Showing posts with label Revit 2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revit 2014. Show all posts

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Revit 2014 Update Release 1

An update for Revit 2014 became available recently. It has been blogged and tweeted many times already but I chose to echo it now because I've encountered questions about it a few times this week. This applies to all Revit versions, Architecture, Structure, MEP and Revit (aka "one-box"...all Revit disciplines in a single Revit install). These are update links for each version:

Revit Architecture 2014
Revit Structure 2014
Revit MEP 2014
Revit 2014 (one-box, only available as part of BDS)

Friday, June 14, 2013

Schedule Name and Header

A few years ago (Aug 08) I wrote a post that explained how to break the relationship between a schedule's name and its header. With Revit 2014 that approach is no longer necessary. I can just use the new Clear Cell button on the header text.


Now the schedule header can be something else and the name we see in the Project Browser can be something else. If you rename a schedule the header will match that name at first, or vice versa. If you click in the Header cell, click Clear Cell and the value is removed but the view name is not. Now put the name you really want in and you can alter either without affecting the other.

We can't use Project Browser organization on schedule views yet but we can control the naming a bit more easily now with this technique.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Revit 2014 API Languages

Revit 2014 has added a couple new language options for people who can speak to Revit through its API (application programming interface). If you have a long history with CAD you might have spent more than a few hours "Lost in parenthesis" (LISP)? In Revit we can get lost in them when we deal with conditional formulas in the family editor.

In Revit 2013 the API supported two languages C++ and C# (technically any VB.net language). Revit 2014 has added Ruby (aka Ruby on Rails) and Python. If you have no programming experience they are not gems or reptiles, just alternatives to the far more widely used C++ and the much newer C# (and supposedly "easier to learn").



The dialog is a little smaller too (really subtle eh?).

If you are looking to get started with the Revit API you might consider Don Rudder's book:

Instant Autodesk Revit 2013 Customization with .NET How-to

Looking for some hands-on training with a sherpa? Get in touch with Harry Mattison (Boost Your BIM), he's gone from deep within Autodesk working on Revit and its API to the life of a freelancer who shares his knowledge on his blog and creates applications for hire. He's started offering some online training too.

Don Rudder and Case-inc have also offered API focused training in the past and are always considering hosting another so keep an eye on their site for a future class offering.

I've also written a couple blog posts before about getting started with the API (though I'm still remiss in taking it seriously myself).

Getting Started with the Revit API
My First Revit Plug-in

Years ago when I did some programming more seriously I found the book "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell quite helpful to help understand the process and concepts.

Happy coding!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Revit 2014 New Categories in Schedules

Earlier this month I mentioned that we can create schedules for grids and levels. Those two categories are just a few of the categories that a schedule can see now.

These additional categories: Generic Models, Entourage, Structural path and area reinforcement, Structural Fabric Area, Structural Beam Systems, Detail Items, Pads, Levels (see previous post), Grids (see previous post), Architectural Columns and Roof Soffits.

In addition to new categories we can also include the parameters “Phase Created” and “Phase Demolished” in our schedules of model elements. It has been frustrating that such an important aspect of Revit has been overlooked for so long in schedules. Glad to see it is overlooked no more...

Friday, May 24, 2013

Point Clouds in Revit 2014

The underlying engine for Point Clouds has been redesigned and implemented in Revit as well as in other Autodesk products. This effort is the result of integrating other technology acquisitions Autodesk has made (Alice Labs primarily and RealViz) in the past year or so. You’ll also want to check out Autodesk ReCap when you get a chance, image below.



The new point cloud engine uses RCP/RCS formats. The RCP format is a project file while an RCS file is a scan file. A RCP file is a group of multiple RCS scan files. If you have raw data in other acceptable formats Revit will index it in the background and let you know when the indexing is complete. It is also possible to run the indexing apart from Revit using Autodesk ReCap which is included as part of the Building Design Suites (image above).

There is a command line approach available too, using the “AdPointCloudIndexer.exe”. This application is stored along with other installation data in the Program folder. Ben Malone (BIMopedia) and Luke Johnson (What Revit Wants) wrote about this on their blogs shortly after 2014’s release. This is a link to Ben’s original post.

We can now control the colour mode for each point cloud import using Visibility/Graphics.



They enhanced Revit’s sensitivity to points and planes within the point cloud data. This should make it easier to sketch model elements using the underlying cloud data. Revit will detect planes that are perpendicular to the current work plane and very close to the cursor. Zooming in the view will cause Revit to reset the view and it will be necessary to detect a plane again. Snapping directly to point cloud data is a low priority in snapping order. Planar snaps are the initial focus for detection. You can use the TAB key to cycle through other possible snap options.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Revit 2014 Family Template for Two Level Relationships

The collection of Generic Model templates has grown a little bit with this new release, one new template called "Generic Model Two Level Based.rft".


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014 Essentials

The release of this book introduces a new team of authors; Tobias Hathorn, Tessa Reist Hathorn and Ryan Duell. They have taken over the book from the team that first introduced it a couple years ago; James Vandezande, Eddy Krygiel, and Phil Read. You are probably already familiar with their other book, "Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 20##", the bigger brother to Essentials and the "Introducing" book that was discontinued after the 2012 release.


The Wiley site for the book tells us:

Beginners will get comfortable with Revit's core features and functions. Current users will have a valuable reference to refresh and hone their skills. And everyone can use this practical book to help prepare for the Revit Architecture certification exams. Essentials gets readers up and running on Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014, Autodesk's industry-leading building information modeling software:
  • Explains core Revit tools, features, functionality, real-world workflows, and BIM concepts
  • Covers schematic design, modeling, families, views, creating drawing sets, and more
  • Features best practices, rendering and visualization, worksharing, documentation, and annotation
  • Provides downloadable starting and ending files, so readers can compare their work to that of the pro's 
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014 Essentials is your perfect introduction to the powerful industry-leading BIM software.

Useful Links:
Description
Table of Contents
Author Information
Downloads

If you are just getting started out with Revit this book may be just what you need. If you have an office of Revit users it might just be a great addition to your library too!

Congratulations to the new team on the release of their book!

Friday, May 17, 2013

User Interface Configuration Calculator

If you are a BIM Manager working on deployments and want to configure the Revit.ini file to turn on or off specific discipline options when you use Revit (not the discipline specific installations like RAC, RST or RME) they’ve provided a User Interface Configuration Calculator.



Check of the things you want and the calculator provides a value that you enter for the DisciplineOption setting in the Revit.ini file. For ex-AutoCAD managers this is similar (eerily) to the numbers that result from different OSNAP settings (and others), remember?? The same "bit" method is probably used to create unique numbers for each possible combination settings.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Displaced Elements Views and Path Wish

With the new Displace Elements feature in Revit 2014 we can use either straight or jogged "Paths" to show where displaced elements came from.



Methinks that straight paths tend to look best when the elements are displaced in one direction while jogged paths help more when the elements have been displaced in two axes.

My wish: I'd love to be able to choose which style of Path I want BEFORE picking elements to generate a path. AsferasIno we can only assign the style after we place them. The Path's style is a parameter that we see once we select a path in the view.



A little tip... it is really easy to put many paths on top of each other. Every time you click on an element in the same spot Revit happily drops another path. I was trying to delete a path and thinking that I must be missing something because no matter what I did I couldn't delete the bugger. Turns out I happened to pick a spot I apparently dropped six paths down. The first five tries at deleting the "one" path resulted in nothing happening. Take care out there...

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Associate Family Parameter Button

Hey the little stuff makes me smile, what can I say? This little bugger has been a secretive button for ages and in Revit 2014 it gets real, it has a tool tip now!


Monday, May 13, 2013

Options Bar and the Mouse Wheel Zooming

In past releases we needed to be careful about using the mouse wheel button to zoom in and out after entering a value on the options bar, in particular with Revit MEP users. When we selected a duct or pipe and set the dimensions on the Options Bar and then rolled the wheel on the mouse the dimension values changed instead of zooming in or out in the view.

I am happy to report that I’ve observed this is fixed in 2014. When entering an offset value for walls though the Options Bar still keeps the focus so it is necessary to use the "pan with the mouse in the view" trick to return the focus to the drawing window.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Switch Between Palette and Browser with Keyboard Shortcut

With the new dockable window feature that supports hosting the Project and System Browser (MEP), Reconcile Hosting Dialog and Properties Palette comes the slight awkwardness of never having what you really want open (having focus) when you want it.

This video shows how assigning a keyboard shortcut to the Properties Palette gives me the illusion of switching between the Project Browser and Properties Palette quickly. I write illusion because the Properties Palette is really closing but then reopening within the dockable window framework. Try it, like it...mileage may vary.



Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Spelt Chuking Dialoguess

While experimenting with the new Non-Rectangular Crop Regions I noticed this subtle spelling eror.



The dialog title says "Invaild Integer", the correct spelling should be "Invalid Integer". Now we have a solid reason for the first web update! ;)

Btw, a inscribed or circumscribed polygon of 36 straight segments is very nearly a "circle". Jay Zallan made a point of it during a Revit user group meeting last month. That means you can create a "circular" callout now.

Revit 2014 - Schedule Grids and Levels

Revit 2014 has added grids and levels as valid elements that a schedule can be based on.



I've not personally needed to schedule them for documentation purposes but I have wanted to do so many times just so I could analyse a project's datum. For example when someone says their level has "gone missing" a schedule of levels will quickly tell me if it is still there. Now I know that it is an issue with the extents of the level as opposed to someone deleting it entirely or perhaps assigning it to a workset that isn't open or visible.

I've seen a few offices that provide a "Storey" summary of their project on their general sheets, along side code compliance information. A level schedule can help provide this without resorting to text and lines that are not tied to the model data at all.

Mentioning worksets, it is worth noting that is not an available schedule field for a level or grid, it would be if it could be part of their schedule too.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Revit 2014 Learning Links in New Sample File

I mentioned the annotation families that function as learning links the other day. I should also mention the corresponding schedule provided in the file too.

It is called "How Do I". The schedule is a list of all the "?" families that have been used. You can select one and use the Highlight in Model button to find where it is. The "What View" column lists the view you'll find it in too. They've included a column for "Reviewed?" so you can check each of them off as you work through each topic, nice for a beginner to track their progress. In the image below I added a column for "Learning Link" (URL parameter) which lets me click on the URL to browse to the WikiHelp topic right away.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

New Selection Features and Keyboard Shortcuts

The new selection options that I mentioned earlier are accessible via keyboard shortcuts too by the way. This question was asked at a recent user group meeting but wasn't answered explicitly other than to say, "I think so". Well they can!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Tables of Data in Revit

One of the more subtle things that the new schedule features allow in Revit 2014 is creating a table of data that may not be tied directly to elements within the model. For example residential projects that I've worked on in the past were required to document how the proposed design or remodel fits within the property boundaries and required setbacks, or stated another way...zoning compliance. In the past I've written about creating tables using a family to accomplish this. Now we can do this, all within the schedule header itself (notice I used Comic Sans?).



The Revit Clinic posted an example of this for jamb conditions yesterday, check it out! These are the steps their post provides:

First, create a new schedule and either choose a category you do not have in your project, or alternatively filter the schedule so nothing displays in the body section.

Then under the Schedule Properties > ‘Appearance’ tab, un-check ‘Show Headers’. Now you unmerge the default title row and add additional rows, text, parameters, images, shading, etc. And you still get the specific control to resize the column and row dimensions.

Two tips:

First use the ‘Clear Cell’ tool to remove the default schedule view name. You can then use that cell to enter any data you wish.

Second, set up your cell sizes before adding new rows. The new rows will use the previous row for cell number, size and formatting:


Monday, April 22, 2013

Revit 2014 Sample File WikiHelp Links

After enduring the painful download, unpack and install process that literally took from Friday morning to Sunday night I got to run the shipping version of Revit 2014. It took over 30 minutes to open the first time, but AutoCAD took over an hour. I think there is something seriously wrong with my computer but all the usual things check out fine. I digress...

[Edit: I apologize if you read this before. I had View References on the mind, but these are just Generic Annotations. Thanks to Jeff Hanson for the reminder.]

The new sample file includes new help references.



These are Generic Annotation families that take advantage of the URL parameter to let you navigate to the WikiHelp page related to the features or elements that the documentation team placed a reference next to. Wherever you see a help "?" select one and then in the Properties Palette click on the sneaky "Browse" button (little button that appears with the ellipsis "..." at the right of the URL parameter field)



I wrote about using the view references before, to simulate a "next slide" arrow for presentations instead of using Power Point. View References do not have the URL parameter but Generic Annotation families do. Using the URL means we can do the same thing except browse to specific items on our network or elsewhere via the internet without storing the data inside the Revit model itself. These are not entirely new concepts since the URL parameter has been in Revit all along and View References are not new, but not very old...but it is a nice twist on how they are applied.

Imagine the office training project files pointing users to office standards or other code practices etc. Something to think about.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Download Manager

I started this process about noon today, this post is 8 hours later. In my opinion this does not define a good download experience :(


At 37,216 days I don't think the extra detail of 15 hours is worth mentioning? At this rate I'll be checking out the new features for Revit 2115? Oh, I may not be around in 101 years...drat, double drat! 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Schedule Column Width

In my griping about schedules in my previous post I mentioned (in an addendum) that we get a new feature in Revit 2014 that provides some measure of control over column width. I decided it worthy of its own mention so here it is.

The Revit 2014 Modify Schedule/Quantities ribbon interface now looks like this.


When you select a column or columns you'll get this Resize button which will bring up a dialog, much like Excel does.


This means we can at least enter a specific value for column width. Yes we can make sure one column is exactly the same as another. We still have to travel from schedule to schedule to make it happen but it is more control.

Btw, bummer... in 2014 we've also lost the ability to "double click" on the vertical column boundary to automatically resize the schedule columns.

If you know you will need several schedules to report information but filtered differently you can save some time if you create the first and then duplicate the schedule, adding filters afterward. In some cases it might be less work to toss out existing schedules and duplicate/filter again than fixing the existing columns across all the schedules. Your mileage may vary