RME - Duct Center Lines in Hidden Visibility

Use REVIT Filters to show Duct Centerlines.

This tip was actually derived from a post at AUGI but I thought it might make a great video for those who are not familiar with Filters and Visibility Graphic Overrides.

The challenge was to get 'round' ducts (or pipes) to display their 'centerlines' when you switch to 'hidden line' visibility because by default the centerlines only show when the view is set to wireframe visibility.

Some say that you should not need to show centerlines but regardless of the camp you are in there is a work around and the lesson learned can be applied to many aspects of REVIT MEP, Architecture or Structure.

Create a 'filter' to grab the 'round ducts' then apply that filter to a plan view and set them to 'Transparent'.

See the CADclip below:

Quality Certified REVIT Content at REVIT Market

I just spent some time talking to Michele at REVIT Market and got a great feeling about their business. Michele informed me that getting their 'certified' REVIT stamp of approval on published REVIT rfa files, requires internal human testing.

Very nice in deed.

Check them out.

1000's of Quality Certified REVIT Familes.

REVIT Calculating Standard Roof Slopes by Formula

As I start to get deeper into the conceptual parametric massing families I am coming up with all kinds of cool tips.

Here's a great one.

When you need to constrain reference lines in order to create down stream roof slope parameters for a conceptual mass form as in 3-12, 5-15, 7-12 etc. . . . You don't want the user to have to input the roof slope by an angle. You want to input the slope as a factor of Rise / 12 as shown below. This involves a little trigonometry. Remember the old tan (x) = opposite over adjancent ?

If not have a look at the images just below.

So we know the Adjacent (12) and the user inputs the Opposite (Rise) but the trick is we have to use the 'Inverse Tangent' to get the actual angle in degrees. Otherwise all we get is the Tan of the angle, not the actual angle itself. So the correct term for Inverse Tan is ArcTan which REVIT accomodates as the built in operator atan.

So have a look at the desired constrain resultant and the corrisponding parameter formula below.

The user inputs a Roof Rise of '7' and REVIT calculates the slope angle and adjusts the reference lines (and corrisponding solid form) accordingly.

It is also critical that the 'Slope' parameter is type 'Angle' and the 'Roof Rise' parameter is type 'Number'.

Once this flexes (balances) correctly you simply turn the reference lines into a solid form and Bob's Your Uncle !

Don't forget about the CADclips coined 'Brains', 'Bones', 'Balance' 'Body' approach to Family creation. Be it conceptual massing or conventional Familes.

Canadian Unemployment Rate Starts Improving !

Looks like the Canuck unemplyment rate is also taking a turn for the better !

Yeah !

Canadian Unemployment Link

US Unemployment Rate Starts Improving !

After 31 momths of growing unemployment in the US we see a turn for better times !

Bring it !

US Unemployment Link

REVIT Parametric Garage Magic

I realize the sample shown in this demonstration is just a garage building but this took me about 30 minutes to do including the production of the video. Think of what could be generated if you spend several hours preparing the dataset.

Autodesk Resellers . . . . START YOUR ENGINES !

Because this type of technology is going to start selling software.

In this CADclip below I demonstrate how a simple, single parametric massing family can be loaded into a project and with just a few simple clicks can change the parameters of the building and generate various sets of construction documents to include floor plans, elevations, 3D view, cross section and schedules.

We've come a long way BABY !

Before A few clicks after Note the Schedules as well !

Here's the CADclip

REVIT Building Maker Magic

A big frosty Canadian 'Thanks' to my hard working friends at the

CADD Centers of Florida

For up to date Autodesk information and seasoned support staff these guys are TOPS !

In the CADclip below I demonstarte the Magic of combining Parametric Massing Families with the awesome Building Maker Tools. This is precisely what Carl Bass pointed out in his keynote speech at AU 2009.

Apply some material takeoffs and / or schedules and what used to take a huge amount of time, manpower, energy (and error checking) becomes 100% accurate and INSTANT !

Remember that REVIT stands for 'Revise Instantly' and that's exactly what this CADclip demonstates.

You call it REVIT . . . . I call it MAGIC !

If you are still using vector based CAD instead of BIM (Building Information Modeling) do yourself a BIG favour. Grab a magic wand and follow me to Hogwarts School of REVIT Wizardry !

CADclip - Custom Column Family with Chamfer

In the CADclip below I demonstrate how to create the custom column family shown above using the column.rte template, one solid extrusion and one void extrusion.

The only part I did not get time to explain was the 'materials' aspect which I have covered in detail in many other CADclips. Youtube limits videos to 10 minutes and I just could not squezze it in.

To do so:

Create a new instance parameter named 'column material' and make it a 'parameter type > 'Material'. Then associate that parameter with the extruded column's material property. Then load it into a project and change the material as required in the project. Making it an 'instance' parameter allows you to change the material of each inserted column family. Otherwise you can make it a 'type' parameter for more global control.

REVIT - More Samples - Custom Architectural Column

The CADclip below is a sequal to my previous post where I illustrate how you can achieve unlimited versions of a single column family as shown above.