Dept. of Subtle - Face Based Families and Schedule Level

Face based families are a bit awkward when you place them because they infer a relationship with a level that often doesn't match your intentions. The correct level assignment is created when you place them in a plan view because the associated level is explicit and unchangeable. It is a different story in elevation and section views though. As you'll see in the VIDEO the Schedule Level parameter appears in the properties palette for these families. The parameter name is a bit ironic since the parameter does not appear in schedules!! Schedules have a nice Level parameter but we can't change it within the schedule view.

When you place face based families just remember to check the Schedule Level parameter so that it will have the correct Level assignment in your schedules.

Dept. of Echo - Revit MEP - Invalid Duct Fitting K-Factor Database

I've written about this issue a couple times in the past. A post appeared today on The Revit Clinic and Inside The System that deals with it occurring in Revit MEP 2011 now too. Here's the text of the "fix":
...snip
Recently, we have had several reports of this error happening in 2011, and in most cases, neither of these recommendations have fixed the problem. Generally, this error is a result of a 3rd-party DLL not being registered properly when installing Revit MEP 2011.

These are the steps to manually register the DLL, which should clear the above error:

1. Click on Start…Run
2. Type regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit MEP 2011\Program\ASHRAEDUCTDLL.dll" in the window
3. Click OK

A dialog box indicating that the DLL was registered successfully should appear. If not, please proceed to the steps below.

1. Click on Start…Programs..Accessories
2. Right-click on Command Prompt
3. Select Run as…
4. Select Administrator
5. In the command prompt, type CD \ to get back to the root of C:
6. Type cd Program Files\Autodesk\Revit MEP 2011\Program
7. Type regsvr32 “ASHRAEDUCTDLL.dll"

After confirming that the DLL registered successfully, launch Revit MEP to confirm that the error no longer appears.
...snip

Call for Abstracts - RTC Gold Coast Australia

The Australian Revit Technology Conference will be held at Jupiters Gold Coast, Queensland, between the 26th and 28th of May, 2011.The online abstract submission site is now open, and will close on Friday October 22nd, 2010.

We are now seeking abstracts from individuals interested in speaking at the event. Increase your profile in the industry - speak at RTC 2011. This is your opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise with other Revit Users.

Submitted abstracts will be double-blind refereed by the RTC Committee. Abstracts will be approved on their merit, within the conference’s time and resource constraints. Successful applicants will present in either a 55 minute or 80 minute session or a 90 minute lab. Applicants should indicate the preferred length of their planned session. Sessions can take the form of labs, technical presentations, or facilitated forums. Case studies demonstrating innovative or well-developed practice are welcomed. Abstracts should be classified as Intermediate, Advanced or All Levels in the following streams:

• Architecture
• Structure
• MEP
• BIM Management & Collaboration
• Sustainability
• Owners / Facility Managers
• Visualisation and Presentation
• General
• Principals

Please note that this current call for abstracts is for the Australian event only, and a second call for abstracts will be made in relation to RTC USA, to be held in Orange County, California 6 weeks later. You are free to submit abstracts for either event, or for both, once the US abstract site has opened.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT NOW

Tweet

You can follow the events on Twitter now.

Dept. of Subtle - Moving Fields in a Schedule

As you probably already know, moving schedule fields around is limited to a Move Up and Move Down button in the Schedule properties dialog. A schedule with many fields has a list longer than the space in the dialog allows for. Revit introduces a vertical scroll bar to help us out. The list doesn't follow the movement of a field as you move it up and down though which means you lose track of where it is as soon as you raise it above the top of the displayed list or drop it below the bottom of the displayed list. We get to play a little game of "click, click, click, scroll, click, click, click, scroll" until we find it in the correct location.

It is this annoying issue that caused me to realize that I could just select everything else I want to move under or above a given field instead. One click of the Move Down or Up would put it exactly where I wanted it to be. It is a bit of reverse thinking, do the opposite of what you want, to get what you want. I figured a VIDEO would help this post so I made MADE ONE. Hope it helps!

AUGI | AEC EDGE - Seeking Department Editors

There are two departments in AUGI's eZine AUGI | AEC EDGE called; Inside Track and Heads UP. We'd like to find two people that are interested in taking these departments over, one person for each or one person to take over both depending on your interest.

Your task is to compile information that will be useful and interesting to our members and readers as time passes between issues and compile this information into each department's space for each issue. Ideally with some passion and effort you could make it a lot better than I've been doing. This means you need to stay plugged in to what's going on around us to help us stay informed (and not just in the Revit "sphere").

• Inside Track is intended for recent developments, interesting products, Autodesk Lab items etc.
• Heads UP - bugs, recent known issues other red flag items for Autodesk software that might get missed and worth echoing. It can also be culled from recent member posts advising of an issue that has yet to be acknowledged.

If you are interested please send me an EMAIL

Revit MEP and CADworks - Online Presentation

I received an invitation to a presentation of the new piping productivity pack that CADworks has released. Here's a little bit of what the email said:

...snip
Today, CADworks® Content Management Service for Revit® MEP allows engineers to effectively achieve full participation in existing BIM promises by providing not only appropriate and quality Content, but the tools needed to sort out the new complexities of BIM. This solution offers a purpose-built Content Management Service for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems engineering.

CADworks Revit Piping Productivity Pack
This collection developed by CADworks of Pipe Types and Fittings, including Conduit Types, is now available for the extended MEP community for Revit MEP 2010 and 2011. These additions to our Comprehensive Content Suite greatly expand the power and capability of Revit MEP users.
...snip

They've got three dates listed and if none of them work for you then contact Bernie Duncan to see if they can set something else up for you. The three dates and times are:

• Tuesday, September 7, 2010 9:00 AM Central at: Register Now
• Thursday, September 9, 2010 Noon Central at: Register Now
• Friday, September 24, 2010 8:00 AM Central at: Register Now

If you are using Revit MEP you might want to check it out too? The first line says:

I am especially eager to introduce you to CADworks Revit MEP solutions that will make managing content and modeling Revit MEP piping systems much more enjoyable.

I know a couple people that wouldn't necessarily use the word enjoyable and piping at the same time, at times. It would be enjoyable to be able to use that word together with piping all the time. See what you think?

File Size - A Red Herring?

Every now and then I read a post on a blog or user forum advocating various techniques to reduce a Revit project's file size. Is file size alone a serious concern or measure of a successful project? I've heard of people insisting on a maximum file size allowable for a model.

I think File Size is a red herring.

Sure a large file will require more memory to open and this will affect performance. The biggest annoyance will be the time it takes to open the file. Linking a large file will affect the host too. File size is a worthy consideration but there are many others that often get ignored.

• Warnings - These get ignored for ages and pile up. Some of these are more offensive than others. For my money anything that involves calculations is a worry. Room, space and area errors caused by boundary issues or redundancy is wasting your cpu's time (and yours), even though it is really fast. The truth is that any warning is a waste of "space" and "resources" to some degree.
• View Detail - Do you have a lot of views that are using fine or medium detail level but have scales like 1/16", 1/8"=1'-0" (1:200, 1:100, 1:50)? These views won't really show this level of detail for all elements effectively and you are asking the computer to show it anyway.
• Huge Sketch based elements - A toposurface with huge numbers of points or floor sketches or filled regions with very large numbers of segments will hurt performance. Same for area plans and their boundaries. These features are meant to be used with the fewest number of segments to create a representation of information. I've seen filled regions used to completely document a color scheme or floor pattern concept that account for thousands of line segments instead of a simpler actual color scheme applied based on information...instead of drafting because it is familiar.
• Unused Content - Families that are not going to be used at all can contribute to some bloat. Especially if they are complex families that are quite large to begin with. Check the stock content, rarely if ever are they over 200 kb. If they are they probably have an array or some other complexity.
• Content Complexity - Families that are over-modeled or at the very least are not using Detail Level and Visibility options effectively. Families that have a large number of formulas or using arrays are another.
• Hosts overloaded - Autodesk has indicated in the past that they've determined that large walls with many many hosted elements can hurt performance. They recommend using multiple walls by floor(s) or stacked walls to minimize this.

That's just a few items, this post would get a bit too long to dig more, perhaps another post. What about the file sized focused techniques to reduce the file size itself?

• Save As - It's often mentioned to use Save As to make a new central file. Sure, the result is a smaller file, but why? We just started over, no save history, no user log files and no backups. Yes we've stripped out elderly data that may not be necessary now but guess what? As soon as the crew gets back to work watch how quickly the file becomes roughly the original size.
• Compact Central - An oversimplification, it is akin to the operating system performing defragmentation of your computer's hard drive. I prefer to think of it as asking Revit to clean up after a busy day. It allows Revit to reduce file size but I think you'll find that it isn't as shocking as using Save As. Shouldn't be too surprising though since we aren't getting getting rid of save and user history.

In my opinion we shouldn't just focus on file size. It's one of many things to consider, a symptom perhaps, not a disease itself. One piece of wisdom I can share that Scott Brown (a friend in Orlando working with The Beck Group) has offered in the past is this:

File Size @ SD x 3 = File size @ CD
SD= End of Schematic Design
CD= End of Construction Documentation

I can confirm his general observation based on my experience. Something to consider.

Dept. of Echo - Ceiling Tool Gets a Bit Smarter

In all previous releases Revit was a bit too accommodating because it would let users put multiple ceilings within the same boundary without complaining about the redundancy. Obviously some parts of a building use multiple ceilings so they need to be able to exist in the same room or space. However the Auto Ceiling function also made it too easy to put multiple ceilings in the same room or space because it didn't complain or mention the redundancy. I complained about this in an earlier post.

A quiet change in Revit 2011 exists now (documented thanks to Inside the Factory), a warning will occur if we use the Auto Ceiling function within the same boundary room or space.

It's nice to see issues like these get resolution even if they forget to take credit for them in the "What's New in XX" documentation. Little stuff can add up to annoying.

Third Party Applications - Revit App

I've been following Bruce's Revit App Blog for awhile now but failed to notice that they are offering some free applications. They just posted one that helps deal with getting rid of materials more efficiently. Regardless you might want to check them out.

The apps they offer right now are:

Materials Tool
Family Loader
Auto-Dimension

Revit Technology Conference 2011 - USA

I've mentioned the Revit Technology Conference before but now that a little bit more has been sorted out I'm writing again. The location will be the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach (Orange County California) and the dates are set for Thursday through Saturday, June 23-25, 2011. So keep those dates open if you'd like to attend. Next up is a committee meeting in early September to sort through many other matters.

Since I mention the committee, the USA contingent is currently made up of:

• Wesley Benn (Benn Design) founder of RTC
• Heidi Earl (Secretariat) RTC Events Management
• Steve Stafford (me)
• Jim Balding (seeking a new opportunity)
• Phil Read (HNTB)
• David Harrington (Walter P. Moore)
• Robert Bell (Sparling)

This committee will also probably rely heavily on the existing Australian committee made up of:

• Rodd Perey (Architectus)
• Clay Hickling (GHD)
• Chris Needham (C3 Consulting Solutions)
• Marina Radosevic (Benn Design)
• Simon Whitbread (Beca)
• and Wesley Benn and Heidi Earl again naturally.

As more gets nailed down the web site will get updated so keep an eye on that site for more information. You can also read the most recent Newsletter (August 2010) to find out more about the last conference as well as a little bit about the next two; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and Huntington Beach, CA USA.

32 Apps for iPhone and iPad

Houston Neal, the Director of Marketing for Software Advice (Free Advice for Software Buyers) recently wrote an article after sifting through roughly 500 offerings for the AEC industry.

There are some interesting items in his list. I grabbed four pretty tool image captures below: (left to right)

• E-Calc (electrical engineering calculations)
• BuildCalc (construction calculations)
• Concrete Calculator (concrete slab calculations)
• InchCALC (feet inch calculations)

If you use these devices you might want to check the list to see if there are any you didn't already know about.

Troubleshooting - Downloading Content

When I downloaded the new versions of Revit 2011, MEP would not let me download the content, at least not all 16 bundles. I thought maybe it was my ISP cutting me off with a large bandwidth download. I thought all sorts of things. I ended up getting my content from the media when it arrived, yes I asked for the DVD, how can you collect them if you don't get them?

Long story short - I thought I disabled my anti-virus software adequately. Turns out that I did not. When I carefully shut down each of the services that were running (leaving me temporarily vulnerable to internet evil) the content downloaded successfully!

Next time you are having issues, remember the often stated and repeated mantra of disabling the software you use to protect you from internet evil. I happen to be using AVG's products so your mileage may vary.

Dept. of Questions - Can Revit?

I've been encountering questions, over the years, where someone asks if "something" is possible. That something is usually quite specific that they do or their firm does. Often it is something we all do or reasonably close. Occasionally it is really specific and perhaps even peculiar to a firm, a person, an off-hand idea...something.

I provide a tongue-in-cheek reply that attempts to get the idea across that Revit is pretty capable and many of the typical things we do have been accounted for. I thought that I should scientifically provide evidence that what I've claimed over the years is true. Here are three pie charts that clearly show what I have claimed all along is true.

Scientifically true? Okay, busted! I didn't do this scientifically. I did use a pie chart in Excel though, does that count for something? Notice how I carefully put Revit MEP at a slightly less percentage of YES? That's because it is younger.

How well does Revit live up to this? Pretty well overall in my opinion. The more specific your focus, the more peculiar or unique your desire the greater the chances you get a small piece of pie. It isn't likely they'll satisfy every last one of us so I don't think they'll ever hit 100% Yes. Regardless, I like pie...Lemon Meringue and Boston Cream Pie (which is a cake, I know). Want some milk with your pie?

Autodesk University Registration is nearly Upon Us

Per email this morning. If you are not a member of AU Online yet then you might want to reconsider.

Dear AU Member,

Autodesk University 2010 registration dates have changed:
AU 2010 (Las Vegas)

• Advance registration for AU members only opens September 7.
• General registration opens September 14.
• AU Virtual – Registration opens September 14.
• AU Extension – Registration opens September 28

Please update your calendar and plan to register on these dates. We look forward to your participation in AU this year.

With regards,

AU 2010 Team

Re-Numbering Elements

I've written about this in the past:

Avatech Utilities Update
Duplicate Mark Values
API Tools Part One - Avatech
Numbering Stuff
First Number Value Template Setup

I also mentioned in one of those earlier posts it is possible to re-number elements using the Element Positioning tool that is available via subscription. Unfortunately it is brutally slow!! On a recent project file it took well over an hour to crank its way through the project database. Frankly it needs a rewrite or fresh approach. It is grossly inefficient to crawl the entire database, generating view by view to establish a selection set. My claims are written like only a "non-programmer" could marginalize the effort to create good code.

How else can we renumber elements, apart from scheduling ingenuity?

Well Avatech's Utilities for Revit are, in my view, unfortunately and arbitrarily limited to Doors, Grids, Levels, Windows, Spaces & Rooms.

Kiwi Codes offers the most elegant solution I've encountered so far. They have two tools; Element Renumber or Category Renumber. Category Renumber is a simple tool that let's you select a single element to define a category to renumber "arbitrarily" and it just reassigns a new number to every element. Keep in mind you'd need to be able to edit every element (potential workset conflict perhaps). Element Renumber lets you set a starting number and pick elements in the order you'd like to renumber them. It also lets you assign an increment value as well as apply a prefix or suffix to the number. For Revit MEP users this tool is a real value, I think. They have a 2011 version, it just isn't on the site at the moment. Write to them.

It strikes me as a bit silly that this sort of tool isn't just part of the software already. I know they've got big list and they are checking it twice even thrice but typically it's the littlest stuff that gets people giggly.

As for pricing of 3rd party applications - I prefer the "a lot for a little" approach. If I were to provide a productive tool for sale I'd be inclined to price it very lightly with the hope that the price is inviting enough to generate significant volume (recognizing the market of Revit users versus the market for selling candy bars...not the same league obviously).

The following statements will rule out my ever being invited to work in sales for these products but here goes. If I were to sell the Avatech tools they'd be about $50. The Kiwi Code tool about $10. The Ideate Explorer for about $35. There are others too but I'll not offend them right now. My rationale is that for these tools to proliferate they need to be a commodity and set at a price that an individual or corporation wouldn't blink at. Especially when they are looking at the capital cost associated with Revit itself. I'm not saying the work of the developers isn't worth more, they deserve compensation for their work.

I'm inclined to think that volume would increase if the price is "right". They'd get a generous return by selling more. The prices I see now are putting up a barrier that makes someone think twice about buying. Maybe I'm full of beans and they are selling like hotcakes but I don't see many of them in use. Then again awareness may account for that more than anything.

[Disclaimer: No product vendors enticed me to write in favor of one or another. This post was born of frustration the other day.]

Dept. of Wishes - AUGI Wish Lists for Revit Structure and MEP

While I served on the board for AUGI we saw the start of the Revit Architecture wish list at AUGI. Getting them started for Structure and MEP just wasn't in the cards then. Time passes and AUGI has just announced new wish lists for both!!

The following text was clipped from BLAUGI:

TIME TO VOTE!

Revit MEP and Revit Structure Wish List ballot closes on Aug 31st at 12:00 am GMT.

AUGI Members, it is time once again to let Autodesk know what you would like to see in future releases of Revit MEP and Revit Structure. The next Wish List ballot is open. Autodesk uses the results of AUGI Wish List ballots to help plan out improvements in the software. Take advantage of this opportunity. The only thing you need is a membership in AUGI, and a little bit of your time.

You've submitted your wishes, now come vote on the ones you'd most like to see become a part of the product you use on a daily basis. On behalf of all of the wish list team members - reviewers and administrators - thank you for your time and your vote!

Vote now for Revit MEP and Revit Structure!

You must be an AUGI member and you must log in to vote.

Revit Families - New Guide at Club Revit

Michael Anonuevo let me know that he recently posted an in-depth article about creating complex shapes with the Revit Family Editor. Michael runs the site Little Details Count and is a contributor at Club Revit, a site started by Lonnie Cumpton. He discusses how he created the following family as well as useful interface and rendering subtleties between Revit 2010 and 2011.

Michael also has an interesting post about the little teapot that Revit uses as its icon for Rendering button. It is a common question that I get during training. He did some digging to provide more background. Scroll to the March 8, 2010 post titled, "Autodesk Revit Teapot Render Button".

SoCal Training Opportunity

The RUGIE (Revit User Group Inland Empire) recently re-branded themselves as BUGIE (BIM User Group Inland Empire). They are offering a training session for Revit's Family Editor.

Here are the details:
Presenter: Brian Andresen
Topic: Creating the Perfect Family (Component)

Location:
Santiago High School
1395 Foothill Pkwy
Corona, CA

Date: Saturday, 25th of September 2010
Time: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Cost: BUGIE/ RUGIE Members: Free General Public: $10

Click To RSVP

Dept. of Off Topic - Introducing Revit "the frog"

Dave Edwards shared this with me the other day after I posted the picture of the Jeep with Rev*IT.

He writes:
Don't know if you ever saw this. There was a Harley Davidson licensed Beenie Baby frog called "Revit." When I first started with the software, every Google search on "Revit" came up with all these Beenie Baby sites. Well, because I had dreams of working for them at the time, I bought three of them and sent two to the Execs of Revit Tech. One is still on my desk.

The tag says: "Revit's no toad, and he's not just a frog. He's King of the Road, when he's up on his Hog!" On the back of his jacket it says: "Harley Davidson, Kiss Normal Good. "Fitting for a frog". For years we called Revit, FrogCAD.

Thanks Dave!

Dept. of Off Topic - Revit Ride

Saw this in Orlando on a recent trip to a client's office. Clearly a Revit user? Of course...what else??

Dept. of Cool Stairs - Australia Style

Took these while in Sydney...nice stair!

Video Training Option - Paul Aubin on Lynda.Com

I'm a bit late mentioning this, sorry! Paul wrote to let me know that he recently finished a Revit Essentials training class in a video format that is offered at Lynda.com.

They specialize in video training for all sorts of things. Paul wants to get the word out so here's my little contribution.

Hope it sells well!

Level Annotation - Elevation Units

Here's a quick video showing how to change the units of a Level annotation for elevation.

No time for a video, want to dash in and try to do it? Take these steps (added per Rusty's comment):

1. Select the Level
2. Examine it's Type Properties
3. Find the Symbol Family it is assigned to
4. Close the Type Dialog(s)
5. Scroll to the Families category in the Project Browser
6. Select the family the Level is using under the Annotation Symbols category
7. Right Click > Edit
8. Select the Elevation label, click Edit Label
9. Select the Elevation parameter in the list
10. Click the Format button, Un-Check Project Units
11. Choose another setting
12. Save the family and load it into your project

You should save this family as a new type in your office standards folder.

Dept. of Off Topic - Calatrava's Dallas Bridge

Drove by Santiago Calatrava's bridge design in Dallas tonight.

The "hoop" is up.

I didn't try to get closer to see more though. I used Auto Stitch (iPhone app) to build this panorama.

Dept. of Quirky - Duct Duct Weird

Observed this odd behavior when attempting to add a riser to an existing lateral duct run. If you create the riser during the initial sketch of the lateral run it works fine. It just gets weird if you try to introduce a riser later. It works fine if you just create a riser separately. Also curious is that sketching a duct will cease the duct run when you click on a reference plane. If you expect to continue sketching duct you need to be careful not to click on a reference plane because the current duct sketching mode with stop and you'll have to select the first point again to continue. Both conditions are quirky in my book. Video embedded below and posted at OpEd Videos and YouTube.

Stair with Landings at Both Ends

I made the Video posted below after receiving an email asking about an earlier post.

AUGI | AEC EDGE Spring 2010 issue is posted

The next issue of AUGI | AEC EDGE is finally out. Each issue is intended to arrive at the end of the season. Unfortunately my workload made it harder than usual to meet our intended deadlines. All that is behind me now...it's posted!

Thanks again to the authors who make each article possible and this issue's authors are:

Lee Ambrosius, Christian Barrett, Elizabeth Chodosh, Lonnie Cumpton, Doug Eberhard, Jon Allen Gardzelewski, David Harrington, Trey Klein, Glenn Jowett, David Light, Jay Polding, Philip (Chico) Membreno, Keith Rice, and Daniel Stine

Now on to prepare for the next issue.

[Amended 9:00 PM] The magazine cover image at the magazine web site is still pointing to the Winter issue. The link on the left frame that says Online Version works. That and you can download the pdf versions.

Dept. of Wishes - Revit MEP - Selection Priority

I made a brief video that describes a frustrating selection situation when linked models are involved. Revit places the link at a higher priority than local MEP elements. Wireframe visual style will change this but wireframe in some views (3D) isn't always a better option. It would be really nice if a linked model had a lower selection priority when compared with other native elements. I've embedded the video here but you can also watch it at YouTube.

Revit MEP - Hiding Elements in Linked Models

Revit MEP 2011 introduces a way to copy/monitor additional elements from linked architectural models. A client asked me how to hide the originals in their views once they've used this new feature. I was attending the BIM Analytics event at USC and couldn't respond effectively during the day so I did a short video tonight in an attempt to make up for it. I've embedded it here too.

Two techniques are mentioned in the video; using an override of the Model Categories for the linked file or an override of a specific Workset assuming one is created for such a use in the linked file.

New Revit Utilities - PKH Lineworks

Phil DeBrandt announced at AUGI that he has made several utilities for Revit available at his web site. The utilities are branded as ReVVed.

The utilities are comprised of the following functions:

• Merge Text - merge multiple text notes into a single note.
• Change Case - changes the case of selected text notes to a user specified case.(Upper, lower, mixed)
• Upper Case - changes the case of notes to all upper case with a single click or hotkey.
• Web Link - opens a web browser to the URL stored in Revit components.
• Polyline - adjust the total length of end-to-end lines. (Like travel distances)

You can download the utilities from his site.

Mastering Revit - In the Wild

The authors of Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 recently invited people who have the book to participate in a humorous exchange of placing the book in a setting to capture it in-the-wild. I visited the South Coast Revit User Group last evening and posed the book next to a scale model and the beverage it chose for me.

The group's venue is the Irvine office of LPA. They provide the venue for three user groups, one for each version of Revit. Very generous of them and every group needs a benefactor like them.

Vanessa with DPR talked about how the firm is using BIM and Jason Dodds presented Autodesk's Quantity Takeoff product. An interesting evening, everything a user group should be!

Dept. of Echo - Export to DWG Survey

In the interest of getting the word out to any reader of this blog that isn't a reader of Inside the Factory yet.

Here is the text from today's post:

The factory is conducting some research to better understand how Revit users use the Export to DWG functionality, and fully understand major pain points in that work-flow. We would greatly appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill out this short survey that focuses on Revit’s export to DWG feature.

Click here to take the survey

By the way, if you haven't subscribed to their site yet, it's easy! Click to Subscribe Now!

Point Known - Build Your Model as you Measure

PKNail is software that is being developed by PointKnown Building Solutions. The purpose of the software is to improve the process of measuring existing buildings and then building a model using Revit.

It's based upon using the Leica Disto D8 surveying tool.

The software is not yet commercially available but I just received an email that shares a video (posted at YouTube) that demonstrates how it works. It is a little over 8 minutes long. If you've ever measured an existing building you might want to spend 8 minutes and watch. Jim Foster is the person doing the demo and he has a blog called BIM, the Built Environment and Stuff. I've embedded the YouTube video here if you want to listen to it now. I recommend watching it full screen though.

Revit and 64 bit Operating System

We waited very patiently for Revit to support 64 bit. I stalled buying a new laptop PC in order to make sure I had something that would support using a 64 operating system as well as having enough RAM to justify the switch. I settled on the Dell Precision M6300 a little over two years ago. Much to my annoyance Dell offered the same thing with 16GB of RAM just after I bought mine with a maximum of 8GB...a month later.

I find a wide range of conditions these days. People using 32 bit with 1 or 2 GB of RAM all the way up to people using PC's with 64 bit OS 24 GB of RAM, even a couple using servers for their workstation and even more impressive numbers.

Today The Revit Clinic shared a bit more (pun intended) insider information. I really enjoy this kind of post since it is both confirmation and confession. They provided this graph representing the evidence they obtained from the customer error reports and the customer involvement programs they have. You know those dialogs that appear after a crash that you don't always submit. You might consider a "cheeky" response like me.

Bottom line - 64 bit Operating Systems enjoy improved performance/stability over their 32 bit counterparts. If you haven't put some money and energy behind this move there is no time like the present.

While you are considering it...don't forget to replace the rear differential when you soup up the engine. I mean don't forget to put enough RAM in when you do make the switch to 64 bit. What's enough? In my opinion a 64 bit OS should have at least 8 GB of RAM. My next laptop will have as much as can be stuffed into it and I'll be hoping they don't double it again a month later.

Here's a link to a AUGI thread that might be worth your while too. Gordon has taken the time to put down (in a series of replies) what he's learned about how the operating system, RAM, virtual memory and paging files all play together.

New Book - Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011

Today I received a review copy courtesy of Eddy Krygiel. No I didn't read the entire book already. That would require taking a speed reading course first. It is a really FAT book, as a few other blog posts have demonstrated already. In addition to the foundation of twenty chapters (833 pages) it includes seven chapters (243 pages) above and beyond Revit feature focused subjects. Without these extra chapters the book would have been substantial, these additional chapters up the ante considerably.

This book is the update to the previous editions written by Eddy, Tatjana Dzambazova and Greg Demchak. For this edition Eddy teamed up with Phil Read and James Vandezande for a complete overhaul.

The additional featured chapters are:

Chapter 21: Revit in Construction
by Laura Handler from Tocci Building Corp.
Josh Lowe and Mike Whaley, Findorff & Sons.

Chapter 22: Revit in the Classroom
by Adam Thomas and Jereme Smith

Chapter 23: Revit and Virtualization
by Peter Streibig, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Chapter 24: Under the Hood of Revit
by Don Rudder, HOK

Chapter 25: Direct to Fabrication
by Jeffrey McGrew, Because We Can, LLC

Chapter 26: Revit for Film and Stage
by Bryan Sutton, Camel Design

Chapter 27: Revit in the Cloud
by Chris France, Little

The authors have been blogging about the book for several months now, building expectations, and it certainly has delivered a pretty formidable source of information. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Troubleshooting Graphics and Visualization

Harlan with The Revit Clinic posted that there are two new pages dedicated to helping users resolve graphics card and visualization issues.

Autodesk Support Sites
Tested Graphics Hardware List
Revit Graphic Card Troubleshooting Center
Revit Visualization Troubleshooting Center

Avatech Utilities for Revit - Update for 2011

Avatech Solutions was the first company (that I can remember) to offer several utilities for Revit that provided missing functionality - for free too. They are busy getting the word out about their latest update for Revit 2011 products and this post is meant to help.

The Revit Kid (Jeff Pinheiro) started a contest to win a free version of their utilities. Avatech's marketing team wrote to me last week and offered to make one license of the full version of the utilities available for free to one of this blog's readers. Jeff's post went live on Saturday and when it did I thought that I'd make the license I can award available to the second place finisher in his contest. It seems a bit redundant to me to run another contest of my own.

The essence of his challenge: Explain, in a comment for the blog post, how the Avatech utilities have been a benefit to you or your firm, or perhaps how your firm will benefit from them if it doesn't use them yet. The best response/comment wins. The best is determined by readers voting for the comment they liked the most. The deadline for comments is the 30th, voting begins afterward. I'll award the license that Avatech has offered to me to the second place finisher in the contest.

If you aren't familiar with the utilities yet then you should take some time to review them. If you use Revit Architecture then the room and door numbering tools will probably be very useful. The element renumber allows you to renumber grids, levels, windows, doors and spaces.

If you use Revit MEP the new MEP Parameter tool might prove interesting. It helps you pass along parameter values for an entire duct or pipe system, like setting the insulation value. Easy to set the insulation for a pipe or a pipe fitting but you can't actually do them both at the same time when they are selected. This tool is meant to alleviate that pain.

They are still offering a free version (Lite includes: Room Renumber, Change Case, Space Update, and GridSelect.) and the utilities can be stand-alone or a named user version (shared license with a pool of named users). The full version will sell for $395 after July 31, 2010. If you'd like to get it for less you haven't got much time, you can get it for $99 until the 31st. Click HERE to download the product brochure.

[Disclosure: Avatech Solutions made one copy of the Utilities for Revit 2011 available to me for my personal use, for free, in return for posting this information.]

Dept. of Bugs - Sloping Pad Defect gets Ornery

I wrote about THIS back in August of 2009. The sliver left behind in the image below could be eliminated by taking the advice in that post. Unfortunately 2011 eliminates that technique from the ranks of viable alternatives, per Jean-Frederic Monod's comment on the earlier post.

Possible workaround? Use a pad to drop the site toposurface to the lowest elevation and then use a floor to create the sloped and flat "pads" instead??

Proper Properties Palette

I have to admit that I'm quite happy with the Properties Palette. During a period of time that I can't claim to have been part of or witness thereof I was a bit less happy with it. I no longer find myself closing it accidentally and like the ready access to information. I have settled on putting it over at the right side of the UI, like this.

What about you? Anyone like it stacked above the Project Browser? I just didn't like them both getting squashed. For Revit MEP it does compete with the default location of the System Browser, which I prefer at the bottom of the UI. Since most of my work involves people using the stock deployment I don't spend much time customizing my UI or setup because that puts me in a different environment than the students. I do prefer the "light" style over the "dark". I also prefer the QAT below the ribbon so I can see more of the title bar.

Speaking of students and different environments, one item that proves a bit confusing at times is the way the UI squashes panels and tools on the ribbon when the resolution is coarser than fine. This means that my projected screen often has a slightly different presentation than the student computers...leading to confusion when telling them to click here or there...etc. Fun fun!

Element Count - Revit versus Navisworks

I find the little number listed in the bottom right corner of Revit invaluable.

So much so that I find it hard to believe that we didn't have it for many years. When you select items using Navisworks I sure miss a similar display. I realize that the selection set can be quite varied but a count that is easy to check/read would be cool.

Revit Structure - Composite Floor Design Extension

BIM and BEAM announced yesterday that an update for the Composite Floor Design Extension is now available to subscription customers.

...snip
This newly updated Extension, which is now available on the Subscription Center, allows for the design of composite and non-composite floor layouts to current US codes. The integration of this code checking capability inside a native Revit Structure model removes the need to create a separate analysis model and allows the option of performing the analysis in Revit Structure or externally in 3rd party Revit Structure analysis partner solutions. The Composite Floor Design Extension also enables structural designers the ability to perform analysis and make code check centric decisions earlier in the design process.
...snip

Check it out!

DPR Model Slicer - Free Revit Add-on

Laura Handler, her blog is (bim)x,mentioned this in her post a little while ago. Jason Pratt, part of the author team at the blog "Connected" also mentions it. In fact Laura mentions his post in her post...bloggety bloggety blog blog. Expecting to see some tweets soon too.

What is it?
...snip
DPR Model Slicer is a free Revit plug-in which facilitates the creation of 3D Building sections from a Revit model. Inherently within Revit, the only way to separate a model by floor is to filter it by reference levels. Unfortunately, this often results in a product (shown below), where items modeled as multi-floor elements, such as walls or columns, become associated with only one floor despite occupying space on many floors.

How it works
DPR Model Slicer was designed, not only to make the creation of these sections easier, but also to allow you to quickly repeat the process on other projects or versions of the model.

There are two main parts of any 3D building section in DPR Model Slicer:

• 3D Section Box: Defines the top and bottom bounds of the section. Typically corresponds to a building level.
• Visibility Settings: Defines the visibility settings for the section (what objects are shown in that view)

By combining any combination of these two settings, all of the requested 3D sections can be created.

Who is DPR?
DPR Construction is a unique technical builder with a passion for results.
Ranked in the top 50 general contractors in the country over the last 10 years, we are a national commercial contractor and construction manager that has grown with our customers by delivering measurably more value. Whether it is a multi-million-dollar technical facility or a conference room renovation, we execute every project with relentless accountability. We listen to your goals. We develop strategies based on your business. We track our performance. We do everything we can to earn your trust and build great lasting relationships.
...snip

Amendment: 07/09/10
Since this post has generated several comments I've added my response to those that wonder why we wouldn't just use the Orient to View option ourselves to get the "same" result.

My comment reply:
...snip
Sure you can use the Orient to View option. Where this application proves interesting is that you don't have to create all of the views manually. It deals with repetition nicely.

You set up criteria once in a dialog and save the settings. You also can harness filters and associate them with your saved scope box settings. Then as a batch you can create 3D views based on your prepared settings.

It also provides a way to export these views to DWG or DWF formats. Remember this tool was created with the notion that a contractor wants to break up a model into discreet chunks. Exporting carefully from Revit can make the Clash Detection process in Navisworks much easier than forcing the NW user to do all the filtering in NW. Though very capable it can be tedious, especially when a Revit project is already made up of categories and levels.

Try it...and remember you don't have to use it.
...snip

RTC USA 2011 - Revit Technology Conference coming to USA

Rodd Perey with Architectus recently had his review of RTC 2010 published at AECBytes, the site founded and edited by Lachmi Khemlani.

I've had every intention of writing something about it here but he's done a really nice job of summarizing what happened over the course of the three day event. Well he did leave out what happened in the evenings after the sessions wrapped but then maybe most of that ought to remain a mystery?

You can read his article at AECBytes HERE.

RTC has been an Australian event...but planning is underway to bring it to the USA! The tentative dates are June 23-25 at a venue (nearly determined) in Orange County (Southern California). There is a LinkedIn Group you can join and you can visit the RTC site to check in on progress.