What to watch out for when managing a Revit Project: Part 2

Here is part 2 of "What to watch out for when managing a Revit Project"  a continuation of the last post.

Once again this was taken from  a 2009 class called "Autodesk Revit for Project Managers" by James Balding and Scott Davis.

Do's and Dont's

The following list represents the do's and dont's for a Project Manager on any given project. These can vary greatly based on the level of experience a PM has with Revit and their roll as a "Technical" or "Managing" PM.

Oversell/promise the deliverable: Know your BIM limitations. Do not promise energy analysis on your Revit pilot projects if you don't know how to achieve results.

Open the file: This could go either way. If you are a Technical PM, then of course, open the file. If you are a Managing PM and don't know how Revit works, you could really mess things up if you open the file.
My personal thoughts on this comment: I will teach our managing PM's the basics of Revit so they can explore the model, seek information and print what they need using a Revit Viewer which doesn't allow them to save.

Open/Delete/Rename or Move the CENTRAL file: Central file are VERY important. Once they are created it's important that they remain exactly where they were created.

Force a Dimension: This innt AutoCAD, you cant for a dimension in REvit. If the dimension is wrong the model is wrong. Fix the model!!

Erase it if you don't know what it is: Lines in Revit views can represent any number of things and often are live 3D objects. Deleting a line could be the edge of a wall that hosts a door or window with dimensions and notes. If you delete it all that work in all the other views is gone!

Leave a file open: Leaving a file open means that others cannot access it, or in a workset environment, could mean they cant access objects you've checked out. Close the file when your done.

Over Model: Over modeling in unnecessary and will slow the model and the entire process. Only model what you can see. At smaller scales use detail components to describe the detail.
A good rule of thumb here is "Model what you would see if you were standing across the street".

Kanoaky

I found this web site while reading an online Cycling magazine called "Bicycling.com".
http://myknoaky.com/

A "Knoaky" is a small piece of OAK-Wood, that is small and simple, that you can stick or put it wherever you want to for good luck.

Andreas Klier who is a professional cyclist came up with the idea after what he describes as  "a very close to have a horrible accident but luckily nothing happened. I knocked on the side of my frame as I do sometimes on the side of my helmet. I told the whole story to my wife and also told her how nice it would be to have a piece of wood with me when I am out for a ride. A small piece of wood that I could stick wherever I want, a small piece, that I could knock on, whenever I feel I need to..."

Hence the birth of the Kanoaky... the great thing about this idea is that not only are you protected by a superstitious tradition! but the proceeds goes to supporting a foundation called Plant-for-the-Planet which It's an wonderful project, from a kid with an incredible goal.

He wants to plant 1000 Billion Trees for the World. There has been already 12,5 Billion trees planted and with every MyKnoaky you buy he plants one more tree.

One MyKnoaky = one Tree, that is what you support! what a great idea...

check out Andreas web site and if you feel inclined and want to be safe on the roads buy one!



I did..

Sc

 

What to watch out for when managing a Revit Project: Part 1

I recently found these great little "nuggets" of information while going through some old Autodesk University (AU) handouts.


By the way I do go through my old AU handouts often as they contain great information such as the following taken from a 2009 class called "Autodesk Revit for Project Managers" by James Balding and Scott Davis.


What to watch out for when Managing a Revit Project


The "Overmodeler": In Revit there is a saying that says "just because you can model it doesn't mean you have too". Be careful to watch out for those that want to model everything down to the smallest details. Think about what needs to be shown in a view at a particular scale and only model to that level of detail. Detail items should only be shown as 2D detail items. Unnecessary modeling makes the models large and will slow the project down.


Sloppy Modeling: There is a correct way to model in Revit, and a wrong way to model. Items should be drawn using the appropriate category. Do not use Massing in Revit to model items that are not massing. Do not try to "fake" things in Revit. you are building a virtual version of the building. Sloppy modeling leads to sloppy construction.


Atempts to tun Revit into AutoCAD: Revit is NOT AutoCAD. It's not based on AutoCAD and its functions are very different from AutoCAD. Do not attempt to compare the workflow in Revit to that of AutoCAD. For example, "In AutoCAD we would just do it like this...." Statements like this will just undermine your efforts. The sooner you can understand this, the more successful you will be in Revit.


Cutting Corners "to get the job out the door": Don't cut corners! Once again, the process in Revit is different, It my take a little longer initially to get a piece of the model designed but in the end, the process is faster.

Updating the Family Thumbnail

So I ran into an unusual problem the other day where my Revit Family did not match the thumbnail image.... In this case the window family had multiple mullions which the thumbnail did not show, in fact the preview showed the original family of which I copied to create the new family with multiple mullions!

After mulling this over and searching the web for a solution I submitted a case to Autodesk and as usual the Autodesk support team (in this case it was Lance Coffey who has also helped me out in the past) promptly replied with the answer.

So here's what you need to do if your family "thumbnail" icon dose not match your family (direct from Autodesk support!):

1. Open the family file.

2. Save the file to a new name, and click Options on the Save As dialog window.
(Actually I just overwrote the original file and it worked fine)

3. Select the Source view that you want to use for the thumbnail preview, and check the "Regenerate if view/sheet is not up-to-date" box.
(This is the important part!)

4. Save the file, and check if the thumbnail is updated.

Easy!

SC

Revit for Interior Design

So I've been looking into using Revit more for Interior Design.

I have attended a number of session both at AU and RTC on using Revit for Interior design, I have also had the opportunity to teach Revit to a group of Interior Design Students a couple years ago and got some great feedback on how they will use Revit for Interior Design.

So I plan on incorporating Interior Design into our Revit work flow more than it currently is.

Some resources that Ive collected from Autodesk University over the years are:

Inside Revit by Amber White and Jacqueline Pollock
Their session looked at design phases, custom parameters, details etc...
Great handout that goes into detail.

BIMteriors by John R. Ade
This session looked at Commercial Interior Design and looks at space planning, area analysis, presentations and construction documentation.
Another great handout that goes into detail.

Make a Strong Finish and Revit Inside both by Paul Aubin
Paul is a great presenter and writer, actually his handouts are novellas!
He puts a great deal of effort in both his presentations and handouts and are well worth hunting down on the AU web site...

And lastly I had the opportunity to meet Daniel Stine while attending RTC NA 2012.
Daniel has also written a book called Interior Design Using Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 (which I have pre-ordered).
Check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/Interior-Design-Using-Autodesk-Architecture/dp/1585037494

A selection of reading of which I'll be able to pull ideas and methods to implement into our Revit Interior Design Work flow... ;-)

Sc

Round Tripping Design Review mark-ups in Revit

A typical workflow for a set of construction drawings include printing out a set of drawings, having the Lead architect or Project Manager review the project by marking up the sheets with a red pen and then give back to make the noted changes.

This can include lots of printed sheets and lots of space to lay out the printed drawings….

If we use Design Review for our review drawings we can exchange comments, notes and questions all digitally. Whoever is reviewing the DWFx sheets can also see the properties of elements as well as use a set of tools in Design Review to pull information as well as place comments.

When you mark up the DWF file, you are marking on top of the plotted views from Revit, as if you used a red marker on a printout. After you have marked up the DWF, you can link it back into Revit.

Bringing the DWFx back into Revit we can mark the changes as either Question, Done or For Review as well as write comments and then be saved back to the DWFx.

The reviewer can also have the entire model to review and explore in Design Review giving them a far better understanding of the entire project.

Here’s how we can “Round trip” a DWFx file to and from Revit:

Firstly we need to export Revitsheet and views to a DWFx file.

Note: The difference between DWF and DWFx, we can export sheets and views to DWF as well as DWFx but only DWFx will allow us to export the 3D model.

 

·         From the application button (the big R in the top left) select Export > DWF/DWFx

·         Select from the drop down what you want to export. Note that if you select “All views and sheets in the Model”  you will be able to select the 3D view as well as the sheets.

After making your selection you can save it for future use.
 Save to a folder and you’re ready to open in Design Review to mark up…

Open the DWFx in Design Review and using the tools available make any comments, notes queries that you need.

 

After you have marked up your DWFx bring it back into Revit by using the DWF Markup took in Revit.

A dialog box will pop up allowing you to map the DWFx sheets to your Revit sheets, but only if you need too and if you have renamed your sheets after exporting the DWFx.

You can manage your DWFx links through the Manage Links dialog box.

Any comments and mark-up on the DWF will then be superimposed on top of your Revit sheets.

By selecting the comment the properties of the DWF appear which you can now manipulate.

Such as:

Change the status of the comment.

Options include: None, For Review, Question and Done.

Make notes on the comment; maybe write a question here or a comment for the reviewer.

Review the History of the comments and the number of times it’s been “Round Tripped”.

When you’re done reviewing and making the appropriate comments to the DWF file while in Revit save the Revit project, this will automatically save back your changes that you have made to the DWF.

You can resend the DWFx back to the Reviewer for verification. Any changes to the status of the comments or adding your own comments will be updated in the DWF file.

Global Athletic Event

The Revit Jedi is proud to support the spirit of the upcoming global athletic event which is going to be held at a venue located in England in the very near future.

Go Clara Hughes!

"A six-time Olympic medalist in cycling and speed skating; she’s the only athlete in history to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Games.  She’s back on the bike with her eyes firmly set on London 2012.  But there’s far more to Clara than athletic achievements.

She is the National Spokesperson for Bell Canada’s Mental Health initiative and the ‘Let’s Talk’ campaign.  By sharing past struggles with depression, Clara has helped break down the stigma associated with mental illness."