design and AI to rendering and visualization, 3D modeling, project management and many more. Explore the complete library of categories here.