Help us decide which connectors to develop next! 🔌

Features & Ideas
#1

Hi @Community & happy Friday (or Saturday if you’re far off east)!

As you know, we’ve wrapped up 2021 having 19 connectors for various CAD, BIM, 3D design, and data analytics software.
This is an amazing achievement - we hope you’re all enjoying the interoperability, automation opportunities, and data wrangling flexibility this gives you. Kudos to all our contributors :star_struck:!

Nevertheless, our mission of liberating people from proprietary file formats and software monopolies and to build an open digital infrastructure for the future of anything designed in 3D is not complete yet!

:point_right: That’s why our team is starting to focus on what integrations to develop next, help us decide! :thinking:

Here’s a list of the Connectors we already have:

It’s also worth noting that we are already working on connectors for:

Don’t see your favorite :sparkling_heart: software in the list below? Let us know in a comment and we’ll add it!
It’d be also super helpful to hear the main use cases you’d need these connectors for :rocket:.

You all have 3 votes :ticket:, choose wisely!

  • BricsCAD
  • FreeCAD
  • FME
  • Inventor
  • ArcGIS
  • Navisworks
  • Allplan
  • Maya
  • 3ds Max
  • Solidworks
  • Vectorworks
  • Robot
  • RAM Structural
  • SAP2000
  • STAAD Pro
  • Edificius
  • VisualARQ
  • Procore

0 voters

EDIT - we cannot modify the poll, but these were all suggested as well:

  • Bentley Context Capture
  • Godot
  • Houdini
  • AxisVM Eng - AxisVM
  • Synchro Pro/Bexel manager or similar tool that’s used for 4D BIM planning
  • Autodesk Plant 3D
  • OpenLCA
1 Like
ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY Not Being Sent to Speckle
#2

We would need a connector that works with Bentley Microstation, Open Building Designer, Context Capture. It would be amazing if you would take the time to develop a connector that works with the Bentley products.

#3

Hey @jonas ! We already have connectors for some Bentley products (including MicroStation)! They were added back in December, see: Speckle Connectors

I’ll add Context Capture to the list tho. EDIT I can’t seem to be able to edit the list, we’ll count it anyways!

#4
#5

A very niche request, and very tangential to AEC, but to go along with Unity and Unreal, it’d be great to see a Godot connector, especially with its 4th release coming soon

1 Like
#6

Not an AEC software, but a Houdini connector would be awesome!

1 Like
#7

Thanks for suggesting these, I’m actually quite excited to see non-AEC-specific software being suggested! Do you have examples of workflows where a Speckle integration would help?
I’m guessing it’d make the process of creating architectural visualizations faster and more iterative starting from tools such as Rhino and Revit? Or maybe you have something substantially different in mind?

#8

AxisVM would be cool!
AxisVM Eng - AxisVM

Thanks

1 Like
#9

Definitely would be good to have a Tekla Structures connectors to work with fabricators and steelwork detailers! How can we get involved?

2 Likes
#10
#11
#12

Hello @PBRimbault ,

you can get involved with the Tekla connector by helping suggest workflows that you need in particular in this thread or sending me models to test out the alpha on or be a tester when the alpha gets released. If you want to speed the development along faster, we can talk more to see how we can get you started.

1 Like
#13

Two cases - either as an import tool pulling scenes into the editor for further manipulation, or live, as part of some live showcase/optioneering app to put in front of clients.

Faster visualisation, continuity of attribuition (which an fbx/obj conversion would demolish), all in favour of visualisation.

(Side thought re. navis… a “comment/task” schema would allow you to do things like commit to-do tasks through a vis app and have them populate the navis model?)

1 Like
#14

Would be cool to see Synchro Pro/Bexel manager or similar tool that’s used for 4D BIM planning.

1 Like
#15

Keen to see a connector for Autodesk Plant 3D.

Plant 3D has 2 big sections, a schematic design tool to produce P&IDs (piping and instrumentation diagrams), as well as a 3D modelling environment which creates 3d piping models, for the most part. It’s a bit like fabrication MEP, but sits on AutoCAD and also produces ‘parametric’ models of equipment items (configurators for pumps, vessels, heat exchangers). As Autodesk have it, everything sits on a collection of SQLite databases, with an option to key into SQL server and BIM360 collaboration. Key powers of Plant versus others:

  • ‘Specification driven’ piping. Basically, a series/collection of components which may be applied to different conditions such as service (chilled water, avgas, effluent, steam). This includes an acceptable selection of valves, filters, guages, flanges and couplings, branch connectors and so forth, which can also change at different diameters.

  • Validation between piping and P&ID databases.

  • Generaton of ‘piping isometric drawings’.

  • Creation and control of systems and their connections between collections of equipment items and facility areas.

Workflow

We would like to be able to move 3D plant data without losing connection information, attributes or geometric fidelity in particular to Revit for the management of these families and creation of better deliverables. We’ve found that the AutoCAD drawing engine as they have it, is no longer appropriate for the risk and effort levels required, for example:

  • time it takes to generate a single view. Instead of (more or less) instantaneous performance we can attain from Revit, plant 3d goes through a process of ‘flat shotting’ and layer reassignments, so this process can take minutes or more

  • disassociated annotations such as sections and view titles.

Also - there is no visual scripting environment for Plant 3D available. If we are able to create connector(s) which understand each schema then we open up to the opportunity to create a more user friendly automation library.

I’ve done an AU preso on some of these issues, which might explain these more.

2 Likes
#16

Thanks for the detailed workflow @Matthew_Randell !
I’m still shocked at how poorly interoperable Autodesk software is - we’ll definitely check out what we can do :+1:

#17

It’d be great to see an OpenLCA connector. @timmcginley is launching a new LCA in Building course at DTU and we are working on easing LCA evaluation, integration with modelling in a BIM environment. More integration with software oriented on circular building and sustainability could be awesome! Thank you. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
#18

I see a lot of people have voted for Navisworks, how do you see that integration working? What information would you like to exchange with Speckle and how do you see it working overall?

PS
Thanks @bruadam !

1 Like
#19

As someone who works for General Contractor, sometimes we only get Navis files from the Appointing Party in the tendering process. Having all the info and geometry available in Grasshopper would save me a lot of time I think.

1 Like
#20

Hi @HLKS! You’ll be happy to know @Reynold_Chan is working right now on a Tekla connector :slight_smile:

1 Like
New Connector Request Trimble