Andekan ~ New Revit Content Starter Packs

The Andekan Content Packs contain a collection of state-of-the-art, fully parametric Revit families. They are built to speed up your work and improve the quality of your projects by using geometrically precise and light-weight models.

The four new Revit Content Starter Packs, feature over a thousand of the most popular products from manufacturers like Tyler, Zurn, Victaulic, IKEA, Grunfos, Halton, Quartz, Trane, VentAxia, American Standard, Nibco and Smith. There is a free sample family for download on each pack.

.

Click here to learn more

UK Mechanical Starter Pack
68 Mechanical Equipment Revit Families from Biddle, Grundfos, Halton, Quartz, Trane and VentAxia. Includes Air Curtains, Air Terminal Units, Axial Fans, Chillers, Fan Coil Units, Louvers and Motor Pumps.

Metric Victaulic Piping Starter Pack
21 Pipework Fitting Revit Families from Victaulic in Metric format, including Adapters, Bull Plug, Caps, Cross, Hose Nipples, Tees, Reducers (Eccentric and Concentric), Elbows and Wyes.

IKEA Architectural Starter Pack
59 Ikea Revit Families, including Bookcases, Cabinets, Chairs, Desks, Filing Cabinets, Lighting Fixtures and Shelves. Models are schedulable with order numbers, include accurate materials and are ready to be used in your projects.

US Plumbing Starter Pack
67 Piping and Fixture Revit Families from Tyler, Zurn, American Standard, Nibco, and Smith. Includes Bends, Drains, P-traps, Sinks, Tees, Two-Way Cleanout, Urinals, Water Closets and Wyes

Imperial Victaulic Piping Starter Pack
21 Pipework Fitting Revit Families from Victaulic in Imperial format, including Adapters, Bull Plug, Caps, Cross, Hose Nipples, Tees, Reducers (Eccentric and Concentric), Elbows and Wyes.

.

UK Sawn Softwood Structural Timber Family

.
I watched a Video Tutorial on the Revit Kid called View Templates

This got me thinking, I had recently surveyed a building and I decided to use Revit to construct a sketch of the layout that I would normally hand draw and put in the report.

So using a real work example I decided to create a view template called survey plan, by turning on the graphics for the door swings and making the walls solid in a coarse view to create a basic presentation plan as seen below:
.


This particular building had a very lively floor, and some floor board were removed to try and establish why the floor was so live. It was found that the floor joist for all but 1 metre of the width of the room were not supported off the wall but were supported off a trimmer beam that ran parallel to the wall!

This trimmer beam was a single joist that was 2-3times over stressed thus the high degree of deflection / live nature of the floor.

It was in the process of drawing the timber joist layout when I found that there is not a UK Sawn Timber Family!

I could only find Dimensioned Lumber.rfa and Timber.rfa


Dimensioned Lumber.rfa
38x64, 89, 114,140, 184, 235, 337
64x114, 140, 184, 235, 286, 337
89x89, 114, 140, 184, 235, 337

Timber.rfa
114x114
140x140, 184, 235, 286, 337, 387, 445, 495, 546, 597
184x184, 235, 286, 337, 387, 445, 495, 546, 597
235x235, 337, 387, 445, 495, 546, 597
286x286, 337, 387, 445, 495, 546, 597
337x337, 387, 445, 495, 546, 597
387x387, 445, 495, 546, 597
445x445, 495, 546, 597
495x495, 546, 597,
546x546, 5975
597x597

So I opened the txt file in excel as a csv file and altered the units and dimensions to create a family based on UK Sawn Softwood Structural Timber Sizes to BS EN 336:2003 and those used in the TRADA Span Tables.

I then renamed and saved the txt file andcopied the timber.rfa and renamed it SWH-UK-Sawn-Timber.rfa which now has:-

38x75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225
44x75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225
47x75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 300
50x75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 300
63x100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225
75x100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300
100x100, 150, 200, 250, 300
150x150, 200, 300
200x200
250x250
300x300

The families can be downloaded off the AUGI Revit Structure Families area from the thread where I have posted them for UK and European users to harvest them.

Enjoy…….
.

Learning Curve ~ Steel Channel Serial Size Question

.
I recently received the following question about UK serial sizes and materials not being included in Revit:-

“Hi Alan,

Just on the subject of UK serial sizes.

While I find that most steel sizes quoted to me by Engineers are the same as the serial sizes and weights in the Revit families, the C channel sizes are always slightly different - e.g. 180 x 75 x 20 channel specified by Engineer, nearest in Revit is 178 x 76.

Have you come across this - or can you suggest why this should be - my local Engineer cannot see why they should be different.”

The answer is progress and marketing.

The Channel Sections your Engineer is specifying is based on the current Dimension and Properties from the Corus brochures and is based on a Parallel Flange Channel to BS4-1:2005.

The sections you are finding under:-

\Metric Library\Structural\Framing\Steel are Channels to BS4 Part1:1980

Take a peek just below the Corus Advance folder under Steel i.e.

\Metric Library\Structural\Framing\Steel\Corus Advance

And you will find UKPFC-Parallel Flange Channels

Being an old engineer I liked the old channels especially for use in external exposed locations as the rain and water would run off the sloping bottom flange.


Parallel Flange Channels were only introduced about five or six years ago, perhaps if your Local Engineer is a young chap who only knows the PFC and not it’s predecessor.

According to the 4th Impression of the Historical Structural Section Handbook printed in 1991 there has been changes to the dimensions of the Channel Section in 1904,1921,1932 and 1962

Whenever there is a change of basic dimensions there will always be a crossover period until all the stocks of the old profile have been sold and only the new profile as available.

Due to the difference in profile the Section Properties for I and Z will be slightly different, and one should not be used instead of the other without checking with the Engineer.
.

New Structural.rfa Content on Subscription Centre

Sorry Guys.......

Egg on face time it's an old posting on the AUGI forum that someone has added too bring it to the top of the pile again.

I was so excited that I posted then went to the subscription centre to find it and found ........ Nothing!

Went back to the AUGI forum and found my error......

CADLearning.com ~ Video Tutorials

Course Overviews and Demo Lessons link to CADLearning.com

Revit® Architecture 2009 Essentials

Course Outline pdf PDF document
Course Introduction and Objectives file
Walls file
View Properties file
Solid Revolve file
In Place Families file
Cutaway Views file

Revit® Architecture 2009 Advanced

Course Outline pdf PDF document
Introduction to Advanced Lessons file
Rooms and Design Options file
Concurrent Usage file
3D Modeling in Family Files
Demolition and Temporary Conditions file
Host Layers file

Revit MEP 2009

Course Outline - Printable pdf PDF document
Callout Command file
Copy monitor tool part 2 file
Add devices to circuit file
Sizing Duct file
Adding Lav. fixtures part 2 file

AU2009 Videos
Project North and True North
Using Imported CAD Files for Drafting
Copy-Monitor II
Link DWF
Shared Coordinates

Videos on YouTube:-

Revit Structure 2009 Course Intro.
Chris Fox introduces the Revit Structure 2009 Tutorials, a 24 hour video series on DVD or streaming online from

Revit Structure 2009 - Wall Structure
Chris Fox discusses designing wall structure with Autodesk Revit Structure 2009.

Revit Architecture 2009 In Place Families
One of the lessons from the Revit Essentials Tutorial Series available on DVD or Online. Follow along as Chris Fox teaches Revit from the beginning. Production videos are 1024 x 768

Revit Architecture 2009 Family Types
One video of series from CADLearning.com. Chris Fox discusses family types in this one.

Revit MEP 2009 Workshare
This guy has a real monotone boring voice and may put you to sleep…..zzzzzzz
.

Learning Curve ~ Topo Surface II

.

I was asked the question about Revit being able to do cut and fill calculations by one of the Partners at work. He wanted to model a car park, then establish how much it will flood and the maximum depth with a certain volume of water.

So not actually cut and fill more like fill and flood!

.

I made a small scale trial/example to see if I could get the information out of Revit. I picked a square pyramid shape because I could easily verify the answer by hand calculation.

Revit reports the values by making a comparison between a surface of one phase and, from a later phase, another surface whose boundary lies within the earlier surface.

The example above shows a square pyramid with a 5000x5000 base x 3000 high

The water level topo is set at 1500 high

Base Area /3 x height should be (2.5 x 2.5)/3 X 1.5 = 3.125m3 but Revit gives me 3.155m3

I've tried re drawing and even turning the pyramid up the other way it still gives me 3.155m3

Is it me or is Revit just not very accurate with cut and fill?

It could be a rounding error. or
Conversion from imperial to metric, or
The algorithm used to calculate the volume or
Just a Bug in Revit!

The % of the error is small, but it is a small model, but as the model gets bigger is the % error the same or worse? Who knows?

I have reported this to Autodesk and will let you know what answer I get.

For true cut and fill by time an allowance has been made for bulking etc we are talking peanuts, but it's the principle, if your going to give figures to 3 decimal places they should be correct.

Here is the car park in question, the maximum depth of water and extent of flooding has now been established. For those that notice I'm not quite at 200m3 I was told by the Partner wanting the information that I did not have to get it to the nearest mm, the nearest 10mm would do for his purposes.

As you may have seen on my first Topo posting, there is not a default view called "site" in the metric template supplied with RST2010 called Structural Analysis_DefaultGBRENU.rte

Autodesk please take note, Structural users also need a "site" view included in the metric template not just the Architectural users.

The frequency of the contours is set by

Then set the intervals of value

.

Tips and Tricks ~ Levels

As I surf my way around the internet and find tips and tricks, articles, blog postings about levels in Revit that may be useful, I'm adding links to them here as a reference resource.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Black Levels vs Blue Levels
Wai Chu ~ BIM and Beam
.
What's the difference between black and blue levels? How to turn the levels from black to blue?

The black indicates the level is not mapped to any floor plan, while the blue means the level is mapped with a floor plan.......click link for more



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Revit Trick: Invisible Level Lines



CADDHELP ~ by David Harrington

On occasion while using Revit I need to define a level to attach to but don't really want to see these 'attachment' levels in every elevation view that might hit it. Of course with Revit, there are a few workarounds for having access to these levels but not having to actually see them. Click link for more......

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Practices - Split Level Design
Revitize - Another Revit Blog

Create dedicated Revit Levels for all the change in levels in floor.
Create associated views for all the Revit levels where, you envisage inserting a door / window / wall / room, etc.
Whenever inserting a new element, go to the associated view for that particular Revit Level and then insert the element. ........... see link for full tutorial

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Revit Kid
Harbor House - Part 2 - Levels ~ Video Tutorial

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Displaying your levels at the correct above sea level
Revit ~ David Light

This query comes up on a regular basis; How do I display my levels at the correct above sea level? You may be mistaken to think that everything in the world of Revit is flat and new users often get confused by levels............ click link to see more

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revit Structure 2010 Essentials Training

.

The Training Course that we attended last week was run by Excitech who provided Autodesk Official Training Guide Learning Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 Essentials training manuals for the delegates.

These kinds of courses rely on having a tutor who not only knows their subject but has the necessary communications and teaching skill to impart their knowledge, Ian Garwood was our course instructor and he scores highly on both counts.

We did not stick to the exercises contained within the manual, but covered all the topics in the manual and on the course objectives. Each delegate built a slightly different model based on what Ian showed us or asked us to do, which brought up different problems that needed to be resolved as we went along.

This course was one of the most informative and enjoyable that I’ve been on for some time. I would definitely be asking for Excitech and Ian again, when its time for the advanced course.

In the back of the manual are two disks a trial version of Revit 2010 and CD that contains all the data and drawings needed to complete the exercises in the manual. This CD creates an Autodesk Learning folder on your computer. The required exercise files are installed in a folder that corresponds to the product and title of the course.



The manual is provided electronically so that it can be opened and placed beside Revit so that you don’t have to keep looking down at the paper manual and then back up to the screen (great for us old people with varifocals)

The manual with its’ software is so new that you can’t find it on Autodesk estore, however Excitech managed to get it for the course and they also can provide it for £64.00 plus VAT

If you would like to order the manual or book a training course contact Rhys Lewis of Excitech on 0845 370 1549
.

Retrieve's Autodesk Revit 2010 Essentials course

Below are examples of the full course available for purchase at http://www.retrievemedia.com/.

Visit http://www.retrieve.com/ for more information on Retrieve's vBook technology.
.

.

.

.

How vBooks can enable true Online Teaching
This is an overview of how vBooks from Retirve Rechnologies, Inc.

Autodesk Revit 2010 Essentials - Introduction
This video provides an overview of Retrieve's Autodesk Revit 2010 Essentials course

Autodesk Revit 2010 Essentials - Lesson 1: Interface Overview
This video is a part of the first lesson in Retrieve's Autodesk Revit 2010 Essentials course.

Labeling and Numbering Rooms in Revit 2010
This video clip will show you how to label and number rooms in Autodesk Revit 2010.

Creating Multi-Level Stairs in Revit 2010
This video clip will show you how to use create multi-level staircases in Autodesk Revit 2010.

Creating Custom Families in Revit 2010
This video clip will show you how to create a custom family in Autodesk in Revit 2010.

Creating Curtain Walls in Revit 2010
This video clip will show you how to create curtain walls in Autodesk Revit 2010.

.

KarelCAD ~Video Tutorials

KarelCAD is an Australian Autodesk reseller who can be found at http://www.karelcad.com.au/

Here are their FREE Video Tutorials....... Enjoy

Linestyle Production
Producing Line styles in Revit Architecture 2010 through the KarelCAD ATC and Design Content

Keynote Production
Producing Keynotes in Revit Architecture 2010.

Wall Wrapping Production
Producing Wrapped walls within Revit 2010.

How to create sun studies in Revit
This training video shows how to create sunstudies using Autodesk Revit

Creating AVI's in Revit
Using Revit Software this video explains how to create Avi's in Autodesk Revit using walkthroughs and sunstudies

Learning Curve ~ Topo Surface

I have a site that has a storm relief sewer cutting across it at approximately 45 degrees.

The north east corner of the site is approximately 1.8m above the north-west and south east corners.

The water authority have granted building over on condition that we create a reduced loading zone over the sewer which we will provide using cordek cellcore. This seemed an ideal opportunity to jump into topo surfaces.

I linked an AutoCAD 2D drawing of the survey with the idea of tracing the spot levels and got stuck at the first hurdle. The following message popped up when I tried to place the first point

Open a 3D or site plan view? ~ “how is a site plan view different from a level view and how do I create one?”

I searched the help and could not find anything about how to create a site view and I looked in Visibility Graphics and could not find a tick box for Toposurface?I knew I must be missing something simple and it’s me but I could not see the wood for the trees

A tutorial On Revit Zone at called Topography: Creating a Basic Toposurface (Part 1 of 3)
Seems to suggest that " Your new Project File should contain default View called Site:-"

There is not a default view called "site" in the metric template supplied with RST2010 called Structural Analysis_DefaultGBRENU.rte ??????

I posted this question and a request for help on the AUGI forum, and again peer to peer support came up trumps, a user called Derek informed me.....

“Yes, you are correct. They are assuming you are in Revit Architecture. RAC templates all include a default view called site. The only different parameters for a "Site" plan view include things scale, Crop view, default view template settings...that's about it. Simple "Duplicate" your lowest level and name it site, then adjust the view settings....”

I answered Derek that I thought it was crazy why not include the "site" view in the Revit Structures Template as well as the Architecture Template!

I later found a posting on David Lights Revit web site called Site Plans in Revit Structure which explains how to create a Site Plan View

I don’t understand why a "site" view is not included in the Engineering templates but it’s sure one that may make it to our final template.

.

Tips and Tricks ~ Toposurface

As I surf my way around the internet and find tips and tricks, articles, blog postings about Toposufaces in Revit that may be useful, I'm adding links to them here as a reference resource.

The Revit Kid ~ Video Tutorials
Studio Topo Tip - Part 1
Studio Topo Tip - Part 1A
Studio Topo Tip - Part 2
Studio Topo Tip - Part 3

Building Informed Models ~ Video Tutorials
Importing real topography from Google Earth: into Sketchup & or Revit

RevitZone ~ Tutorials
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)

Eric Wing ~ AUGI ~ Tutorial
Revit Architecture: Setting the Site, Part 1 - March 2008
Revit Architecture: Setting the Site, Part 2 - April 2008
Revit Architecture: Setting the Site, Part 3 - May 2008

Revit User Group Sydney ~ by john hainsworth 09 Jan 2007
Toposurface... err, but what about a rock'o'surface

Daryl Gregoire ~ Revit Rocks ~ Tutorial
Importing Topo points into REVIT

Building Informed Models ~ Video Tutorials

I came across this web site recently
http://bimvids.blogspot.com/

There are a number of Video Tutorials including:-

.

.

Revit - Dormers
Revit 2010 series - in place sweeps
Egress path / Fire Safety Diagrams in Revit
Importing real topography from Google Earth: into Sketchup & or Revit
Solar Studies - 2 plans showing different times
Modifying levels and elevation values
Curtain wall with repeating patterns (no audio)
Creating new materials, using image file (no audio)
Edition a curtain panles shape (no audio)
Specify origin for export purposes
Orient a 3D view, cutting away

.

Enjoy..........

Revit Stop ~ Revit Architecture Video Tutorials

Only $9 to view all Revit Stop Tutorials ~ Lesson are for Revit Architecture

But you can view the first 10 lessons of the 31 videos for FREE

Click on Logo to link

.

.

.

1. Introduction

2. Fundamentals

3. Drawing Walls

4. Steering Wheel

5. Viewport Details

6. Wall structure

7. Custom Wall Styles

8. Custom Wall Finish

9. Floors

10. Interior Walls

.

Tips and Tricks ~ Walls

As I surf my way around the internet and find tips and trick, articles, blog postings about walls in Revit that may be useful I'm adding links to them here as a reference resource.

NEW

The Revit Clinic
10 Wall Tips ~Continuing the series of 10 quick tips , Click here for the tips for walls:

1. Embed a wall into curtain panel
2. Disallow Join
3. Unlock wall layers
4. Schedule a curtain wall infill as wall or curtain panel.
5. Enable multiprocessing for wall cleanups
6. Wall sweep other than horizontal or vertical
7. Break up a stacked wall
8. Access room bounding for stacked wall
9. Join geomertry on parallel walls
10. Wall Function

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Extending Walls - Wall Layers in Revit

Believe it or not, Revit will allow you to extend or contract selected wall layers above or below their base or top constraints!

This means that you can have one part of the wall assembly at a different height to the rest of the same wall. Let me demonstrate:



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Guidelines for wall thickness and materials in Revit

By Patrick Villella
Whats the Word on BIM
.
So you’ve seen the endless possibilities for creating wall types that Revit allows and now you’re excited, right? In fact, Revit ships with many preloaded wall types for all sorts of walls – stud, metal stud, gyp, brick, block, and any combination of these materials. But now you have questions.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Defining Wall Layers in Revit
Wall Structure/ Wall Assembly

by GMcDowellJr

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Brian Reneham ~ Revit Fix
Openings in Walls. - Revit 2010

It’s quite surprising the amount of different ways you can put an opening in a wall, and they all have slightly different properties in regard to how they behave and how surrounding elements behave. ~ Nice Tutorial



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


David Light ~ Revit
My staggered wall is not cleaning up!!!!
.
Refer to movie example for clarification.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
.

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

.

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.

.

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.

.

Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 Update 1 is available!

Wai Chu Product Manager for Revit Structure has just posted details about Update 1 for Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 now being available at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12856705.

Hop over to BIM and Beam for more information.

.

Learning Curve ~ Piles and Ground Beams

After what feels like and is months of waiting, I finally have access to Revit 2010!

The company I work for have finally installed Revit 2010 on the network and booked formal training…… “yippee”

As soon as I discovered about the new ribbon and the change in user interface, I lost interest in playing with the trial version of Revit 2009 at home and wanted to wait until I could get my hands on 2010.

I knew I would be able to use a fully working copy. You can’t save your work with the trial version after 30 days, you can you can only go so far with learning on a trial version that can’t save what you have created.

After being set up with right to the subscription centre I harvested all the software and supporting material so our IT guy could install on the network as we have purchased four licences.

Not naming names but, the reseller who supplied our company sent 2009 boxes and we are still awaiting a boxed set of software for RST2010. In the mean time I have spoken to one of the older more established UK resellers that I’ve dealt with in the past who have very kindly sent me a trial box and software. You may have seen my posting about the getting started manual not being supplied in the box.

So the first thing I did was download the RST 2010 Tutorials (metric version) off the Autodesk web site

My objective is to play with Revit in advance of the course so that I can make sure I get answers to questions that have cropped up during my pre course play time and thus get the maximum out of the training.

In a discussion "Making the transition to REVIT" on the 2D and or 3D Top CAD Experts Group on Linked-In it’s been muted that Autodesk suggests the best way forward is

1. Self exploration in the program
2. Class room training
3. Establish standards/templates
4. Pilot Job (w/consultant if needed)
5. Refine standards/templates

Which I was very happy to see as this was the logical conclusion I had come too and is my approach to making the transition to Revit.

Looking at step 1. ~ It still begs the question “Why take the getting started manual out of the trial pack” ….. back to the plot…

I started working my way through the tutorials, but was itching to start modelling something real. I’m currently working on a few housing schemes and one is so none rectilinear that it begs attempting in Revit 2010. (there’s nothing like jumping in at the deep end)



I loaded the AutoCAD drawing and traced the layout, and made the piles short at the moment as normally in AutoCAD you would only show the tops and have a break (Ummm can this be done in Revit? note to self, must ask when on the training course)

I placed grid line along the centre of all the beams and turned off the bubbles both ends on those that I only wanted centre lines shown on.

For some reason there were occasions where intersections of grid line not at right angles to one another were not found when placing the columns (piles) (Check this when on the training course)
What I did not appreciate at the beginning was that the grid lines would not show because the elevation was not perpendicular to the grid lines, and I drew this layout a couple of times trying to find out what I was doing wrong, until my query was answered on AUGI forum (what a great resource for peer to peer support).

Next Learning Curve posting will deal with the problems I found with the shape of the beams on plan and walls and floors …..

.

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.....