Copy Monitor and Name Changing

I use the monitor part of Copy/Monitor to create a relationship between my existing levels and levels in a linked model. There is no need to use Copy because I've already got a couple levels to work with. In this scenario I'm using Revit MEP and linking an architectural model. I'd like my level name to match the architects. If you use Monitor first and then decide to make your level names match the linked levels you'll get a message like this.

Revit isn't really evaluating or comparing the names. If it was it would realize that I just changed to match the monitored level. Instead it's just reacting to the fact that the name (my level's name in my file) is now different.

Moral of the story is, if you intend to use the same names it is best to change them before you start using monitoring. If you don't then you'll need to stop monitoring, change the name and then restore the monitoring.

View Templates are Mean

If you do something that prompts Revit to pop up this kind of warning (this one is about Spaces)...

You'll be tempted to answer Yes with the expectation that Revit will show your spaces. Well you'd be wrong if your view is assigned to a view template. As in this example if you place a space (using Revit MEP features) you'll get this warning next.

Aggressive view templates will deny the override that the warning dialog implies. It's like asking your mother if you can do something and she says yes but then your father says no. It makes sense but the warning message can be confusing, at least initially. You still have to edit the View Template so it will show whatever category you really want to see.

Schedule Name and Header

A few years ago (Aug 08) I wrote a post that explained how to break the relationship between a schedule's name and its header. With Revit 2014 that approach is no longer necessary. I can just use the new Clear Cell button on the header text.

Now the schedule header can be something else and the name we see in the Project Browser can be something else. If you rename a schedule the header will match that name at first, or vice versa. If you click in the Header cell, click Clear Cell and the value is removed but the view name is not. Now put the name you really want in and you can alter either without affecting the other.

We can't use Project Browser organization on schedule views yet but we can control the naming a bit more easily now with this technique.

This Family uses a Type Catalog

A family that has a type catalog must be loaded properly, either with Load Family while placing a component or via Load from Library, or using a right click > reload in the Project Browser.

If you don't select at least one type from a catalog Revit will load the default type, don't do it. Select at least one type to reload or load. Don't drag and drop from Windows Explorer either.

A family that has a type catalog really ought to only have one "default" type. Lately I have settled on using the name: "This family uses a Type Catalog". If I find that type in a project I know it has been loaded at least once improperly. That type will never appear in the project if the catalog is used.

Do NOT use Edit Family (from inside a project) with families that have type catalogs, it puts all the loaded types from the project in the family. If you edit a family that uses a Type Catalog and it has a bunch of types "inside" it either wasn't cleaned up well or someone used Edit Family from a project. Related to this is, do NOT use Load into Project while working on the family, it does not look for or offer the type catalog and you end up with the default type in the project.

An earlier post included most of this but I decided it bears repeating, separately.

BlueBryk and Content

I recently spoke with Bruce Madsen. I had the pleasure of sharing a dinner table with him and his wife at RTC in Auckland. One of the things he's struggled with (we've all struggled with) in his work at HOK is finding and keeping up with all the places that we can find content. He's been quietly compiling his own lists and keeping track of this stuff and finally decided it was time to do this in a more formal way, organized and in a way that allows for broader participation.

This is where BlueBryk comes in.

I should take a quick step back and explain that until now Bruce has been working quietly in what he called a private beta. I asked him if he was worried about word leaking out... Since I'm the leak, he's really hoping to get more feedback about what he's built so far, to see how well it fits and meets our needs. I really need to remember to ask him about the inspiration for the name but I'll ignore that for later.

The site is not a place to find and examine a specific cabinet or pipe fitting, at least not at the moment. It is a place to find recommended places to find content. It is a compilation of all the places that he's documented as providing content, not the specific content that is available.

If you visit the BlueBryk site you'll find a clean organized place (a bit of expected blue here and there too). At the very top is a button called "Why Register". That was my first question too, with a cynic's mindset, "Why do I care?". The first reason offered is access to advance searching criteria, which is certainly valid. I think the biggest reason is to give me access to voting on content providers. After all if I really want to make the site work we all need to give feedback into the quality of the content we find. Autodesk's Seek, the more or less obvious "competing" resource, doesn't really deliver on real user rating systems (we can submit feedback), at least not in a "social" way.

After submitting the info as shown above the results are organized alphabetically and the BlueBryk rating appears on the far right.

Links provide access to the websites for each provider, which belong to any one of these categories: Content Exchange, Consolidator, Content Building, Content Store or Manufacturer. In this way the site is a much more elegant delivery of the kind of information my own Revit Inside blog has been doing for companies that use Revit.

The goal of the site is to do a great job of keeping this information current, relevant and reliable...useful. At the moment Bruce reports over 1200 resources are to be found within BlueBryk. If I'm hunting for the perfect supply grill for Revit MEP there are a lot of manufacturers, the question is who provides Revit content? Ideally BlueBryk will make it easier to see which companies or sites provide a matching range of content AND see which ones are highly rated by BlueBryk AND us.

Now that I've mentioned his site, Bruce hopes you'll check it out and help him make it a very valuable resource for all of the Revit (and the broader BIM) community. Have a look for yourself and click the Contact Us button to offer up your thoughts. He's incorporated a blog into the site too so he can provide timely information. Look for him to write posts that help explain what his vision is and where he hopes we will help him take BlueBryk.

Fwiw, another product called Unifi also takes on this problem with at least one big difference, its integration into Revit as an application. BlueBryk is solely a web resource. I don't know if that is a negative or a positive for either but my gut instinct is that not being an app makes it a bit simpler to use it as intended, as a resource, instead of adding yet another thing to manage during deployment for Revit.