New Features of Navisworks 2013

James Van from "All Things BIM" recently posted about the new features in Navisworks 2013.
Navisworks is a great program.... the free version is called Navisworks Freedom.

Check it out....

Sending Hatch to Front/Back Issue in Revit 2013

So there is an issue with Revit 2013 where you cannot send the hatch to the Front or the Back.

Were having this issue with a detail view and sending a shaded hatch to the front but it's not coming through as expected.

Haven't found a solution yet bus as soon as I hear back from Autodesk I'll share it on my Blog.

Scott

Update drivers

When installing Revit 2013 don't forget to update your video card driver.

We ran into an weird issue where windows in the background were projecting through the model... It ended up being a graphics card driver issue.....

So as part of the process of installing of Revit 2013 include updating you video card driver...

April 25th ANZAC Day

April 25th is an important day in the History of Australia and New Zealand.

In 1915, Australian and New Zealander soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, according to a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was an ally of Germany during the war. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock the Ottomans out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied casualties included 21,255 from the United Kingdom, an estimated 10,000 dead soldiers from France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, and 1,358 from British India. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed to achieve its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war, the actions of the Australian and New Zealander troops during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand, a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name. When war broke out in 1914, Australia and New Zealand had been dominions of the British Empire for thirteen and seven years respectively.

Excepts taken from Wikipedia

Building Design Suite 2013 Installation Instructions

Here are some simple instructions for when you install your Building Design Suite (or any other software really).

1. Select your Country, this helps with content selection latter on. Select agree to move onto the next screen.

2. Input Serial Number and Key Number.

3. Select or Deselect software you want to load. Only install the software you need. You can load the additional software latter on if you need too. By not installing the software you probably wont use will free up some computer resources.

4. Configure selected software: Click on each software icon to manipulate configuration. Verify that all disciplines are loaded as well as Imperial, Metric and country content if applicable. Click “configuration” to close and continue. When configuring ACA and ACAD dont forget to include the express tools.

5. Click next to continue. Software installation will now begin.
6. Keep your earlier versions (for the time being). If your on Subscription you can have up to three previous versions  on your computer but if your not on Subscription you do have a limited amount of time before you have to uninstall the previous version.

For Revit, after installation is complete check the configuration of Revit – Under Options set the following:

• Back-up reminder time to 30 min and 2 hours for Synchronization
• Set default discipline to the applicable discipline such as "Architecture" for Architects...
• Set Template file location. Prior to this open up your company Revit Template (project file) and save a copy as your 2013 version and then save this as your new 2013 version template. I then typically archive the older version templates.
• Set the "Default Local" folder to your custom local folder location. IE: My Documents Revit Local File
• Map any missing library folders for Metric Library, Metric Detail Library and company Component Content folders.

And Finally.... Dont forget to install you favorite add on tools and Subscription Advantage pack...

Keeping your Imported Families Simple

Ever received a Revit Family from a manufacturer and it is modeled in such depth that you can actually see the raised manufacturers name on the side of the piece of equipment!

The reason for this is that they are typically creating a model for "manufacture".
These models using programs such as "Inventor" are a great way to design and develop equipment for manufacture but don't reuse that model for use as your BIM model to share with consultants... it's way too big!

Autodesk is currently previewing new software that will "Shrink-wrap" and simplify an Inventor model and also removes Intellectual Property.

It's currently a Technology preview and I hope it takes off and is adopted by mechanical equipment manufacturers as part of their process when releasing a BIM model.

Check it out....

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_simplification/

Imagine Design Create

Last year Autodesk published a book called "Imagine Design Create" I was fortunate to have a hard cover copy copy given too me by my boss at the time shortly after it was released.

Attending Autodesk University last year they gave away a paperback copy of the book to each attendee.

It's a great book that outlines "How Designers, Architects, and Engineers are changing our World".
Well worth a read, I recommend a copy for your personal use as well as a copy for the office, it's inspiring....

Autodesk is also giving the digital copy of the book for free, it's downloadable from the link below as well as a link to the Amazon web page where you can order a copy for around $20.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=16442791

Now if only I could get my copy signed by Carl Bass....

Enjoy!

Displaced Professionals

Autodesk had a program available for "Displaced Professionals" (makes them sound like they are homelss eh!).

Shaan Hurley recently blogged about the Autodesk Assistance Program which makes available to unemployed professionals the opportunity to sharpen their software skills and knowledge.

"As members of the architecture, engineering, design, digital arts, and manufacturing communities, Autodesk provides ongoing tools to qualified program participants, including – free* software, training and support."

Check out their web site: http://autode.sk/nAaPfF

In today's competitive market having technical skills and industry knowledge combined with software skills will make you a valuable asset to any organization, regardless of age.....

Revit Viewer

Do you have clients that you want to share you model with, maybe a contractor or supplier you typically work with?

Get them to download the Revit trial from Autodesk, they can then view the model, your schedules etc of any project that you send them (oh ok!, maybe you cant email a large RVT file but you can upload one to a file sharing program).

However... it's not a true viewer in the sense that you can open up the model and manipulate it... you just can print and save.

Anything that allows the flow of communication is of a benefit.....

Other options are Navisworks Freedom  and Design review... Navisworks Freedom 2013 can read native RVT files.. :-)

You can use the Autodesk® Revit® trial, available from the Autodesk website: www.autodesk.com, to view projects for free.

After the 30-day trial mode is over, Revit will run indefinitely in Demo Mode. When Revit is in Demo Mode, you can view files, but you cannot print them or save any changes you have made.

Halftone/Underlay Control

You can control the brightness of Halftone elements.

Halftone elements are typically assigned to Underlay's as well as any objects that have been assigned to show as halftone.

One way You can override objects to read as Halftone by right clicking and selecting Override Graphics in View.

You can adjust the intensity of the halftone under the Manage Tab > Additional Settings > Halftone/Underlay.

By moving the Bar Slider you can adjust the Brightness.

This shows the Halftone is set to 50.

This shows the Halftone is set to 80.

Mirror Project

Here is a great tool but seldom used... for good reason, not too often you have to totally flip your design.

The Mirror tool is located under the Manage Tab on the Project Location Panel (version 2012 and 2013).

You get the option to mirror along a number of different axis but you cannot pick a custom axis line.

Works great however I did get a couple error messages asking me to Review elements for correct Position and shape, Unjoin one wall from floor and a dimension that had to be deleted as the references had become invalid.

Still these are pretty minor in my opinion.

All in all the results are pretty good.

Now I just have to wrap my head around this new flipped design!!

Hoppy Eggster

Happy non-denominational egg shaped confectionary period of time. :-)

Below is an image of Pasanky (decorated Ukrainian Easter Eggs).

My lovely wife (being of Ukrainian Heritage) occasionally makes these this time of year.....and the food!

Revit Error: "Extension Layers at the base of the wall must be adjacent"

Came across this error that really perplexed me... it was the verbiage that Revit used that I didn't understand...

 
After hunting through the actual wall assembly I found what the problem was and the message then made sense.

what I found that if you have more than one wall layer component at the base (or top) that is unlocked to make it extendable they need to be next to each other. You cannot have one layer unlocked and it's adjacent layer locked.

This only applies when you have multiple layers that are unlocked. you can have a single layer unlocked anywhere along the assembly but as soon as you unlock another layer they need to be next to each other.

Here are some examples:

Any one Wall Component Layer Unlocked is OK.

Any two or more Wall Component Layers Unlocked that are next to each other (or adjacent) is also OK.

Revit will not allow two or more Wall component Layers that are unlocked that NOT next to each other. Hence the error message that you cannot ignore.

Navisworks 2013 and RVT files

Yeah!

Finally Navisworks can read native Revit files.... hard to imagine that all this time Navisworks hasent been able to read native Revit Files... oh but it could read 140 odd other files types but not RVT's....UNITL NOW!

Interoperability enhancements help to increase your productivity when working with Autodesk® Revit® software products and Navisworks. Read native .RVT files directly within Navisworks and utilize the Navisworks Batch Utility automation toolset.