We’ve prepared for you the TOP 5 Best BIM Software for Architects to use in your daily practice. Do you want to achieve efficient and successful progress in your project? From this article, you will learn how to elevate your skills in BIM.
Why do you need those tools and how they are going to boost your productivity?
Imagine you are investing 10 hours on a task that struggled you and took from you a lot of effort.
You could’ve finished this task in about half an hour. But due to communication issues, the execution period has taken longer than expected.
But why this is such a big issue for the project’s end results?
Not only because you are losing time or money, but also—losing opportunities.
Let us give you an example:
You are losing X amount of cost, which could be time or money (X= Waste of Time and Cost). At the same time, you are missing the chance to earn more revenue. This could’ve come from the same client on another project phase or from another client. Because you spent so much time and effort on that particular task. That means you need to compensate for it at a later stage.
You could’ve prevented all that if using the proper technology. You can reduce or remove future struggles like this. Which will lead to cutting the waste of time and cost and converting it into revenue.
Here you might say that some BIM software a too expensive, for which you need to make a very big investment. We hear you.
But when 90% of what you deliver is revenue-based, you can cover all the expenses you made for technologies.
Which is the best BIM software for architects?
1. Choose a proper Management Tool
It will help you with planning the work. This kind of software is NBS Chorus. It is excellent for small projects because it’s made for that purpose. The best thing is that you can even ask for a demonstration. In that tool, there is a section showing the return on investment. You can insert your own values and this way you can see what amount you are actually saving.
2. Task Management Tool
For a great workflow, you have to choose the best BIM software for architects that helps you to manage and organize all your tasks. It could be confusing if you jump and start doing a project right away. Without a clear structure of what and when a task should be done, and who handles it. Especially when you work with a large team. But that way of working is a must for small teams as well (3-5 people). Because everyone needs to be aware of what they need to do and to have an idea of what task is coming, and with what priority. The team members could see what is in progress and what is already done. For this purpose could be used Kanban Chart, Trello, or similar software.
3. BIM Authoring Software
You need a software where you can build BIM models, and you can extract all the relevant details from them. The very important thing here you need to be aware of is the Level of Development (LOD). So you will not overpopulate your model with a lot and unnecessary of information.
Which would lead to a waste of time without any return of value. The most popular BIM Authoring Tools are – Archicad, Revit, Tekla and etc.
4. Rendering and Visualization Software
As an Architect and/or a Designer, visualization is essential. So, it’s crucial to choose a tool that enables quick rendering, visualization, and even virtual reality. That could be discussed within the project process. If you are at the final stage, and you want to impress with realistic renders, tools like Enscape or Lumion would do a great job. They will give you high-quality and sufficient output.
5. Software for Computational Design and Visual Programming
These tools could be Dynamo or Grasshopper. The difference between them is that Grasshopper is for geometrical representations only. While Dynamo is more about visual programming. In Dynamo, you can do and automate documentation, and you can make some parameters. Hence, you can do more stuff in Dynamo, whereas Grasshopper is for design purposes only. This BIM software elevates your workflow to a new dimension. They make processes faster by automating them. You don’t have to use a code or a plugin to do small and simple steps. You can have to take some visual-ready codes, combine them together, and make your own. One of the best things about Dynamo is that it is open-source, and it’s free for Revit.
