Issue Nr. 6
July 10th 2001.
Contents:
Starting last weekend (Jul. 07. 2001), users of Rayfront can
download an update to the newest version 1.0.2, which fixes a
number of issues that became apparent in the use of 1.0.1. All
reported problems that I could reproduce or otherwise identify are
fixed in this update. (Note that if you don't already have the full
version of Rayfront, downloading any of the updates won't get you
anything useful).
Download the free update to Rayfront 1.0.2.
Starting last week (Jul. 04. 2001), there is a demo version of
Rayfront for Windows available for download. This demo includes
the identical functionality as the full version, with the exception
of distributing simulations across a local network. Once you
fetched the installer, you can request an activation key through
the form found on the same page.
This key will be valid for about a month,
during which time you can experiment with Rayfront to your
heart's desire. Once the key has expired and you still wish to
continue
working with Rayfront, you'll have to buy a full license (hey, I
have to make a living somehow, right?).
Download link and further instructions.
I have entered a collaboration with ALware, a german software
company developing 3Dsolar, a geometry modeller for Radiance.
3Dsolar is not so much a traditional CAD program as it is a tool
for creating "building models". What does this mean? Well,
traditional CAD programs are primarily designed to create exact
representations of the final design that can be used to actually
build the thing. This involves a lot of detail, and specific forms
of representation, including but not limited to 2D plans for
delivery to the construction site.
3Dsolar does not claim to solve any of those tasks. It is intended
to be used much earlier in the design process, in a stage where the
use of a traditional CAD package would be difficult or even
counterproductive. This program can be thought of as a sketching
tool, that allows to model a building in an extremely simple
way, while still offering enough flexibility so that the
relevant parts can be included right away, and will show their
effects in the simulations.
3Dsolar follows a fully parametric design paradigm. This
means that you can start with the outline (the "bounding box") of
your building, divide that into the floor levels, and then place
rooms within each level for daylight analysis. If you later decide
that your building should be a meter or two taller, just say so and
all the subordinate elements will adapt to the new dimensions. This
may sound too easy, but it is really surprising to see those very
well though out functions in action, and to recognize how well they
are adapted to the practical design process.
You can insert a predefined room from the library (which is of
course editable) anywhere in your building, and all elements that
were defined for that room will come with it. Typically this would
be a window or two, an office desk, and one or several views. One
of those views could represent the field of vision of a person
working at that desk, ready for glare evaluations.
Copy that room
to another floor at the other end of the building, and you have a
new view for the same simulations as required for this new
location. And all this just with a few mouse clicks.
I was attending to the german trade fair CAT Bau together with
ALware as exhibitors, and we met a very interested audience both
for 3Dsolar as for Rayfront. The folks from ALware demonstrated
how quick 3D data entry can be by "solving" the problems that
some visitors described about their current projects within a few
minutes right there (without running exact simulations, of course,
which may still take an hour or two). Rayfront convinced
architects, lighting designers, and visualisation experts by it's
power and flexibility, and especially with the upcoming plug-in
module for simulating daylight redirection systems.
3Dsolar can export it's data directly in Radiance format, ready to
be imported by Rayfront. We are working on both ends to make the
combination even more powerful, by enabling direct interaction
between the two programs, and by establishing common support for
variations within a project. While variations are already possible
on both sides, integrating that functionality will make the
combination even more flexible and useful. Apart from that, ALware
is planning to combine 3Dsolar with thermal simulation programs as
well, so that you will be able to run all your building simulations
from one single data model in the near future.
More information about ALware and 3Dsolar and demo CD ordering
(in german language).
Daylight Redirection
Having the update to 1.0.2 as well as the demo version out of the
door, I have now started to really implement the plug-in module
for simulating daylight redirection systems. A first prerelease
version should be ready within a few weeks. I am currently looking
for users who might be ready and willing to test this new
functionality, in order to improve the robustness and reliability
of the new module. If you are interested, please send a short
notice to
info@schorsch.com,
and I'll see if you qualify.
It is required that you have some previous experience with daylight
redirection, and possibly with Radiance simulations as well (with
or without Rayfront), so that you not only can tell me "this button
gives an error", but also provide some feedback on the sanity of
the simulation results depending on various settings. The
underlying technology has been validated with real live
measurements already and found to be more accurate than any other
solution I know of, but broader feedback about which parameters
give the best results will stil help to improve the documentation
and result in helpful pointers as of how to use this unique
functionality to the maximum of it's potential.
idb-Symposion
There are good chances that I will present Rayfront at the
ibd-Symposion, organized by the german architectural magazine AIT
in Stuttgart, again together with ALware and 3Dsolar. The final
decision has yet to be made, but for anybody who wants to reserve
the 9th and 10th November 2001, now's the time to do so.
More information about AIT(in german language)
Global Collaborations
I am approached in regular intervals by people around the world
with various suggestions for collaboration. Some just would
like to resell Rayfront (which is unlikely to make sense for people
without very specific know-how), but others present more creative
ideas. One such suggestion was to translate Rayfront into several
asian languages. Rayfront is already designed with translation to
non-english languages in mind, but languages with non-latin
character sets will require to upgrade some of the third party
toolkits I'm using. As a consequence, such a translation will only
be possible for a future version of Rayfront.
Nothing has been decided yet, but given that I currently send about
half of the demo activation keys to the far east, the
perspective of serving those markets better than I currently can
certainly has its merits. Of course, even with the technical
obstacles out of the way, nothing will happen over night.
Translating the software itself may turn out to be the smallest
part of the work after all, involving a few hundred short strings
of text that can apper in the GUI. The bigger effort will be to
translate the more than hundred pages of HTML documentation, which
would probably fill between 300 and 400 pages of paper in print.
Issue 08 (2002 Sep. 9.)
Issue 07 (2002 Apr. 29.)
Issue 06 (2001 Jul. 10.)
Issue 05 (2001 Feb. 20.)
Issue 04 (2000 Dec. 5.)
Issue 03 (2000 Aug. 31.)
Issue 02 (2000 May 15.)
Issue 01 (2000 Mar. 19.)
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