[00] About
From a drawing board to structural steel.
Hi, I'm Fred da Silveira, a BIM-certified structural steel drafter in New Zealand, and I've had enough of software that doesn't solve the problems we actually face at work.
So I started Seed43. Not as a commercial product, but as real tools that engineers and drafters can pick up and get the job done with. If the big programs already did this, there would be no need for Seed43. They don't, so I built it myself.
- 2002
- in structural steel since
- 8+
- commodities, from uranium to road stone
- BIM
- certified
[01] The path
How I ended up in steel
-
01
Technical drawing at school
I took technical drawing as a subject in high school, turned out to be naturally good at it, and was hooked.
-
02
A detour through architecture
I went on to study architecture. It taught me a lot, but it was not where I belonged.
-
03
2002: mining, and structural steel
In 2002 I started working for a mining engineering company, on mining and minerals projects, and that is where I fell in love with structural steel.
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04
Plants and projects across the world
Processing plants, warehouses and factories, on projects around the world.
- Uranium processing
- Diamond
- Platinum
- Gold
- Coal
- Lithium
- Gypsum
- Road stone
- Warehouses
- Factories
-
05
2022: Seed43
In 2022 I started Seed43, as a self-employed application developer, turning years of my own scripts into tools other people could use.
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06
Today
Today I am a BIM-certified structural steel drafter, and I build Seed43 alongside it.
[02] Projects that stay with me
It is the team, not the tonnage
There have been a lot of projects. Only a few stand out, and not because of their scale or the company behind them. It is about being part of the team that did the work.
Letšeng diamond mine, Lesotho
Part of the team that upgraded the plant at Letšeng, a mine known for some of the largest diamonds ever found. Thank you for the opportunity.
New Zealand's largest gypsum plant
Working on the largest gypsum processing plant in New Zealand, alongside all the people who made it happen during a global pandemic. Thank you, every one of you.
[03] From DOS to Seed43
A lifetime at the keyboard, two decades automating the boring parts
My first computer was an IBM AT. I was about eight. It did nothing until you booted DOS yourself, and I used that same PC right up until high school. I never really stepped away from the keyboard after that.
Using Linux, I found I could automate jobs with a shell script. My first one changed and stripped a file's metadata. It was terrible, but it did the job, and strangely I still use a version of it today.
Then I discovered Lisp for AutoCAD, and drawings started doing some of the repetitive work themselves.
Visual scripting for Revit opened up the model itself.
pyRevit came next. I started by modifying other people's scripts to do what I needed, and kept going.
Those scripts grew into the Seed43 tools for Revit® and Navisworks®, plus Studio and Field.
A normal day is like anyone else's. The fun starts when I work on Seed43 tools, solving the issues you would think the programs we pay for should be doing for us.
[04] The name
Why Seed43?
An idea. Something small that grows into a tool you use every day.
Say it quickly: four-three, for free.
Ideas, planted and given away. That is the whole point of Seed43.
[05] What it costs
Free, and always will be
The tools are made for everyone, everywhere. The only exception is a service I have to host and run for you.
Tools: always free
The tools for Revit® and Navisworks®, and Studio, are free for everyone, with no account needed.
New Zealand tools on the way
Some new tools are built around New Zealand codes and standards, so they are NZ-specific. They are free too.
Hosted services: Field
Seed43 Field runs on servers I host, so it is a paid service, and for now it is New Zealand only.