Linked Details - 3rd Party Tool Options

This is an update to a much earlier post after getting a couple comments on that thread. These are three companies I'm familiar with that are providing solutions that contend with sharing details between projects and multiple model projects.

Revolution Design - Revit Workflow

26 Degrees Software - ViewAQC

Parallax Team - Parallax Linked Details

Check them out!

Dimension Inline and Dynamo

(Edit: If you download and apply an update to his Rhythm package after 1/17/2018 you'll have this node too)

From time to time I've heard people ask about putting the dimension value on the line (inline) instead of above the dimension line the way Revit prefers. The only way we can do it within Revit is to manually grip and drag the dimension value down to the line.

More recently I read a thread at the Autodesk Forum asking about this. The premise in their situation is that it is a significant roadblock to using Revit for one of their client's projects, it doesn't meet their drawing standard unless the dimensions are inline.

I was trading messages with Aaron Maller and mentioned it to him. Aaron was trading messages with John Pierson and a few minutes later I learned it is possible with Dynamo and a custom node. This morning he shared this with me, as well as replying to the thread. Nicely done John! We are sooo connected these days.

Revit Safe Mode - Wish Fulfilled

The other day I wrote about David's idea for a Revit Safe mode and Robert Manna responded in a serious way. He and the gang at Stantec created and have just shared an application to do just what we were suggesting. This is a screen shot of it running (from Robert's post).

It runs outside of Revit, prepares for opening Revit without the add-ins you choose to disable. It allows us to be fairly surgical in our troubleshooting even if it's akin to exploratory surgery ... "Hmmm, maybe we need to remove the appendix? No, that wasn't it...maybe the spleen?"

If you're curious head over to Robert's post on their blog for more information and to download the application.

Wish - Revit Safe Mode

I'm echoing something I heard David Baldacchino suggest, good idea Dave. Revit will crash from time to time. Sometime it isn't because of something I've done, it tracks back to an add-in I've got installed. It can be a bit of a hassle to disable add-ins to rule them out.

It would be handy if there were a way to start-up Revit in safe mode - add-in free so to speak so it can run on its own and help us diagnose an issue.

Speaking of Wishes - Autodesk started a new community forum called Revit Ideas to post this kind of thing. It allows us to Vote Up an idea so those that many of us really like can rise to the top. Potentially this can help them focus on things we really want and are (hopefully) expressed well enough to pursue.

Doors and Rooms and Rooms and Doors

In the year 2016 we find Revit is still utterly clueless about the relationship between doors and rooms. We have this quirky documentation habit of using a room's number to derive a door number, not to mention it's room name to define its location in a building. I know they've noticed because each door has a From Room and To Room parameter.

Recently Elon Musk and his SpaceX team sent a rocket to space and returned the first stage to an upright position back on earth. A feat engineers have long dreamed of accomplishing.

Yet after 15 years Revit continues to rely on third party applications to bridge this feature crevasse.

Don't get me started on the Space Naming Utility being a separate application...grumble grumble...

Occupancy Calculations and JavaScript

The other day I read a post at Revit Add-ons about integrating Java Scripts into Revit. I was intrigued by an example it described which provides a connection between a java script calculation (formula) and assigns it to a parameter. A very common request among Revit users is to be able to associate with a formula with a Shared Parameter, and in this case occupancy calculations. Timing is a funny thing because an email came in the same day asking for advice doing these calculations.

The application is called LazJS and is currently offering a beta version 1.0. Fwiw, I created an Occupancy Calculation sample project years ago which you can download HERE. I thought I'd open that project and try LazJS out on it. Since we can't put a calculated value in a tag the example uses a schedule so we can transfer values manually. With the advent of the API there are more options but for anyone who is leery of programming it's still a bit intimidating.

I found it was really easy to get this installed and configure LazJS to fill in the values for me automatically and keep them updated if I make any changes. This is the dialog that appears for their ParamJS tool. I started by choosing the Rooms category. Then I chose the parameter that is in my room tag. Then I dragged the parameter whose value I wanted to be in the tag up to the code editor window. Once the code was present I clicked Run, seeing values in the results window I clicked Save.

Now whenever I add a room and assign a occupancy type its tag fills in the appropriate Occupancy Factor for me (the script does). Same for any editing I do of existing rooms.

Worth a closer look if only for this piece of their whole application.

Easy Keynoter

Phillip Miller, the brains behind the Family Browser and Kiwi Custom Solutions has a new offering called "Easy Keynoter". Here's what his new site page for the product has to say:

Easy Keynoter for Autodesk Revit 2015 is not just another glorified keynote text file editor. Easy Keynoter can do that plus so much more. The main features of Easy Keynoter are:

• Fully integrated into the Revit UI
• All Keynote data stored within a Database. No reliance on Revit reading txt files or the need to have intermediary xml files. This means that there are no issues of multiple users editing the keynotes at the same time as with other systems.
• Add Edit and remove keynote changes are reflected immediately in the Revit project. No need to manual Load/Reload operation from within the Revit UI
• Drag and Drop Keynotes from the Palette directly onto Revit Elements to keynote those elements.
• Super fast search function. Easy keynoter will display all search compliant keynotes in seconds. We have tested this on a keynote file with over 20,000 keynotes and the results displayed within 1 second.
• Easily Import/Export your existing old Keynote.txt files into and out of the Database.
• User management. Create user groups and assign who is allowed to add/edit/remove keynotes from the database.
• One Revit power user that has seen this product commented. “Mate, looks absolutly awesome, bring it on.”

Looking forward to checking it out!

CCTV Enhancement in Fuzor

I wrote about the Kalloc Studios product called Fuzor after seeing it at Autodesk University. I sat down with them at RTC in Melbourne and was really impressed with how much they've done since then (as in, "Oh! Did we tell you we've incorporated Clash Detection too?"). We chatted about a variety of things, one of which was security cameras.

I've worked with a few clients for whom security camera documentation is a big deal. I received an email this afternoon letting me know that they've got a cool addition they are eager to show me (and everyone) at RTC in Schaumburg next week, security camera features. Keep in mind that we sat down together less than two weeks ago and none of the below existed.

They've created three types of cameras so far: Small, Large and Dome.

You can switch between these types at will to achieve the look you want. They also have the option to choose black and white or color. Here's a sample screen shot. They've also taken notice of some important camera characteristics.

They've made it possible to save your current configurations as well as load previously saved configurations from the main Fuzor user interface. This is a sample dialog for selecting configurations.

That's a lot of ground to cover in two weeks!! If you think your firm could benefit from this sort of viewing and visualization enhancement then Fuzor's just presented another strong practical reason to check them out, ...and this is just a first pass, they'll be looking for feedback to make this a killer feature.

Open File Project Version Warning

I wrote a post in November that complained about Revit not asking if I really wanted to upgrade a project before going forward. In response Harry Mattison wrote some code (and I wrote another post) and made a solution available through his Udemy API class.

Since then I've used it so much that I've been starting to think it's part of Revit. I was using another computer the other day and was confused for moment when Revit didn't ask first, puzzled until I remembered..."oh, yeah...Harry's app isn't this computer". (sad face)

Well Harry has made a new version of the app available HERE and has decided to use a Pay What you Want approach as a test to see how well that works for him and us. You can read Harry's blog post and explanation of features HERE and here's his YouTube video.

Fuzor

While attending Autodesk University last week Elaine with NBBJ mentioned a new product she is familiar with called Fuzor. She said I should check it out on the exhibit floor. Wednesday night I stopped by to have a look.

It's a stand-alone software intended to allow real time rendering and simulation of a Revit model. It also "plugs in" to Revit with its own tools on the ribbon. For example you can use View Sync to update Fuzor as you change your view in Revit. You can initiate changes by selecting elements in Fuzor and using the Edit Selection button on the ribbon in Revit.

Open your project, launch Fuzor, wait for it to load the model and you're off. Elaine opened up a project a team in her office has been working on so it was not a small model, nor just one model. Navigation was simple enough. If you've used the walk feature in Revit or the same concept in Navisworks you know enough to get around.

There is no export from Revit. Just open your project in Revit and then run Fuzor (separate application window). The only time you'll spend waiting is the initial load, about the same as waiting for Revit to load the project initially, perhaps a bit faster. Between the real time visualization and no export it's a pretty compelling option. The closest thing I can think of is the Lux module from M-Six's Veo.

The product is only about six months old at this point and about to become available for evaluation. It's being developed by a team based in San Diego, CA. If you are interested they are asking us to send a request via EMAIL. There is a PDF Manual if you'd like to read it. The price if I recall correctly is about $3,500.00 USD. They will be able to support network licensing as well.

Key Feature Summary

• Geometry Updates in Fuzor as soon as Revit data changes
• Select elements in Fuzor first and then edit in Revit
• Load specific levels (they call them layers) from linked files
• Materials changes in Revit update Fuzor immediately
• Camera Synchronization between Revit and Fuzor
• Correct Time of Day Simulation
• Weather Conditions: sunny, storm clouds, rain and rain with wind direction
• Walk and Fly through controls
• Uses Revit lighting data for interior lighting

I've embedded their intro video, follow THIS LINK for five others.

Finish Floors and Doors

It's a fairly common practice to create separate floors for structure and finishes. The structural "layer" of a floor may actually be modeled by the structural consultant, assuming the structural engineer we are working with uses Revit and isn't working directly in the same model with us (architecture bias in this post).

Architects usually document floor finishes. Quite often I see this done as a Filled Region exercise. The effort required to sketch a filled region is not much different than sketching a floor boundary. The benefit of using a floor instead is that's it modeled and it will be available in many views, as needed. We can tag and schedule them to study and document the design more effectively. External applications like Revolution Design's Revit Workflows offer a specific set of tools to manage creating finish floors very effectively. KiwiCodes offers their own version as part of their Bonus Tools app. These tools make the notion of using finish floors that much easier to consider.

One side effect of modeling finish floors is that they can compromise the door graphics we use, for example the panel and swing we are used to seeing in plan views. This happens because these graphic features are usually created on the work plane of the host level. The other issue is that, even if the floor doesn't obscure the graphics, the door panel, if just lines, probably won't mask the floor finish fill pattern (if one is used).

If we create a masking region (or lines) directly in the door family, to represent the door panel it will mask the floor finish as long as the Draw in Foreground parameter is checked.

Quirkiness ensues if a nested family is used. I happen to prefer to deal with swing graphics as a nested family. My logic is to make it once and use it in many families; a "kit of parts" mindset. Unfortunately the Draw in Foreground setting fails to work when the nested component is brought into the host door family.

To resolve this we need to make it possible to raise the graphics higher. Filled and Masking Regions can be assigned to a Reference Plane; Model and Symbolic lines too. This means we can use a parameter to change the elevation of the graphics, via the parameter and associated reference plane, to compensate for various floor finish conditions. The setting Draw in Foreground will allow this to work as long as we don't check it, which seems counter-intuitive.

In this image I've use the Draw in Foreground setting on native lines and masking regions, not checked on the left and checked on the right. I've also nested a swing family. The red elements are visible and the highlighted (purplish) are not visible except that they show up because I've got my cursor hovering over the family.

To get the nested swing family to show up above the floor is was necessary to not check the Draw in Foreground parameter for the masking region and lines. It was also necessary to place them on a separate work plane in the family that I could control with a parameter to raise it above the floor elevation in the project.

In the image above the only graphics that don't show up now are the bottom left line and masking region. They won't show up because the Draw in Foreground parameter is not checked. It's easy to sort out once you know.

Speaking of 3rd party applications, I used the Revolution Design tool to create floors for my testing. The app coughed when I tried to put in some floors. After looking at the error message I noticed that the doors I was working with don't map a value to the stock Width parameter, they use their own parameter to control the width. This annoyed the floor tool because it's looking for that parameter, the stock "Width". It's hard enough for programmer's to create applications that suit our varied needs. It's even harder when we create content in a different way than what they might reasonably expect in order to complete their tasks.

At first I was a bit confused but then I remembered that their floor tool will create a sketch that turns into door openings to define where the edge of the floor will stop for thresholds. The application looks at any doors it finds along the boundary of the room and creates a sketch based on the door Width parameter it expects to find. In this case the value was zero width and that made the application mad, Revit too. It was easy to fix. I just used a formula in the Width parameter that mapped it to the parameter these doors were using instead. Just another subtle thing to consider when we make content.

CASE Apps Go Pro

CASE is desperate to gain new subscribers, so desperate that they are resorting to easter eggs. Very funny image will greet you if you follow the advice at the end of their post. I was tempted to give it away but decided not to at the last moment, tease...

Case App Delete Sheets Views and Links

This application will strip a model down so that just the 3Dness of the model is left. I feel it is a bit too aggressive in that it even removes all floor plans. There are lots of unnecessary views to be sure but having at least one floor plan for each level can be helpful. Also there are many who end up using "By Linked Views" to make sure what they are seeing is the same as whomever provided the model.

I am not convinced that removing views is really worth doing routinely. I'm inclined to think that only the super large projects might warrant resorting to doing so in order to reduce linked file size and loading times.

Odd quirk with the User Interface is the pair of OK buttons.

I hear Pee Wee Herman saying, "Okay okay..."

EdgeWise MEP for Revit

If you use Revit MEP and laser scan data then hopefully you've heard of ClearEdge3D and the new EdgeWise for Revit MEP? They recently announced that they're offering a software solution to bring 3D as-built models of pipes and other cylindrical MEP elements directly into Revit. It automatically extracts pipes, elbows and other features from point clouds and exports them to Revit as fully functional pipe objects. You begin by using their software to analyze point cloud data (the result of conducting laser/lidar scanning on-site). Once processed you can export this interpreted data to several software products including Revit MEP now.

If you are interested in a demo then check out when Beck Group’s Kelly Cone and Autodesk’s Kyle Bernhardt present it, via webinar, on Wednesday, September 26 at 1pm EDT. Beck Group was one of the early testers of the software and Kelly is quite fond of it. There will be a live demo of it too so you can see for yourself how much time it can save. Click here to sign up.

I received an email from them recently and I wrote back to ask a couple questions:

"Is the success of the export and functioning in Revit natively dependent on additional Revit families or based on the what is available in the stock content (US imperial for example)? I ask because I imagine there are elements that can be captured via a laser that your software can understand that might not have an equivalent Revit family element to use. What happens then?"

Christopher Scotton (President & CEO) responded with this:

"Thanks for Reaching out. The success of the import is not dependent on additional Revit families because Revit assigns the imported pipe objects to its stock pipe families, in this case Schedule 40 PVC along with the correct type diameter, elbow bend, etc. The centerlines come in as pipe placeholder. However, the accuracy and utility of the model is greatly enhanced by the use of custom families. In essence, EdgeWise imports cylindrical elements that are spatially accurate to the as-built conditions. Once in Revit, the elements need to be changed from the stock pipe family (if not Sch 40 PVC) to the correct pipe family.

Right now, EdgeWise MEP for Revit only extracts cylindrical features—pipes, round ducting, elbows and conduit—so we’ve not run across many elements that we extract that are not represented by a stock family type. But in those cases, Revit will place a PVC pipe and a placeholder that corresponds to the size, dimension and location of the unrecognized element."

If you are using point cloud data and Revit MEP (even if you use other software) you should check it out!

Railing as Egress Paths

I've written about this before, egress stuff seems to be popular at times. A railing is a path and profile based element is easy to sketch something like the path to an exit. Straight and arc segments as well as even sloping conditions. Some of the other methods that I've written about here have the advantage that they can document the total length easily. A railing schedule will report the total length but we can't tag them with their total length.

Case-Apps to the rescue!

They've written a little application that is part of their larger suite of free, subscription and beta software for Revit. It's called "Send Railing Length to Selected Parameter".

Create a shared parameter called "Egress Path", add it to your project and assign it to the railing category. Sketch your railings disguised as egress paths. Now tag them. Oh right you can't show that value. Edit the tag family to create your own and use the same shared parameter. Reload the family and still nothing. Now use the Case app. It will let you select the parameter to use and plug the total length into each railing and that value will appear in your tags!

It's not automatic or fool proof. But it does make it a lot easier to consider a railing. If you like special graphics at the beginning and end of your egress paths then a railing is a bit fussier because you need some special "balusters" to get unique "symbols" at each end. Not impossible just a bit more work. Not necessarily more or less work than the other techniques, pick your poison!

While you are at it you should consider the rest of the pile of apps they have. You'll get their apps manager application which really makes it pretty easy to get and install them. I had both 2012 and 2013 installed in a few minutes after registering.

Thanks Case-inc guys! (wearing my T-Shirt as I write this, they gave me a shirt at RTC in Stone Mtn. in the interest of full disclosure)

YUZU Site Measuring

I received an email yesterday letting me know about YUZU. Their website is found via Picard Innovations, a Dutch firm based in Amsterdam. For readers that are already familiar with the Point Known PKNail site measuring system it appears to be similar, at least in concept. Perhaps it's just that they both involve using a Leica Disto or equivalent device.

They have a brief sales video, I've embedded here. They offer a free trial but I believe you'd need to already have the Leica Disto in hand to take advantage of it. The software boils down to these concepts: Defining Levels and Lease holders and then using 5 different tools to deal with measurements: Distance, Ortho, Offset, Rectangle and Triangle. They claim that with these features you will be able to create any drawing, shape and size of buildings.

I think attempting to evaluate this type of technology would benefit from a few videos that show it in use, the practical application of it on-site. Too bad we didn't get this for Glorius Gadgets at RTC in Stone Mountain! Maybe at RTCEUR 2013 in Delft, Holland...it's pretty close by for them!

Chameleon for Grasshopper and Revit

Hiroshi Jacobs has some news about a plug-in for Revit (and Grasshopper) that he's been working on. A hint of this leaked out a bit early last year if I recall but he's now ready for more eyes on it. He's calling it Chameleon and it is a plug-in that makes it easier to transfer geometric data between Grasshopper and Revit, plus other tools. It is currently compatible with Revit 2012 and 2013 and Grasshopper 0.8.0066.

It offers a Curtain Grid Manager that controls both panels and grids now, offers a preview of the system as well as helping to distinguish between vertical and horizontal orientations. There is a Chameleon Forum on his Revit City site as well as Chameleon Group at Grasshopper3D.com.

Here's a video from his site:

Kiwi Codes - Project Browser for 2013

Okay gang, check out Phillip's latest add-on for Revit! An alternative Project Browser, can you say drag and drop folder like organization? Sure you can...

and much much more! Nice work Phillip!

Clarity for Revit Server

Joe wrote a post on the IMAGINiT blog last night regarding a new product that I first heard rumors about at Autodesk University 2011. It says in the post that there will be a demo at BIM Spectrum today (It's a virtual event so you can attend - 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM EST).

Here's the text of the post...


Clarity for Autodesk Revit Server
Well, it's out now... what started as an idea and grew into something that captured all sorts of attention at Autodesk University has now become a real offering from IMAGINiT!

As is mentioned on our Clarity news release:

IMAGINiT Technologies has released IMAGINiT Clarity for Autodesk® Revit® Server. This web-based solution from the same IMAGINiT software development team who created Scan to BIM was built specifically to enhance the Autodesk Revit Server platform. IMAGINiT Clarity allows team members and external partners to share one centrally located BIM model securely from multiple locations.

It's first public presentation will be at BIM Spectrum tomorrow, and more information from our news release can be found for your viewing pleasure here

The full product page with even more information can be found here


This is the video embedded on their site. I heard nice things about it at AU...looking forward to learning more about it.

Pushing Parameters Around

Alternate title, "Getting What I Want"

I wanted to show a parameter for Mounting Height. I needed it assigned to a variety of elements. This isn't hard for families that are not hosted. Face-based families on the other hand seem to know what their "Elevation" value is but they are uninterested in sharing that data with a schedule. It's just not listed in the Available Fields list. Mean Revit!

This is a story of a white knight coming to the rescue, or rather Whitefeet coming to the rescue.

Obviously not the cat, I must mean the tools that Mario Guttman has made available to us via his alter ego "Whitefeet Tools". To get what I wanted I created a shared parameter called Mounting Height and added it to my project. For this post and this example I've assigned it to the cateory Data Devices. Once that's in place the steps are pretty easy (apart from getting the tool installed).

You either select all the devices first or just tell the tool to apply it to everything in the model. You start by running the Parameter Tools.

Next you click the Math Calculation button.

Now you've got to fill in some blanks and click a button.

When your information matches the image (change the category appropriately, I show Security Devices for example, Obviously this picture and the next one don't sync up, taken at different times).

Once the routine runs you can close the open dialog boxes and check the results. Cool eh?

Want to watch a video?