Revit Server Documents

If you visit the wikihelp site for Autodesk Revit Server you'll find (if you look closely) these documents are available for your use/review.

Bandwidth Requirements for Revit Server
Cost-Effective Revit Server Deployments
Locking and Worksharing in Revit Server
Revit Server 2012
Revit Server and Riverbed Steelhead
Understanding Revit Server
User of Revit Server on High Latency Networks

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.

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.

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.

More Detail on Revit 2014 Features

Autodesk's WikiHelp has been updated for 2014 features now too, including installation and deployment info (Revit Server too).

Check it out!

The Revit Family Guide

The family guide document that has been available for download is now part of Autodesk's WikiHelp site. The PDF is still available and has not been updated (that page at WikiHelp is the same) but the content and spirit of that document is now part of the WikiHelp site itself. Kudos to the ongoing effort of the team. Each time I return I find explanations that better serve us.