# tangerinefocus.com

> AI-optimized mirror of tangerinefocus.com containing 50 pages totalling 50,151 words of clean markdown content, structured data, and semantic HTML. Original source: https://tangerinefocus.com/. Last updated: 2026-06-14T01:32:12.479Z.

Each page is available as HTML (with JSON-LD structured data) and Markdown (text-only, ideal for LLMs and RAG).

## Homepage

- [[V1.0 Drawings in Mental Models](/content/why-do-we-need-better-vcs-equipment-the-pragmatic-answer/index.html)](/content/site-root.html): a lens for looking at models (1,081 words)

## Articles & Blog Posts

- [2024/08/05/how-to-build-a-model-of-something-very-complex-that-doesnt-exist-yet.html](/content/2024/08/05/how-to-build-a-model-of-something-very-complex-that-doesnt-exist-yet.html) (1 words)
- [2024/10/02/the-future-of-technical-drawing-2/index.html](/content/2024/10/02/the-future-of-technical-drawing-2/index.html) (1 words)
- [2024/09/19/things-i-work-on-and-why/index.html](/content/2024/09/19/things-i-work-on-and-why/index.html) (1 words)
- [2024/11/27/introduction-to-open-vcs/index.html](/content/2024/11/27/introduction-to-open-vcs/index.html) (1 words)
- [2024/11/28/our-situation-is-not-anything-like-gps-maps-because-the-software-developers-in-bim-are-really-dim-and-the-users-are-left-lost.html](/content/2024/11/28/our-situation-is-not-anything-like-gps-maps-because-the-software-developers-in-bim-are-really-dim-and-the-users-are-left-lost.html) (1 words)
- [2024/12/20/american-computer-dryer/index.html](/content/2024/12/20/american-computer-dryer/index.html) (1 words)
- [2024/12/08/in-aec-close-study-of-models-matters-for-these-reasons.html](/content/2024/12/08/in-aec-close-study-of-models-matters-for-these-reasons.html) (1 words)
- [2025/06/12/wile-e-coyote-with-falling-anvil-moment/index.html](/content/2025/06/12/wile-e-coyote-with-falling-anvil-moment/index.html) (1 words)
- [2025/10/12/whats-going-on-when-were-engaged-in-the-work-of-perception-of-things-very-complex.html](/content/2025/10/12/whats-going-on-when-were-engaged-in-the-work-of-perception-of-things-very-complex.html) (1 words)
- [2025/07/07/forget-artificial-what-is-intelligence-and-to-what-is-intelligence-applied-in-the-architecture-engineering-and-construction-professions.html](/content/2025/07/07/forget-artificial-what-is-intelligence-and-to-what-is-intelligence-applied-in-the-architecture-engineering-and-construction-professions.html) (1 words)
- [2025/11/17/if-you-ask-the-wrong-questions-and-answer-them-correctly-where-does-that-get-you.html](/content/2025/11/17/if-you-ask-the-wrong-questions-and-answer-them-correctly-where-does-that-get-you.html) (1 words)
- [blog-tangerine/index.html](/content/blog-tangerine/index.html) (1 words)
- [visual-engagement-with-modeled-worlds/index.html](/content/visual-engagement-with-modeled-worlds/index.html) (1 words)
- [Drawings in Models V2.0 (2012)](/content/tgn/earlier-media-innovations/index.html): In 2007, after building well detailed digital models of buildings since 1998 and automating every construction drawing from the model (see below), I thought: the model-automated drawings and their embellishing graphics should be visible where they are in the 3D model, automatically: a fusion. I got lucky. The owner/developer of a software corporation, Bentley Systems,… (1,034 words)
- [why-do-we-need-better-vcs-equipment-the-pragmatic-answer.html](/content/why-do-we-need-better-vcs-equipment-the-pragmatic-answer.html) (1 words)
- [They stood in opposition to the fusion of sound into silent film a hundred years ago](/content/2024/04/02/they-stood-in-opposition-to-the-fusion-of-sound-into-silent-film-a-hundred-years-ago-some-actually-did.html): Most apps in AEC (with the exceptions I mention often) enforce the non-fusion of two primary media types: drawings and models. It’s like forcing recorded sound a hundred years ago to remain NOT infused into silent film. There actually were people at the time (like Jack Warner) who argued that sound and film should always… (1,135 words)
- [You have to be able to focus to clarity](/content/2025/03/01/you-have-to-be-able-to-focus-to-get-to-clarity/index.html): To keep people trapped either in unequipped 3D models, absent equipment for expressing and developing clarifying attentive focus within them, or, locked in flat model views that are effectively no different than any kind of technical drafting we've had for hundreds of years before computing, is missing the point entirely and throwing away tremendous opportunity..… (2,099 words)
- [3D is not the evolution of 2D](/content/2024/07/31/3d-is-not-the-evolution-of-2d/index.html): Yeah, actually, no, 3D is not the evolution of 2D. Although, yes, the pull-quote below is a key concept we’ve all had in mind the last 20 years in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). 3D is the evolution of 2D.2D is a primitive representation of the 3D reality. Many people can not read or understand… (3,441 words)
- [The problem with time travel](/content/2025/05/03/the-problem-with-time-travel/index.html): Through a remarkable set of circumstances, the relevant facts of which I'm not at liberty to discuss, I have just this weekend availed myself of the no doubt highly unique opportunity to take my pick from among an abundance of affordably priced used Time Machines, in the future, and used it to go back and… (2,443 words)
- [**Technical drawing**](/content/2026/05/30/types-of-visualization-in-aec/index.html): Such a list is like any other list; no matter how many things you list, others will clamor to lengthen the list. I'm not interested in list exhaustion though, so I limit this to two types of visualization in AEC, both workhorses, the latter a war horse. Rendering, i.e., illustration. Technical drawing, i.e., construction drawing.… (540 words)
- [About Rob Snyder](/content/about-2/index.html): Rob Snyder performed building design and construction documentation through digital modeling and technical drawing for 13 years in firms large and small including his own. He then worked in software design for 10 years at two companies. His contributions so far have been in digital media, as a co-inventor of the automated fusion of technical… (764 words)
- [Eliminating Drawings – and the challenges of doing so](/content/2025/05/26/eliminating-drawings-and-the-challenges-of-doing-so.html): Eliminating drawings undermines thought itself. It's doubtful that pulling the rug out from under thinking, should be framed as challenging. It's something else entirely. Has anyone promoting the idea of eliminating drawings over the last 20+ years put any thought into what drawings are? Before devoting themselves to their elimination? In the 90s when I… (1,642 words)
- [Pretty big jumps, into what?](/content/2026/01/15/pretty-big-jumps-into-what/index.html): Give or take a few years: 1983: software apps, for drawing lines, arcs, shapes, text... 1998: new features include the 4th iteration of a line trimming tool 2002: "drawings are just dumb lines and arcs"; it's Building Information Modeling (BIM) now! 2010: It's time for "Moving Beyond Geometry"; It's the "I" in BIM (data, "information")… (1,800 words)
- [What I have to say about AI](/content/2024/11/29/what-i-have-to-say-about-ai/index.html): The fall back rhetoric now says : AI is for helping you think, not for thinking for you, but thinking with you, and, don’t fall behind others who are thinking in tandem with AI… because, they’ll replace you/your job. AI won’t. But they will.- the standard narrative The word abbreviated in “AI” undermines itself. Right?… (1,099 words)
- [If I’m passionate about telescopes does that mean I’m against the night sky?](/content/2026/01/25/if-im-passionate-about-telescopes-does-that-mean-im-against-the-night-sky.html): If I’m passionate about telescopes does that mean I’m against the night sky? Here's how people closely look at, how they study AEC models to both develop and interpret them. It's what they think about, what they need to think about, and how they think about it. It's the actual function of drawing. It's all… (1,358 words)
- [Eye Path Intentionality](/content/2024/08/01/eye-path-intentionality/index.html): Once you notice this it's hard not to think about it. You see it everywhere. Fundamental things about how vision works. I don't mean retinal absorption of light, for example. Although yeah, sure, that's there. That's part of it. Turn on the TV and no doubt you'll be presented with some science show getting into… (1,985 words)
- [imagination is situated between our perceptions and our understanding](/content/2024/08/21/imagination-is-situated-between-our-perceptions-and-our-understanding.html): "… imagination isn't what we think, it's how we think. Now, I'd like to go to the originators of this, and that would be David Hume and Immanuel Kant, who noted that the imagination is situated between our perceptions and our understanding . As Kant wrote in 1780, that we do not see the world… (1,607 words)
- [TGN](/content/tgn/index.html): Another part of the answer (to making tech work better in AEC) is the development of attention-focusing rigs addressing THIS problem:  the requirement in all modeled environments for a standardizable FORM of ENGAGEMENT with models that builds more thorough understanding faster, that draws focused attention to things that need to be understood, and provides both… (877 words)
- [Any plan for the expression of these (5) functions within modeled environments?](/content/2024/09/12/any-plan-for-the-expression-of-these-5-functions-within-modeled-environments.html): OK, in general… Any plan for the expression of these (5) functions within modeled environments? FACILITATE VISUAL CLOSE STUDY (V.C.S.): articulate expression of the act of attentive focus within the environment of a project’s mental, physical, and digital models ENABLE PHYSICAL EVALUATION of the model at V.C.S. locations, primarily a check against omission of physical… (959 words)
- [An Interesting Video About What Happens When Presentations Are Considered by Viewers to be Clear, Concise, and Easy to Understand](/content/2024/12/01/an-interesting-video-about-what-happens-when-presentations-are-considered-by-viewers-to-be-clear-concise-and-easy-to-understand.html): Here is an interesting video about what happens when presentations are considered by viewers to be clear, concise, and easy to understand. (It’s not what you think, and it’s not good): https://youtu.be/RQaW2bFieo8?si=q2W5djQw2449qfzA (So) What about drawings? If we have 2 versions of them, both are same in information, but one is clear, concise and easy… (2,156 words)
- [The Future of Technical Drawing (rev 1)](/content/2021/11/18/the-future-of-technical-drawing-rev-1/index.html): a newer (2024) post with the same title is here: https://tangerinefocus.com/2024/10/02/the-future-of-technical-drawing-2/ Why talk about technical drawing at all? Why think about its past, or reflect on its current state? Why try to envision its future? Or imagine it even has a future, when it's typical these days -- it seems part of the standard discourse… (1,863 words)
- [A framework for machine interpretation and human interaction with cognitive systems arrayed against spatial digital models](/content/2021/11/09/a-framework-for-machine-interpretation-and-human-interaction-with-cognitive-systems-arrayed-against-spatial-digital-models.html): MACHINE LEARNING / AI COGNITIVE PART 2 PART 1, the evolution of drawing and its fusion within modeled environments, TGN, may have a secondary effect, on cognitive computing. The purpose of media is to support the thought process, to help us understand things. Media will continue evolving for this purpose. Tangerine’s TGN Spec, will play an… (1,771 words)
- [Achtung Baby](/content/2025/04/03/achtung-baby/index.html): Some notes on thoughtfulness. On thinking. What is it? Project development and delivery, in architecture, engineering, and construction, is about building models (mental and digital, and physical models) and QA/QC'ing those models by developing and issuing a set of construction drawings. The drawings are a continuous QA/QC process.  What QA/QC means in project development and… (1,282 words)
- [Would you like to help us establish, an OPEN VCS Collaborative?](/content/2024/12/02/would-you-like-to-help-us-establish-an-open-vcs-collaborative.html): Some background here as I come around to the details: I saw a comparison made this week of GPS and BIM. When was the last time you unfolded a paper map while driving? This is used as criticism of those in AEC who, while having digital models, still make drawings. But, would a model of… (1,016 words)
- [Robert Snyder of OPEN VCS smiling with a humanoid robot servant](/content/2025/01/19/robert-snyder-of-open-vcs-smiling-with-a-humanoid-robot-servant.html): Someone kindly had an offline discussion with me which brought out something worth clarifying. Meanwhile someone else messaged me today: “Grok: Show Robert Snyder of OPEN VCS smiling with a humanoid robot servant.” To clarify, I am not saying that all sets of drawings achieve these functions (see facts and 5 functions at the link… (1,375 words)
- [What exactly we want to achieve with TGN](/content/2024/09/06/what-exactly-we-want-to-achieve-with-tgn/index.html): TGN is a nascent open source development project with currently 5 volunteer developers and some others thinking about it. Some pointed questions were asked recently and I tried to answer them sensibly: Purpose: TGN is a set of definitions and an open source codebase (nascent this year, volunteer development team is growing) embodying 8 features… (1,885 words)
- [What mature athletic steps would look like if taken](/content/2026/03/27/what-mature-athletic-steps-would-look-like-if-taken.html): To ask what drawings are. To recognize that drawings are the vehicle for the core work of AEC professions (they’re not “just dumb lines and arcs.“). To ask what the core work of AEC professions is. It’s about t h i n k i n g things through all the way through. To recognize that a… (817 words)
- [TGN/VCS is a special case of VFX and has a very specific purpose in AEC](/content/2024/07/28/tgn-vcs-is-a-special-case-of-vfx-and-has-a-very-specific-purpose-in-aec.html): TGN/VCS is a special case of VFX and has a very specific purpose in AEC. I say the purpose here. https://tangerinefocus.com/why-do-we-need-better-vcs-equipment-the-pragmatic-answer/ See the full story here: TGN is the lens for looking at models Whether you’re stick building BIMs or using computational design or GenAI to author models, or whether you’re building modeled environments through video and Gaussian… (696 words)
- [In all of the last 20 years hearing about the elimination of drawings, I’ve yet to see anyone advocating that even once say what drawings ARE](/content/2024/12/16/in-all-of-the-last-20-years-hearing-about-the-elimination-of-drawings-ive-yet-to-see-anyone-advocating-that-even-once-say-what-drawings-are.html): In all of the last 20 years hearing about the elimination of drawings, I’ve yet to see anyone advocating that even once say what drawings a r e . In this blog post I list some Facts about drawings, and also list 5 primary Functions of technical drawing: https://tangerinefocus.com/2024/12/08/in-aec-close-study-of-models-matters-for-these-reasons/ It’s self evident that these functions… (1,096 words)
- [We thought wrong](/content/2024/12/07/we-thought-wrong/index.html): The error started decades ago with everyone confusing the basic categories. We saw drawings and then we saw digital models and we thought, ah… that’s the progression, drawings are the past and models are the future. The fact is there are two progressions, not one.  The first is from mental models to digital models. The… (743 words)
- [The Future of Technical Drawing](/content/2021/11/15/the-future-of-technical-drawing/index.html): A newer (2024) post with the same title is here: https://tangerinefocus.com/2024/10/02/the-future-of-technical-drawing-2/ Why talk about technical drawing at all? Why think about its past, or reflect on its current state? Why try to envision its future? Or imagine it even has a future, when it's typical these days -- it seems part of the standard discourse… (3,500 words)
- [OPEN VCS: Equipment for Visual Close Study in Digital Models](/content/2024/10/13/open-vcs-equipment-for-visual-close-study-in-digital-models.html): How do we learn, in any field?voice narration of this intro section, 17 min.Learning as you go, while developing an AEC projectVisual Close Study (V.C.S.) within the FIELD of a projectFACTS:A SYSTEMATIC FRAMEWORK for VISUAL ENGAGEMENT WITH MODELS IS NECESSARYa.k.a.: 5 PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF TECHNICAL DRAWINGBecause FIELD/V.C.S. INTERPLAY is the engine of model development and… (5,696 words)
- [Color](/content/2024/09/13/color/index.html): Color matters I just like it Light We get rainbows and double rainbows right here so often. Probably saw more rainbows here in the last 2 years right out back than in the rest of my 57 years. And the other side: (181 words)
- [Speed Becomes Everything](/content/2024/12/08/speed-becomes-everything/index.html): Speed becomes everything. You don’t have to look more than a couple steps ahead to see what’s coming. I used to travel a lot. Way too much. Enough that it was disorienting. It made me think, what if you took this further? What if there were a device, not like a jet airplane, but something… (556 words)
- [Human understanding of complex things and how that develops, is more interesting than ‘AI’](/content/2025/05/24/human-understanding-of-complex-things-and-how-that-develops-is-more-interesting-than-ai.html): It's way more interesting. In Architecture, Engineering, and Construction we’ve always had models. And we still do.  They're mental models. No digital model means anything to anyone without an adequate mental model in formation. And that happens through exercise of equipment for visual close study, of those models. That is, exercising the cognitive functions described… (499 words)
- [Focus Devices in Hybrid Data: Usefulness in Design Thinking and Communication](/content/2026/01/03/focus-devices-in-hybrid-data-usefulness-in-design-thinking-and-communication.html): Unpacking from a move and found a book with my paper in it from 2014. Still nice I think. drawing-model fusion since 2012 (like fusion of sound in film) - 26 videos https://youtu.be/M2d9WL1EEPM?si=nIruAJG_oM3X6D58&t=304 https://youtu.be/0Q42DrHZl_I?si=L_4n9KVrdfUPf9F_ It's not that this stuff was done, and automated, and so long ago. It's what it suggests that's yet to be… (254 words)
- [Looking with intent, and showing that you did](/content/2026/01/04/looking-with-intent-and-showing-that-you-did/index.html): If we identify what people are actually doing when they’re developing and interpreting technical drawings, we’d be looking at the problems addressed by the core work of AEC professionals. If we’re hungry and need to eat, we can make a spear, throw it into a wild boar, clean, cook, and eat it. There are instruments… (497 words)
- [news-sitemap-xml.html](/content/news-sitemap-xml.html) (1 words)
- [sitemap-xml.html](/content/sitemap-xml.html) (389 words)

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