New Build Available for Revit Architecture 2008

A little slow to write this, sorry. A new build (20070524_1700) was posted on Friday. Here's is what the Autodesk site says about this build.

This build, (20070524_1700), addresses issues related to:

• For a selected Line, Hide Category in View affects all Categories of Lines.
• Some Detail, Plan, or Section Callouts are erroneously hidden in cropped views.
• Masking Regions in Tag Families do not obscure elements in project and in exports.
• Filled Regions containing Solid Fills, which are overridden to be Transparent, print inconsistently between Vector and Raster modes.
• Instability with Overlay Planes turned off in Graphics Settings.
• Some Crop Regions are not visible in Views in upgraded files and templates.
• Display problems in a View when zooming with OpenGL® hardware acceleration turned on.
• Copying nested links from the Project Browser places only the Link and not its nested components.
• Elements do not refresh in views when deselected.
• Product Registration for multiple products in Subscription returns “Invalid Serial Number.”

DOWNLOAD FROM HERE (choose language)

No new builds for Revit Structure or MEP at this time but keep an eye out for them, shouldn't be far behind I imagine.

Decoding the build info: Year,Month,Day,Hour(24 hour clock)

DWG Import/Export Crashes Revit

Focused on Revit Structure but I imagine just as relevant for the other versions, just a copy of what was posted at the BIM & BEAM blog: Here's the text of their post, be sure to check out the rest of the blog.

We had several users reporting crashes when they import or export dwg files with Revit Structure 2008 for the following build numbers:

DVD Build is: 20070324_1700
Web Build is: 20070404_1700

We did some investigation and we found out that the reason was related to the presence of an old version of DWG TrueView on the computer.

In order to so fix this issue, you need to uninstall DWG TrueView and upgrade it to the latest free version available at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/mform?siteID=123112&id=9078813 . After the upgrade of DWG TrueView, RST2008 should be able to import/export DWG files properly.

Nicolas

When I says Mass I Means Mass

Said with "Popeye the Sailorman's" voice...

When a savy ADT user starts using Revit they can get into trouble quick when they start getting comfortable by applying the ADT concept of "Mass" to Revit's concept of "Mass". The equivalent terminology for Mass/ADT is Generic Model/Revit. When you use the Mass category for a piece of furniture you are creating trouble for yourself. Revit expects you to use the family category "furniture" for that.

What kind of trouble? You can't schedule them as furniture, you can't change them to furniture, you can't turn off massing because you "need" it visible because you made "furniture" using Massing...get the idea?

When you create a curvy swoopy wall, don't "lean" toward mass, lean toward an In-Place Wall family. Now experienced users are thinking, "But Steve, I can use Massing to create the shape I need and then apply a wall to that!"

YES, THAT is what Revit's use of the term "Mass" is intended for. Mass or Massing in Revit is meant to describe what the terms are used for in the context of architecture, building form, not arbitrary discreet pieces or parts. Revit has lots of pre-defined categories for those and for those that don't fit into one of them we have Generic Model and Specialty Equipment. As a means to describe the "broad brush" building form a Mass Element can host Walls, Floors, Roofs and Curtain Systems. Here's a quick example I did in the past that just shows massing and floor slabs, well...a helicopter and a couple cars too...



The above represents a building that is 945K+ SF, mocked up in about 15 minutes, nothing serious, just playing around.

Here is another little example I played around with on a plane ride the other night.


I was thinking of a medium size design firm in a semi urban setting where the executives would park beneath the building. The patterns are just material/surface patterns assigned to the massing. Good old shadows make it "nice"

One more for the road...this is three curtain wall systems applied to massing that describes curving surfaces in plan, elevation and section so that it has a slight "beer" belly. The massing is off in the view leaving behind just the curtain systems. I was sloppy because I didn't take care to align the curtain grids/mullions but then we did this on a short break between "real teechin"...a good old "Can Revit do X" question.


Elements created using the Mass category cannot be changed to other categories. This is because of the hard-wired behavior Revit assigns to elements using this category. If you make in-place "walls" and choose the Mass category instead of the "Wall" category you are headed for pain and re-work..."you know who you are"...sorry, I warned you didn't I?

If you haven't explored Revit's Massing tools, take a look at the help documentation to get a sense of its purpose and capabilities.



Then try it out!!

Network Licensing and Revit xxx 2008

A little reminder. If you are upgrading to the latest release you must also upgrade the FlexLM software that manages your licensing. The required version is supplied on the DVD that you receive from Autodesk. The current version required is 11.4.0.0 and Revit will not work with earlier versions. If you don't upgrade it first, frustration will ensue! Good Luck!

Here's a link to the license manager if you can't find it

Dept. of Subtle - User Interface

Three subtle improvements were made in the Revit 2008 line that I'd like to point out on the off chance you haven't noticed them.

First is the repositioning and naming of the Right Click menu item Properties. It is not called Element Properties and positioned at the bottom of the Right Click menu, right next to View Properties. Every class I've ever taught had a least one user click View Properties instead of Properties even if I warned them first. I joke that "View" isn't a verb, as in, "yeah, I want to view the properties!". Now that it is repositioned I'm sure it will confound "old timers" for awhile but I think it is for the better or at least clearer what they are for. Here's a screen capture.

Next up is the Design Bar More Tools >> feature that permits you to access the tools that have been buried beneath other tabs when your PC/Notebook display resolution "runs" out of space to show them all. This button presents a small flyout that contains the hidden tools so you can still get to them without resorting to using the modelling menu "all the way" at the top of the interface. I always imagined a scroll bar to resolve this but this works too. Here's a screen capture.

Last is the additional feedback offered on the Status Bar as various operations take place. Reloading a link, saving to central, opening a file and other lengthy processes will display a progress bar and information to the left of the bar so it is clearer what is happening. You'll have to pay close attention to catch it though. I tried a few different things to catch a screen image of the feature and I couldn't time it just right so you'll have to just watch for it next time!

I think this release is a pretty solid one and it grows on you fast, a day or so and you don't want to use that "old" 9.1 again.

The Freshman

Lately I've been using the stages of development that schools use, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior to discuss the various levels of knowledge required of users to be successful making content for Revit.

For example a Freshman can work productively all day long if the things they need exist in the project template or are available in the content libraries. As soon as something doesn't exist they need to graduate into another level or ask someone who is at a higher level for help. Which level that is will depend on how hard it is to make what they need.

A firm can be quite successful with a majority of Freshman if they have one Senior. They can even be successful without a Senior for quite some time if they sought help to establish a solid library and well defined template(s), assuming the stock content isn't enough or completely acceptable.

Here are some reasonable expectations for each level of development.

Freshman
This person will routinely place, find, load and when needed, modify existing content to create additional types using existing parameters. They can add information to a family so schedules report the information they need. They will come calling when they need something they can’t find or if a parameter they need doesn't exist in a family.

Sophomore
This level requires the ability to create annotation and symbol content to support a firm’s documentation standards. This is either done based on existing content or from scratch. Additionally they should be able to make basic content that is made from scratch and may not require parametric flexibility. This can be done as 2d/3d objects at the simplest level of graphic representation or at least enough to create a placeholder until a more sophisticated element is prepared. They should also be able to modify existing content to include basic features that do not exist, such as additional information needed for scheduling. This also assumes that the geometry is already present but just needs slight modification.

Junior
This person is capable of planning for the behavior of flexible content and creating new content using templates. These families are parametric in at least a couple dimensions to provide modest flexibility and control, for example common windows, doors, furniture and casework. They also understand how to provide additional parameters to make scheduling and tagging content more effective. They understand how to take advantage of visibility controls to manage documentation and graphic quality.

Senior
This person completely understands how to model difficult geometry and effectively assemble complex content. They are able to discern the best strategy to deliver graphical quality as well as information for scheduling. They know how to get the information from staff that they will need to provide content with the least amount of rework. They can also mentor or guide the other staff as they become more accomplished and try to advance to higher levels.

Disclaimer Section
This isn't a "one size fits all" observation but in general I find it to "fit" in most of the places I've been. People and their personalities certainly factor in. The Senior isn't always the most patient person or the most capable at communicating to others. In some cases they may resist sharing their knowledge for a variety of reasons.

What is the secret to becoming a Senior? Work...make families, do the tutorials, read/ask questions at AUGI/Revit City/Autodesk NG's/blogs and get training either by hiring a consultant, attending a reseller's class and/or attend Autodesk University. One or more of these can fit your budget.

Last, this can apply to Revit overall too, a freshman can be quite productive when they know how to do the basic things they need to do. Revit is pretty simple when you tackle one feature at a time. It can be a bit daunting when you try to wrap your arms around it all at one time.

Here's to becoming a Senior!

Dependant Views and Hide in View - Elements

The new feature (Revit 2008 products) Duplicate View > Dependant Views is intended to provide an exact copy of the parent view but allow you to crop the view differently making it easier to document in an overall view but show partial plans on sheets. This makes it simpler to manage annotation and avoid the copy/paste process of putting annotation in various duplicate views.


Take care when you use the new feature (Revit 2008 products) Hide in View however.

If you use this feature either in a parent view or a dependant view the hidden element is only hidden in the view you do it in. The other view(s) are not affected. In my opinion, this is not consistant with the implied behavior of parent/dependant views. I believe that when we hide an element in a parent view, the dependant views should also have that element hidden. The view specific behavior should be limited to non-dependant views. As it is now, remember we must un-hide/hide this element in each view.

New Blog - Revit Structure

Autodesk staff Nicolas Mangon and Wai Chu have started an official Autodesk Blog for Revit Structure called BIM & BEAM. Thanks!

Let me take this opportunity to apply a little pressure for one dedicated to Revit Architecture and MEP. Over a year ago I suggested to Phil Read that he do one called "Do This Right Quick" based on his hilarious and entertaining segment (at AU 2005) of one of his Revit classes. He demurred at the time...maybe with more pressure? He does a little bit of traveling but no more than Lynn and she manages to get a blog out 8-)!

Check it out!

A Proposal - Design Bar Tabs

A fairly common request is for a way to reduce the cluttered list of component types we get presented when we use the Component tool. I suggest that on a new component design bar tab that we have a category specific component tool for each category of the following component families:

• Casework
• Entourage
• Furniture
• Furniture System
• Generic Component
• Planting
• Site
• Specialty Equipment
• Sustainable Design

If a tool exists for a category under another tab I didn’t add it to this list, such as column, site and parking. I don’t know how deserving Sustainable Design is of its own tool or folder since each component in that folder could easily belong to an existing category. Seems that this folder is catering to a specific design issue than a feature.

While I’m at it I’d like to see our own Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing tabs to place those categories of components as well, even if it is only for placing those components along with a few drafting tools like dimensions and tags. I’m hoping we get some architectural process tools for each discipline so our overlap and redundancy will be reduced as we moved forward on the BIM path.

If we get a separate component tab one assumes that each tool will filter the list of the types offered in the type selector to only those of that tool’s category. Of all the things that we want Revit to do this seems like it might be a pretty minor task to accomplish.

It might look like this?

Workset Terminology - Quick Reference

Concept - Workset(s) - A feature that allows Revit to manage simultaneous multi-user access to a project's elements.

Workset Types:
User-Created Workset: A grouping of model elements that we create and manage.
Family Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each family definition in the project. Not for each individual door but for each kind of door loaded in the project.
Project Standard Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each project standard feature such as dimensions, linestyles, fill patterns etc.
View Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each view that is part of a project.

Workset Interaction is primarily limited to User Created Worksets. Family, Project Standard and View worksets are managed entirely by Revit. Users need only decide which User Created Workset to establish in the project and assign model elements to. Family, Project Standard and View worksets are only engaged when the user alters a property of an element that belongs to one of them. In this case Revit lends that Workset definition to the user and the User returns it when they use Synchronize with Central combined with relinquishing the relevant workset(s).

File Features/Actions:
Central File: A Revit file that has had worksets enabled.
Local File: A copy of a Central File that a user works in.
Synchronize with Central (SWC): The action of saving work (pushing) completed in a local file to the central file and loading (pulling) work completed by others via SWC. Your changes are now available for others to see.
Save Local: Saving work within your local file. Changes are not visible to others until you Save to Central.
Reload Latest: A command that will load (pull) and display any changes that others have submitted using Synchronize with Central.

Ownership/Borrowing:
Owner: To possess an entire Workset(s) that elements are assigned to and thereby preventing anyone else from making changes to it or any elements assigned to that workset.
Borrower: To possess individual element(s) that is/are part of a Workset, not the Workset itself.
Editing Request: User can request to borrow elements from others. User can Grant/Deny request. Granting a request can only be done if no changes have been made to the element. SWC is required if changes are to be kept.
Make Elements Editable: Borrow just the selected element(s), like "borrowing a book".
Make Workset Editable: Borrow the entire Workset that an element belongs to as well as the element(s), like borrowing a book shelf.
Relinquish: To return the element(s) you have borrowed so that others may borrow them.
Editable: The element or workset belongs to you. You are free to make changes to them.
Non Editable: The element or workset does not belong to you. You can’t change it/them unless you borrow it/them.

Viewing/Interaction:
Active Workset: The workset that is displayed in the workset toolbar. New objects will become part of this workset automatically. Note this toolbar does not display the workset name of a selected object nor does it change the workset of a selected object if you choose another while objects are selected.
Open: The workset is loaded into memory and Revit will display it in all views according to visibility/graphic settings of each view.
Closed: The workset is not loaded and Revit will not display it or process it in memory and any views regardless of visibility/graphic settings of each view.
Gray Inactive Worksets: View setting that will make inactive worksets gray, lighter color, than the Active workset elements.

Maintenance/Special Features:
Compact Central File: This will condense the Revit database and result in a smaller file size. Similar to the concept of defragmenting your computer’s hard drive.
Detach From Central: This allows you to open a central file as a separate and file while severing its relationship to the original. It can never be syncronized with the original central file. Examples where this is useful are: Project Manager review or exploration, Plotting, Exporting, Troubleshooting and archiving. In each case this allows unfettered access to the project and does no harm to the active project. It also allows the project team to continue working while “snapshot” tasks like plotting, exporting or archiving are done.

[Amended April 1, 2010:] Replace prior to Revit 2010 language: Save to Central is now Synchronize with Central

Department of Quirky - Stair Sketch Failure in Workset Projects

When working in a Central or Local file you will find that you cannot finish a stair sketch if you sketch Risers first then Boundaries. This assumes you used the Riser and Boundary tools instead of the Run tool.

Strange but it makes no difference in a stand alone project but seems to matter a great deal in a central/local file. The workaround at this time is to sketch your stair Boundary completely first then add the Risers.

Here is the familiar error message dialog that you'll get if you sketch poorly.


Sketched poorly perhaps in some cases except that I have and several students have encountered this message while learning stair features and using worksets at the same time. At first we attributed the errors to basic sketch mistakes. Then we started to think maybe upgraded templates might fail to produce the stair. In the face of repeated tries as well as in brand new stock templates it became obvious that it was deeper than simple sketch mistakes or upgrade issues.

Revit support isolated the behavior to the order described above because they are accustomed to Boundaries first, Risers second and this process didn't generate the error. I'm not sure when this behavior crept into being but I know that it is present in Revit Building 8.1, 9.0 and 9.1, just tested it in those versions, so it has been with us for awhile. The image depicts a "U" stair but this issue will appear in any stair shape other than a single straight run, those will finish without error messages.

At the sign post ahead is "The Quirky Zone"...you've been warned! 8-) If you've encountered this at some point and thought you were crazy, you may be, just not about this!

New Names All Round

So the recent Buzz is that Revit has some new names for the next release.

Revit Building = Revit Architecture 2008
Revit Structure = Revit Structure 2008
Revit Systems = Revit MEP 2008

A few resellers broke the news as soon as their embargo was lifted. I'm sure we all are looking forward to learning more about the new releases!!

Fence Linestyle?

Revit doesn't allow us to create a line style that includes text as a symbol. Common uses for this are pipelines, fences, overhead electrical lines and many more. Revit’s repeating detail makes this somewhat doable if you create a detail component that has the symbol you need, not text though, you must draw the letter with lines. The line based detail component is another possibility. The thinking goes that we should use tags to identify things like pipe. Instead of drawing a line with HW embedded as a pattern we just apply a tag for the pipe system's abbreviation of HW. That doesn't really help for a fence though...

...and about a fence and mimicking a fence line style...an idea popped in my head, “What about a railing and baluster to do this?” We probably want a 3D fence anyway but what if we want the --X-----X-- in plan? At first I thought, “naah, can’t do it because you can’t create a baluster that gives you subcategories to manage visibility of parts”.

So I dismissed it until now. Then I thought, if you nest a detail component for the ---X--- and nested a generic model family for the baluster or fence portions you can assign each to visibility parameters that will give you control over each via visibility graphics under Generic Models and Detail Components. Ultimately we need the ---X--- with no rail visible in plan and the rails/baluster/panel in 3D with no ---X---.

It all comes down to what you really want but this is what I mocked up, messing around. Maybe the concept will spur some other ideas?


Hopefully they’ll just give us more options with line styles and it’ll be easy!

Download the sample File

Future Phases

Revit has four states relative to phases, New, Existing, Temporary and Demolished. There is no future state. What can you do if you want to indicate where the future phase work will be located?

Overlay views on sheets!

It is a simple matter to create a view whose phase is assigned to the Future phase and tell Revit through Phase Filters that you don’t want to see Existing, Temporary or Demolished elements. The building you draw in this future phase will look new. If you don’t want it to you can use visibility graphics overrides to make it look different or even much simpler.

As long as the scale of the views you need to overlay on the sheet are the same you’ll find that Revit will snap them into alignment. Here is a simplistic representation of all the phases on a sheet in two views overlaid.


This example is one that has a different overrides applied.


This is the Future phased view setup to put on a sheet.


If you look closely I've used the Linework tool to make a small wall that will be demolished between the New and Future work look like it is to be demolished.

Give er a try?

Autodesk University 2006 - Class Survey Results

I’ve held off writing anything about my AU 2006 experiences because I’ve been busy but also because I’ve been waiting for the class survey data to be compiled and distributed. I’m writing regarding the classes I presented.

As I wrote earlier, I presented two classes on the family editor, a lecture format and a lab format. AU management made arrangements to repeat the lab when the first filled up so quickly. This brought me to a total of three presentations. Overall my scores were very good. For those of you who attended my sessions and were pleased I am grateful and glad that they worked for you!

It would be easy to stop this article right here with the “thank you very much” but that is only one side of the story. I’m going dwell on the negative side of the story and I hope you fail to hear any excuses because I don’t want to utter a single one.

The survey results include the comments that are supplied on the bottom of each survey form. These comments vary from both ends of the spectrum, from completely negative to completely happy. I can honestly relate to each comment because as honest as each comment is they couldn’t compare to how brutally I picked apart my performance, you can ask my wife.

Naturally I’d like to focus on the positive remarks and feel good. Nevertheless, sometimes the truth hurts and every negative comment held truth that needs to be considered. As proof that I can trust “my gut” the lab I presented first felt wrong to me and sure enough the survey results were not as high as the second lab, which I retooled overnight before presenting the next morning. My apologies to the first lab! The second lab felt better but I was still dissatisfied. You can only fix so much overnight.

On the other hand the lecture felt good to me during and after but with such a large audience I knew there was no way I could really satisfy everyone. Sure enough there were some disappointed remarks.

In some cases the truth was probably simply a matter of wrong class, wrong student, mismatched agenda’s. In other cases it is a matter of approach or delivery, right idea, wrong message. For those who were not satisfied I am sorry, deeply so. I understand how much it means to take time away from family and work to attend AU and to be part of any dissatisfaction is hard to bear and certainly not intended.

The subject of content and the family editor is a deep subject and the last two years I’ve provided classes on the subject have been living proof that you can’t please everyone. At least not with one class or one level of experience in mind. Even if you think you’ve got it correct someone will come along and provide insight that you failed to consider.

I will encourage the next AU to provide a broader scope of training focused on the family editor. Ideally a beginning to end structure as the power track was intended to provide for the project side of Revit, a power track for the family editor if you will. Whether I’m a part of it or not is immaterial, that it happens, and that you are successful with Revit is important to me!

Thank you for attending and caring enough to share your thoughts so we can all strive make AU even better every year!! (and make me better too!)

White Pawn takes Black Knight

Recent newsgroup question, "How do I get white text over a black background?" Like this:


Here's how:


Use a filled region to create the black background then edit your text/labels.
[True for 2009 and previous]
Color: White
Background: Opaque.

Amended for for 2010
Color: RGB 251,251,251 (nearly white, RGB 254,254,254 is displayed "black")
Background: Transparent

That's it!

Caution if you export sheet views to dwg you'll need to adjust your pen table to plot the text correctly. If you assign the text on the titleblock to its own layer you can tell AutoCAD to plot them using the object color so the text will plot over the background hatch. There are probably other options as well.

Fillet This! - The Options Bar

In the "if t'were a snake itta bit ya" category the Options Bar appears often. The question asked, "Can I copy something multiple times?"...the answer, "the Options Bar".
Another, "Can I copy something when I rotate it?"...the answer...you get the idea.
The subject of this post is, "Where is the fillet command?" The answer..."the Options Bar, sort of". Trouble is that most everyone seems to think that the fillet command is an editing task. All those years in other software told em so!

Along comes Revit and they seem to view it as a creation tool. A fillet is creating a third element, a line or wall arc where nothing was before except two lines or walls meeting at a corner or maybe not even meeting. With this in mind the process to fillet between two walls or lines is a creation event and the command is hiding within the commands for both, wall or lines.

When you are sketching a wall/line you have to take a closer look at the options bar because there is a little innocent check box next to Fillet and a place to enter a radius value. Check it, enter a value and when you sketch you'll get an arc between the segments you draw. Like this box:


Now what if you have a box already and you really meant to have radius corners? Start the wall/line command again and this time take another look at the Options Bar. Click the little pull down arrow next to the sketch tools and look at the list offered. Choose the Fillet Arc option.


Now you can select the two walls/lines you want to fillet between and graphically decide where the arc should land or specify a radius on the Options Bar first.
When in doubt, take a good look at the Options Bar!

When is Revit...Not?

I stumbled across this interesting REVIT website this morning. Here is the text from their about page:

Within North-West Europe six partners have come together to improve regenerating their brownfield sites by sharing experience and developing new concepts and innovative approaches.

Revitalisation of brownfields
In every country and in almost every city of North-West Europe (NWE), there are brownfield areas that need to be revitalised in order to preserve or improve the quality of urban living conditions. The revitalisation of brownfields may enhance coherent urban development, but can also create new employment and stimulate the local economy. Ultimately revitalising brownfields for a variety of future utilisation preserves new building land and makes cities aware of that value.

Six partner areas
The approaches to regenerate brownfield sites in North-West Europe are manifold and differ due to the specific national legislation and administrative instruments or the local economic situation in the different partners' areas.
Nevertheless, the six partner areas involved in the REVIT project confront problems in the context of brownfield regeneration that are in essence very similar and need to be tackled more effectively by improved co-operation within the NWE region.

New approaches
Until August 2007 the transnational working teams will develop new approaches for different aspects of brownfield regeneration. To ensure the practical realisability of the new approaches the teams will be testing the new tools in each partner area before publishing final guidelines and recommendations.

Good thing I didn't try to attend the conference they held back in 2004, titled "Revit Conference". Would have been surprised they weren't talking at all about the software!

Fixed "Map" Grid Overlay

Got a call from a friend today describing a situation he was sorting through. He needs a gridwork to overlay on his project that defines the project much like a map defines each grid cell by the letter on the vertical and horizontal borders. Just like the National Cadd Standard Uniform Drawing System (NCS/UDS) suggests for our sheets. In this case the project is so large that they want this grid to help find parts of the project. So this grid needs to appear in all views possible automatically.

The obvious issue with just using Revit grids in the project itself is that they compete with "real" grids for structural steel etc. The answer? We came up with nesting a separate Revit project with the grid layout. Guess we'll see how well it works as it goes forward. The grid below is a mockup and each square is 150 ft. x 150 ft.


The catch? Since you probably want grid cell labels you need to set up a view for each scale so you can add some text in between each grid. So for each scale view that you need to see the grid in the host project, you create a view and annotation for it. Then in the host file you override the visibility graphics for each view to assign the correct scale view.

Revit User's Residential Example Project - Diary

Robert A. van het Hof, Assoc. AIA created this SITE as an example for a computer user group that was discussing 3D modelling software. Let him know what you think. He says on the site that it is a temporary web site so I don't know how long it will exist, check it out! Here's one of the images he posted: