Structural Revit Ninja ~ New Blog to add to your list

   Welcome to my blog. Notes, Tips and experiences from my daily use of Revit on commercial projects from a Structural perspective

I would like to welcome Ben May who is Technical Manager with an Australian Consulting Engineering Firm and a REVIC (Revit Users Group of Victoria) Committee member to the wonderful world of Blogging.

He started the Revit Ninja Blog on the 4th of September. His opening message says:-

"Welcome to my New Blog

After many thoughts of starting my own Revit blog finally I took the step

If you dont know me, I am currently working for a large Consulting Engineering firm in Melbourne, Australia. Managing an established team of 15 Revit Structural technicians working with a team of 30 design engineers on every project type imaginable including our first baby a $900million hospital which is now fully completed onsite. I am also spending some time helping out our MEP guys who are entering the next phase of their implementation process of Revit which is exciting times finally having a fully integrated building model to work with.

Some exciting things happening, new projects new experiences which I hope to share here on this blog

So back soon with some info on what is happening at the moment "

He has already posted some interesting and informative about his experiences, so add him to your list of Revit Bloggers and keep an eye on his blog..... I'm adding his blog to my watching list.

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Places to Find Revit Content ~ Great Link List on Chris Mounts Blog!

There has been a ongoing discussion thread on LinkedIn group Club Revit in which members have been sharing links to Revit content. Chris Mount has summarized, sorted and combined the contents into a more usable list and posted it on his blog.

It's a great little resource and worth checking out...... Enjoy
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ASCENT and Wiley to publish the Official Training Guides for Autodesk 2011 products!

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ASCENT and Wiley to publish the Official Training Guides for Autodesk 2011 products!


This is really good news, I was worried that Autodesk were not going to be producing paper training material in the future. I have such a collection of courseware from offical courses from Autodesk and they have always been such a good quality and an excellent resource.

Autodesk never created an Advanced Revit Courseware for 2010 so we didn't do the course. Currently with this new set up there still appears to be a gap for Revit Structure at Advanced Level and for some reason there is no Mastering Revit Structure 2011 currently listed on their web site for 2011.

Having bought the 2009 and 2010 version of Mastering, I can't believe there won't be one, I will have to ask one of the Authors and find out, then let you know.

Eighteen ASCENT Courseware Titles Designated Official Training Guides for the 2011 Autodesk Products .

Following is the list of 2011 titles by ASCENT that have been designated Autodesk Official Training Guides:

-- AutoCAD 2011 -- Advanced
-- AutoCAD 2011 -- Update for 2009 Users
-- AutoCAD 3D 2011 -- Drawing & Modeling
-- AutoCAD Architecture 2011 -- Advanced
-- AutoCAD Architecture 2011 -- Fundamentals
-- AutoCAD Electrical 2011 -- Fundamentals
-- AutoCAD LT 2011 -- Essentials
-- AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 -- Survey Fundamentals -- Field to Finish
-- Autodesk Inventor 2011 -- Advanced Assembly Modeling
-- Autodesk Inventor 2011 -- Advanced Part Modeling
-- Autodesk Inventor 2011 -- Sheet Metal Design
-- Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 -- BIM Management
-- Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 -- Collaboration Tools
-- Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 -- Conceptual Design
-- Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 -- Site and Structural Design
-- Autodesk Revit Structure 2011 -- Fundamentals
-- Autodesk Revit Structure 2011 -- Intermediate
-- Autodesk Vault 2011 -- Data Management for Inventor Users

John Wiley & Sons is one of two companies designated by Autodesk as a provider of Autodesk Official Training Guides for 2011 Autodesk Products. The Autodesk Official Training Guide brand ensures that books have been reviewed and recommended by Autodesk for both classroom training and self-paced learning.

For more information on all Sybex products please visit www.sybex.com. For all recent Wiley news, visit the Wiley press room at www.wiley.com/go/press and follow Wiley Tech on Twitter @WileyTech.

The Autodesk Official Training Guides and their availability dates are:

-- Introducing Autodesk Maya 2011 (Available)
-- Mastering AutoCAD and AutoCAD 2011* (May 2010)
-- AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD 2011: No Experience Required (June 2010)
-- Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011: No Experience Required (July 2010)
-- Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011* (July 2010)
-- Mastering 3ds Max Design 2011* (August 2010)
-- Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011* (August 2010)
-- Mastering Autodesk Inventor 2011* (August 2010)
-- Mastering Autodesk Maya 2011 (August 2010)
-- Mastering Autodesk Revit MEP 2011 (August 2010
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Revit Structure 2011 ~ Useful Links

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Revit Structure 2011 User Assistance – User Guide / Install Guide

Installation Guide / New features List (2011)

System Requirements (2011)

Product Brochure


Autodesk Revit Structure Services & Support

Download a Trial Version

Templates and Libraries (active for 2011)

Updates / Service Packs (2010)

Autodesk Design Review 2011

Analysis and Design Partners

Units Converter

Graphics Hardware (Video Card) List / FAQ / Report a Problem

Documentation

User Guide

Support Knowledge Base (2011)

Install and Licensing / Troubleshooting

Autodesk Revit Structure 2011 Training Video Tutorials


Autodesk Revit Structure Website

Product Trial / Features Videos / Modeling Enhancements

Product Trial

Features

Customer Showcase

How To Buy

Extensions for Revit 2010

Third Party Products

Partner Products and Services - CAD

Webcasts

Autodesk Revit Structure Resource Centre

Overview

Tutorials

FAQs

White Papers

Customer Stories
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Customer Involvement program CIP ~ Check out your system

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How do you compare to your peers?

The web page says: "The Autodesk Customer Involvement Program (CIP) gathers usage and system information from customers across the globe every day. In the charts and graphs below, we have selected 4 pieces of your system's information and compared them to the averages of other Autodesk software customers. This is a quick way to see how your hardware stacks up."

 
System - Screen Res - Video Ram - System ------------Click here to find out
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Good but still not a utility program to check out your system and Video Card...
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Extensions and Utilities for Revit 2011 subscription users

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I discovered this today and have downloaded all the extensions, and have just seen a posting on Revit Clinic announcing and detailing the extensions and utilities that are available for download from the subscription center for those customers on subscription support. http://www.autodesk.com/subscriptionlogin
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Revit Certified Graphics Hardware List now on Autodesk web site

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In my post of the 30th March about Revit 2011 Introduces Certified Graphics Hardware List and Utility I reported that many of the new features within Revit 2011 will rely on the compatibility of your graphics card. And that when the product ships, there will be a list of certified graphic cards uploaded on the Autodesk web site somewhere, and that I would let you know when it arrives:-

It’s here Graphics Hardware List or use the url  http://www.autodesk.com/us/revit/revit_graphics_hardware_-_graphics_hardware_list_final.html

Use this list to check to see if your graphics hardware supports hardware acceleration in Autodesk Revit 2011-based products.

The Graphics Hardware List provides you with the status of supported and non-supported graphics hardware for 2011 products based on the Autodesk® Revit® platform.

Finding information for your hardware is easy; (so the Web site says) just find your card and driver version in the list below.

OK so I have a NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT and WinXP which is not on the list.

The driver I had was 6.14.11.8585 I got the error message so I’ve updated the driver to the latest which is 6.14.11.9621

This list is about as useful to me as a push bike is to a goldfish because my graphics card and driver is not listed!.

But don't forget what the web site said "Finding information for your hardware is easy; just find your card and driver version in the list below. "Having downloaded the latest driver I try Revit again and it warns me

Because I assume my card is not on the list, my questions to Autodesk are now:-

1. How do I get my video card and driver tested and thus become Known?

2. Is there going to be a testing utility as mentioned in one of the troubleshooting videos?

3. If there is when can I get hold of it to test not only my PC here at home but also my pc at work which also reported the same error message.


Report a Problem


The Autodesk web page says to "Report any problems with graphics hardware when using Autodesk Revit 2011-based products."

So I’ve posted the questions above and will let you know the answers in due course.
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Revit 2011 Trial Versions Ready For Download

Autodesk Revit Structure 2011, which is available on the subscription centre at  http://www.autodesk.com/subscription is now available for download from Autodesk.com at http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads.


At this time only the English version is available. The localized versions will be released over the next several months. (What do I care? I speak English!)

For a list of new features and enhancements in Revit Structure 2011, please go to http://docs.autodesk.com/REVITST/201...7c01c-3c22.htm.

But as there is more than one version of Revit here is a list of the latest versions with links to the download pages:-
RAC2011-20100326_1700 Revit Architecture
RST2011-20100326_1700  Revit Structure
RME2011-20100326_1700 Revit MEP

Enjoy

 

Revit Structure 2011 User Assistance

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Be sure to check out the Revit Structure 2011 User Assistance (Press F1), some very useful stuff here. David Light has a similar post with a link to Revit Architecture 2011 User Assistance.
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Revit 2011 - Whats New Feature Lists for RST RAC and MEP

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Whats New in Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2011

Whats New in Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2011

Whats New in Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2011
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Revit Zone the Return!

After Ians posting on http://www.revitzone.com/ confirming that development of the Revit Zone website had now finished. But fret not, lots of new Revit goodness was on it's way to their new site at revit.biz

He has been getting quite a few emails over the last week asking why he is rebranding the site to revit.biz.

The only answer he can give to that is because it seemed a cool name!. But there seems to be a concensus that (from the emails he has received), people generally like the name Revit Zone and had got used to it. And as he is one for feedback, he has listened and decided to change the name back- but keep the new look site! (If that's OK with us?!).

If nothing else, he sincerely hopes we like the look of the new site and find it a bit easier than the old Revit Zone, in terms of navigation.

Got to be said I like the new format, except you can't link to an individual posting!

Revit Zone no more!.....It's on the move ..

There is a posting on http://www.revitzone.com/ confirming that development of the Revit Zone website has now finished. But fret not, lots of new Revit goodness is on it's way to their new site at revit.biz

Ian is currently in the process of transferring all the articles and tutorials to the new site. Fear Not: Revit Zone will remain up and running until we have completed the transfer of information and all back links to the site have been updated.

revit.biz has a totally new set of forums which is developing nicely. So please, continue to utilise and enjoy the information that has amassed here over the last two and a half years (YES, it has been that long!). But if you're looking for new info and daily revit links, please bookmark the new site: revit.biz

CADClip Video on Wood Framing Walls Extension

Daryl Gregoire over at Revit Rocks! saw my posting about the Wood Framing Wall Extension available for free to all REVIT subscription members.

It took him a solid 15-20 hours of tinkering before he could get it to create what he wanted in a single attempt, however there were MANY failed attempts.

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I feel really responsible for the solid 15-20 hours of tinkering Daryl and hope you’re not in the dog house with your wife?

He suggests in his video that there are a few things that need to get 'fixed' with this REVIT extension before it's 100% ready for the market but it has amazing potential.

He went from being excited to being disappointed no less than 5 times but is back to being excited again . . .(Glad to hear that Daryl)

Pop over to his blog to view the CADClip Tutorial he has produced.

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Easy Revit 2010 Video Tutorials by Derek Ddufon

Derek Ddufon is upgrading his Easy Revit 2009 "Walk through of an entire project step by step" Series of Video Tutorials to 2010 there were 35 videos in the 2009 series so I'm sure there are more to come......

ddufon's YouTube Channel

Easy Revit (2010) - 2 - Grid Lines
Easy Revit (2010) - 3 - Dimensions
Easy Revit (2010) - 4 - Draw Walls
Easy Revit (2010) - 5 - Create and Modify Wall Types


This list will be updated as Derek uploads more videos....

Revit Structure 2010 Quick Reference Guide

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Being an old AutoCAD User and recalling the old six page cardboard Quick Reference Guides that use to be provided with the software. I decided to try and create a Quick Reference Guide for Revit Structure 2010 to assist new users at our offices in Bedford, London and Winchester.

Unfortunately because I’ve used a font size for the visually impaired (also known as the over 40’s) it’s grown to 11 pages long.

As you know when I’ve posted this kind of material on the blog in the past, I’ve had to do it as a series of jpg's which can be a real pain for me to upload and for those interested in obtaining to harvest from the blog. The quality is also not as good as an Adobe file.

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Therefore I would like to thank the Partners of Scott White and Hookins, for donating some web space to make uploading and downloading this Quick Reference Guide and future material easier.

Click Here to download the RST2010 QRG

Can you Guess the Services provided by SWH from the icons on their website?

See animated flood drawings produced using revit on the SWH Website ~ Click Here

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Since posting this the webspace donated is being re-configured as a resource for LRUG London Revit Users Group ..... More to come soon

CADClips ~ Video Tutorials January Sale

Click here to visit the CADclips web site
Click here to see the CADclips on Youtube
Click Here to see the FREE CADClips on CADClips.com
Click Here to visit Revit Rocks!
Click Here to see CADClips Purchase Options (link Updated).
NEW = Since the last time I updated this list

Listed below are the Video Tutorials on YouTube:-

CADclip - REVIT Parametric Garage Magic - The Series ~ 20th Dec 2009

CADclip - REVIT MEP 2010 - Use Filters to Show Duct Centerlines ~ 18th December
CADclip - REVIT Parametric Garage Magic ~ 9th Dec 2009
CADclip - Building Maker Magic ~ 4th Dec 2009
CADclip - RAC 2010 CUSTOM FAMILY CHAMFERED COLUMN ~ 2nd Dec 2009
CADclip - More Samples of Unlimited Versions of a Single Column Family ~ 2nd Dec 2009CADclip - Custom Architectural Column Family with Sweep and Reveal ~30th Nov 2009CADclip - REVIT Parametric Massing Study ~ 27th Nov 2009
CADclip - Void Visibility Trick ~ 25th Nov 2009
CADclip - Massing Study Demo RAC 2010 ~ 23rd Nov 2009CADclip - REVIT Family Type Catalog Files ~ 17th Nov 2009
CADclip - REVIT 2010 Solids Sweep Tips ~ 10th Nov 2009
CADclip - Part 1 - REVIT Architecture 2010 Sloping Eyebrow Dormer ~ 9th November 2009CADclip - Part 2 - REVIT Architecture 2010 Sloping Eyebrow Dormer ~ 9th November 2009CADclip - Tapered Roof Cricket With In-Place Sweep Blend ~ 13th August 2009CADclip - REVIT Architecture - Schedule Door Swing ~ 30th July 2009
CADclip - REVIT 2010 Parkade ~ 13th May 2009CADclip - REVIT Architecture 2010 Walkthrough Up Stairs with 3D Edit Controls
CADclip - REVIT Architecture 2009 Tapering Roof / Floor by In-Place Solid Extrusion and Void Blend
CADclip - REVIT - Elevation View Tags
CADclip - HD - REVIT ARCH - Stair Constrain Opening
CADclip - HD - REVIT Architecture Flared Bottom Tread
CADclip - HD - REVIT Architecture Top Riser Cleanup
CADclip - HD - REVIT Architecture Stair with winder and no Railing
CADclip - HD - REVIT Stair Tutorial with a Winder
CADclip - REVIT Arch importing Images
CADclip - ARCAT BIM and Architectural Specifications
CADclip - REVIT Yes No Parameter to Control Visibility
CADclip - REVIT House Kit 2008 ~ Advert Only
CADclip - REVIT Architecture Keynote Schedules ~ Revit Architecture 2008
CADclip - REVIT Architecture Keynotes By Number
CADclip - REVIT Nested Scope Box Demonstration
CADclip - REVIT to Sketchup VideoCADclip - REVIT Structure - Dependant Views in Plan ~ using Revit Structure 2008
CADclip - REVIT Structure Annotation Crop Region ~ Using Revit Structure 2008
CADclip - REVIT Massing - Using Sketchup Skippy Files
CADclip - REVIT Architecture Massing Void Trick
CADclip - REVIT Sloped Flat Floor and Roof by Shape Handles
CADclip - REVIT Structure 2008 Coping Buttons ~ Revit Structure 2008 Update
CADclip - REVIT Keyboard Shortcuts Video Tutorial ~ Revit Structure 2008
CADclip - REVIT MEP 2008 - HVAC DEMO

CADclip - 7 free REVIT Custom Family Videos
CADclip - RAC Arch'l Beam Family Lesson 1 Introduction
CADclip - RAC Arch'l Beam Family Lesson 2 Parameters and Reference Planes
I Can't Find Lesson 3 but you can download from Revit Rocks see below
CADclip - RAC Arch'l Beam Family Lesson 4 Model the Abutments and Flex the Model
CADclip - RAC Arch'l Beam Family Lesson 5 Yes No Parameters to Control Visibility
I Can't Find Lesson 6 and 7 but you can download from Revit Rocks see below

Downloads from CADClips.com

Lesson 1: The Completed Beam Family Introduction
Lesson 2: Parameters and Reference Planes
Lesson 3: Modeling the Main Beam and Flex
Lesson 4: Modeling the Abutments and Flex
Lesson 5: Using Yes / No Parameters to Control Object Visibility
Lesson 6: Use Model Lines and the Linework Tools
Lesson 7: Mental Ray Materials and Rendering

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Autodesk Revit Videos ~ Extension Bridge Design Tool

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"The Autodesk® Subscription Advantage Pack for Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010 offers a variety of enhancements, features, and applications to extend the capabilities of Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010 software. Productivity-enhancing features and functionalities better support structural analysis, modeling, concrete reinforcement, interoperability, and construction documentation while improved tools help you to work more efficiently within the software" Said the posting at YouTube

Revit Add-In Christmas Gift from Jason Grant

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It's Christmas Eve and Jason Grant of Archin3D has uploaded an Add-In for Revit that will help you more quickly create sheets with significantly less clicks. In fact, it somewhat provides a solution for #10 of the AUGI Revit Wishlist given to Autodesk this year at AU2009.

Check out http://jasongrant.squarespace.com/ for the link to download and the instructions on how to use.

Below is a video that can also be found with the downlaod link that shows the current steps to create a sheet in Revit and then shows how the application speeds up the process.

Revit Sheet Creator Application from Jason Grant on Vimeo.

Thanks for the Christmas Gift Jason

Pentagon Solutions ~ Video Tutorials

Pentagon Solutions is an independent company, owned exclusively by its founder members, and is based in Belfast. Their website is currently being rebuilt.

See all of nicadman videos here

Some of the earlier videos have music or are silent.

Those listed below have a voice over.

New ~ Conceptual Design in Revit Architecture ~ 02 December 2009
New ~ Various Basic Roofs in Revit ~ 09 October 2009

Revit from scratch ~ February 2009

Custom Stairs in Revit Architecture ~ March 2009
Stage 1 creating custom stairs in Revit Architecture

Revit Wall Options ~ February 2009

Creating Conceptual Designs in Revit Architecture

Calculating Block Count in Revit
Calculating the number of blocks\bricks in Revit Architecture 2009

Portal Frame in Revit Structure 2009

Swept Blend Roof in Revit Architecture 2009

Enjoy.........

Hotfix for RAC, MEP and RST2010

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Hotfix - Crash when modifying walls update 2 & subscription advantage pack release

Published date: 2009-Dec-02
ID: DL14215234
Applies to:

Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010
Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010
Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010

This hotfix addresses issues related to deleting or modifying walls, a crash may occur.
Make sure to download the correct patch for your operating system (32 or 64 bit) and Revit build number.

The Readme contains the latest information regarding the installation and use of this update.

It is strongly recommended that you read the entire document before you apply the update to your product. For your reference, you should save the Readme to your hard drive or print a copy.
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