New Revit Essentials Training Video

Here's my latest adventure, an 8.5 hour Revit Architecture Essentials video. I use a model and workflow similar to the Revit Design Adventures posts. We work through a project from start to finish, learning Revit along the way. There are some free videos here.

Hope you have as much fun learning Revit as I have!

Arch | Tech: Friday Reprieve #29

Thanks Eddy for posting this. It's just amazing.

Arch Tech: Friday Reprieve #29

Revit Design Adventures:Ceiling Bulkheads (11)

So now things are starting to roll. The client understands that we can meet their expectations so now they getting more excited about the process. This is really good but we need to continue managing expectations. While it is now easier to explore different versions for visualization it still takes some time, our valuable time. We are fighting against the 'CSI: New York mentality'...cool music for 15 seconds and voila! full facial reconstruction complete. When all parties know that endless options are not 'free' they focus on the task at hand.

So, knowing this, the client has decided to explore a three skylight version with lower ceiling bulkheads. This would be considered a third iteration and a good time to Saveas. The ceiling is made with the sketch option. The sketch has a boundary around the outside edge as well as the inside edge thus creating the cutout. The walls are made using a custom wall type that would represent the framing and drywall needed for the bulkhead. Using the Attach Wall command we are able to attached the top of the wall to the underside of the roof and the base to the ceiling. The ceiling must fully extend under the wall, the thickness of the wall. As we model all of this we are making sure that these elements are going to the correct phase. All of the view and rendering settings are the same as previous so rendering is a snap. This entire iteration has lasted an hour or so. But what about those pesky potlight, or 'recessed can', families that come with Revit? Let's talk next time about some problem families that come with the Revit package and how to fix them.

Next Post in Series: Plywood and Drywall Quanity Take-offs


Previous Post in Series: Second Iteration Complete

More Top Gear ...drive the track.

Do U Revit?: The AUGI Forums are back!

AUGI was down for a while but is back online...

Do U Revit?: The AUGI Forums are back!

Encore! Machinima and Screenshots of the 48 hour Architectural Jazz Jam | ARCH Virtual#comment-26731

Beyond Revit...

Encore! Machinima and Screenshots of the 48 hour Architectural Jazz Jam ARCH Virtual#comment-26731

Archinect : Jobs : Revit Architect, SBLM Architects

Revit job...

Archinect : Jobs : Revit Architect, SBLM Architects

Construction Activity Expansion Index

An interesting interactive map of construction activity in the USA...

Construction Activity Expansion Index

Revit OpEd: Dept. of Bugs - Revit Framing Does Not Play Nice

Steve Stafford gives us a heads up on a bug in Revit Structure...

Revit OpEd: Dept. of Bugs - Revit Framing Does Not Play Nice: "Avan Amalsad wrote to me today asking me if I could corroborate her observations and those of one of her clients, she works with Microdesk a..."

ORUG Meeting Feb.10th

More info here...

Revit Design Adventures: Second Iteration Complete (10)

So why did we need 8 or 9 posts just to cover the first iteration and only one post for the second? First, the initial nine posts are including the setup and modeling of the basic building. They really only represent a few hours of time. The second reason is that the second iteration has very little to change. So let's get this done.

In the last post we left off here...

Save as, new version.

The client has mentioned that a sloped ceiling is preferable so we will start modelling that. We need to get rid of the existing skylight wells (that we worked so hard to make, typical) and draw a thicker roof on top of the existing roof.

Phasing is always an issue that you need to think of first. Because the new roof configuration is both roof and ceiling we will need to make another one in the same place as the existing and put it on Phase 1.  The skylights were hosted to the existing roof and now we need to rehost them to the Phase 1 roof.

We render it again and send it to the client in under an hour, all in. (Should have waited a day before emailing it ;-)) They like it but now wonder how a bulkhead with lights might look. This will present some modeling challenges as well as fixing a little foible in the stock Revit pot-lights.

Next Post in Series: Ceiling Bulkheads
Previous Post in Series: Dirty Little Secret

In the spirit of skylights...

Revit Design Adventures: Dirty Little Secret (9)

Here we are, only on the second iteration of this project and already I have a dirty little secret. Here it is: I drew the first iteration 'by eye'. I know, I know, bad idea. Point is, we always start a project lacking some important information. If we had all the information up front the client wouldn't need us. This is especially true when trying to win a job because we are gambling with time.

The entire second iteration will be done in about an hour because of our diligent setup. It is good practice when starting another iteration to do a 'save-as'.  If your model has been 'Workshared' (Worksets enabled) then make sure you check 'Make this a Central file' before saving.

The client has mentioned that a sloped ceiling is preferable so we will start modelling that. We need to get rid of the existing skylight wells (that we worked so hard to make, typical) and draw a thicker roof on top of the existing roof. Next time, let's talk about how we start incorporating the model (with actual dimensions), phases and sheets to complete the second iteration. 

Next Post in Series: Second Iteration Complete
Previous Post in Series: Presentation and Rendering

Book of the day...

Revit Design Adventures: Presentation and Rendering (8)

First Iteration: Presentation and Rendering

We are now done the first iteration. Our goal for this iteration is to reflect back to the client what they said that they wanted. Doesn't mean we have to like it. In fact, this may prove to them that they need some design advice. In this case, they came to the conclusion themselves that a new sloped ceiling would look better.

The rendering was done in a camera view. Interior: Sun only was the lighting choice. The materials right now are all just a generic white colour, as we had set up earlier. There are two section boxes with blacked out cut areas.

There are no titles on any of the viewports which is a setting in the Type Properties of the Viewports. This was simply a choice but reminds us of an important best practice: Make sure that you always 'Duplicate' when making any changes to Type Properties.

The client is now expecting another design iteration showing the sloped ceiling. We might also take this opportunity to reflect back some of the objects to be demolished. By doing this we will have a clearer understanding of what they want.

Next Post in Series: Dirty Little Secret
Previous Post in Series: Adding the Skylights and Wells

Book of the day...

Revit OpEd: AUGI | AEC EDGE Fall 2010 Available

Revit OpEd: AUGI AEC EDGE Fall 2010 Available:

I was happy to co-write an article on sustainable residential design using Revit. The co-authors are principles of a sustainable design firm named Solares. Check out their site: solares.ca.

"The newest issue of AUGI AEC EDGE, Fall 2010, is now available. There are high and low resolution pdf copies available now. I'm not sure..."

Revit Design Adventures: Adding the Skylights and Wells (7)

First Iteration: Adding the Skylights and Wells

Everything we are drawing will be drawn in views which have been set to Phase One, Show All.

Our client had provided some sketches which indicated that the skylights would be cut into the existing ceiling. Also, flared lightwells were requested.

The skylights are from the standard installed library. They are found in the Windows folder and are hosted to the roof; easy to install. The opening in the roof is automatically cut.

The openings in the ceiling is drawn using the By Face, Opening object. This will also be on Phase One.

Here's where things get 'squirrely', as they say. The flared lightwells will be drawn with an In-Place Mass object to provide the backing for the angled walls. You will need to make some Reference Planes to define the extents of the skylight wells. I recommend named Ref Planes (front and back) and an Extrusion. You can do this in a 3D view, right side. (On a side note, if there are any Revit developers or influencers reading this, please give us non-plumb walls.) Use Walls-By Face to add the walls to the edge of the skylight well. Pay attention to the location line of the wall as you add them.

You are able to group the first one you made, with one exception; the ceiling cut. For some reason Revit changes the Phasing of the cut when it's copied and it's not able to be adjusted in the Properties Palette. So, you can pick the skylight well walls as well as the skylight and group them. In this case it seems that the openings are better drawn separately. (If someone can 'shed some light' on this issue please comment.)

So far, we have spent about 3-4 hours setting up and drawing the first iteration. We just need to present this to client so that they can make some decisions. This first iteration was an exercise in reflecting back the sketch to the client. Now we, the designers, and the client can make some educated suggestions. So, let's take a look at how we do our rendering and presentation.

Next Post in Series: Presentation and Rendering

Previous Post in Series: Finishing the Shell


Lego of the Day: In honour of Top Gear...Something to read, something to drive, something to smash...

Revit Design Adventures: Finishing the Shell (6)

First Iteration: Finishing the Shell with Roofs, Floors, Ceilings etc.



Drawing the rest of the shell means adding floors, roofs, ceilings and the skylights with openings. The shell is on the Existing Phase as this is mostly an interior renovation.


Levels should always be made to finished STRUCTURE. (As apposed to finishes like carpet, tile etc.)

The floor top is aligned to the Level. Any floor finishes need to be thin and on top of the structural floor. We'll put the finish floor on later.

The roof bottom is aligned with the Level. But it may not be where you think. The bottom, outer edge of the roof is aligned with the Level. So in the case of wood, stick framed roofs you will need to move the roof down to the proper springing point.

The ceiling is based on an offset from the floor level to the underside of the ceiling. The default way to make the ceiling is 'Automatic' but this is not usually the way to go. You're better to go with the Sketch Ceiling option. Constraining the model should always be avoided.

Next Post in Series: Adding the Skylights and Wells
Previous Post in Series

Lego of the day:

Revit OpEd: Supplementary Files

Revit OpEd: Supplementary Files: "Ryan Duell, with Autodesk and The Revit Clinic, created a list of ten supplementary files for Revit and where they are located by default, R..."

#Revit Architecture Roombook Extension - The Sustainable Design Toolbox

Interesting news for those doing interiors and room data sheets...Haven't reviewed it yet but looks interesting.

#Revit Architecture Roombook Extension - The Sustainable Design Toolbox

Revit Design Adventures: Drawing Walls, Finally! 5

First Iteration
Drawing Walls, Finally!

So far we've spent about an hour setting up. Some of the things that we have setup so far...



Set Location
Project North
Phases
Levels, Grids and Reference Planes
Simple Material
Simple Wall, Floor styles ie. EW1 for Exterior Wall, IP1 for Interior Partition
A starter Sheet

Duplicate some views and append the phase to the name, for instance; 3D-Existing or Level1-Existing. Make sure you also change the Phase view property.

Now, in an Exisitng phase view we can draw our walls. Remember to always draw from Level to Level, like a cake. (mmmmm sweet, delicious, Revitcake)

Now the fun part..demolishing.

In the Phase 1 view, we now demolish the walls which are to be demolished using the 'demolish' tool. (I like saying 'demolish')

But what if only part of our walls are to be demolished? Use the 'Split' tool. You will end up with some funny intersections at times. This can be mitigated using the allow/disallow join tool.

In a Phase 1 view we can now draw the new walls.

Up to this point there has been a lot of 'wall' talk. We can add the windows, doors and openings to their proper Phase views. We can also demolish them! 

Next Post: Finishing the Shell with Roofs, Floors, Ceilings etc.

Previous Post

Lego of the Day...

Revit OpEd: Project Galileo Coming Soon at Autodesk Labs

Revit OpEd: Project Galileo Coming Soon at Autodesk Labs: "The Autodesk Labs BLOG mentioned today that something called Project Galileo will be available soon. Here's the overview from their curren..."

Revit Shortcut List

RL:Reload Latest
MV:Move
CC:Copy
RO:Rotate
AR:Array
MM:Mirror

GP:Group
PP:Pin
UP:Unpin
CS:Create Similar
PR:Properties

ZZ: Zoom Window
ZE: Zoom Extents
ZP: Zoom Previous


VP:View Properties


VV:Visibility/Graphics
WA:Wall
DR:Door
WN: Window
CM: Component
RP:Ref Plane

DI:Dimension

TX:Drafting-Text
GR:Drafting-Grid
LL:Drafting-Level
DL:Detail Lines
MA:Match

AL:Align
SL:Split
TR:Trim
WT:Window-Tile

SI:Intersections
SE:Endpoints
SM:Midpoints
SC:Centers
SN:Nearest
SP:Perpendicular
ST:Tangents
SQ:Quadrants
SO":Snaps Off

CC:Copy

AEC|EDGE Revit Ezine

Check out the latest version of AEC|EDGE. It has some great Revit articles. My favourite was 'Lessons of BIM' by Laura Handler (bim(X) blog) and Courtney Pagani.

While you're at it, check out the editor's (Steve Stafford) blog Revit OpEd.

Pinned Levels MOVE!

When you 'Pin' something, it won't move right? Mostly.

If a Level is 'Pinned' you will not be able to use the move command or the move by dragging command. You will be able to change the height of the level by edited the Level-Head elevation text. No warning, Revit just moves the Level.

(Let me know if you have noticed this....)

As a workaround, you could draw a dimension to the Level and then lock it.

Revit Design Adventures: Kitchen Reno 4

First Iteration
Three Things you MUST Do Second
Now that we have Location, Project North and Phases set up let's get going on the next three things. We are just about ready to draw a wall, the suspense is killing us! Just take a few minutes and set up:

1. Levels, Grids and Reference Planes
2. Simple Material
3. Simple Wall, Floor etc styles.
(Or can be named System Families. For a Family naming explanation see this post)
Levels, Grids and Reference Planes
Always make the Levels first. Even if you're going to leave the levels as is you should be aware of their height. In the case of the kitchen reno project we simply changed Level 2 to be an even 10'-0" for now.

Next we make some Reference Planes defining left, right, front and back. Always name the Reference Planes. This is found under their properties. Start drawing your grid If you know what it is going to be.

Simple Material
Phil Read gave the inaugural address at the Ontario Revit Users Group. He showed us a lot of crazy stuff but one thing that stood out was the following tip. Make a generic white material and apply it to everything (walls, floors, window and door frames etc.) This can help us and the client to focus on the major design issues instead of floor colours.
Simple Wall, Floor etc stylesLet's avoid defining things too much when naming Families. Adding materials and sizes to names of styles in Revit ends up creating more work and inconsistencies.
Create an exterior wall type: EW-1, thickness is set to the overall wall thickness, material is 'white'.
Create an interior wall partition type: IP-1, thickness to overall wall thickness, material is white. Make a floor and roof in a similar fashion.

Now we can start drawing walls, right? Well, a couple of other things to do that will save us some time is setting up our outline Sheet Set and a View Template (which is blacked-out walls, floors, ceilings and roofs plus no floor surface patterns). Clean and simple. Once we do this, our building comes together in minutes. So far we've spent about an hour setting up and modeling the main part of the building.

Next post: Drawing Walls, Finally!
Previous Post

Book of the day...

What are Revit Omniclass Codes?

Assigning OmniClass codes

OmniClass is a new classification system for the construction industry. The Autodesk Seek web site uses codes from OmniClass Table 23 to filter and identify shared content. A code consists of an OmniClass number and title.

If an OmniClass code is not already assigned to a family, you are prompted to assign one during the sharing process. However, you can continue to share with Autodesk Seek without defining one. All Revit families (except the System and Annotation families) have parameters for assigning an OmniClass code.

You can access the OmniClass Number and OmniClass Title parameters in the Family Category and Parameters dialog under Family Parameters. See Family Category and Parameters.

Taken from here.

What are Revit Uniformat Codes?

All model elements in Revit Architecture have Assembly Code and Assembly Description type properties based on the hierarchical list of Uniformat codes assigned by R.S. Means. You can add or change a Uniformat assembly code for a selected element type. The read-only Assembly Description property updates to match the assigned code.

Both the Assembly Code and Assembly Description fields are available for creating a schedule that groups components by Uniformat code.

This was taken from here.

Conditional Statements for Yes/No Visibility

Problem:
You have a light family which has two options, suspended or ceiling mount. So you make a Visibility Parameter for each objects, the suspension wires and the mounting bracket. Problem is you don't want to see both at the same time.

Solutions:
In the Formula field of one of the Yes/No (Visibility) parameters type the following:
not(suspension wires)

So to translate this; turn off the mounting bracket if the suspension wires are on.

Thanks to AUGI users...
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=79394

Revit Design Adventures: Kitchen Reno 3

First Iteration
Three Things you MUST Do First

So now we have the client sketches, their design ideas and address. They have let us know when they would like to start renovating. We have set some expectations as to what they will get from us and when. We are ready to start our model!

You really want to start drawing walls now! but first...
We need to set up the following:

Location
Project North
Phases

Why do we NEED to do this first? Simple answer is because it's a pain to do these things once the model is in place. Let's start with Location.

Location
This tool is found in the ribbon under Manage-Project Location-Location. Set the address as if you were searching for it in Google Maps. Setting the location will be useful for solar, shadow and energy calculations. If you are starting with an AutoCAD survey I would recommend you read this post I did a while back.
(http://revit.blogspot.com/2010/03/coordinates-base-points-surveys-linking.html)

Project North
This tool is found in the ribbon under Manage-Project Location-Position-Rotate True North. Make sure that you do this in a Site view with the Orientation set to True North (found in View Properties). In the Kitchen Reno project we have simply rotated the True North based upon an image from Google Maps.

Phases
Even if you think that you will never use Phases, set this up. The default phases are Existing and New Construction. The default current phase is New Construction. This can cause problems if you have modeled half of your existing building without knowing that it was put on a phase called 'New Construction'. Make a few phases, more than think you will need. Use simple names like Phase 1 or Phase 2. Fill out a brief description if needed. Get rid of the phase called New Construction, this will only confuse things. Above is a picture of the phases of this project.

In this building only Existing and Phase 1 are used. Things are both built and demolished in Phase 1. We will talk more about Phases in later posts...



Next Post:
Three Things you MUST do Second
Previous Post 

Revit Design Adventures: Kitchen Reno 2

In my last post I introduced a new series that I'm writing called 'Revit Design Adventures'. We are examining a kitchen renovation project. This will be done in Revit and we will make use of most of the Revit toolbox. There will be a number of iterations along the way. Let's start with the first iteration:


First Iteration
Managing Expectations

As we saw in the last post the client has provided us with some basic sketches as well as a verbal explanation of what they want.

But what does the client really want? There is no need to over complicate this question. The client wants a renovated kitchen that they love to be in. They want this to be done within a reasonable budget and time frame.

So are we simply providing floor plans, elevations and details for permit plans and construction documents? Yes, but what they really want from us is assurance of their expectations, as stated above. They may have made many of the major design decisions already, but will they like the results, can it be built and for how much? That’s why we are involved and why we use Revit.

3D views and renderings are always important at this stage, the client expects this. It's important that we don't define too much in the initial 3D views. We need to keep our design on-track by focusing on the overall size, layout and feel.

The initial images should very simple and clean. The first iteration of this project represents about three or four hours of time. This set included plans, sections, 3D views and a rendering which is pictured above. As it turns out, all we needed was the rendering. The client could see that the ceiling was too low and made them think that a sloped ceiling might look better.

In my next post we will continue to look at the first iteration and what are the first things that need to be done before you start modeling.

Next Post:
Three Things you MUST Do First
Previous Post 

 

Revit Design Adventures: Revit Workflow 1

This is the first post in a series entitled 'Revit Design Adventures'. In this series we will examine Revit based upon the project workflow. Learning about tools and features is necessary at a fundamental level. But how do these tools and features work in the context and workflow of a project? We won't be answering 'how' as much as when and why do I use certain Revit functions.

The first project we will examine is a small kitchen renovation complete with renderings and permit plans. Small projects have small budgets and small timeframes. Even a small renovation project offers us the opportunity to examine Phasing, In-Place Families, Custom Component Familes, In-Place Masses and most of the other Revit tools. So, let's get started with the sketches provided by the client...

Eventually, we will end up with the result at the start of the post. But first, in order to get there we will be embarking on a design adventure...stay tuned.
Next Post in Series.

Revit Server - David Light

This is (yet another) repost of a very good explanation of the Revit Server technology...

http://autodesk-revit.blogspot.com/2010/09/revit-2011-subscription-advantage-pack.html

Phase Mapping

This is from the help in the Revit...

http://docs.autodesk.com/subscription/REVIT/2011/ENU/filesUsersGuide/WS1a9193826455f5ff-29c43aa61173633f416-7c4c.htm

Creating Type Catalogs

Keep in mind that Type Catalogs have a very simple purpose; loading Families with many Types. They don’t read or change parameters automatically, you have to duplicate (type or cut and paste) the parametric information from the Family....The following is a re-post from this autodesk page...

Creating Type Catalogs

Type Catalogs assist you with the family selection process. You can sort through the catalog and load only the specific family type required within your project. This helps decrease project size and minimizes the length of the Type Selector drop-down list when selecting types.

See Using a Type Catalog for more information.

Although Revit includes a Type Catalog when loading structural families, you can create a catalog for any existing or user-created family. The type catalog is a comma-delimited .txt file.

Creating a Type Catalog

There are several ways to create a comma-delimited .txt file. You can type it in using a text editor like Notepad, or you can use database or spreadsheet software to automate the process.

As you create the type catalog, follow these rules:

• Save the type catalog file name with a .txt extension; the file must have the same name and same directory path as the Revit family, for example, Doors/door.rfa and Doors/door.txt.

• The left-most column lists types.

• The top-most row describes the parameter format. Format is columnname##type##unit.

• Use decimals.

• Do not use single or double quotes.

• Types are for length, area, volume, or other

• For Units, use only: inches, feet, millimeters, centimeters, or meters. Leave unit field blank for type other.

• Revit applies project unit settings to type catalog when loading family.

Example file:

,Manufacturer##other##,Length##length##centimeters,Width##length##centimeters,Height##length##centimeters

MA36x30,Revit,36.5,2.75,30,

MA40x24,Revit,40.5,3.25,24

• Revit applies project unit settings to the type catalog when loading families.

• You can export your project to a database using ODBC and download the element type tables in comma-delimited format.

Revit Network Hardware in Globe and Mail

Interesting article in the Globe about servers and Revit…

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/grow/advdell/out-with-the-old/article1747305/

ORUG Sept.29 Meeting Notes

We had a great time last week at the Ontario Revit Users Group. Big thanks to James Vandezande for coming up to T.O. to speak.

Notes Here

Supported Revit Graphics Hardware

The performance and stability of hardware acceleration in Autodesk® Revit® 2011-based products depends on the capabilities of your graphics hardware. For more reliable performance, we recommend that you use Autodesk-supported graphics hardware along with the supported driver version.

http://www.autodesk.com/us/revit/revit_graphics_hardware_list_June02.html