AU 2011 - Let the Frenzy Begin

Autodesk University 2011 registration is now open!  I am registered and ready to go.  From what I hear classes are filling up fast.  Lynn Allen twittered yesterday that over 1200 had signed up after the first few hours aftter registration had open.  Here is the link to register for the event.

Autodesk University 2011

I will be presenting again this year.  This year I am co-presenting with Rabi Sidawi , a co-worker of mine at Applied Software.  I am excited about the class we have put together.  It will focus on working with Systems inside of Revit Architecture.  We will look at how Revit has both the Uniformat and the Master-Format Assembly codes built into the program and how users can take advantage of using them in all phases of the project.  Here are the details on our class:

Class ID: AB2485


Title: All Systems Go with Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2012

Description: Asking an architect to create systems inside of Revit is like asking him or her to speak a foreign language. BIM encompasses the whole building into the design process, so why do we still think about and process our designs one element at a time? Design intent, code constraints, functional requirements, and aesthetic proportions are some of the factors contributing to the building systems hierarchy integration and performance. Creating systems is an everyday task for MEP engineers when modeling inside of Revit MEP. Just like MEP systems, architectural and structural systems are now more interconnected than ever before. Curtain systems, beam systems, and furniture systems are few examples of building systems that capture design intent and streamline productivity. This class is an in-depth quest for order, systems hierarchy integration, and efficiency in a design environment. As BIM continues to evolve, we need to evolve our thinking process and begin designing with systems as opposed to single elements.

My New Toy.... umm I mean Tool!

Emerging trends in the AEC world indicats that mobile devices are taking over. Well, I recently became part of the numbers and purchased my first iPad. I have to say that I am impressed with this device. I was not exactly sure how I would use the iPad, and I am still trying to figure it all out, but I have found some cool apps and thought I would wipe the dust off of my blog and share some of my favorite AEC related apps that I have found for the iPad.

Apps by Autodesk


Autocad WS - (FREE) View, Edit, and Share your AutoCAD files on your iPad.










SketchBook Express - (FREE) A fun and intuitive drawing application. Use professional-grade tools and brushes to create doodles, quick sketches or artwork on-the go.









Inventor Publisher Mobile Viewer - (FREE) Allows you to interactively view animated 3D assembly instructions created with Inventor Publisher.









Bluestreak - (FREE) Lets users of Project Bluestreak easily collaborate with their AEC project teams from anywhere.







Buzzsaw - (FREE) Lets Buzzsaw users securely access AEC project documents and designs from anywhere.








Fluid FX - ($0.99) A special effects photo editing application that brings the fun and excitement of Hollywood visual effects to your iPad.













Time FX - (FREE) An amazing sculptural fluid dynamic alarm clock.








TinkerBox - (FREE) A fun, free-to-play physics puzzle game. While it is full of interesting science facts and teaches basic engineering concepts, TinkerBox is more than just educational!





Non-Autodesk Apps





McDwiff - ($6.99) Lets you open and view DWF and DWFx files on your iPad.






goBIM - ($5.99) Allows you to view BIM models on your iPad. Using a goBIM exporter for your favorite BIM application, you can now create a .gbz file. Load the model through iTunes file sharing or post the file onto a web server and you have your models whenever, wherever you want them. Currently works with Revit 2011 not Revit 2012.




I am interested in what apps others have found that are AEC related. This list is by no means complete, so feel free to comment to add your favorite apps to the list.

Revit MEP Pipe Rise/Drop Symbols

I recently had a support call asking about piping rise/drop symbols in Revit MEP. I thought I would share to help explain why Revit MEP shows a rise symbol versus the drop symbol.

First of all, users can change the desired symbol to be used in the Piping Setting dialog box. The defaults are set to a closed circle for rises and a 3/4 circle with a line for drops.

When drawing Pipe, Revit MEP looks at the View Range, the Level Heights, and the height of the pipe to know what to show. If the pipe is drawn between the bottom and the top of the view range, the pipe will show a drop symbol. If the pipe is drawn through the top range, the pipe will show a rise symbol.

You will need to verify what the height of the levels are and the height of the pipe, and then set your top range to be below the upper pipe to show the riser symbol.

A Plan Region can also be used to allow you to have a different View Range around a particular pipe.

Hope this helps clear up the rise versus drop debate.

Mike

Applied Software

I am excited to announce that as of 9/23/2010 I will be employeed at Applied Software. The move to Applied Software will enable me to continue to serve my customers in the TN, GA, AL, and MS regions as well as expanding my area to cover NC and SC. Applied Software has been providing solutions to the Commercial marketplace for more than 25 years.

AU Registration - Decisions, Decisions...

AU 2010 registration is open. Go get the good classes while you can!

I am all registered. It was difficult selecting my classes to attend. Three are a lot of great ones.

If you can not decide on a classes for the Wednesday 1:30 time slot, look for mine.

Here We Go Again... AU 2010!

Just got my acceptance email notifying me that I will be presenting once again at AU 2010! My proposal was one of 747 that were selected out of 3,100 proposals. Looking forward to AU 2010!

Look for registration to begin in late August, and of course look for my class.

Webcast of my What's New in Revit MEP 2011

Revit MEP 2011 is loaded with new features. Check it out by watching my recorded webcast.

Enjoy!

What's New in Revit MEP 2011

Using Filters to Hatch Duct in Revit MEP

I was asked today by one of my customers, "What is the easiest way to hatch duct work in Revit MEP to indicate which duct work has been installed on a project." There are several ways this could be accomplished. You could simply use the Filled Region to manually hatch the duct work. This is simple, but is tedious and time consuming.

Method 2 would be to use Phases inside of Revit MEP. You could set up some phases and change the graphics of the phases to indicate the hatching. This is easy enough, but almost an over kill.

The method I ended up recommending is to just use View Filters. You can simply create a new filter and change the graphics of the filter to have the hatch pattern.

I created a short video to share with my customer and thought it might be helpful for others.

Enjoy!

What's New in Revit Architecture 2011 Webcast

Here is a link to view the recording of my What's New in Revit Architecture 2011 webcast.

What's New in Revit Architecture 2011

Enjoy!

Release Day for Revit

You can now download the 2011 version of Revit from your subscription site. Get it while it is hot.

Also, don't forget to look at the Subscription Product Enhancements that are available to download.

Inside the Revit Extensions are a couple of new tools. One for converting parameters to Shared Parameters, and one to work with Land XML files on roads and bridges. I have not had a chance to play with either, but they sound promising.

Have Fun!

Revised #1 New Feature in Revit 2011

I know that I listed a tie between my favorite new features in Revit 2011, but I am bumping both of those for another new feature. This one is not that much of a 'wow factor,' but I think it will save time and make documenting your project so much easier.

What is this new found love?

It is the ability to locate tag placement while Tagging By Category. In previous releases, when tags were placed, you either could choose for it to draw a leader to the tag or accept the default location (which was usually right, smack in the middle of the item you were trying to tag). Then you had the tedious process of moving all the tags to a place where they were actually readable. With Revit 2011, when you choose to tag by category, Revit gives you the opportunity to move the tag right after placing the item, before picking the next item to tag. Revit does this without ending the command so you can continue placing tags on additional items.

I believe this will save time and allow users to place tags in the appropriate location so they are all readable. Even with this nice new feature, there is always room for improvement. It would have been nice for Revit to remember where you have place the tag in adjacency to the item being tagged, and automatically put the next tag in the same place for the next item. Oh well, maybe in 2012?

Below is a quick video showing how this works.

Revit Architecture 2011 - My Favorite New Features!

Revit Architecture 2011 has many new features. Here are my favorite top 5 new features:

#5 - Sun Path Simulation
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 enables you to simulate the sun path, in order to better understand the impact of the sun in relation to your project and its surrounding context. The sun path is a visual representation of the sun's range of movement across the sky at the geographic location you specify for a project. The sun path displays in the context of your project and includes on-screen controls for positioning the sun at any point within its range of movement.

Along with this you can set the sun settings where changes have been made to how you select your project location. Included in the location dialog is a Google Map interface where you can search for your exact location.

#4 - Realistic View Style

Realistic is a shaded view with ‘live’ rendered materials and textures, including decals. It offers the ability to have a working view that looks almost like a rendering.

As part of the Graphic Display Options, Revit Architecture now offers an option to use Ambient Lighting (or Ambient Occlusion) in 3d views. Ambient occlusion approximates the way light radiates in real life, especially off what are normally considered non-reflective surfaces.

#3 - Sheet Place Holders

Sheets Lists can now include placeholder sheet rows for sheets that have not yet been created or will never be created in your project, for example, consultants’ sheets. Placeholder sheets can be converted to actual sheets in the project and this conversion can be done as a batch operation.

#2 - Temporary Dimension Improvements

You now have the ability to control temporary dimension font size and background display (transparent or opaque). Additionally, if temporary dimensions are moved to specific reference elements in the project, those references will be maintained throughout your working session.

And the #1 new feature...

A TIE between Floating Properties Palette and Custom Elevation Tags!

The new Properties Palette is “modeless,” so you have constant access to both view and element properties, without having to interrupt your design workflow. The new palette is dockable, resizable and supports multiple monitor configurations.

Elevation tags are now fully customizable and can be designed based on your company standards. They can contain any graphics you want and can align to any number of orientations necessary for your project.

What's New in Revit Architecture 2010 Recording

If you missed my recent webcast of What's New in Revit Architecture 2010, here is a link to the recording of my webcast. The recording is a little over an hour long.

http://209.16.228.54/webcast/WhatsNewInRevitArchitecture2010.swf

Enjoy!

Space Enhancements in Revit MEP 2010

Revit MEP 2010 has many new features. Here are just a couple when working with Spaces.

Spaces have been enhanced in two major areas. First the ability to create spaces has been improved with the addition of the Place Space Automatically tool. This will allow users to place all the spaces for the entire model with a single click. This is a huge time saver for creating spaces.

The new Place Space Automatically tool.

The second enhancement to spaces is found in the properties. The properties have been improved to give us the ability to further define the space type. The space type has been expanded to include Energy analysis settings. These include the ability to specify an Occupancy Schedule, Lighting Schedule, and Power Schedule. These schedules will dictate usage percentage factors. If the proposed building will be primarily used between the hours of 8:00-5:00, these can be specified and taken into account in analysis.

A custom Occupancy Schedule for a Space type with the hours set for the warehouse hours.

I will try to blog about more new features in Revit MEP 2010 soon.

Cool New Stuff in Revit Architecture 2010

It's that time of year again! Time to gear up for the new release of the Autdesk products. Revit Architecture 2010 has some nice new features. Here are some of my favorites that have not gotten much publicity. Enjoy!

1. Export Building Site Tool - This is a great addition to allow you to export your building site and model to your Civil engineer. It grabs the site, model, building footprint, property lines, and UTILITY Connections and groups them into a new .adsk file format. I especially love the ability to show the Civil engineer where the utility connections are located. Not only that, if they are using Civil 3D 2010, they can actually connect their pipes to our connections.



2. The Press & Drag check box on the bottom right corner of the screen. I have always hated how easy it was to accidentally pick and move something inside of Revit without meaning to. Now you can uncheck this check box and you have to first pick the item you want to move before you can move it. This will make my life so much easier!


3. The ability to include sheet revisions in a Drawing List. We are no longer limited to just showing revisions on the titleblocks. We now have the ability to add the Current Revision and Current Revision Description to a Drawing List.


4. The ability to label slopes. This was high on my wish list. I now can call out the slopes on my roofs and floors.


Those are my top 4 non-publicized new features inside of Revit Architecture 2010. More to come soon!

Seeing Things Above

Revit has some great tools to help us view a model from many different positions. We can have plans, ceiling plans, elevations, sections, 3d views or 3d sections. This enables us to view what we want when we want to see it.

I get lots of questions concerning the View Range in the View Properties. The View Range will allow you to change your Cut Plane and set your upper and lower limits. This is very helpful, but you need to understand one key rule: Revit will not actually show an item unless the view is cutting through that item.

A floor plan is typically a plan that is looking down and is cut by default 4'-6" above the level line. This means that a light fixture that is 8'-0" above the level line is not being cut by the cut line, which means that the light fixture will not be seen in the floor plan. One of the most common questions I get is "how do I get Revit to show the something on the ceiling on a floor plan?"

Here is a quick fix to be able to show light fixtures in your floor plan. Simply open the light fixture in the Family Editor, and draw a WHITE Model line from the fixture to the level line. This will cause the cutline to cut through the white model line and then show up on the floor plan. It should be white so it will not show up on the screen or on a plot.

To create the Model line, it works best to draw it in an elevation view. Once it is drawn you will need to create a new subcatagory in the Object Styles under Light Fixtures and assign that catagory to use a white line.

Then you will need to change the line to be assigned to the new sub catagory.

Load the light fixture back into your project and your light fixture now shows up in the floor plan. You may also want to override the graphics of the linework for the light fixture in the floor plan to be a hidden or dashed line.

This is a quick and easy way to show items above that are not being cut by the cut plane.

Using Schedule Keys in Revit

I have found that one of the most unknown parts of Revit is creating schedule keys. I think creating schedule keys are a great way to promote standards, and provide the information you need on your schedules.

Schedule Keys are nothing more than a schedule of keys that you can use in other schedules. They are associated to a particular catagory and create a paramater for that catagory that can be used in schedules. There are many instances where these could be beneficial. I will give one example to show you how you can begin to use them in your projects.

Let's say you want to create a typical room finish schedule, but it is early on and you are not sure what the actual finishes will be. You do know what the finish material will be but not the actual color or manufacturer. For example, you want to call out CPT-1, or TILE-1 to call out the material as carpet or tile, but you do not know the particular carpet or tile. I am able to create a schedule key for the types of materials and apply them to my room finish schedule, and fill what the actual keys refer to when that information is known.

Let's begin by creating the schedule key.

I begin by starting a new Schedule by clicking on Schedule/Quanity from the View tab on the Design Bar. I select Rooms as my catagory since I am creating a key for the room finish. I then select to create a Schedule Key as opposed to a Building Component type of schedule. I also fill in the Key Name as Floor Finish. This is the name of the new parameter that will be added to rooms. I select OK to go to the next step.

In the Schedule Properties - Fields Tab, the Key Name is added automatically to the Scheduled Fields column. I need to add one additional field for the manufacturer of the finish. I do this by clicking on Add Parameter and fill in the name Floor Manufacturer.

The Key Name and the Floor Manufacturer are the only fields that are needed for the schedule key. Select OK to close the dialog box and to open the schedule key view.

In the schedule key view, you can add new Key Names by clicking the NEW icon on the Options Bar. Create the common finishes that you typically use. Others can be added later, and the manufacturer information can be added at a latter time.

Now when you either go to a Room properties or create a Room Finish Schedule, the Floor Finish key parameter will be listed. You can select what type of floor finish by using the drop down arrow to list the keys that were created in the Schedule Key.

The schedule key can be created in your standard Revit template file and the information can be filled in as it is known. This will create a standard list of finish names to be used in your office.

Schedule Keys are the key to creating consistancy and standards in Revit.

AU Customer Appreciation Mixer

Autodesk University is almost here! I am gearing up for a jam packed week of classes and events. My schedule is crazy this year. I am not sure when I will have a chance to rest, but it will be worth it (I think.)

I will be teaching 3 classes, and assisting as a lab assistant for 2 labs plus attending sessions on Revit and Construction.

Looking at the schedule, it appears that my nights will be just as busy... and I am not the party animal if you do not know me very well.

If you are an Alacad customer, I want to personally invite you to attend a special Customer Appreciation Mixer. Alacad wants to say Thank You for being our customer by hosting a mixer on Monday night at the V Bar from 7:00-8:00. Shoot me an email to ensure that you have your ticket to join us. You must have a ticket to attend.

I am looking forward to meeting many of you that are attending. Find me if you can in the sea of 10,000 attendees. See ya in Vegas!

Enhancing Elevations in Revit

Creating elevations in Revit are as simple as placing a callout. Enhancing the elevations once they are created is another task. Tools like the Linework, Split Face, and Paint help us enhance the elevations. The Linework tool will allow us to change the lineweight of any line in the view, or set it to be invisible if we do not want to see it.

The Split Face and the Paint tools allow us to split the surface of a wall and apply a different material to that portion of the wall.


These tools are great, but there is nothing built in the program to vary the lineweight automatically based on the depth of view. It would be nice for Revit to allow us to set some depth distances to automatically switch lines that are in the forground to be thick and the lines in the distance to be thin. Maybe some day we will have that.

Another tool that I find handy that few people know about is the Silhouette Edge setting. This setting will allow you to beef up the lineweight of the silhouette edge. This setting is found in the Advance Model Graphics Settings dialog box.

Inside the Advance Model Graphics Settings dialog box you can set the silhouette edges to any linetype you have in your project. This will automatically apply this linetype to the outside edges of your view.

Here is a before and after view with the Silhouette Edges changed to Medium Lines.

Silhouette Edge set to None

Silhouette Edges set to Medium

This should give you a head start on enhancing your elevations. You can still use the Linework tool with the Silhouette Edges turned on.

CADD Camp and AU

For those that are in the Alabama area, do not miss out on this year's CADD Camp in Birmingham on September 30!

We will be hosting a full day of training on Revit. I will also be presenting the basics of NavisWorks during lunch.

Check out the course offerings and sign up at:

http://www.augievents.com/Birmingham/tabid/432/language/en-US/Default.aspx.

This will be like a mini-one-day Autodesk University.

If you are fortunate enough to attend this year's Autodesk Unversity, check out the three classes that I will be presenting.

• AB110-6 AutoCAD® Architecture: Making Spaces Work For You!
• CV310-4 From Dirt to Doors: Making AutoCAD® Civil 3D® and Revit® Architecture Work Together In Harmony
• AB404-3 From the Existing to the Beyond with Revit® Design Options and Phases

These are both great opportunities, don't miss out!