Benchmarking the NEW BOXX LEGO Workstation and RenderPro

Earlier this month at Autodesk University, I had the opportunity to obtain the latest offering from BOXX - their new LEGO Workstation and Lego RenderPro. I could hardly wait to get these two systems built and benchmarked and share the results with everyone. Well, the results are in and these are the fastest systems with the most performance per dollar you can get in the LEGO world. I have to admit, I've never been able to assemble a LEGO kit as quickly as I did with these two. I hope you enjoy my review of these limited edition systems from BOXX and NO you can't have these - I've already gifted them to my kids!

In my testing, I found that I needed to miniaturize myself in order to get the full appreciation of the Workstation and RenderPro. Here you can see me basking in the full glory of the immense Workstation:

You'll note that just like other systems they offer, there are plenty of USB ports on the front - 4 for the Workstation and an extra on the RenderPro. Standard power on and HDD function LEDs on both units along with Power & Reset Buttons.

On the back of the Workstation, things get fun. A total of TEN Expansion slots, Dual Ethernet ports, another 4 USB ports and more that are too small to make out what they are... The RenderPro has Dual Ethernet ports and another 2 USB ports. You can see me eagerly applying the front face decal in this photo to the RenderPro.

Here you can see me taking a quick stroll across the top of the RenderPro after its been docked with the Workstation. Together they make a formidable foe that will render any LEGO scene faster than you can say Minecraft!

I also wanted to give everyone a sneak peak inside the Workstation to show you how cleanly assembled it is and easy to work on should you want to utilize those expansion bays. Despite the thick walls of the LEGO chassis, I found it incredibly easy to work on. You can clearly see they spared no expense on this liquid cooled, overclocked XEON CPU. Given that there are SIX stickers on the Workstation and FIVE on the RenderPro, that counts for an extra 55 Horsepower total above the overclocked 4.5GHz if you count 5HP per sticker. I have to say I was very impressed with these two systems and would like to thank BOXX Technologies for the opportunity get hands on time with these special systems.

Every other LEGO computer system you could buy is just a complete BRICK.

My First Adaptive Component!

So, I've seen plenty of fancy examples using Adaptive Components (AC) float around the RevitVerse, but I've been longing for a good, simple and easy AC that I could build and use on an actual project. Having gone through a number of more complex examples such as some found at AU or RTC, I knew they are really powerful and offer a greater degree of freedom and flexibility than your average Family. So, when it finally hit me on this particular situation, I was very happy. Onto the example!

The Storefront with Flashing Anchored to the Mullions...
So I had a request the other day to have a storefront with mullions bigger on the outers and smaller on the inners. That's great until you are asked to have a reveal on the front face of the outer mullions. Guess what? Mullions only butt join at corners and won't miter (at least from what I could see). Great, so now we are looking at some other options to get what we want. I started looking at an in place component, swept around the perimeter of the the storefront. While it accomplished what I wanted, it hit me that for every storefront, the designer would have to repeat the lengthy process of creating the sweep. Not very efficient. As I was thinking about building a family I pondered which would be most applicable. Generic Model? Face Based? Then it hit me - Adaptive Component to the rescue!

I started up a family based on the Curtain Panel Pattern Based.rfa template file since it has a few things already established. I placed a point on one of the Reference Lines, set my work plane to the point and sketched a rectangle. Next I added some dimensions and labeled them with parameters to be able to flex the size of the flashing. Then, I picked the rectangle, the reference lines and made a sweep. I also added a material parameter and linked it up so it could be set once in the project.

Then, once it was loaded into the project, it was as simple as picking 4 points, one at each corner of the storefront. Easily repeatable, flexible and simple, yet effective. Granted, it may not be the only way to accomplish the end result, nor what AC's were intended for, but it got the job done this time! So if you have been wondering how to make use of AC's in a simpler setting, just keep your eye out - you never know what might come along!

Reflections of RTC - USA

Well, live blogging from the event really didn't go as I had hoped/planned. My blasted AT&T reception was non-existent. Wi-Fi? Nope - not really. So, I pretty much ended up disconnecting for 3 days and just enjoying the conference. Overall, I have to say that this conference ROCKED!

If asked, I wouldn't try to compare this with Autodesk University (AU) as I really feel their focus and goal are totally different. I find myself pulled in 20 different directions at AU but at RTC I was able to focus on just Revit related topics (for once). Also, the venue was a nice change from Vegas. If I had to chose between the 2, I would quite possibly pick RTC over AU. Of course I would still prefer to go to both.

For me, the highlights were a couple sessions in particular. I'll be making a few follow up posts in the following days covering what those were! Right now, I've got about a million emails to catch up on...