Revit 2010 – Great Parametric Forms Tutorial at HOK BIM Solutions
Hey All. I just went through this tutorial over at the HOK BIM Solutions blog on how to create parametric forms within the conceptual mass environment of Revit Architecture 2010. Take a look:
http://hokbimsolutions.blogspot.com/2009/07/creating-parametric-forms-using-revit.html
Revit: Do You Proofread Your Prints Before You Show Them to Anyone? You should!
I’ve been doing something recently on my Revit project that I shouldn’t be doing. The fact that I do it actually reminded me of something I would do when I was in elementary school. I would have to write reports on various topics (two of which I have particularly fond memories were, “A Biography of Reggie Jackson,” and, “How the Television Works”) throughout the years and when I would finish writing, my parents would ask if I had proofread it. While my answer would be, “yes,” it was clearly not true.
Why am I telling you this, you might ask. Well, I have repeated this lack of proofreading when cutting sections of my Revit model. I’d cut it, quickly glance it over, fix any glaring errors, print them and show them to my project manager. While there were too many comments to list here, the majority of those comments were graphic-related. It wasn’t that I didn’t know that I was supposed to include those particular things in the drawing, it was that I was a little too anxious to get the it out.
Here’s the thing, while Revit might take your drawings 75% of the way, you still need to look them over. For example, when cutting a section, Revit will thicken the lines that represent the objects it touches. Often times, graphically, it looks better to fully fill those objects (ex. walls, floors, roofs, etc.) with black.
My point is, proofread your drawings before you show them to anyone. You’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation.
Can you think of any other examples of graphical techniques that Revit doesn’t quite do?
– Posted to CADuzer.com From My iPod Touch
Tags: BIM, Commentary, Revit
Have a Cup of Morning Revit…and don’t share it with anyone else!!
Sep 4, 2009 BIM, Customization, Revit
Hey All. As we prepare for the long Labor Day weekend, I had a thought: let’s stop selling Revit. I’ll be more specific: let’s stop “preaching” Revit. The different groups have been established and have pretty much dug their feet in. First we have the, “Early Adopters”. They’ve been using Revit since the Hoover Administration and bleed Revit purple (or dashed blue). Next, we have the, “Whatevers”. Their motto is, “You want us to use software package B now instead of software package A? OK. Whatever!” After them we have, “The Tryers”. These people recognize the benefits of it and are willing to try it. If they like it, they’ll not only continue to use it, but they’ll insist on using it for all of their projects. Finally, we have the, “Nay Sayers”. They don’t want to be bothered. They aren’t interested. To put it bluntly, they don’t care. From these people you’ll hear phrases like, “I don’t have the time,” or, “I’ve heard it takes too long to learn and use,” or, the one that gets my blood boiling the most, “I know Revit is a cool tool, but…”
As Ayn Rand once said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “I’m not here to convince you that this philosophy is the best one or is the one you must adopt. It is logical.” As James T. Kirk once said, “People can be very frightened of change.” (He also said, “What does God need with a starship,” but we won’t hold that against him because he also said, “FIRE!!” and “KHAN!!”). Anyway, the point is, do you think there’s anyone left who doesn’t know what Revit does or how perfectly suited for Architecture it is? Let’s move on to what it took us a long time to realize that AutoCAD needed: standards and best practices. Basically, what Revit needs to be pushed ahead is a better architecture firm framework within which to work and excel. Now, here’s the stimulus package-sized dollar amount question: Which of the previously mentioned groups are the best to do this? The answer is, “the Tryers”. They’re the ones who will adopt the software as time goes by and will tell the BIM Managers (who came out of the Early Adoptets group…you know who I am…I mean, you know who you are!), what features and standards they need. Their the ones who will develop the best practices simply by using the software everyday and participating in round tables and user group meetings. Also, they’re the ones who already work with the Nay Sayers, and know how to communicate with them best. Let’s face it, as Early Adopters (of which I am one), we tend to say phrases that sound to the Nay Sayers as, “You absolutely must use this! It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread! It can do anything and everything.” Clearly that’s not what we mean, but that is most definitely what they hear. Let’s try this phrase on for size, “You know what Revit does, I’m not going to try to sell you on it. Use it or don’t use it. And, if you decide you want to use it, I’m here to help.”
What do you think about this? Let me know.
– Posted to CADuzer.com From My iPod Touch (proof-read on my PC)
Tags: BIM, Commentary, Revit
Revit 2010: Think Long and Hard Before Linking Multiple Files Together
Sep 3, 2009 BIM, Commentary, Revit
Hey all. Here’s an update on my project. Within the first few hours of starting the project, I decided that since the were multiple parts to it (a site, four buildings, and walkways and courtyards which connect them all), I would separate them into 5 distinct Revit files. Specifically, the four building files would be linked into the site file. I actually started with a single file but thought that since not all of the levels were the same (ie. level 01 for one building was 110.5 meters while level 01 for another was 113 meters) it would be easier to keep them all separate. Well, that was a good idea for about two and a half weeks, which was when I had to do some serious printing of sheets. Trying to get the right things to show up on the right sheets was a bigger pain than I had originally anticipated. For example, I had to employ many work-arounds to get objects from a linked file to show as solid black where it was being cut by a section (and, yes, I did go into the “Visibility/Graphics” dialog box, overrode the, “by host view,” setting and set the cut pattern for those objects to black). Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. When it didn’t, I met my new best friend: Filled Region.
Another time I had to employ manual, almost AutoCAD-like, methods (oh yeah, I went there) was with grid lines and their associated bubbles. If the grid lines either didn’t show up or showed up on the wrong side of a linked file, I literally drew lines (with the “centerline” line style) and circles. I also created extra levels in the view so they would show up as I wanted them to. And, worst of all, all sheets were NOT in the main file (the site file), as I had originally intended. It was just easier to create them in each of the separate building files and link in, as overlays, the other building files (or even the site file in some cases) when they needed to show up. Of course the problem here would be that if I had over one hundred drawings (and it this case I didn’t), I’d have to open up each file individually to print the sheets located within it (which inevitably meant I had to keep an Excel chart of where each sheet was located).
Speaking of opening each file, often times there are problems with your model you might not notice until you cut a section or create an elevation. Therefore, I’d have to open each file each time I noticed a modeling problem in a section view where that particular file was not the actual one I was working in. You also get a bunch of errors when trying to open local files with linked in central files which might not be in their latest form because their local file counterparts hadn’t been saved to central (I’m sorry, synchronized to central) recently.
Anyway, yesterday I decided I had had enough and began the process of re-combining the separate files into a single file. I tried using the “Bind” feature to merge in all of the building files into the site file. For some reason this didn’t work (it appeared to bring in the file, but no actual objects showed up). So, instead, I very simply copied and pasted all of the objects in. I definitely ran into problems of the heights of things (ie. walls, columns, etc.), however, as I’ve been working it was easy enough to change their top constraints to the appropriate levels. Speaking of levels, specifically the fact that there would be multiple “level 01’s”, I made the names of those levels more specific. For example, I might have “Level 01 – BLDG A,” “Level 01 – BLDG B” and “Level 01 – BLDGs C, D & E”.
It should be noted that even after copying and pasting all of the files back into the site file, the entire model was only between 25 and 30 megabytes. Another project I know of, however, has 4 buildings and a site and is contained within a single file and is somewhere between 250 and 300 megabytes.
I think the practice of linking multiple Revit files into a single one is a very good idea. I also think, however, that careful consideration has to be made before doing it and a set of “Best Practices” needs to b established in order to avoid some of the pitfalls that I encountered
Id like to hear some of your stories regarding this topic. Let me know some of your Revit, linked model war stories.
– Posted to CADuzer.com From My iPod Touch (proof-read on my PC)
Tags: BIM, Commentary, Revit
First iPod Touch Post and a Revit 2010 Tip
Aug 25, 2009 BIM, Commentary, Revit
Hey All. I finally got the iPod Touch app, “Blogpress” working and I thought I’d post a little tip from my current Revit 2010-based project. Keep in mind that you don’t need to model every single possible thing. I came to a point where I was searching all over the Internet for a very specific toilet. I wasn’t going to be doing any renderings nor were there any elevations that would feature the toilet. I ended up making an in-place model, drew the 2D plan of the toilet with model lines, and then copied it all over the bathroom. I could even add parameters like manufacturer or anything else later on. Try it out!
– Posted to CADuzer.com From My iPod Touch
Tags: Commentary, Revit
UPDATE: Revit and 3D Connexion’s 3D Mice
Aug 23, 2009 Commentary, Revit
Hey All. A few days ago I posted about my desire for 3D Connexion’s 3D mice to work with Revit. The creator of Revit3D.com – BIMBoom Revitlution, Gregory Arkin responded with and update on this very issue:
On th3 3D Connexion issue, I’ve spoken to the Revit Project Manager and 3D Connexion directly. Below are my two blog posts and actions I’ve tried. I found out at AU last year that over 300 emails were sent to Autodesk and 3D Connexion demanding action. Bottom line from what I understand, the ball is in Autodesk’s court to do what’s needed for the mouse driver. I was hoping that 2010 would have solved the issue, but still no dice. Last year, the answer was that due to budgeting and resources, the mouse driver wasn’t a priority.
Did you know, Revit is the only major Autodesk product that’s not supported. Even AutoCAD Architecture can use the Space Mouse. I spoke to someone very high up on the development chain for Revit two weeks ago and still nothing’s being done to resolve the issue.
~Gregory
http://bimboom.blogspot.com/2008/09/update-on-3dconnexion-space-navigator.html
http://bimboom.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-dont-know-whos-to-blame-for-this-but.html
If anyone knows anything else or an Autodesk rep (or 3D Connexion) rep would like to comment, please let me know!
Tags: Commentary, Revit
A New Project…and a Revit 2010 Did You Know?!
Hey All. I’ve been assigned to a new project at my full time job (at SOM) and the decision about which software platform to use was left up to me. Needless to say, I chose Revit. The thought of doing a phase of a project (any phase for that matter) in AutoCAD gives me a headache. Anyway, without getting into any of the specifics of the project, it’s several small buildings on a university campus with a courtyard that runs, more or less, from one end to the other. I mention this to you because as I’m using Revit, and more specifically Revit Architecture 2010 (64-bit), I thought I would pass on some things I pick up as I ago. The first one is pretty simple and some of you might already know about it:
- If you want to orbit around a 3D view in Revit, you hold down the Shift key, push the middle-mouse button and move your mouse around. This causes the view to move around without anything in particular at its center. Well, did you know that if you select an object first and then go through the orbiting process above, Revit will orbit using that selected object as its center?
Speaking of orbiting in Revit, it would be really nice if the 3D mice from a company called 3D Connexion would support Revit. Truth be told, I think I heard that Autodesk wouldn’t release the Revit code to make this possible. Don’t quote me on that, but if anyone knows for sure, please let me know.
Revit 2010: To Set or Not to Set…the Reference Plane
Hey All. Here’s a very quick Revit 2010 tip concerning the Conceptual Mass. In this new feature of Revit, which puts you in an environment similar to the massing (or Building Maker) environment of 2009, you no longer need to click the Set button and then choose the reference plane on which you’d like to work. Simply pick the plane first, and then start creating whatever you’d like (including dimensions!).
Tags: Revit
Revit Architecture 2010: Grid Line Bubble Types
Hey All. I just got a question about grid lines and being able to choose where the bubble appears. By default, within the Element Properties dialog box of a 1/4″ grid bubble type, the Plan View Symbols End 1 (Default) is turned on while the Plan View Symbols End 2 (Default) is turned off. The user did want “End 1″ on for horizontal grid lines, but wanted “End 2″ on for vertical ones. He also wanted, however, to continue using the 1/4″ symbol. The following image shows what his plan looked like when he first created the grid lines:
I went through with him how to make a duplicate of the 1/4″ grid bubble type, change the setting and quickly apply it to the vertical grids. Here’s how:
1. Select one of the horizontal grid lines (the one whose bubbles are correct), right-click and click Element Properties.
2. Click the Edit Type button and, when the Type Properties dialog box appears, click the Rename button.
3. Add a “-H” to the end of the name so it looks like this: “1/4″ Bubble – H”. This will help keep it consistent with what we’ll name the changed vertical 1/4″ grid bubble type for the vertical grid lines.
4. Click OK and then, back in the Type Properties dialog box, click the Duplicate button.
5. Name the duplicate 1/4″ Bubble – V and click OK.
6. For whichever option of Plan View Symbols End 1 (Default) or Plan View Symbols End 2 (Default) is checked, uncheck it, and check the other.
7. Click OK and then OK.
8. Back within the workspace, select all of the vertical grid lines and click the Type Selector:
9. Select 1/4″ Bubble – V.
The vertical grid lines will now switch to the opposite end:
I’m sure there are other ways to do this. Anyone have any other ideas?
Tags: Revit
Pratt Class Updates
Jun 18, 2009 3DS MAX, AutoCAD, Commentary, Revit, latest
Take a look at the top-right of this page and you’ll notice a new section. It’s primarily for students who take my class at the Pratt Institute, Center for Continuing Education, but I’m happy to have anyone follow along if it might encourage you to sign up for my class for an upcoming semester. It describes what we’ll go over during our next class and also provides a link to a PDF of the latest version of the syllabus. While it’s too late to sign up for this semesters class, the class will occur again this fall. Click here to view the course description (you may need to click in the middle of the page after it loads to have it appear). Please let me know if you have any questions.
Tags: 3DS MAX, AutoCAD, Commentary, Revit
