Classic UI - Revit 2009 Interface in 2010

It is possible, though with some quirky limitations, to enable Revit 2010 to use the 2009 interface. It was first displayed in a post by Phil Read on his blog. Then a post at AUGI revealed the steps required to do it. Then it was pulled by the person who posted it. Most recently it has been shared by an Autodesk staffer in THIS POST. This is the text that both describes and offers a disclaimer for using it.

Assuming an overwhelming response to this message doesn't hide it somewhere deep in the growing thread, you can now easily refer to a real live genuine Autodesk post for instructions to enable the Revit 2009 UI in Revit 2010.

1) Exit Revit.
2) Create a text file named "debug.ini" in \\Program\
3) In the new "debug.ini" file type:

[DebugModes]
Use2009UI=1

4) Save the file.
5) Restart Revit.

The Revit 2009 UI has really, really, not been tested with Revit 2010, so if you call support and say you're having trouble with old UI, they're not going to be able to help. However, if you're having other issues, you won't be turned away if you have been using the old UI. If support can't reproduce your issue with the new UI, they'll be unable to help, because it remains unsupported with Revit 2010.

As you experiment, we're going to look into scouting out some of the pitfalls you might encounter in using the Revit 2009 UI in Revit 2010 and letting you know what we find.

We remain committed to the new Revit UI and its further development, building on the strengths that many users have found, while addressing the needs of a very large and diverse user community. Rest assured that the entire Revit team has been listening to all the customer feedback, negative and positive, concerning the new user interface and are working on addressing many expressed concerns and suggestions.

It was posted and signed by Anthony Hauck, BIM Design Product Line Manager, Autodesk.

[Edit: The Autodesk Knowledge Base web site article has been updated to reflect this new information as well as providing a DEBUG ini FILE to download. You can read the article too.]

On another note...Phil Read has created a Tee-Shirt in honor of his passion for the classic UI.


You can support it by purchasing it. Watch his blog for further announcements of The 1st Annual Meeting of "The Order of the Drunken Leprechaun" (aka "DLM" or "Drunken Leprechaun Mode").

For an ongoing discussion of quirky limitations stay tuned to this thread at AUGI.

Andekan Starter Packs

Andekan recently posted some Starter Packs. There are US and UK plumbing packs, an IKEA product pack and a Victaulic pipe fitting pack for metric and one for imperial.

Now before you pass out when you see the price for a pack do some math. For example the US Plumbing pack sells for $3999.00 and there are 67 families that represent 702 models/types. This works out to about $59 per family.

Consider what you normally charge per hour (billable work) for your most knowledgeable Revit user. If your user can build one of these in just one hour how does that stack up? If it compares well, then let them try...if they give up...give Andekan a call. If the pack doesn't thrill you then you can look at an ala carte approach instead.

I first read about this at Alan's blog. Thanks for the post!

Dept. of Wishes - Continue a Command in a Separate View

People familiar with AutoCAD are probably used to being able to split a view into more than one viewport. This permits you to zoom in on different parts of the model space and start a command at one end of a building and finish the command at the other end by making the appropriate part of the view active. Revit can provide another window and you can tile it but you can't start, for example, the wall tool and place the first point in one view and then place the second point in the other view. This would be quite handy!!

You can use the Trim tool however, pick one wall in one view and pick another wall in another view. Same for the Align tool.

Similar weakness for the dimension tool and lines, can't start the dimension tool in one view and pick another to finish it up. Same for lines.

Speaking of Walls or lines you CAN, in one view, start a wall at one end, Zoom to Fit, Zoom in Region and place the second point. Not nearly as fast or efficient as a second focused viewport perhaps but it'll get you there.

Dept. of Subtle - Design Ribbon

I don't know about you but I'm having a tough time purging the language I've been using for many years now. Two in particular...Design Bar and Save to Central. In class I keep catching myself saying "Design Bar". When I'm doing better I catch it before I say it but there is still, occasionally, a pause where I intentionally avoid saying it which results in a slower more deliberate ...Riiibbbbbaaaahn. The switch from Save to Central to Synchronize with Central isn't a huge departure but it seems just a little harder to say and I find myself struggling, at times, to say it instead.

I may just starting calling the Ribbon the "Design Ribbon" instead of the Design Bar...since that's what it really is? A compromise? If I can say "Design" it may help or at least I'll feel better 8-). Overanout!

Getting What We Ask For - API

I recall in 2002 that I was against the idea of any sort of API (Application Programming Interface) being part of Revit. Why? I was tired of managing a pile of LISP, ARX applications for AutoCAD/ADT etc. I was tired of making and maintaining them too. The "promise" was if the application needed it, it would get put in the application...Revit that is. I was worried about Revit in the future becoming the "present" (the present back then) AutoCAD situation.

As I understand it, initially the rationale for excluding an API was for control and speed-to-market. No API meant that the code was isolated and safe from outside interlopers and no distractions from providing features. This meant that they could focus and do what was needed to be done without worrying about what someone outside might try to do with the code. I'm making some sweeping generalizations here and may be sweeping some facts into corners.

When Autodesk acquired Revit developing the API became a priority and it has been ongoing since. Each release has seen large strides forward in what can be done externally. Ultimately the scope of the API is much larger than the founders had in mind.

Getting back to my bias against doing this and my selfishness. I liked the simplicity of "one" application doing so much. I hated the idea that I'd have to buy this or that from one vendor and hunt for another tool from yet another vendor. I hated the idea that I'd have to beg someone to make me a "free" utility or worse learn how to do it myself.

Yet the development of Revit can't seem to keep up with our needs and dreams. My personal dissatisfaction (yes I am not satisfied) with 2010 has little to do with the new interface than the lack of substantial tools and finishing existing features. No insult intended to the new massing tools because they represent a significant shift.

There are so many other things that are needed NOW, not in another 12 months. They were needed 12 months, 24 months ago. To name just two...Railings and Stairs. They have not been "touched" since release 7.0. Release 7.0 came out in December 2004 and there have been roughly ten releases since then including "point" releases. That's almost FIVE years ago now without so much as a "look" or "tweak" at stairs/railings. That so much effort was applied to the user interface at their expense is extremely frustrating.

Enter the API. For many things we can contact a developer and pay them to make something we need now. We'll get it faster than Autodesk will "give" it to us too. It will (hopefully) work exactly the way we want it to. Except that the "future" I was afraid of is here. My user interface now includes tools from many different vendors. In 2009 it is a real mess of menus and toolbars. In 2010, they are at least clustered under "add-ins" on the Ribbon, so far.

Here we are in that "future" I was dreading where I can get 3rd party applications from more than a dozen places and spend anywhere from $35 to $thousands. Some applications are charging as much as 25% of of the purchase price of Revit for their tools. Considering how much Revit does for its price and how little by comparison some tools do that seems a bit aggressive and it can make it harder for a firm to seriously consider them. Price is a difficult thing to figure out. Price it light and sell a lot. Now you've got a lot of customers and the difficulties that brings. Price it high and you sell less but you have a smaller pool of customers to please.

The future is here. There are quite a lot of cool tools available now and the API has made MORE possible. I just wish that more of it could be part of Revit itself.

3rd Party Applications - Eagle Point and Tools4Revit

There are a growing number of companies creating specific products intended to expand or enhance working with Revit.

Building Framing and other Utilities:
Recently Tools4Revit made their work available to me and I've been slowly working through their pretty comprehensive set of tools. I plan to post about some of their tools as soon as I feel competent to do so.

Site and Land Development:
I hope to get a chance to see the latest development from Eagle Point Software called LANDCADD for Revit. LANDCADD is hardly new but support for Revit is brand new, new enough that there isn't much information on their site yet. The release is tentatively scheduled for October 2009. You can read their press release HERE.

Blogger Tip - Wider Editor

Beau Turner posted a very nice tip that he picked up elsewhere. If you blog and use Blogger you may have been frustrated at how narrow the editor section is in the UI. I suppose they keep it that narrow so that we get a sense of when our text will wrap but it can be quite tedious. Bottom line...using Firefox, Greasemonkey (scripting add-on) and a free script you too can edit in a wider whiter space. To add the script to Greasemonkey just try to browse to the script link in a Tab within Firefox (after installing Greasemonkey naturally) and Greasemonkey will "catch" it to give you a chance to add the script. Once that's done you can edit in Blogger in a nice wide format.

Thanks to Beau for posting about it and to the Fat Knowledge blog for posting it too. The script was built on the work of Jasper de Vries.

Revit Content - Turbo Squid

I met Michele Bousquet at Autodesk University 2008 and she was full of energy when it comes to making Revit Content available. She wrote to tell me that its been six months since they kicked their Revit Market off and they have over 2500 families now (they call them "assets").

What I found interesting is that the items in most demand are "entourage"...people etc. The biggest sellers have been furniture, plants and decorative accessories. That makes some sense to me. Do we really want to model that stuff to add to a scene so we can get a better sense of realism?

She also mentioned that the greatest concern expressed by customers/users thus far has been "reliability". It is one thing to download a family for free and see it "break" when you flex it. It is another thing entirely if you are paying for it. She said that their Revit Market has done very well because of their Revit Certified Content process.

I really appreciated the "60's era free-Revit-family" vibe we've had for many years but also recognize that many firms and users are really reluctant to share many hours work so freely anymore. So Turbo Squid is providing a solution, you don't have to "give away" your content anymore and you can download something you can count on with a bit more certainty.

[Edit: Fixed the link > Revit Market]

Modeling Serendipity

In the debate about should we or shouldn't we use Revit (or 3D etc.) people overlook the intangible stuff that is hard to quantify until you encounter it, the title of the post. I'm writing about that "thing" that happens when you create a 3D model of something you "understand". I'm not trying to be insulting because I know that I've created models of things that I thought I understood and then found I didn't fully appreciate the impact it had on other related items later on.

Once upon a time I worked for a theatrical contractor that specializes in stage curtains, rigging and lighting systems. One of the things I did back then was shop drawing for our projects. We were careful to show how our equipment interacted with the building. Yes...these were drawing done by hand on vellum/mylar and with technical pens/pencils. We eventually used AutoCAD too.

All too often a site visit would find sprinklers and their pipes suspended from "our" rigging steel, ducts in the path of travel of curtains and lighting, drains and other sundry items in the way of our other equipment. Not that we didn't try to coordinate this stuff. Things like this need some room!


Usually when I'd talk to a contractor the story was, "Never saw those shop drawings, wish we had! Well, our stuffs in, work around it!!".

This is where I'd get to be "theatrical" and be a "Prima don". In a job trailer full of angry contractors who have just been told that much of their work would need to be redone I calmly explained that the reason the building is getting built is so that the equipment we are supposed to install actually works. If "our" stuff doesn't work then we can save the client a lot of money and stop building the building, won't need it after all.


As you can see in the image above there isn't a lot of real estate available to just put stuff any old place you want in a stage area. Once supplied with the "bigger" picture, sighs all around and a few "who's going to pay for this?" and they worked it out so we could do it right the second time. This happened more than a couple times over eleven years unfortunately.

Fast forward to Revit and modeling buildings...if our submittal was 3D and their submittal was 3D and everyone's was...we could evaluate this coordination much more efficiently than sitting in a job trailer and arguing about who was right. The sad truth is that too often the 2D drawings in the field don't get in the right hands at the right time. There are great projects and teams and then there are others...it takes all kinds.

Serendipity is when you realize that you didn't fully understand something. It comes when a collection of models means a dozen players solve a problem in an hour instead of spending several hours just trying figure out if there IS a problem. Consider that this usually meant flipping sheets and asking questions like, "What's the bottom elevation of the beam again?" "What's the duct size again?" "It says Top of Steel is 28'-0" but the finish floor is "27'-8", what gives?"

There are so many good reasons to do it...even some you haven't considered...yet. Climb down from the "fence"...

Credit is due for the images above:

The first image above is a custom winch assembly to lift a 22,000 lb. media screen at the Newseum in Washington, DC. The winch couldn't be mounted above so it "self-climbs" and had to be built to lift 34,000 lbs instead, its own weight plus the screen. An aside, I dealt with the sale of a similar winch and did the shop drawings for a project in Seoul when I worked for JR Clancy. The winch had to lift a prop, a small car, very very very fast so that it could arrive in the scene during a change and then disappear during a subsequent change. Oh and that's Rod Kaiser, an all around good guy. There is little he hasn't seen or done in his many years with JR Clancy.

The second image above is a capture from a magazine article featuring the Alden Theater in Maclean, Virginia. The magazine is Stage Directions. The article was written by Kathleen Burke and is called Revving Up. The theater contractor/consulting firm, Pook Diemont & Ohl was hired by the awarded contractor/consulting firm Barbizon Capitol. They used the equipment manufactured by my past employer JR Clancy.

Spot Dimension and Underlay

Hiroshi Jacobs brought this item to my attention the other day. He also shared with me that he's been accepted to the Masters of Architecture program at Harvard!! Attaboy Hiroshi!! He currently works at RTKL in DC. Here's the issue.

There is currently a “bug/issue” (2009/2010) when you combine the use of these two features. First of all when you use the underlay feature you get to choose which Level of the project you’d like to add to your view as an “underlay”. The spot dimension tool lets us identify a point elevation or point coordinates on an element in the model.


In the image above you can see that combined they can have an undesireable result. The conditions for this are using an Underlay of a Level ABOVE the level of your current view and having a floor above in the same area as the intended location of a Spot Elevation.

When you place the spot dimension in an area where this underlay doesn’t compete for attention you get normal results. However when you put the spot dimension in an area where the underlay and its floor are present Revit will identify the spot elevation of the underlay, not the floor that it "should be" paying attention too.

Does tabbing permit you to choose the correct element? No it doesn't. If you use the Underlay Orientation: Reflected Ceiling Plan the Spot Elevation tool works as "expected", it does not "see" the floor above, if that makes any sense at all since the floor should be more visibleish? I'm confused...

Since I brought it up what happens when you switch between Underlay Orientation: Plan and Reflected Ceiling Plan? Let's see, watch the Spot Elevation that displays both top and bottom values for the underlay floor above. First with Underlay Orientation set to Plan.


Notice the values...now compare with Underlay Orientation: Reflected Ceiling Plan.


Does it matter if it is a floor or roof? Does the same thing for either. Interesting that the elevation values change depending on the Underlay orientation, increasing with the Reflected Ceiling Plan selection. Keep in mind that the floor is at Level 2 which is just 10'-0" above Level 1. I could understand the top vs. bottom display values switching places in the tag with the orientation change but not the elevation values becoming something they aren't.

Boiled down the underlay is “more important” than the current level’s elements when using the Spot Dimension tool. Keep this in mind when using the Spot Dimension tools and using an Underlay.

One more for the road: Spot Dimensions don't like Model Graphics Style: Wireframe. The tools won't "see" the surface unless you change to one of the other choices like Hidden Line. You can switch back to wireframe afterward and the values will stick. This is from an earlier "stump the chump" question and the answer.

Split Button Memory

The web update recently indicated that several of the Split Buttons now remember the last tool that you used. Which tools am I referring too?

These:

Room/Area Tag
Column
Keynote Tag
Component/Repeat Detail/Legend Component.

For example the Room/Area tag looks like this when you use it.

Initially the Component Split Button didn't seem to remember to change the icon too but it has been fine since closing and starting over with a new session.
Thanks for the "memories"!

Autodesk Labs - Solar Radiation for Revit

This showed up on the Autodesk Labs site this morning and Scott Shepard blogged about it on their blog page. It is formally called "Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Revit Architecture and Revit MEP". A couple snippets from their site:

Use the Solar Radiation Technology Preview to analyze the effects of solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model...

The technology preview uses the geometry of conceptual massing elements from Revit and calculates the amount of solar radiation hitting the surfaces of the massing shapes, based on location and weather data... ...It is possible to display the distribution and availability of solar radiation over an entire building or even a city block...

The output of the technology preview can be saved as images in the Revit project that contains the massing elements... ...You can also export the images from Revit for use in presentations or for editing in external software applications...

If you want to watch or download a video (from the blog post):

To help get you started, there's a video that accompanies this release:

YouTube
non-YouTube

Autodesk AEC Marketing - Revit 2011 Customer Examples

I was contacted by Kyle Herring, he is a Solutions Marketing Manager with Autodesk. They have recently initiated a search for customer data sets that can be used to create marketing materials to support the 2011 release of Revit platform. He wanted to assure me, and you, that "we’re not selling anything here, we simply see this as a great opportunity for Revit users to display the work that they do to a large audience in the AEC community."

If you and your firm are interested in being part of this effort you can contact Kyle directly via EMAIL.

Detail Level Icons - Improved

I mentioned the 2010 Detail Level icons in an earlier post as being harder for me to tell them apart than in earlier releases. The new web update has changed them again. This time it is a combination of what it was in 2009 and what it was in the initial release of 2010. The Detail Level coarse icon is an empty white square again and the others, Medium and Fine are the "same" checker board patterns with fewer and more squares.


Looks like they shuffled the icons a bit. A new white square icon bumped Coarse to Medium. The first 2010 Coarse icon knocked Medium out of the game. Fine's icon managed to hang on to its spot. It is certainly easier to tell at-a-glance whether a view is using Coarse detail level again! It's a little thing but I appreciate little stuff too!

Dept. of Subtle - Pan/Zoom Insensitivity

This is really very subtle but with 2010 if you should happen to start with the really "dumb" template called "none" the pan/zoom functions don't work unless you have something in the view. This might makes sense except I wanted to turn on the new Project Base Point and Survey Point graphics and then Zoom to Fit. Revit won't Zoom to Fit or pan for that matter if they are visible when nothing else exists in the view.

If you add some text, a wall segment, an elevation view, a line...something pan/zoom come back to life. Apparently the graphic icons for these aren't "real enough" elements that pan/zoom recognize. Fortunately most people won't encounter this because they'll be working with a template that has "stuff" in it!

This "condition" is also true for earlier releases but 2010 now has something that you might actually want to use Zoom to Fit to see even if other elements don't exist yet.

As you were...

Web Update for Revit 2010 - 20090612_2115 WU1

The new build is now available for download. This is a list of the items addressed in the web update pdf.

Dragging a ribbon panel near a view no longer causes the view to pan.
Improvements to color fill output when exporting to DWFx.
All reference callouts, sections, and elevations will mirror when project is mirrored.
When the sheet view is active, ribbon commands display the correct UI state.
“Is Reference” Instance Property is available for reference points.
Commands in Print Preview mode can now be accessed by keytips.

Improves stability when printing.
Decal image path is now saved.
Disables the “Add to Quick Access Toolbar” option when tool already exists on Quick Access Toolbar.
View Control Bar no longer shows old and new state of commands until the view is redrawn.

Improved detail level icons in the View Control Bar.
Improvements to form creation and editing of conceptual masses
Improvements to divided surfaces on conceptual masses.
Improved graphic performance when using View Cube® navigation tool.
Images will now display in print preview and print correctly.
Improved stability when printing to PDF.

Type Selector preview images update for types created by Duplicate Type command.
Type Selector will remain added to Quick Access Toolbar when opening a new Autodesk Revit Architecture session.
When multiple contextual tabs are available, the proper contextual tab will be displayed when clicking on the Options Bar.
Improved stability when multiple sessions of Autodesk Revit Architecture are running.
Duplicate icons from ribbon and application frame no longer appear in the Options Bar.

Improved stability when plotting or exporting.
Alt+Numeric keypad entries will create the expected special text character
Improved ribbon display issues.
TIFF images will display correctly in plan after project is reopened.
Relinquish all when closing a local file now works if there is a new view, family or workset in the project.
Selecting Boundary when creating a ramp or stair no longer reverts back to Run option.
Flip controls are now available in the Detail Component family editor.

ADSK file from Autodesk® Inventor® software no longer loses custom UCS information in Autodesk Revit Architecture.
Application frame size is saved between sessions.
Reveal Hidden Elements and select keyboard shortcut enabled in family environment
Select previous keyboard shortcut is now available.
Raster export to DWF™ format will follow quality settings.

On Quick Access Toolbar, moved Sync to Central command next to Save command.
Improved visibility of Tab highlights when in thin line mode.
Modified section and elevation command icons.
Room/Area Tag, Column, Keynote Tag, and Component/Repeat Detail/Legend Component drop-down buttons on the ribbon will now reflect the last-used command.
Improved precision of parameters in families using type catalogs.
Improved display of shadows.
Improvements to IFC export.

Improved display of color fills in elevation views
In Export to AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software dialog, location tab now lists the correct setting for angle of rotation measured from.
When exporting to TIFF or PNG, the sky alpha channel will now properly drop out.
Improved wall-by-face creation on imported masses.
Wall wraps will display correctly in detail views.

When exporting wall joins into DWG with shared coordinates, all collinear lines are now merged.
Improved stability when using parallel wall join cleaning switch described in the
Revit Performance Technical Note.

Autodesk Revit API Enhancments
Suppressed Revit inaccuracies warnings during transaction when generating geometries using massing API
Associated LinearArray's NumMembers property with Family parameter.
Dissociated FamilyParameter from Label property of BaseArray and Dimension
Provided a tool to update reference path of RevitAPI.dll for samples.
Provided an update to DistanceToPanels sample.
Improved stability when creating NewReferencePoint with PointOnEdge that references a ModelCurve.
Floating point values are no longer reset when crossing from managed code to unmanaged code.
In the Print API, ViewSheetSetting.Save() no longer raises an InvalidOperationException when the user removes all views.
A meaningful exception will be raised when incorrect sketchPlane is used in NewSweep(,,SketchPlane,,,).
FamilyManager.Set() can now assign ElementId value to parameter
Improved stability when using DocumentOpened event and linked files.
Improved stability of VSTA.

[Added emphasis for a few items]

Virtual Memory

Quick items to share/remind...

Set Minimum and Maximum to the same value between 2-3 times the available RAM on your PC. Making them the same means that Windows does not adjust the amount that is available on the fly.

Dedicated "drive" for Virtual Memory - If possible use a second drive and dedicate it to Virtual Memory, easier for a workstation.

Vista Users - USB memory stick can provide extra RAM via Vista Ready Boost feature. Thanks to Ed Tallmadge for making me aware of this feature though I have yet to take the time to install Vista myself since somewhere along the way I found that I really don't enjoy rebuilding my computers anymore?!?

One general comment on RAM - resist the urge to install a 64 bit OS and "under-power" it by only providing 4gb of RAM. You will likely get poorer performance. You need at least 6gb of RAM, ideally more like 8. I'm not "geeky" enough to explain why in technical terms adequately but the folks I trust on these matters assure me that we shouldn't do it.

Last, keep in mind...your hardware and software combinations are different from mine and others so your mileage will vary! 8-)

AUGI 2009 Special Election is underway - please vote!

I am echoing the BLAUGI post and various other blog posts on this subject with the hope that we will have a much improved voter turnout compared with the last election in December 2008.

The AUGI Board of Directors Ballot is OPEN - 2009 Special Election

The AUGI 2009 Special Election is underway...

We have four candidates on the slate. Only two seats are open for the Board.

Each candidate should be considered individually. A candidate is elected based on total Yes votes counted. You may vote on all four candidates, but you may only vote Yes on a total of two candidates. The two candidates receiving the largest number of Yes votes will be elected.

The process of narrowing down the number of qualified nominees to the four candidates included on this year's ballot was a difficult one. The candidates that are elected will serve the remainder of a two year period that continues through December, 2010.

We commend all the nominees and candidates for their willingness to serve and be part of this process. Their credentials and dedicated service are one of the reasons that AUGI is such a strong organization. It is through members such as these that we continue to expand the offerings, programs, events, and training to AUGI members.

NOTE: You must have been a member of AUGI for at least 30 days prior to the close of nominations (May 24, 2009) to be able to vote in this year's Board of Directors election.

Your Vote Counts!

Please VOTE NOW

The Order of Parameters - Revisited

This seems to come up now and again so I've decided to post what I wrote at AUGI this evening here too...echo echo. Regarding the eternal question, "Can I change the order of the parameters in the Family Editor?"

I wrote THIS POST in November 2007. Scott Hopkins shared a tip at AUGI and the post includes a link for that thread at AUGI.

Parameters are "stacked" as you create them, the "oldest" goes on the bottom, in the group you assign it to. It doesn't matter whether you use alpha or numeric etc...oldest goes on the bottom. If you create several "placeholders" like XXXX, XXX, XX, XX you can create them and then rename them so they appear in the desired order. This assumes that you know what you need and how many as you start out, easier said than done.

Scott's technique will help after the fact. None of these will help when you use shared parameters however...for those you have to "live" with where they land. Naming parameters with common names first followed by differentiators will help keep related parameters together.

Wish it were as easy as "move up/ move down"...or drag to reorder...it should be

Compound Walls - How Much?

While attending a Revit user group meeting a month or two ago someone mentioned that they prefer to use generic walls to keep their model size (file size) down. It seems reasonable that a compound wall might carry a bit heavier burden on a model but how much more of a burden? The poor scientist that I am I tried the following.
I saved an "empty" template file with no walls placed which resulted in a file of 2076 kb (used Default.rte, the stock Revit template). I then created 19 walls, 4 exterior and 15 interior walls using Generic 12" and 6" respectively. When I saved this file it was 2216 kb. Then I created another but used compound walls (Exterior - Brick and CMU on Mtl. Stud and Interior 5-1/2" Partition(1 hr)) instead with a resulting file size of 2452 kb for an increase or difference of 236 kb. I used the exterior wall type because it is more than just a wall with extra layers, it has embedded sweeps and reveals which should account for some of the difference as well.

A small number of walls. I thought I'd use more this time. I created another pile of walls for a total of 152. This is the result.

The generic walls file came in at 3184 kb and the compound version came in at 4092 for a difference of 908 kb. Here's a spreadsheet breakdown for you "column and row" types.

It seems to me that this means that modelling walls in bulk results in less cost (in kilobytes) per wall. The more walls the more economical their impact is. Not that more walls doesn't mean more...just not a literal 1:1 file size relationship. It also means that compound walls do have a "heavier" impact on the project file size too.

Since I increased the number of walls by eight (8) times I was curious to see if the kilobyte increase was literally eight (8) times as well. The How Close? column in the spreadsheet shows that the generic walls were nearly so but the compound walls were a bit more economical when the quantity increased, just a little over five (5) times as many kilobytes.

To make it more interesting we could edit the profile of walls, attach walls to roofs, embed curtain walls, disallow joins, add views to sheets using different Detail Level settings, place various hosted elements on/in walls, use the Opening Tools, compare curved versus straight impact...and on and on.

Do I have a point? Well...file size isn't really the only measure of a project's performance nor is it even really reliable to use to predict project performance. I've seen rather large projects that perform quite well apart from waiting for it to open initially. Conversely I've seen "small" projects that perform poorly. My interpretation of my results is that I shouldn't really need to worry about using generic walls only, at least not using just file size as a measure. Much more likely that how the walls interact with other elements in the project will affect performance more than just file size.

New Build - Not Available Just Yet

Last evening I read on Twitter two separate "tweets" about an hour apart and a bit later on a blog post that the update for Revit 2010 is now available. Great to see one is coming and the list of issues/items addressed shared too. Unfortunately it isn't actually available yet though, not for another week or so according to my sources. I'll post the information on the update once it is released.

In the meantime if you want to read the list of issues addressed you can read it HERE.

Hang in there...just a bit longer. Maybe it'll get posted sooner because of the early release of information?

iPhone App - Revit Keys

My son found this one tonight and rushed downstairs to let me know about it. From the Apple apps site:

REVITkeys is a list of 260 keyboard combinations for AutoDesk Revit Architecture 2010. Arranged in 14 categories for easy access this tool makes it easy to find the keyboard combination you are looking for or learn new ones. Utilizing REVITkeys for Revit Architecture will speed up your work and help you learn new skills.


Categories include: Project, Model Family Editor, Profile Family Editor, Truss Family Editor, Rebar Family Editor, Mass Family Editor, Conceptual Mass Editor, Detail Family Editor, Contextual Tab, Snap Overrides, View Control Bar, Context Menu, Navigation Bar, and Alternates with Closer Keys


It isn't free, nearly so...just 0.99 cents until it gets wildly popular. I didn't try it out myself yet because my phone is still downloading the latest update.

AUGI | AEC EDGE is out!

As I mentioned in an earlier post the new magazine was nearly complete. When I wrote the earlier post my editing work was finished and just waiting on the publishing side of things to get wrapped up.

I just received the announcement from AUGI that other members should be receiving over the next couple days as the email "bot" does its work.
If you'd like to cut the wait short you can DOWNLOAD it now.

Thanks to each of the twenty contributing Authors and to Extension Media for helping make this a reality!! I hope that you enjoy it!

RDB Link - Update Posted at Autodesk Labs

Scott Shepard posted notice about a new version of this lab project. He wrote:

This new version corrects a problem where an ODBC database would not update after 1 export/import cycle. Thanks for sending this problem report in. This is exactly why we make these technology previews available on Labs.

I mentioned this in an earlier post.

Stump the Chump 2005 - Answers

Okay here's a revised image:


Who's who? (left to right and their current affliation)

David Conant - Autodesk & Revit Technology Corporation
Jim Balding - Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (really early adopter)
Matt Jezyk - Autodesk & Revit Technology Corporation
Scott Davis - Autodesk (WLC Architects back then and very early adopter)
Me - Yours Truly - Mr. OpEd aka "Revit guy"
James Vandezande - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Scott Brown - Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (very early adopter)
Chris Zoog - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Zoogdesign!! and very early adopter)
Phil Read - HNTB (formerly with Autodesk and Revit Technology)

If anything this photo proves you can have fun and Revit as long as someone brings the beer? Scott Brown is the designated Revit driver, he's drinking water. Me...I look like I've slipped into the photo unnoticed and going to get caught any second.

Off Topic - New Kind of Insulation

I see other people's misspelling, not my own. Examples just pop off a page at me, a gift, a curse. This one happened today.

Insultation vs Insulation

I found out that Insultation is a real thing!

"Monty Python" has a new line of batt insulation called "Insultation". You install it in your walls and when you walk by it casts aspersions your way.

Okay you caught me, I'm lying but it tickled my funny bone, for a moment and now the moment is gone. As you were...

Gotham - Not the hometown of Batman

ABL (Acuity Brands Lighting) just announced they've made their Gotham line available in Revit form. It has been over year now since CDV Systems sent me to visit them to talk about making Revit content and its great to see them persevering and expanding the products they are making available! Keep it up!!

Stump the Chump @ AU 2005

Okay, here is a little quiz! Can you name anyone in the photo? How many? All of them makes you a serious Revit trivia guru...or you attended the Revit Mixer at Autodesk University 2005, or...well you get the idea!


Names and relationship to Revit posted tomorrow!!

Error Reports

Experiencing crashes? Are you sending in reports? You know, the dialog asking you to tell Autodesk what you were doing when the crash occurred?

You aren't? Why? Aren't you interested in getting the problem fixed?

I moved my current session of RAC2010 to my second monitor tonight while testing my video card driver changes and "poof" Revit vanished after first telling me that an unrecoverable error occurred. When the error reporting dialog appeared moments later...did I send it in? Darn tootin!!

Check out the information that it sends for you when you do. You could submit a support request by logging into subscription entering a bunch of information and then wait for a response which will inevitably ask for more information followed by a request for a journal file etc. Or...you could just click "Send Report"...seems easier?

In this instance I was working with a file that upgraded to 2010 but I did not save yet. When I moved Revit to the larger monitor and maximized Revit it crashed. Tried again and same thing...third time I saved it first and no crash. Seems to be sensitive to the file not having been saved. Finally I've got the promised better view performance with DirectX and Anti-Aliasing enabled!! This setting seems to be the key so far...hope it proves to be stable, more testing tomorrow etc.

Revit Technology Conference 2009 - Melbourne

RTC also stands for Revit Technology Corporation - coincidence? Hmmm...

I mentioned the 2009 conference earlier this year in THIS POST.I was fortunate enough to attend this conference back in 2006. I still wear my RTC hat all the time!
It is only a short couple of weeks away now. Three years later and I get to attend again finally!! Like last time I am presenting a couple of sessions and I've managed to crack out of my "family editor" mould somehow. I get to talk about something other than Revit families, exciting...for me anyway! Besides I wouldn't want to have to compete with the people presenting family sessions this year anyway, stiff competition!!

The first session, on Friday, is about the new features in Revit Structure 2010. This will be fun because by then I hope to be nearly done doing the technical editing for the 2010 refresh of the Mastering Revit Structure book by Wiley/Sybex and authors Tom Weir, Jamie Richardson & David Harrington. But I digress...

The second session, on Saturday, is "Managing Large Projects" where I hope to "steal" as much information from the attendees as I can...oops I meant share my knowledge with the attendees.

Then I get to team up with my friend and patron saint Wesley Benn to do a free-for-all Revit Tips-n-Tricks session. Here's a small photo that surfaced on the current RTC 2009 site of Wesley and me, thanks for the VB!


To be unlike any other software conference you might attend I've heard we will be giving away livestock for the top five tips or tricks. Maybe I better run that idea past Wesley first?

I look forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones in Melbourne at RTC 2009!!

Clicks and Clacks

No, Not the Tappet Brothers

Last month I maligned the new interface with an example of how we are less efficient with the new UI. You may be familiar with the experience that "bad news runs on the cover page and the retraction runs on page six"??

I claimed that the only way you can access the Export Layer manager dialog was through a convoluted series of steps involving starting the export process. I was wrong..."shock, horror"!! I'm still doing chores around the house to make up for it!!

In my haste to make a point I missed a very subtle "arrow"!! If I had been more observant and patient I'd have seen this:


And a little more patience and this displays:


So this correction gets a "front page" or at least its own new post! Sorry folks!!

Interference Checking and Design Options

The Interference Check tool does not filter out results for elements assigned to various Design Options that "interfere" with one another. Keep this in mind the next time you are reviewing the results. You'll have a lot a "meaningless" collisions if you have any number of of options.

You can open the report in Word and use Find/Replace to highlight results that include Options as part of the interference information to make it a little easier to "evaluate/ignore" them.

The reporting process could use some more options like: Ignore Design Options, include interference between element in the same option, primary options and main model. It would also be great to be able to check two linked models against each other from within the host.

AUGI|AEC EDGE

I've been neglecting my own writing here because I've been busy wrapping up something else. That something else is new magazine that is being developed by AUGI and Extension Media. In the brand new issue of AUGI Hotnews this image appeared.
As the editor for this issue I can tell you that it has twenty-plus articles about Revit Architecture, Structure and MEP as well as cross-discipline subjects. It features contributions from volunteer writers: David Baldacchino, Jarrod Baumann, Bill Brown, Lay Christopher Fox, Bruce Gow, Laura Handler, Anthony Hauck, Jim Keller, Joel Londenberg, Michelle Louw, Robert Manna, Toby Maple, Matt Mason, Damon Ranieri, Jamie Richardson, James Salmon, Elizabeth Shulok, David Thirlwell, Cyril Verley, & Tom Weir. I'm very grateful to them for their willingness to contribute their time and knowledge to the magazine!

It will be an "E" magazine available to read online or download. Stay tuned...it will be out soon. We hope you'll like it!

Newest BIM Product on the Road!

While driving to Los Angeles this morning I saw a tractor trailer with the name of what must be the latest offering in BIM software.



Okay maybe not, apparently it's really a Bakery called BIMBO Bakeries. They got a cute bear mascot eh?Watch out Autodesk! Once they get done taking over the baking world they may come after the rest of the BIM "world"?

Dept. of Unfair - Filters in RAC/RME and RST

First off this post does not only apply to 2010, it also applies to 2009.

In RAC & RME filters can be applied to elements according to parameters associated with that element or elements. When you select the Filter tool you are presented with this dialog.

You choose a parameter, a condition, which element(s) to affect and name it. In Visibility/Graphics you can add the Filter to the view. Once added you can alter the appearance of the affected elements or even turn them off.

In RST filters do that AND you can build selection sets and use those as a filter too! When you start the Filter tool in RST you get the dialog hiding behind the foreground dialog. You get this foreground dialog when you click NEW.


So are you getting annoyed yet? With RME we use filters extensively to manage the appearance of duct and pipe according to the system they belong to. With RAC we use them to alter the appearance of plans for "FFE" (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) requirments and fire/life safety documentation to name just a couple.

Imagine you could build a filter by just selecting a number of elements instead? Select this, that and the other thing over there...okay now you are part of a filter and you can do all the same override stuff!! Very nice!! When you enter into the "Select" mode you get a new contextual Ribbon tab that looks like this.

Similar to Groups you can add/remove elements from the Selection Set. I did notice that the Filter tool isn't available while in this mode. This makes the Multiple check box on the Options Bar a bit anemic since you can't use Filter to remove a category of elements after using a crossing selection window. But then maybe getting to use the Filter tool while using the Filter feature would be "redundant"?? If so I'd have to post this in my Dept. of Redundancy Dept.?

I have to ask the obvious question...does someone think that Revit Architecture & MEP couldn't use this feature too? That said, I believe that this is the "Selection Sets" extension that was released for RST in past years getting incorporated into the native code of RST. It's a shame that it isn't in the others. Perhaps next release!?!

Dept. of Lost and Found - Revisions

Rolly Stevens with Ellerbe Becket shared this one with me the other day.

He writes:
"Just when I've started to like the new Revit 2010 interface, I had to go looking for the Revisions dialog. Common sense told me to look under the Manage tab" I'm with ya Rolly!


He writes: "When that failed miserably, I searched other, less logical places. I finally had to resort to the help file (which, for any Revit geek, is admitting defeat). The help file said to look under View. Bewildered, I look under the View tab. Then I look again, finally I had to re-read the help file!"Go Rolly, go Rolly!

He continues: It turns out that there's a tiny diagonal down arrow in the bottom corner of the Sheet Composition panel. That is the new "Logical" place for the revisions dialog!


He writes: "By the way, there's also a hidden down arrow in the Graphics panel that opens the Advanced Graphics Settings dialog.

Thanks for sharing Rolly!!

Edit: Hey Rolly! Rick pointed out in a comment that it IS on the Manage tab, but listed under the Settings Split Button. So much for "discoverability" 8-)

Dept. of Subtle - Seeing Double?? Revit 2010 QAT

This one was sent to me by Eric Stewart with Design Development Architects. He thought he was seeing double on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT, new term for 2010). First he thought that he added the same tool twice. Upon closer inspection he realized that Copy and Create Similar were...well...similar!


Careful...you have to make sure you are seeing "double discs" when you want to Copy!! Thanks Eric!

Exploding CAD Data

Just say no! Friends don't let friends explode cad data! Any other words of wisdom?

If you have to...here is some text from the 2010 help file:

When you import a drawing into Revit, you are importing all the elements, such as blocks and external references (xrefs) from the drawing. (See Implications of Importing vs. Linking for Xrefs.) They are all contained inside a Revit element called an import symbol.

You can explode (disassemble) the import symbol into its next highest level elements: nested import symbols. This is a partial explode. A partial explode of an import symbol yields more import symbols, which, in turn, can be exploded into either elements or other import symbols. This is analogous to exploding in AutoCAD 2010 with nested xrefs and blocks. For example, you explode an xref into other xrefs and blocks. Those xrefs and blocks can, in turn, be exploded into more blocks and xrefs.

You can also explode the import symbol immediately into Revit text, curves, lines, and filled regions. This is a full explode.

NoteYou cannot explode linked files or an import symbol that would yield more than 10,000 elements.

Resulting partial explode import symbols can be exploded again by selecting them and clicking Partial Explode. You can continue to do this until all import symbols are converted to Revit Structure elements.

Revit 2010 - Edit/New = Edit Type

Another little change in language with the release of 2010.

When you open the Element Properties dialog you see this in previous releases, an Edit/New button. Edit for editing the Type Properties and New for the opportunity to make a new Type.


With 2010 the button just says Edit Type.


Once you are in the Type Properties the button for Duplicate is present.


The previous button implied you could Edit or create a New element. Or maybe I'm just used to that being possible so it makes sense now? With the 2010 language I just see Edit and no "clue" about how I'd make a "new" version or that it would even be possible. Only after the dialog opens does it become apparent. Maybe the average use won't be confused and they'll only care about how they make a new one later on?

I like the new Element Properties button. This permits us to open the instance properties dialog by clicking on the primary part of the so called Split Button or selecting the Type Properties from the two choices Instance or Type. Not less clicks on the "way in" but a little less mouse travel and one dialog to close instead so less clicks on the "way out".


I guess we'll see if anyone actually notices the difference and says one way or another?

Clicking and Clicks

There has been some rather strong criticism in various places about the new user interface for Revit 2010. With regard to the number of "clicks" it takes to do something I'm afraid it is difficult to find fault with the logic that the new UI is less efficient compared with the same task in the previous release. Of course that is focusing on a single task as opposed to overall but still users get frustrated at very subtle things when they keep "poking them in the eye".

One example is the Objects Styles Dialog. This is where we control the overall appearance of the elements in our projects. We don't have to visit this dialog endlessly but we do visit it at various times during a day/week/month.

Old UI - Settings menu > Objects Styles (click count 2)
New UI - Manage tab > Settings button > Object Styles (click count 3)

Another example is the Export Settings for a dwg file. Again not a frequent stop for every user but some users like a BIM manager will visit this very frequently.

Old UI - File menu > Import/Export Settings > Export Layers DWG/DXF (Click count 3)
New UI - Application menu > Export > CAD Formats > DWG > DWG Properties tab > Build Button (Click count 6)


Note that this build button has no tool tip or explanation for what it does, no label. The click count is technically (6) six, though you don't have to click if you just hover over the Application menu items and move your mouse over the other options as they eventually display. So you don't HAVE to click but you ARE waiting.

I'm sure that "metrics" said that the typical user opened this dialog once in a "blue moon". So that user isn't affected or annoyed. The data leader for a project, the one who has to export to cad every couple days or the BIM manager who is setting up office standards for ten (10) offices and has to revisit them much more often won't find this new process very efficient. Considering that you have to start the Export process to get to the file to edit it in the first place!

In my view everything we manage, like these two, should be under the Manage Ribbon tab. Object Styles is, but it is under a pull down menu style selection which reintroduces a concept that the ribbon was supposed to eliminate?

Compare with Office 2007 and Word. The Ribbon in Word continues to grow toward the right when panels exceed the available space and an arrow appears at the right end of the Ribbon to allow you to scroll for more. This means there is no reason for a pull down type UI on the ribbon (yes it takes a click to scroll though)...every tool that we need to "manage" Revit settings/rules could have its own button and place on a panel.

It is too easy to dissect the user interface, at this level, and find examples. It should have been hard to find such things. Inefficiencies ideally should have been the exception, not the rule.

Last, I'm not an icon guy. I don't remember what little picture is which tool. If you turn off the labels for the tool bars in 2009 I'm lost, for a bit. I still can't tell you which picture is for which tool unless I'm looking at it right now. The fact that the Ribbon tools have words too is, for me, a life saver.

RDB Link - Alive in the Labs

For those of you interested in connecting the Revit model to an external database Autodesk's It's Alive in the Lab blog announced today that they have such a feature available now, called "RDB Link".

Check it out? Maybe it will help!?!

Licensing Timeout Issue - Network Licensing 2010

James Vandezande at SOM posted this yesterday. I read a similar post at AUGI earlier this month as well.

If you are experiencing licensing problems be sure to contact support so they can track the problem down as quickly as possible.

Seems to me that during beta testing network licensing probably doesn't get tested adequately because we are encouraged to avoid using the software on any mission critical work which implies that there is little point in deploying the software. Perhaps this strategy is flawed and bound to wait to "fail" until the software is in the wild and too late?

Detail Level Icons - 2010

In the previous releases we've had the following icons for Detail Levels: Coarse, Medium and Fine.

With 2010 we now have these.


While I appreciate the more accurate portrayal I do find it "harder" to determine at a glance which detail level is used now. Since they all have the "same" kind of pattern I now have to actually stare at the icon longer. Perhaps it is just my aging eyes but with the previous empty white square it was easy to just glance and see that Coarse detail level was in use or not. It is still harder (for me) to determine whether medium or fine were being used with the older version too but then not a lot of views use Fine by comparison.

Remember that the Detail Level settings are also available in the View Properties dialog. I haven't used that route since the View Control Bar was added though. Well I have altered the setting in the dialog but only because I already happened to be there doing something else.

Line Weights - Plotting and Scales

Regarding the Line weight Settings in Revit, this was provided to "Archman" (member username), a member of AUGI, in July of 2006 at AUGI by Autodesk support and David Conant confirmed its accuracy.

The question had to do with the logic of defining line weights and the various scales present in the Lineweights dialog. Specifically, "What line weight(s) does Revit use when you use a scale that isn't defined there?"

Autodesk Support wrote:
In this case the line weights will be assigned to the last lineweight before it until the lineweight can be rounded to the next one. For example: between 1/16" = 1' and 1/32" = 1'. If you only have these two weights defined at scale and none of the increments inbetween then 1" -20' and 3/64"= 1' will default to the 1/16= 1' setting while 1" = 30' feet will round up to 1/32" =1' . Any of the line weights after the last defined scale will default to the last defined scale.

To add to this, when a scale is not defined, and a view is plotted that uses it, and it falls in between two that are, Revit will use the next largest scale.

To summarize, it uses the closest or larger scale depending on the proximity to the defined scales and it uses the corresponding lineweight settings.

Dept. of NfSCD - iPhone Tip

If you have an iPhone...

Tips
When the phone is off - Double Click the "Home" button - displays iTunes mini menu.

When the phone is on but "at home" - Double Click "Home" button - display Favorites (contacts)

When the phone is on - Press and hold the "Home" button then press Power button - Generates a screen capture of what is on screen and adds it to your camera roll.

Want more?

Applications I use:
Pandora - The Music Genome Project - Radio station that plays music you like based on the "type" of music based on artist or song selection. (free)

Yelp - location based recommendations for restaurants, bars etc. (free)

Shazam - Find out what that song is, hold you iPhone near the speaker and let it listen, pretty amazing.(free)

Clinometer - Cool level, yes as in a level to find out if something is "level", not tilted, "geek food". (not free)


NfSCD = "Now for Something Completely Different"

Revit Structure - Missing Columns - Graphical Column Schedule

Have you seen this message?


If so the solution is pretty simple. When was the last time you checked your elevation views? Notice the grids in the image? Just make them tall enough to encompass all the columns and "she'll be right"!

Bug - Structural Columns - Paste Aligned

When you work with Structural columns you have the option to define them according to their Height or Depth relative to the level you are working on. This is in response to the fact that Revit used to only place them according to Depth and that was frustrating for most users. Having the choice is good!

When you want to propagate a Level's columns to another Level or Levels by using the Copy to Clipboard followed by a Paste Aligned - Select Levels by Name technique...you don't get a choice. Revit's code places the new columns using Depth regardless of the fact that you placed the originals using Height.

If you aren't careful you'll likely end up with a warning like this one.

Now the programmer will take issue with the "bug" designation because it works as written. True or not...it doesn't work the way I'd expect it to work.

The solution? When you use Paste Aligned, remember that the Level you are pasting from and the one above it should not be selected because the next set of columns above will be starting at a level and using a Depth placement logic instead of Height. Here's an image of the Paste Aligned Result when I select Level 3 for destination even though I selected the columns on Level 1 as the originals.
It is interesting that skipping Level 2 in the selection process produces a column whose Instance parameters end up "correct" though.

Unfortunately this image is from 2010 and that means it isn't "fixed" yet...and yes this is an "oldy" but not "goody".