New to BIM and Revit visit this web site

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After years of difficulty explaining to people what Revit is and the impact BIM will have in shaping our future Ben Fox the Director of igs decided to put together a brief blog with plenty of short videos on the topic.

He hopes in writing and collating the videos for this blog, is that the information provided will assist in explaining to clients, management and anyone else, what Revit is and how it fits within a BIM process.

View the blog here: www.whatisrevit.com

Nice one Ben, it's a very well constructed resource.

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Education Community BIM Workshop

Autodesks' Inside the Factory Blog are excited to announce the launch of the Autodesk BIM Workshop.

This online experience was created to help prepare the next generation of architecture, engineering, and construction management students for professional practice. The site has an abundance of learning material, videos, and exercises designed to educate on BIM and sustainable design practices along with Integrated Project Delivery concepts.
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The Building Coder - Revit API Training Material

Jeremy Tammik over at The Building Coder has just posted that:-

"The Revit 2012 API training material that we use for our ADN trainings is now available online to the general public from the Revit Developer Center. Here is a direct link to it, with no guarantee that it will remain valid in future.
It includes three subfolders:

• Labs
• Presentation
• Sample Drawing

These are the Powerpoint presentations used for the training:

• 0_Revit_Programming_Training_Class.pptx – Overview
• 1_Revit_API_Intro.pptx – Basics
• 2_Revit_UI_API.pptx – User Interface and Events
• 3_Revit_Family_API.pptx – Family API

The labs parallel the three main presentations:

• 1_Revit_API_Intro – Basics
• 2_Revit_UI_API – User Interface and Events
• 3_Revit_Family_API – Family API "

To read more Click Here to get to the original posting.

The London Revit User Group ran an evening about Revit API's a few months ago, so this may be of interest to those members that attended the evening.
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Creating Complex Family Shapes in Revit Part 1

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Over at Club Revit Michael Anonuevo of  littledetailscount.com has posted about a new product he has just added to his website. The Revit Family Bundle-5 ~ Pool table set and accessories, consists of Pool table, wall cue rack, wall cone chalk holder, cue sticks, bridge stick with bridge head, balls, blue chalks, racks and tiffany lamp.

This product is significant because it will be one of the topics on his next tutorial blog posting "Creating Complex Family shapes in Revit Part 1" which will be out hopefully by next month. Other topics that Michael will be blogging about in the future are as follows: 

• Putting Revit Architecture 2011 to a modeling test
• Creating a tournament size pool table family and its accessories
• Comparison of rendering speeds (Revit Architecture 2009, 2010 & 2011)
• Family file size in Revit Architecture 2011
• Rendering tips for beginners
• And last but not least, the specifications of his new…i7-930 processor based computer!

Obviously Michael enjoys creating complex families, so when is he going to get around to the USS Enterprise?
 

Creating Complex Family Shapes in Revit ~ like a Beer Mug!

Michael Anonuevo has posted a very detailed educational post to the Club Revit website. It goes into great detail on creating a very nice Beer Mug family.

The great part is that it covers lots of family modeling techniques. You can view the post by clicking on the link below:

http://clubrevit.com/?p=216

You can also check out Michael's web site at: http://littledetailscount.com/

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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CAD Notes Revit Architecture Tutorial: Create residential building from scratch

Whilst surfing for new revit sites I happened upon CAD Notes by Edwin Prakoso. he has produced Revit Architecture Tutorial: Create residential building from scratch, see list below

1.Introduction to Revit Architecture
2.Revit Architecture User Interface
3.Understanding Views and View Navigation
4.Defining Levels
5.Placing Exterior Walls
6.Finishing Your Walls
7.Placing Doors and Windows
8.Understanding Wall Structure
9.Creating Your Own Wall Type
10.Creating Floors
11.Creating Roof
12.Creating Roof Edges Profile
13.Creating Staircase
14.Creating Railings
15.Creating Ceiling in Revit Model
16.Creating Floor Edge Slab and Custom Component
17.Introduction to Revit Components
18.Revit Annotations: Dimension
19.Door and Window Tags
20.Defining Room and Room Legend
21.Creating Schedule from Revit Model
22.Placing Views to Sheet
23.Vertical Compound Wall
24.E-book: Revit Architecture 2010: Your First Residential Design
25.Placing Curtain Wall
26.Placing Wall and Material Tag

Edwin has compiled the Tutorials on his blog into an e-book that you can read comfortably without having to visit the blog pages. It’s not exactly the same with the existing tutorials, but, it’s very similar. he has fixed some editorial errors, add some more screenshots to describe the steps better, and provide some tutorial files. With the tutorial files, you can compare what he did to his model, or simply start a chapter using files provided. If you want to see what’s inside the book, you can download the table of contents


The e-book price is US$ 12.5  Click here to view more details 
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What is 4D, 5D & 6D BIM?

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The acronym “BIM” is historically linked in the minds of many to 3-Dimensional or three spatial dimensional virtual modelling of buildings, however recently I’ve been seeing blog postings for 4D, 5D and even 6D BIM, so I decided to investigate.

To me being a Science Fiction nut, I’m happier with the 4th Dimension being Time

Until now I always thought the 5th Dimension was a multiple Grammy-winning American popular music vocal group best-known during the late 1960s and early 1970s for popularizing the hits "Up, Up and Away” and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".

Or

The 5th Dimension is a mathematical construct

Or

The 5th Dimension is a hypothetical extra dimension beyond the usual three spatial dimensions and one time dimension of Relativity. But that’s far too deep..........

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4D BIM is a 3D BIM that has objects and assemblies that have "schedule and time" constraint data added to them. The information can be contained in the BIM or can be linked or otherwise associated (integrated and/or operable) with project design and construction activity scheduling and time sensitivity estimating and analysis systems.

5D BIM is a 4D BIM that has objects and assemblies that have a "cost" dimension added to them. The cost information can be contained in the BIM or can be linked or otherwise associated to the building objects.

The publication An Introduction to Building Information Modelling (BIM) by ASHRAE has these reversed.

Recently I’ve seen 6D BIM referred too, this appears to be Life Cycle Management.

So in Summary:-

2D - Something with 2 dimensions (flat)

3D - Something seen in 3 dimensions e.g. width, length and height.

4D - Adding the aspect of Time to a project (phasing/sequencing)

5D - Adding the aspect of Cost to a project (cost estimating)

6D - The aspect of Life Cycle Management (owner/FM)

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CADline Tips & Tricks Videos and Documents

Listed below are the Revit Structure and Architecture Tips & Tricks Videos and Documents I’ve found on the CADLine web site. I will be returning to their site and updating the list below on a regular basis, however I’ve placed links to the pages this information came from so that you can check for more up to date content.

In addition you can register for the CADline Revit Tips & Tricks Newsletter using this link

CADLine Revit Structure Tips & Tricks Videos & Documents

NEW - Revit Structure Tips & Tricks Videos

The purpose of the following Revit Structure Tips & Tricks videos is to enhance your skills and share with you solutions to problems that other users experience. CADlines Tips and Tricks are created from the top 30 support calls logged with their support desk.

Click on the relevant title below to view a Revit Structure Tip & Trick video.

New RST 001 - Beam System 3D Tickbox
RST 002 - RC Detailing with Revit Extensions


Revit Structure Tips & Tricks Documents

Click on the relevant title below to download a Revit Structure Tip & Trick document.

· Roof Decking
· Setting Braced Frames in Plan View
· Joining and Un-joining Geometry
· Sloping Floors
· Keyboard Shortcuts


CADLine Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks Videos & Documents

NEW - Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks Videos

The purpose of the following Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks videos is to enhance your skills and share with you solutions to problems that other users experience. Their Tips and Tricks are created from the top 30 support calls logged with their support desk.

Click on the relevant title below to view a Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks video.


RAC 001 - Copying Levels
RAC 002 - Working with AutoCAD Masses
RAC 003 - Attaching Walls to Roofs
RAC 004 - Splitting and Painting Faces
NEW RAC 005 - Editing Wall Profiles
NEW RAC 006 - Setting the Project Elevation
RAC 008 - Revit Architecture 2010 Interface PreviewRAC 001 - Copying Levels

Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks Documents

Click on the relevant title below to download a Revit Architecture Tips & Tricks document.

· Calculating Window Areas in Revit Architecture
· Creating Dormers
· Surface patterns of object
· Overhead Details
· Fire Rated Partition Plans
· Shaft
· Fade into the distance
· Keyboard Shortcuts
· Quick Conceptual Window Creation
· Rotated UCS
· Group Elements
· Selection Filters
· Orient View
· Templates and Units
· Have you tried the new ability to create non-vertical walls in release 8.1 yet?
· AutoCAD-style Dimensions in Revit
· Importing DWG Symbols and Data
· Solution to problems when printing Transparent Materials

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How to Create a Rebate in a Concrete Beam

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The previously explained method of creating a rebate in an object with the use of an extrusion does not work for a concrete beam.

A pocket in a concrete beam does involve a bit of a fiddle but it works.

1. Draw the beam

2. Cut a full depth slot through the beam with a plan size the same as the plan dimensions of the pocket. (Use “Modify” – “Opening by face”).




3. Draw a new beam with the depth equal to the depth of the parent beam, less the depth of the pocket and adjust the length and width to suit the plan dimensions of the pocket



4. Make sure the top of the inserted beam is at the same level as the bottom of the pocket and insert it in the hole



5. As the materials of both the beams are the same, they will join to appear to be the same element.
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How to create a rebate in a floor around a hole

I have found that getting the formatting of pages with multiple graphics on this blog very time consuming and frustrating. (I've now added the guidance note as three jpg's to the foot of this posting)

If you would like an Adobe pdf copy of the Guidance Note I've created for the Revit Users at work about how to form a rebate around an opening in a slab then please email me and I will happily send you a copy.

Guidance Note

Page 1









Guidance Note
Page 2

Guidance Note
Page 3

Avatech Solutions Revit Online Tech Tips

Here is a list of just the Revit Online Tech Tips from the Avatch Solutions web site.

To see all the Online Tech Tips for all the products they support use this link

Revit Structure

Revit Structure: An Introduction Posted: 9/6/2009

See how to start a project and the best way to use tools such as templates, menu bars, walls, levels, design bar, shortcut keys, and the project browser.
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Revit Structure: Structural Column Tags Posted: 5/2/2009

This tech tip shows the steps on how to create a 45 degree structural column tag and bring it into your Revit file.

Revit Structure 2008: Splitting Beams Posted: 28/03/2008

See how to split a beam and attach a column to the underside of the beam.

Revit Structure: Warped Slabs Posted: 24/10/2007

See how to create warped roofs and slabs.

Revit Structure: Curved Beams Posted: 27/9/2007

Explore the new curved beam feature in Revit Structure 2008. You will see examples of creating not only horizontal curved beams, but vertical curved beams as well. The creation of beam systems within the curved beam areas is also shown.

Autodesk Revit Structure: Mitered Steel Corners Posted: 19/9/2006

See how to create mitered steel corners utilizing the Reference Plane tool in Revit Structure 3.

Revit Structure: Beam Systems Posted: 17/8/2006

Take an introductory look into creating beam systems within Revit Structure 3. We will walk through the creation process, how to edit existing beam systems, and how these can be sloped including both the physical and analytical models


Revit Architecture

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Revit Architecture: Editing Masking Regions Posted: 14/5/2009

Learn how to apply masking regions to dimensions. You’ll also see how to edit families to get masking regions to appear in door tags and section bubbles.

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Revit Architecture: View Range Posted: 14/5/2009

Learn how to control the view range inside of views in this tech tip. See how to edit line styles and create plan regions

Revit Architecture: Schedule Keys Posted: 5/2/2009

Learn how schedule keys can help you work smarter and faster by allowing you to place preset information based on a key, automatically within a large number of fields on a schedule.

Revit Architecture 2008: Wall Sweeps Posted: 28/3/2008

This technical tip will compare and contrast wall sweeps defined as part of a wall family and a hosted wall sweep. Hosted wall sweeps provide additional functionality that are not available with wall family sweep elements.

Revit Architecture: Visibility Parameters Posted: 27/9/2007

See how to add a visibility parameter to an image in Revit.

Revit Architecture: AutoCAD to Revit Details Posted: 27/9/2007

Migrate your AutoCAD details into Revit Details to make them easier to modify in the future. You will see how to link in an AutoCAD detail, convert it to Revit linework, and then save the new information out as a Revit detail that can be easily reused in other Revit projects.


Revit MEP

AutoCAD MEP: Pipe Size Display Settings Posted: 28/3/2008

This technical tip will illustrate the impact of Pipe Size Display Settings in a Pipe System Definition on the Rise/Drop symbols used in the piping layouts

Revit MEP 2008: Duct Routing Posted: 8/2/2008

Work with duct routing option and how you can manually modify these options to better fit your environment.

Revit MEP: Wire Tick Marks Posted: 17/8/2007

Review the graphical configurations for wire tick marks in Revit MEP 2008, including styles, families, and the visibility parameters of wiring systems and elements.


Revit

Revit: Uncommon Features Posted: 17/6/2008

This tech tip takes a look into some of the features of Revit MEP, Architecture, and Structure that are not common to each other - and how we can sometimes make them work together anyway.

Revit: Blended Sweeps Posted: 17/6/2008

Revit Architecture, MEP, and Structure 2009 added in a new feature called Blended Sweeps. This tech tip will show you how this new feature works.

Revit: View templates Posted: 6/5/2008

Usable in Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure, Joe takes you through an introduction to View Templates and how they can be used to manage and standardize View Properties in Revit.

Revit Systems: The 0,0 Coordinate Posted: 22/3/2007

A common misconception is that Revit does not use a coordinate system and the overall screen center to center is its only binding location. The coordinate system in Revit products are hidden in the background -- in this tip, track down the elusive 0,0 Cartesian point inside of Revit Systems

Autodesk Revit Systems: Moving Objects Across Worksets Posted: 14/12/2006

Send objects on their pilgrimage to new worksets inside of Revit Systems, fast and efficiently with this tip.

Autodesk Revit Building: Expanding your Rendering Posted: 31/10/2006

Utilize features to maximize your rendering's visual punch, with components and decals

Autodesk Revit Building: Adding Details to your Families Posted: 18/7/2006

An introductory look at how we can control the level of detail that is being viewed inside our families through visibility settings.

Revit Building : Schedule Keys 101 Posted: 18/1/2006

An introduction to creating and using a schedule key “style” within Revit Building to help automatically populate fields in your schedule, rather than manually entering these values line by line.

Revit: Adding Shadows with the new Advanced Modeling Graphics Feature Posted: 13/1/2005

Use the new Advanced Modeling Graphics feature in Revit to cast shadows and add a sense of texture to your building information model. Create presentation views by changing the location, angle and intensity of the Sun.

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Concrete Beam Hidden Line Display Parameter

There is a neat posting over at the Bim and Beam blog about how to control hidden lines in Autodesk Revit Structure by setting a parameter called: Display in Hidden Views

Click on the picture on the left to link to the posting.....

Autodesk Revit Structure Old Tutorials on Resource Center

Autodesk Revit Structure Resource Center has free tutorials ........ Yipeeeeee

Problem is most are Revit Structure 2008 ......... Boooo Boooo Hiss Hiss

Come on Autodesk, get them up to date and show off Revit using your new User Interface and 2010!

The site says:-

"Get the most out of Revit® Structure with these free tutorials. Each one contains valuable information but is only a few minutes long, so you can watch them as many times as you like.
View each tutorial online by clicking on its title."

But it would be nice to see the program flown using the new UI

Single Model for Both Structural Analysis and Documentation
Bidirectional Associativity Between Model and Views
Construction Documents
Structural Details
Import/Export in DWG/DXF/DGN/IFC and CIS/2 formats
Bidirectional Links with Analysis Packages
Multiple Materials
Structural Parametric Components
Multi-users Worksharing
Interoperability with Revit Architecture .

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Where to find the Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 Tutorials

Revit Structure Metric and Imperial Tutorials

These exercises step you through different topics using examples that illustrate product functionality.

Refer to the Readme for details and instructions.

Here is the link to the download page for the Tutorials

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=13093246&linkID=9243180

TenLinks Daily e-zine

TenLinks Daily ~ The Latest CAD & BIM News, Articles, Reviews and Events Newsletter also available at click of the logo...... Try it!

Design Productivity Journal

The Design Productivity Journal forms an exciting resource for information on Computer Aided Design which is published by Excitech. It provides articles on a whole range of topics including:-

BIM & Revit
CAD software reviews
Design management processes
Project and design productivity systems
Company and project design case studies
Industry news
IT management
Latest design hardware guides

The DPJ is published in printed form and is also available on the web.

To view back issues select the library of DPJs or search the library via the menu items to the left of the Excitech dpj Journal web page. You will need to register to download the articles.

The Revit Kid on video production overdrive!

The Revit Kid (Jeff Pinheiro) started his Blog on the 12th February this year and already he has produced 8 Student to Student tutorials and 13 Revit Videos

With 21 blog posts during what was left of February and 25 really useful and interesting blog posts so far in March, his blog has to be one of my top 5 to visit on a regular basis.

Well done Jeff, keep up the good work, just don’t create too much in 2009 format we have 2010 and the Ribbon just around the corner and people like to see how to fly Revit from these videos not just the end results.

Revit Zone is a great resource for Tutorials

Revit Zone is a great resource for Tutorials , this a must visit web site if your new to Revit. Link to Tutorials Page currently there are 20 Tutorial Available


Align: Using the Align command
Area Plans: Creating a simple Area Plan (1 of 2)
Area Plans: Creating a simple Area Plan (2 of 2)
Drafting Views: Saving individual views for reuse
Edit Cut Profile: Using the Edit Cut Profile tool (Part 1 of 4)
Edit Cut Profile: Using the Edit Cut Profile tool (Part 2 of 4)
Edit Cut Profile: Using the Edit Cut Profile tool (Part 3 of 4)
Edit Cut Profile: Using the Edit Cut Profile tool (Part 4 of 4)
Levels: Maintaining a set distance between Levels
Model Patterns: Aligning to Elements
Roofs: Using the Roof Join / Unjoin Tool
Rooms: The "Room Bounding" parameter
Rooms: Use of the Room Separation tool (Part 1 of 2)
Rooms: Use of the Room Separation tool (Part 2 of 2)
Topography: Changing the Section Cut Material (Part 1 of 2)
Topography: Changing the Section Cut Material (Part 2 of 2)
Topography: Creating a Basic Toposurface (Part 1 of 3)
Topography: Creating a Basic Toposurface (Part 2 of 3)
Topography: Creating a Basic Toposurface (Part 3 of 3)
Walls: Embedded Walls

Autodesk Revit Structure Web Seminar

UK Value Added Resellers (VAR) and Premier Solutions Provider (PSP) excitech are holding a Web Seminar at 12 noon, Friday 6th March 2009, At your desk!

Agenda

Introduction to building information modelling with Revit

Design with Revit Structure

Data exchange/collaboration

Excitech UK Advance Content for Revit Structure

Analysis Links

To register to attend this event simply complete the form at the bottom of the web page using this link