Poll Count - Where Did They Go?

I left the RTC post up for a few days to improve the odds of someone seeing and voting. Sorry to go "silent" in order to allow for that. Over the weekend I saw a high of 156 votes but was shocked this morning to only see 92. Apparently Google (Blogger) has been having some issues with polls losing votes over the last few months. At least there are numerous posts regarding this at Blogger help. I don't know if they will all come back or not. As it happens Jay Zallan posted a screen shot on his blog, pitching for keeping RTCUSA on the West Coast. Boston has been leading the rest most of the time. Oh, back to the image...it shows 160 votes. At least this can help establish a higher value than what shows right now. Thanks for posting Jay and the screen capture!

Revit 2012 Parts and Roofs

Via Help: Parts can be created from:

• Foundation Slabs
• Floors (no shape editing)
• Walls (not stacked or curtain walls)
• Ceilings
• Roofs (that do not have ridge lines)

This last item, roofs, is the focus of this post. I find that if a roof ever had a slope, causing a ridge/valley line to appear, it will not activate the Create Parts tool even if the slope no longer exists. If you use the Shape Editing features for the roof it too will "kill" the Create Parts tool. If you use the Reset Shape button Revit will restore the Create Parts tool.

Revit seems to retain the ridge/valley information whereas it will forget it if you use shape editing instead.

The work-around is to recreate the roof. You can use the same sketch by copying it to clipboard and then pasting it into the sketch of the new roof. Just make sure you remove the Defines Slope option before you finish the Roof sketch otherwise you'll end up with the same problem.

Revit Technology Conference - USA 2012 - City Poll

[- The poll is now closed (closed on May 20th), the image below is a screen capture of the poll, not an actual poll, sorry for the confusion it has caused -]

We haven't finished the first RTC in the USA yet but we are already considering where the next one should go. The poll you'll see at the top right corner of this blog offers the cities we've been considering.

There are some "obvious" ones we've considered but decided to try this list first to see what sort of response we get. We'll be sending out a survey to those who are already on the conference mailing lists as well as attempting to get a poll at the Linked In group too. Please take a moment to cast your vote for one of the cities listed or choose "other" and respond to this post with a comment for the one you'd prefer. ~ THANKS!!

Dept. of Subtle - Opening Transparent in Elevation or 3D

Quick one tonight. The opening element in window families is designed to offer either transparent or opaque behavior when seen in elevation/section views. Normally we like to "see" through glass in 3D views so we can see inside the building. In elevation/section views however seeing the "innards" of the building might be really confusing to the reader. This subtle setting determines how the opening should behave in either condition.

If you want to see through your openings in elevation, check the option for Elevation. It's usually not checked which is why you can't see through them. If you'd rather obscure them in a 3D view to then remove the check for 3D.

In the past we couldn't have more than one Opening element in a single family so we often removed them and used a void instead. I find in 2011 and 2012 that Revit doesn't mind multiple openings in the family. You can't however have a void and an Opening in the same family, one or the other. To be more accurate you CAN create a void but you'll get this message if you try to CUT the host with the void.

Is a Single Model Viable?

I have a couple clients that have done this with some varying opinions on how successful it was.

Pros:

• Great to have live interaction between trades
• Issues were much more obvious and forced resolution sooner.
• Less linked file updating issues Helped minimize copy/monitor and redundant content

Cons:

• Plot day conflicts between trades, arch printing for meetings and MEP trades printing offset and difficult to have teams "stop working" long enough in advance to freeze development of the model so trades could "catch up" with design.
• Performance...fairly obvious...file sizes became an issue so only really feasible on modest sized buildings
• More worksets required, more views etc... browser became difficult
• Warnings increased because everyone had to "see" other trade warnings

One outcome from attempts was the less obvious choice to merge A and E models, they shared one model for Arch/Elec because so many devices were "redundant" in separate models. This put A/E staff in the same model so they could share lighting and devices etc. Kind of obvious logical pairing but not as obvious to think of initially.

A truly single model can work but project size and the way teams interact can greatly affect how much "fun" it is.

Dept. of Off Topic - Masters of Reality

Could be the name of a new BIM product?

Years ago (1981) a band called Masters of Reality got started in Syracuse, NY. I didn't work for them but I had a few friends and fellow roadies in common with them. I saw them once or twice live in a club called The Lost Horizon, a somewhat legendary venue there. An amazing number of bands played on their way up the charts and back down. You know, like Bon Jovi, Guns-n-Roses, Bad English, Arc Angels, John Kay & Steppenwolf, The Stray Cats...and so many more...

Back to MoR as they were also known, they released an album called "Masters of Reality". The second album featured Ginger Baker (yeah, Cream and Blind Faith's drummer)on drums replacing Syracuse native Vinnie Ludovico. The founder Chris Goss is still at it with a somewhat changing lineup over the years. This group is one of those that makes me wonder how they didn't get "huge"...distinctive sound and melodies, different yet familiar.

I've added a number of videos that you can find at You Tube yourself to my Favorites on my You Tube channel for this blog. My favorites? John Brown, Domino, She Got Me...not necessarily in that order. The oldest stuff is my preference but there's something for "everyone". See what you think?

Here's "She Got Me" featuring Ginger Baker.

Revit 2012 Adaptive Components and RTC Teaser

Check out this short video demo of using adaptive components on a facade to experiment with color fin treatment. Especially appreciate the plug for attending Revit Technology Conference to learn more about how to do it!

The Factory - Where Did That Come From?

It is fairly common to hear someone refer to the folks at Autodesk responsible for Revit as someone at the "Factory". Greg Demchak, a product designer who's been working on Revit since before Autodesk bought Revit Technology Company, told me that the idea of working in the "factory" resonated (found it funny and interesting) with him and others. In fact for Autodesk University he wanted to have people wear lab coats which, if I recall correctly, materialized at The Lounge one year during Autodesk University. Greg's avatar at AUGI is inspired by the term too.

The oldest post I can find at AUGI (actually dating back to Zoogdesign) referring to the Factory is by David Conant and his post was on December 11, 2003.

Does anyone remember who the first person is that used the term "Factory" in connection with Revit and its "people"?

It's possible that we started using the term before the forums at Zoogdesign which would place them at the original RUGI forums or even alt.cad.revit newsgroup. Incidentally my response to David was the next reply in that thread just 11 minutes later the same day. Followed by another factory worker, Steven Campbell 27 minutes later. I joked about them wearing their safety glasses and he confirmed that he does!

Writing about alt.cad.revit made me curious and I found that I can search some of that data still via Google Groups.

Rumor is True! - Upgrade Path to Suites

For a limited time, customers who have a current Subscription for select Autodesk products may upgrade to a new 2012 Suite at no upfront cost. To take advantage of this special opportunity, the Contract Manager on your Autodesk Subscription agreement will have to fill out a REQUEST.

Please note: When you renew your Subscription, you will be offered the renewal rate for the suite you select. The Subscription renewal rate for the suite will likely be higher than the renewal rate for your standalone product. Please contact your Autodesk reseller or sales representative for pricing information.

Thanks to Sean at USCAD for letting me know as soon as he knew he could tell me.

Revit 2012 Materials and Property Sets

I like it when someone at the Factory chimes in with some insight like David Conant did at the AUGI forums the other day. Regarding a members confusion about the new material concepts added to Revit 2012 he wrote:

Think of the Material as a container. It contains sets of information that represent different aspects of materiality: Appearance (what it looks like in a rendering), Structure (how strong it is), Graphics (what it looks like in a non rendered view), and general information about the material. In some cases (appearance and structure) the information can be provided to the material by linking to a seperately defined property set (by Property Set), or can be input directly into the material (Independent). This allows several materials to share a single set of properties and changes to that property set to propagate to all those materials.

Imagine you are working with several materials of different types that are all covered with the same finish, green paint for example. In that case you would create as many Materials as needed and assign the same green paint appearance property set to each. To change the paint tint on all, change the definition of the appearance property set. The appearance of all those materials will change together.

Conversely, you might have four kinds of concrete with the same strength but different appearances. In that case you would create the four concrete materials linked to the same Structure property set, but with different appearances.

If you need to tweak the appearance of an individual material without changing any others, set its appearance property to Independent. Your changes will then be confined to that material only.

Dept. of Off Topic - Holy Number of Views Batman!

One of my earlier posts (The Tale of the Dancing Ribbon Tabs) has a video that goes along with it. I just noticed how many views that video has generated at Screencast - 49,393 - Wow! I guess when you create a little video that has a subject broader than the niche that Revit is some serious numbers can show up! I can only assume that the ribbon being in other products like Office apps accounts for this spike. As you were!

Ready for Hard Work?

Seth Godin wrote yesterday that there is a difference between Long Work and Hard Work. I immediately thought how his comments related to how I worked in the past (using AutoCAD and Microstation) and how I work today (Revit and Navisworks). The long work meant showing up, doing repetitive tasks and not really challenging how or why we did things. The hard work is hunting for something better, being dissatisfied with just doing yesterday again today. It took effort to start using Revit back then and it takes effort today. Interested in doing Hard work? It's necessary... Btw, there's Hard work to do even if you've been using Revit for many years too.

As it happens Phil Read also wrote something interesting yesterday, about where "we" stand today after ten years of Revit existence. The hard work I'm referring to is what he is suggesting is needed now/next, where do we go next, what solutions are required next? Read on...worth your while!

Rumor Mongering - Building Design Sweet Deal

Read elsewhere on the internets tonight that Autodesk may be offering a nice upgrade deal for existing subscription Revit customers. Essence of the deal...free short term offer to upgrade to the Premium level with the catch that the yearly subscription fee will increase at renewal time later. I'm hopeful that this rumor will come true!

Follow Up Post - Family Puzzler

I recorded a quick video to demonstrate how I constrained a nested beam family using the Reference and Shape Handle elements of the beam as well as how it breaks when I use the Family Type data type feature to change beam sizes.

Chris Price at Revit Rants just happened to post a video tonight about his effort to constrain nested columns. Related issue and I suspect that if he tried to make the column type swappable with the Family Type data type that it would compete with his technique to solve the problem. Overall I would like to avoid editing the stock content to "make-it-work".

Family Puzzler - Beam and Family Type Parameter

I'm opening up this issue to my clever readers out there to either enlighten me or corroborate my situation. Imagine a structural support that we'll refer to as a pipe support. If it helps, something like this:

I'm referring to the green "column" and "beam" with the tabs at the ends of the beam to counter potential "roll-off" in a seismic situation. The obvious way to make a family for this is to nest a column and beam family, use a Family Type parameter to swap between sizes when they are placed in the project. I write obvious because it would be nice to be able to use the standard framing families and types to choose the relevant form and configuration.

Everything is pretty straightforward until I attempt to change the type. The length of the Beam resists being constrained if I change the Type. I've managed to get it to work but it tends to break as soon as the beam size is changed.

The puzzler is... has anyone been able to get nested beams to behave when managing the "in-use" type with a Family Type parameter?

Working around the issue, a couple solutions come to mind.

If the Structural Framing beams are not used I can get it to work easily so that suggests a conflict with the category behavior (the structural framing template). If I build my own beams and columns using the same profiles and type catalogs it will work. Unfortunately that means we'd end up with "different" beams/columns than the other "real" beams and columns when we think of schedules.

The other solution might be to use the API to get the information that the user needs to supply and let the API create a custom family from the parts and build/insert on-the-fly. Like the Frame Generator extension does for Revit Structure.

Comments?

Dept. of Echo - Subtle 2012 Type Selector Improvements

Erik posted today at Inside the Factory to share some subtle improvements in how the Type Selector works. It would make my Dept. of Subtle department but it's his post so it's an echo...

Check it out!

Navisworks Exporter Utility

Need to Export from Revit to Navisworks?

Don't own Navisworks though?

You can download the Exporter you need for free, well free in $$, you'll still have to provide some personal details to get the installer.

Railings and Stairs - Usability Study

The Autodesk User Experience team is looking for Architects, Drafters, Designers and CAD Managers who use Revit Architecture or other products to design stairs or railings, to participate in a usability study of some Autodesk software concepts.

The sessions are approximately 90 minutes long. If you are interested in participating, please take a few minutes to fill in this short questionnaire. Participants who are a good match for our study will be contacted within a few days.

Fill out the Questionaire

Your involvement helps make Autodesk products better.

Dept. of Bugs - Intous 4 Pen Tablet and 2012

I've been experiencing a quirky issue with the Type Selector in Revit 2011 and 2012 since I started using the Wacom Intous 4. If I use the pen the Type Selector will not expand to show me the list. If I use the mouse they provide it works fine. Read a post at RevitForum this morning that also mentions this.

It also mentions a bug I observed regarding the materials dialog in 2012. If I open the materials dialog and then click on the Appearance tab, followed by clicking on any part of the dialog, as if I were going to change a setting...Revit will crash when I click OK to close the dialog. I'm taking the hint to just leave materials alone! Hopefully with some reports to Autodesk it will get sorted out between Wacom's driver and their material .dlls.

Importing DWG and Exporting to DWG

Here's a few things that have come up lately regarding importing dwg data:

• Revit imports from Model Space unless there is nothing in Model Space. It then asks if you'd like to import the stuff it finds in paper space.
• Revit only recognizes the World Coordinate System (WCS)
• Revit doesn't "see" AutoCAD points, doesn't snap to them, you'll see them but can't "use" them.
• Revit doesn't "see" or even show AutoCAD Xline or Ray elements.
• Save details as single cad files not composite "sheets" of details. Single cad files can be added to individual drafting views and added to sheets allowing Revit to keep track of the sheet and detail numbers for us.
• Perfect world in Revit = no dwg files imported or linked, don't rely on them forever, work toward native Revit details and detail components.

For Exporting to DWG Revit 2012 offers the ability to define Layer Modifiers so that we can tell Revit to generate better layers for things like supply air ducts versus return air ducts.

They've also added a short list of predefined standards to pull from (technically based on the previously provided layer standard files, just presented more obviously now):

Dept. of Subtle - Click in Empty Space

A quick video to demonstrate to concepts that are so foreign to the other applications we use at work. The first is to finish a dimension string and the second is to wrap up typing text. In both situations we have to click away from what we are doing and resist the temptation to press the Enter key, hit ESC or click on something else.

Revit Server - Heading Off Road

If you are curious about Revit Server and using less server like hardware/software, David just posted the results of his experience doing exactly that. He's been able to get it up and running on extra equipment. Caution though, you'll be stepping outside the "support range" of Autodesk's support crew...

Check out his post now!?!

Dept. of Subtle - Text Output to DWG

With 2012 we can now map Revit fonts to fonts in AutoCAD. I can export Arial to Romans for example.

I got a request to check something out today and the results are curious. Here's a drafting view of four Arial font sizes: 1", 1/2", 1/4" and 3/32" (using view scale of 1:1).

Here's how it looks going from Arial to Arial (Revit 2012 - AutoCAD 2012).

Here's how the Text Height transferred (Revit/AutoCAD):

I used the "deepest" units setting in AutoCAD for Fractional of 1/256" so that's altered the value for 3/32" to register the "correct" amount. The decimal equivalent for 3/32" is 0.09375 though so the reported value (when I change the units to decimal instead) of 0.09220621 is also off a bit.

Then I exported from Revit Arial to AutoCAD RomanS, same sizes:

Here's how the Text Height transferred (Revit/AutoCAD):

Can't really measure text height accurately in Revit since none of the tools that measure or dimension can "touch" text. It's possible the fonts are "off" in Revit to begin with, just can't say for sure. I don't know that the inaccuracy is enough to get upset about but it doesn't result in text heights that match what you'd expect.

Dept. of Echo - Printing Problems with Revit 2012

Alan posted this tonight, "Printer and Plotter Bugs with Revit 2012". He's having issues with their KIP plotter and he reports that another London Revit User Group member is having trouble getting things out of their HP plotters.

Might have a quick read and weigh in if you can corroborate with your own issues. Serious enough that it might justify a early Web Update...if they can pin down the cause(s).

On another note (A flat), having trouble with your printer out-feed tray? Maybe this will help?

Saw it at a clients office recently, "Hmmm, finished stirring my coffee...I can recycle this!"

Dept. of Subtle - V/Gs or V/G?

Maybe this is something that only freaks out someone trying to write about something. Is it Visibility/Graphics or Visibility/Graphic?

I'm used to seeing and writing Visibility/Graphics but the dialog actually says Visibility/Graphic, no "s". The Properties palette uses the "s" however.

The review of one of my chapters for the 2012 version of Introducing Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012 flagged it as a question about consistency. I opted to go with the dialog "s-less" version. I hope it doesn't make anyone mad! :)

Stay tuned, we'll let you know when the book is finished and ready to ship! Here's the new cover, recently shared by Pat Davis on the Tampa Bay Revit User's Group blog.

Trolling the Past - Model Text Family

A couple years ago (try nearly seven!!), in June 2004 I responded to a thread at AUGI regarding some model text and it being used on a sign:

These are the general steps I took to make it:

• First create a generic family
• Add model text to it, center justify it and put it at the origin
• Add a parameter for the text value and assign the model text value to it
• Nest that family into your sign family
• Assign the text to the text parameter in the host
• Lock the nested model text to the center reference plane

In playing with the seven year old example that was a rush job if I recall correctly I was able to break it again. It may be a bit unfair but I fixed the family in 2012 today. I've posted the revised working family and the nested model text family so they can be downloaded:

2012 Awning Band.rfa

2012 Awning Text.rfa (the nested family)

 (now you have another minor excuse to get 2012 installed)

I also wrote:

Oh...I coined a new term while fumbling with words a little while ago...Family and Formula are now;
FAMULA

Room Renumbering - Autodesk Labs Plug-in of the Month - Updated 2012

For those of you that have downloaded this plug-in and starting to use 2012 in production, there is now a version for 2012 too.

Poking at them, it should have been rolled into 2012 but I'm grateful that it exists and freely so. Check out the Autodesk Labs blog post.

Dept. of Echo - Installing 2012 Products

David Harrington mentions this morning that it is easy to overlook the option to customize your installation.

See that little "down-arrow" next to the text..."Bring Building Information Modeling..."? That's the key, click that to expand the screen to offer configuration options for content and file locations. Since you may be "in-the-same-boat" you ought to read through his post before you get too deep?

Harlan and the gang at The Revit Clinic have posted a couple critical items for anyone who is about to deal with installing software.

First is that it is no longer "easy" to switch from Network to Stand-alone licensing types. You have to reinstall for one or the other. Honest reaction..."yuk". Better forewarned?

Second item is that some "Cheese-has-moved". Read through the post to see how it affects these items

• Journal Files
• UserDataCache and Revit.ini
• OmniClassTaxonomy.txt
• UniformatClassifications.txt
• shxfontmap.txt
• UiState.dat

As you were...no wait!!

Alan reminded me that he also wrote something about installation as well as referencing another Clinic post. They wrote to let us know that some content is still downloaded over the internet during the installation despite the initial sizable download to start the process.

Okay, now as you were...

Taking Tests

I wrote this after reading a thread at RevitForum called Autodesk Certification.

In the thread there, a quick mock-up "test" that one member submitted is a good example (I think) of why it's hard to make a test. When we write a question for a test, it and the answers we offer have a bias. If five people submitted their own 15 question tests, I'm confident that anyone who takes it would be able to take exception with at least a couple questions in each. That's why test instructions say "pick the BEST answer", which usually translates into, the one that the test's writer wants selected.

Oddly enough, I often think that people with a lot of experience can have a rougher time with a test because they are aware of exceptions to the rule, all the ways that something can be twisted into being. That and these tests are written by people that are presumed to have significant experience, but what kind of experience? Projects...sales...development...support... training?

How about this question and set of answers? (which btw I've actually seen, not word for word but the essence of that test's question)

In-Place Families...

• a) should never be used.
• b) should only be used sparingly.
• c) can only used for custom casework.
• d) are best used for sloped walls.
• e) are used for massing.

• Answer A is an opinion
• Answer B is a recommendation
• Answer C suggests an office preference or standard
• Answer D is too specific/limiting and suggest a preference
• Answer E is true, people often forget that massing is in-place families.

They are all "true" depending on your point of view. Which one did I intend to be the "best" answer? Perhaps "E"? It depends on what I wanted to test "for". Revit knowledge or appreciation of subtleties? Applying Revit to our office standards?

A test's wrong answers can be as interesting as the correct ones. Failing the "right" kind of test might actually demonstrate deeper knowledge of the subject.

Something Aaron Maller once wrote somewhere (AUGI/RevitForum/Blog) that his employer (Beck Group) strives to hire the best architect/engineer they can. They'll teach them the software if necessary. It's a good strategy assuming "you" aren't hunting for an office guru. If nobody in your office has guru status it will be a bit harder to select one (evaluate one), he/she only has to know more than your smartest user to "impress".

There is a lot more a potential candidate can do to prove their value besides showing they passed a test. Remember getting a license to practice architecture (no small feat) means that person passed the minimum qualifications to be able to do so. These other things could be their past work history, references, teaching experience, problem solving examples, writing, and speaking. Oh and the interview shouldn't just be with the HR folks, how will they know they've got the right person? With something like this?

HR Check List:

• Nice suit/outfit - check
• Grooming Excellent - check
• Revit tattoo on forehead - check
• Degree at BIM Tech - check
• Autodesk Certification - check
• Can spell Rivit - check

Recommendation: Hire at 3x the salary

Imagine being eliminated from consideration only because you didn't take the Autodesk test? At best a test is just one of many possible ways to evaluate someone's fitness for a job.

As for testing and an unsolicited plug, you could check out Knowledge Smart.

I got a chance to take one of their beta tests last year or so, been awhile. Their process involves using Revit and provides a nice summary of results afterward. It isn't inexpensive, but they'd like to remind us that the cost of hiring the "wrong" person can be pretty costly. So their testing methodology isn't pennywise/pound foolish. Fellow blogger David Light recently posted a recommendation after talking about them with Robert Manna (another blogger). I vaguely recall hearing the conversation while we were at Autodesk last week.

As for the original question at RevitForum, does anyone recommend taking the Autodesk certification exam? The answer remains elusive and personal. Why do you need it? Is it a requirement? Do you like taking tests and having certificates? Will it help differentiate you from other people at your company, your region, your realm of influence? If many people take it will it no longer be special or rare? In the job hunt, are you competing for a position with just a few others or hundreds? These days with so many out of work it might well be the latter. A candidate will have to have a resume that has some pretty special stuff in it...regardless of Revit certification.

Is there an answer in there somewhere? Only you can know for sure...good luck!

[edit: Seth Godin posted something this morning that I thought was slightly related.]

Building Design Suite Peek

Looking forward to getting a closer look!

Cool Splash Screen - New Max rendering style

RAC Splash

RST Splash

RME Splash

Max Splash

Structural Detailing Splash

Suites are set to make a "splash"

RevitCity Issue

Recently received an email from RevitCity.

Here's a partial clip from the text:

...snip
Recently RevitCity.com was the victim of a hacker who was able to successfully bypass the security measures we had in place. After discovering this security breach, we moved as quickly as possible to isolate and contain the problem. In order to best protect the server from additional harm and perform a full security examination, it was necessary to temporarily take RevitCity offline.

In order to protect your own privacy, it is always a good idea to change your password as frequently as possible.
...snip

The emphasis on change your password is mine. Hopefully they'll get it all sorted out for the long run. I guess it is a sign of the times, that Revit is getting popular enough for a hacker(s) to even notice a Revit site?

Help? Helped!

I got an email this morning alerting me to the fact that my post yesterday was a "perfect storm" of sorts. My post came on the heels of other users letting the "Factory" know something was amiss.

The web developers are always working to improve search speed etc. Some changes over the weekend resulted in 2012 information being left out of the search. This morning finds WikiHelp feeling much better!

Nice to have you back WikiHelp!

Help?

Observations about the new Wiki Help for Revit and other Autodesk products:

Internet Explorer 8 - some things just don't work. The controls to scroll move in the opposite direction and the cursor icon seems stuck on the "hand" for some reason. Okay I'm a bit behind, haven't installed IE9 yet.

[Edit: This bit is "knucklehead syndrome", my tablet device is the culprit for the interface change and me not being very observant. I'm leaving this because perhaps there is something in it that their web developer might find useful.]

Switch to Firefox 4 - all better...at least from the UI standpoint. Odd because Autodesk's web stuff almost always seems to have a preference to the IE browser.

As it turns out I never noticed the little "hand" cursor on my IE8 toolbar. I noticed it after recording the video. Clicking on it turns "on the hand" and that's when the page misbehaves. Turn it off and back to normal. There is no tooltip but turning it on allows you to use the mouse to scroll a web page. Turning it back off allows you to select text. I never noticed it before and have no idea how I turned it on earlier. Microsoft Word calls it "Panning Hand" so I imagine that IE8 should too? A bit more research yields, the "panning hand" becomes available in IE with tablet PC's, so my Wacom Intous 4 must be "adding" it.

I'd like one thing to always be true for help documentation. If I type in the name of a feature in the product I'd like the help search to return an actual topic, not this:

It's not like I made up the text string I chose, I pulled it from here:

Tried "Sun Path", also found in the Properties Palette for a view, no results found.
Tried "Title on Sheet" - I get a link to a tip to create a small 3D view submitted by a member of the User Experience Team

From my perspective I'd like to be able to take something that I'm curious about and find what help has to "say" about it. Since the Display Analysis Styles feature was new to 2011 and there is something more to look at with 2012 I was curious to see what the Help documentation had to "say". I wasn't surprised that I got my result. I'm used to it happening unfortunately. With the Wiki concept it nows becomes a question of whether or not I dare to start a section for it or not...or wait till "someone" else decides to.

Back to the thing that started this post, Display Styles for Analysis. There is a section for THIS. Since I searched for the text found in the Properties Palette I thought I'd use a simpler string now that I know that the topic exists. I tried "Display Style"... "Your search query did not return any results". Nuts! When I try entering the exact title for the topic displayed below...same result, zip nada.

Hoping for the day that the search functionality works!

Revit 2012 Available for Download via Subscription

In the North American market the 2012 products can be downloaded via the Subscription site, which presumes "you" have access to the subscription site. I've read posts in the forums at AUGI and RevitForum that say that the Australasian market is able to download the software too. Only the English versions are available right now. The other language versions will be released over the next few months.

Revit 2012 New Features via WikiHelp

Not everything at Autodesk is ready for 2012 products, for example when I click on Free Trial where the nice new package for RAC2012 is pictured I get an opportunity to download 2011 (at least that's what it looks like. There is a nice note saying that 2012 will be available soon.

Here's a VIDEO about the new Construction Modeling tools:

Revit 2012 Draws Nearer

Hearing reports that Revit 2012 software is available in some markets via the subscription center. Might be worth checking during the next few days to see if it becomes available in your market. As of tonight I'm not seeing it here yet.

The rumored release data, meaning "boxes" shipping is April 11th. That means, if the past is any measure, that the online access to it will be some days prior. Essentially once the final compiled version is turned over to the media preparation side of operations it can be posted online. Just a matter of file transfers, and web page preparation and voila...the download "meters" go wild for a few weeks at Autodesk!

Media Day at Autodesk - Day One

I am attending this event today and tomorrow. We've been tweeting away like madmen and women...well some of us. We seem to have "killed" Twitter for the moment.

Keynote Application Update

Steve Faust is getting the word out that he has updated the application he created to improve our interaction with Revit Keynoting feature. I wrote about his application back in April 2009. Time flies and version 10 has been released HERE.

Jay Zallan wrote up a nice piece about it today, check it out too!

RTC USA 2011 Early Bird Window Closing Fast

Phil posted this at Arch|Tech and I couldn't say it all any better so here it is again...echoed:

FYI! Having quickly reached the "early bird" limit for attendees of Revit Technology Conference this year in Huntington Beach, CA early bird registration will close as of this Monday, 4 April (midnight PST). So far registrations have been received from 17 States across the USA as well as several other countries.

Interestingly, over 80% of registrations received have been from outside of California (including international registrations). So mark your calendars, book your flights early and let's get together to teach, share and support:

• Carl Bass, President and CEO of Autodesk, is providing the Keynote Address.
• Paul Doherty, Senior Vice President of Screampoint, is providing the Closing Address.
• Top Speakers from around the world including 7 authors on Revit and BIM related books
• The Conference Program can be viewed here along with other information of interest.

For all of you that have already registered, thank you for your support! For the rest of you, keep in mind these three important points:

RTC is keenly focused. We're deliberately concentrating on BIM and related AEC technologies!

BIM isn't just one technology. It takes an ecosystem of customers, developers and exhibitors to make it all work!

Time is money! RTC is incredibly complimentary to Autodesk University. And because Autodesk historically releases new software in the spring of each year, RTC is strategically timed to help you get up to speed quickly as possible - then share your success with others this December in Las Vegas!

Early bird registration ends Monday (and what you'll save could cover your airfare!). So sign up today and we'll see you in Huntington Beach this June!
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I'll add this bit: As a testimony to the resilience of the people of Japan, the conference already has six registered attendees who hail from their stricken country! We wish them and their countrymen/women all the best and a speedy recovery effort!! We look forward to letting them take their minds off deeper issues for a bit by entertaining them with Revit during the conference in June.

Tip - Control Visibility of Image via Size Parameters

You can't control the visibility of an image file like you can other elements in a Revit family, such as mapping a parameter to the "Visible" parameter. Daniel Stine mentioned this the other day as another candidate for a blog post and I agree!

If you have an image in your family, say a logo for a title blog, you can turn it on/off by increasing and decreasing its "size".

Selecting the image and mapping a parameter looks like this:

It's only necessary to map one of the "size" parameters to make it "zero" high or wide even though my example has mapped both to parameters. As soon as one parameter is "zero" the image can't appear anymore. So I did double the work that I really needed to, didn't take long though, phew!

Here's a video to demo what we are attempting to explain.

Hey, happy April Fools Day! No special post for today...uninspired and lazy! Plus nobody would believe anything I wrote today anyway. The tip is for real!