REVIT MEP Supply Air System, Parallel Fan Powered VAV, Ducts, Duct Fixtures and Air Terminals

Well I am getting pretty excited with what I see so far in REVIT MEP (RME).

My expertise lies more with the architectural and structural disciplines but I spent some valued time in the oil and gas industry. That 4 years in the EPCM (Engineering Procurement Construction Management) business exposed me to the principal of a 'system' and at a very large scale. With that I also learned the difference between the 'logical system' and the 'physical system' and documenting the output. I hope to pass on that relative experience and tie it in to RME,....... because I can !

I am now educating myself on the work processes and mechanical terminology of this application. I can see how someone with REVIT experience and the basic understanding of Mechanical concepts could go a long way with this tool.

Repeat after me "System Browser....bim....bim....bim". RME has this amazing bi-directional tool called the System Browser. It works like the project browser but in relation to the various mechanical systems. Wait, let me grab my Ray-Ban's, I'm starting to see this BIM concept shining through the haze.


Then there is the bi-directional scheduling / modelling features true to REVIT. Use the schedule(s) as a design tool. It's designed to do so ! Tile your revit view windows, make a change in either the schedule or the model and watch the real time changes take place.

You can create an air terminal schedule (for example) and apply a calculated range of + / - CFM's based on actual air supply vs calculated air supply. Color code the schedule cell for the terminals that do / do not meet the range so you can easily identify a problem area.

I am just dusting the surface of RME and this is only RME in it's infant stages so WOW ! I think I'm going to switch disciplines.
Anyone who knows REVIT will agree with me that REVIT was made to do this stuff (maybe better than architecture?). Because mechanical systems are 'logical' and 'system' driven I believe REVIT MEP will be the catalyst to bridge us to the BIM place they keep telling us about.

CADclips REVIT Videos Here

REVIT MEP Heating and Cooling Calculations

When I clicked the 'calculate' button in my REVIT MEP Heating and Cooling Calculations the calculation process kind of just hung there.

So after a little investigation I learned that there was a 3rd party (IES) that was not working properly.

After running the installation from the link below and restarting my REVIT MEP it all worked beautifully.

Below is the IES installation link:
http://www.iesve.com/downloads/installVE57.msi

Here's a snapshot of the cool report that it generates.

RAC 2008 Render Curtain System Video

Thanks to for posting this tutorial on their site.

Above is a 13 minute video on creating curtain systems by using blended massing 'faces', then adding in a toposurface, a few more site objects and finally rendering a couple perspectiive views.

Tip: One of the key factors with rendering is to make sure you are in a perspective (camera) view. If you use the regular '3D' view to render in you will not get the same rendered effect for the sky, clouds, entourage and the materials.

In the video above we add in clouds and show you how to change the sky. You can also load a background image from within the rendering environment settings dialog box.

You can change the resolution and pixel size of a raytrace rendering.

There are four very important factors to consider for rendering:

1. Lighting

2. Materials - Accurender Texture

3. Render from a Perspective View

4. Pay very close attention to the the physical size of the view crop region (ie: 4"x 3") vs the rendered DPI resolution (ie: 75, 150 300).

After selecting the 'Raytrace' button notice the Draft, Medium and Presentation options as shown below.

Also try clicking on the crop region of a perspctive view before rendering. Notice the Size button on the Options Bar as shown below.

These two options shown below work together to get the best quality of a rendering.

Render Settings Dialog Box.