Revit View Cube Tips

I think the “ViewCube” is a underutilized tool.
Here are some tips and tricks for using the “ViewCube”.

The View cube can offer you additional views aside from the twenty six defined area’s (views set by clicking on one of the faces on the ViewCube).

If you Right Click on the ViewCube or select the small drop down icon on the bottom right  you have available to you a number of options.

Here you can save a view to the Project Browser, it’ll show up under your 3D views.

Set the current view as the Home View, this is handy if you want to set a specific view as your home view. You can reset this view back to the default any time.

By selecting the Orient to View or the Orient to Direction tool the dialog box will expand to allow you to select from views under the Floor Plans, Elevations or 3D Views that you have under the Project Browser.

The same applies for the Orient to a Direction selection.

These tools allow you to quickly and easily take you to specific views of the model, don’t be afraid to save specific views of the model to allow you quick access to 3D views you require.

Vasari... all grown up!

I have just downloaded the Beta1 version of Vasari.....

Were looking at analysing designs so were starting to use the tools in Revit and were looking at Ecotect but have found out that they're not developing Ecotect anymore... so it looks like Vasari and Green Building Studio will be the design and analysis tools we'll be using...

Vasari looks and feels much like Revit but without a lot of the advanced tools you typically use after the design process, it's basically a stripped down version of Revit Architecture with a focus on the design tools.... and the best part is.... it's the same file format! ya hoo!

Cant wait to have a play with it!

Sc

Cleaning up Families

For some Revit Families you may have received either from a consultant of a supplier (especially from suppliers) the file size may be too big or over-modeled.

 Adam in my Vancouver office came up with this flow chart showing some simple steps on how to clean up Revit Families…

Save a copy of the image to your desktop to keep handy.

Enjoy!.

Thanks Adam!

SC

Model Behavior

An Article on Model Behavior and Architects preparing to take a leading role in Energy Modeling.

Here is a link to a great article that one of the Partners of the firm I work for passed on to me.
http://www.architectmagazine.com/energy-efficiency/architects-should-prepare-to-take-a-leading-role-in-energy-modeling.aspx

The article was written by Wanda Lau for the US publication "Architect" and talks about analyzing your model early in the design process to help design more efficient buildings...  

"Energy modeling is a relative projection of different systems against others and not a guarantee for performance"

Revit has a number of tools available for basic energy analysis where you can compare results from one model design to another including those built in to Revit as well as external software. Even using these to basically compare model design can help you design a more efficient building...

Great article, worth a read...

Sc

Ethical Architecture

I recently read a blog posting by Steve at Revit OpEd (http://revitoped.blogspot.ca/2012/07/due-diligence.html) where he “was musing about a recent conversation where one guy's position was that BIM is hype, unnecessary and worse really just being foisted upon our profession in a scheme to get more money from "us"

This got me thinking…

I typically find that people who express comments like that are both short sighted and closed minded about opportunities to do what we/you do better.

Yes we can create magnificent architecture with a pencil but should we?

Personally I find that in the region that I work (Western Canada) we talk about BIM but we are still not fully embracing BIM, we say were using BIM technology but basically all we have done is replace ACAD with RAC… this is not true BIM, it’s Lonely BIM!

We still hand over a set of drawings to the contractor, not a building information model (unless we are legally obligated too). We coordinate with other BIM lonely consultants but there is still resistance to sharing a complete model…..Why? Are we afraid of Liability? Responsibility? Do we not have confidence in our model?

Knowing the people that I work with, I have absolute trust in the ability in the technicians creating the model, the information they have been given or gather is true and correct given the usual parameter that we work within. Which are the same parameters that we have worked under for many, many years.... so why the fear? Maybe it’s because we haven’t done enough to educate those members of a firm who make these kinds of decisions on the capabilities of BIM and Revit?

Integrated Project Delivery may be the saviour in regards to this, if everybody associated in a project signs a piece of paper (simplified here I know) stating that they wont sue each other everyone involve would be more willing to share information, confident that  that if the information may be incorrect the ramification wont escalate to a legal scrimmage. This of course does not reduce the responsibility of ensuring that the information you are passing on is as correct as you can possibly make it. This is called due diligence!

We need to be more confident in our capabilities and the capabilities of the people whom we place in roles of responsibility.

Once this is achieved I believe we will move forward and create true “responsible” Architecture, or "Ethical Architecture"!

Sc

Creating a new Linetype in a Family

When creating a new family you may find that you are limited in the Linetypes available to you so you  need to create a new line type. Don’t get confused with line patterns… here we are adding a new Linetype style to represent objects in your family…

We use lines in families to represent our component in a plan view.

Here’s how:

• Open the family you want to edit or start a new family from the template. (Duh!)

• Under the Manage tab select the Object Styles icon. This will open up the Object Style Dialog Box where you will see the existing linetype styles available in your family.

• Create a New Subcategory, under the Subcategory of your component. This will allow you to manage the lines latter…

• Name your category and place it in the appropriate Subcategory.

• Now you have created a new Category you can now select the line weight, colour and pattern.

When you’re done you will now have access to the linetype you created in the Subcategory linetype selection.

What to watch out for when managing a Revit Project: Part 3

Here is the final post of the Dont's "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.

Expect it to be like CAD!:  This is not AutoCAD. There are no layers, and no command line. This is BIM and it is different to ACAD.

Drag elements (press and drag):  Dragging elements or dragging across elements can move them. This will affect the entire model and all views. Turn off Press and Drag if you tend to click and drag the cursor around the screen.
I always tell my users to Pin objects, especially when the basic design is done this will help eliminate those anomalies of moving walls etc...

Upgrade the model: There is no backwards compatibility in Revit. You cannot do a "Saveas" and save down in Revit. If a project team, including consultants, is using a specific version don't open the file and save it using a newer version.
When and if the entire team are ready to upgrade to a newer version do so but make sire everyone including the consultants are on board and are ready to do the upgrade. Some projects can go for years and often new releases have additional tools that can greatly assist production.

Move levels: Levels define Vertical space in Revit. Moving a Level can move walls, doors, windows, ceilings, floors roofs and more. Levels are set early in a project and usually do not need to be adjusted during a project. If they need adjusting allow an experienced team member to do it.

Get enamoured by 3D: Revit is a great 3D and at building models. Don't get too caught up in 3D so that you begin to over model or expect your project teams to model too much. A really great model of a 3D toilet might look good for a perspective view, but placing hundreds of them in a model unnecessarily in a project will just slow things down.
Actually I would prefer to place model WC components rather than 2D symbols... it's a real balancing act...

Expect to learn it overnight: Revit is a complex building modeling and documentation tool. It's very intuitive to learn but it will take some time to master it.

Explode anything!!: Just like in AutoCAD exploding is BAD! Dont do it!