Day 23 - Guest Blogger: Ryan Enns
I've asked a new friend of mine, Ryan Enns, to put together a few examples of what he does for a living and I must say it's very cool. At least I think so. BUT before you go any further, please, PLEASE, make sure you have a copy of Adobe Reader installed on your computer OR go download it for FREE HERE Trust me, you will want it later on!I've asked Ryan to post something for me because I think production extends beyond the editing suite and cameras, it goes all the way into construction, blueprints and building structures. Film, graphic, and design production all have similar attributes to the world of construction and when you look at Ryan's 3d work (in ADOBE READER) you will see why.
Here's Ryan.
My good friend Matt asked me to post a little ditty about me – the boss, myself – the employee, and I – the administrator. Yes, you guessed it, I work for a very small company, Workpoint Steel Detailing. I needed to get out of where I was, and get back into what I loved… steel construction. For some reason, if it’s steel, I can build it. If it’s wood or concrete, someone else can build it. Whether it’s the simplicity, complexity, or just the fact that you can weld it… I have a passion for seeing it stand on its own. Some say it’s not pretty, it’s too cold, it’s too flimsy-looking. But to me, it’s a thing of beauty and what all buildings should be built of. Architects, are you listening?
I produce steel shop drawings for local fabrication shops to build and erect every piece of steel in a construction project. This includes beams, columns, braces, stairs, handrails, ladders, etc. I take the architectural and structural drawings of a building, extract all the structural steel from those drawings, and individually draw each piece of steel on it’s own drawing for the fabrication shop to fabricate, paint, ship to the site, and install within a sixteenth of an inch. Not so easy when you start adding concrete, wood, site conditions, changes to the buildings’ design by the architect and the engineer.
The software that we use is SDS/2, a three dimensional (3D) modeling software that is designed specifically for steel. It models, bolts, welds, connects, and calculates the steel structure (YOU NEED ADOBE READER FOR THIS. VERY COOL I PROMISE) that I build in true 3D. I can orbit the model and place every piece of steel in exactly the right spot. Once the model is complete, the program will automatically generate a two dimensional installation 
After spending many years as a ticketed welder on the shop floor inhaling welding smoke, getting slivers of steel stuck in my eye, and lighting a few things on fire (including myself), there’s a reason I like the virtual world! As a structural steel detailer, I like to claim that I’m the smartest person working on the project because I’m the only one with a model! Architects and engineers are slowly coming on board with programs such as Revit, and other 3D modeling software. We can import their model into our SDS/2 program, process it, and return it to them as the completed project. Now there’s one model completely built before a shovel touches the ground. Soon, electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, etc. will be doing the same. No longer are the architects dreaming in 3D, drawing their design on 2D drawings, myself reading and interpreting their drawings, recreating it in 3D just to put it back into 2D for the shop to build.
Thanks for reading. Hope this was an intriguing view through my little porthole that I call my job. Thanks again to Matt for his request to guest blog for his December marathon!