Should Project Managers Learn Revit?

The role of Project Manager or Project Architect is very hard to define. There are almost as many variations as there are projects. Some Project Managers are actively involved in the production, many mostly review drawings, others are managing relationships exclusively. Of course, most do all of the above. In the end, they need to rely on their production past to know how to manage production present. So even though Project Managers will likely not be involved in production Revit they NEED to know how it works. The sooner a Project Manager realizes this, the happy he will be. In fact, the happier we all will be. If a Project Manager doesn't learn how to use Revit, there will always be this murky unknown that causes tension in the team. It's worth the time to send a PM to training. After or even during training the PM should model up something small from start to finish. Within a month or so, the haze will start to clear...

Revit OpEd: Project Coordination - Early Days

Thanks to Steve Stafford and Andre Carvalho. Point of this post is too 'out' the acquire coordinates flaw. If you are a consultant linking in the arch model, acquire coords does nothing for you. You will need to update your model 'manually' in order to keep up with building on site movements. Read Steve's post for more...

Revit OpEd: Project Coordination - Early Days: This post attempts to outline how a project will develop (understanding there are exceptions) when considering multiple firms/models and att...

Revit OpEd: Bending Railings to Your Will

Revit OpEd: Bending Railings to Your Will: Food for thought, what if we used railings for millwork and egress paths? By millwork I mean custom work, not fixed sized cabinets which are...

Revit Structure 2012 Training Videos Released

Introducing video training for Revit Structure 2012 Fundamentals. This 7.5hr course follows the workflow of a project focusing on industry best practices along the way. Watch some free sample videos here:

Revit Structure Box Truss Space Truss Video

Revit (any version) does not ship with a 'Space Truss' or 'Box Truss' that I could find. This is a commonly used member and I decided to make one and let you know how I did it. Here's a video explaining the basic procedure.

Overview Instructions:

1. Start with a 'Beams and Braces' family template. Call it space_truss
2. Extrude main chords in right elevation and lock to ref planes.
3. Extrude a solid in the same elevation and lock to ref planes. This will be web eventually.
4. Start a new family based upon the 'Generic Model Faced Based' template. Call it space_truss_void
5. Make a void which will cut out the desired space around the web. This will be one cell which we will array. Make sure you use 'Cut Geometry' on the voids and the host, even if they're not touching.
6. Load the  space_truss_void  family into the space_truss family.
7. Constrain and array the space_truss_void  family along the member.
8. Make an array parameter which distributes the space_truss_void family along the solid web.
9. Load in to project and enjoy.

orug: ORUG at AU2012

orug: ORUG at AU2012: Canada was very well represented at AU2011. It was nice to see people from across the country and to meet with many of them. Some members...