REVIT Wall with Reveal to Create a Planter

I had this question come up today and thought it would make a great tutorial.

Below is a 3 part CADclip series on how to use a wall and a built in reveal to create a Planter.

REVIT Design Options Overview

Below is an overview of what you can do with REVIT Design Options.

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REVIT Server

Wow, I just like the sound of those words . . . . REVIT SERVER . . . . . yes in deed.

Just seems to naturally roll off the tongue.

This is going to 'open a few doors' . . . pun intended . . .

Autodesk has a new product coming out named 'REVIT Server' that uses a WAN and a web based administrative tool to access the 'central file' on the 'central server'. Then the central server manages and syncronizes the data to the local servers which deal with the local PCs.

After all, as everyone gets BIM'd up the next natural step is to be able to connect the models across a WAN for a geographically challanged, collaborative REVIT project.

Read more here.

Imaginit and Avatech Merge !

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Imaginit and Avatech Merge

Wowsers !

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REVIT Flared Bottom Tread

Above your see the 3D and sketched plan view of how to make a flared the base tread of a tread in REVIT.

REVIT Deleting Constraining Dimensions

We have all seen the dialog box above when we 'delete' a dimension that is 'constraining' geometry but do we pay attention to the difference between options 2 & 3 even though it is explained in the warning dialog box?

Option 1 To click 'cancel' simply cancels the delete and you are back to where you started from.

Option 2 To click 'Unconstrain' deletes the dimension and also unconstrains the geometry.

Option 3 To click 'Ok' is the odd man out. This option deletes the dimension but actually leaves the geometry constrained just like the dimension was actually still there (but it's not).

If you don't understand this, going with option 3 can cause great confusion down stream. You think . . . . I deleted that constraining dimension so how can it still be constrained??

So then if you select one of the elements that is still being constrained after the constraining dimension has been deleted you will see the constrains show up in blue temporary style.

See images below.

Typical 'Equal' constraining dimension before deleting it.

Same as above after deleting the dimension and going with Option 3. The dimension gone but still constrained ! Select one of the elements to see the constraints that still exist. Clear the selection and the constraints disappear. If you do in fact want to clear this 'EQ' constrain click the blue EQ symbol.

This concept also applies to 'Locked' constraining dimensions. Typical locked geometry.

Geometry after the locked dimension has been deleted but going with Option 3. Select an element and the constrains show up. Clear the selection and the display of the constraints disappear. If you do in fact want to clear this constrain clcik the blue lock symbol.

CADclips REVIT Videos Here

REVIT Basic Arched Opening

Revit comes with a Basic Arched Opening that can be either Elliptical or Round.

Note that the Elliptical Arched Opening family that comes with REVIT is located in the 'Door' folder even though it is categorized as a 'Generic Model' and not a Door. Therefore it is technically a 'Component' and not a door.

The CADclip below shows you how to load it and how to change it from elliptical to round using the 'Spring Offset' type parameter.

REVIT - All in a Days work

I was given a set of architectural constraints and asked to 'design a cottage'.

Although I am fairly certain I will not win any design awards, above illustrates what can be created from scratch, delivered to the customer (across the country) and posted to your blog in only a few hours.

We've come a long way baby !

The Design Constraints included:

Building Height (measure from underside of main floor joist).

Floor to floor height

Square footage limits for main and loft

Front Facade

Roof Pitch

Deck sizes

REVIT - Create Similar Tool

The Create Similar tool has become my new favorite Button. I use it about . . . . . a 1000 times a day.

I call it the 'Gimmy One of These" button.

This button shows up on the ribbon after you select an item. The bonus is it also adapts to the properties of the item selected.

For example if you select a wall it will adapt the properties of the new wall to be created to include wall type, base and top constraints as well as offsets.

This also works with Structural objects and MEP objects.

Very nice in deed !

CADclip - Relocate In Place Family

Another CADclip on relocating an inplace family to a different surface or shall I say 'Host'.

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REVIT Basic Window Family Tutorial

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In the 10 minute CADclip below I show you. step by step. how to create a

Basic Fixed Picture Window Family.

Nothing complicated but the essentials of how to make a Window Family.

If you enjoy this you may want to invest a mere $29 at CADclips for 1000+ more videos !

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Click the image above for 207 (30+ hours) of free AutoCAD Video Training. On the left hand margin scroll down and click the AutoCAD 2008 - Complete Series.

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207 videos for over 30 hours of in-depth AutoCAD training.

Lab exercises included.

REVIT Leader with No Text

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Ok, this one is for the migrating AutoCAD people.

Even though AutoCAD has had the 'Multi-Leader' for ever' most AutoCAD users still place the text and leader lines seperately in the DWG.

In REVIT I do not believe there is an 'out of the box' way to just place a leader line with no text.

The answer is to create a new 'Generic Annotation' family (wblock) of 'nothing'. That's right an annotaion family of NOTHING.

Then save and load this (blank) family into your project.

Then within the project right click the family in the (PB) > 'Type Properpties...' and assign a 'Leader Arrowhead' style.

Now drag the new leader family into the editing window.

Now (in 2011), on the options bar, when you place the family you will get a choice of how many leader lines you want.

After the fact you can select the family on screen and then Add or Remove leaders to the instance.

You can also edit the 'type properties' (right click in the PB) and 'Duplicate' the family and make variations of that same family but with different arrow head styles.

I just got a comment from someone on the Student Autodesk Facebook site that said this works great for 'slope arrows' in REVIT and I tend to agree.

Here's the CADclip.

REVIT Structure 2011 Temporary Dimensions

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REVIT Structure (and Arch. , MEP) have a couple welcomed new features in the area of 'Temporary Dimensions'.

1. You can now adjust the size of the text of a temporary dimension (without tweeking the revit.ini file) and specify whether the background is transparent or opaque. Much better !

2. (this is a big one) REVIT now remembers if you relocate the witness line of a temporary dimension. Even if you save the project and open it later. HUGE YEAH !!

Below is the CADclip

Learn Revit 2011 with CADclip Video Tutorials

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The CADclip below shows you a little bit about the latest (and greatest) REVIT Architecture 2011 Tutorial Training Series available at CADclips.

CADclips are available to Individuals or can be delivered Enterprise Wide.

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REVIT 3D Section Views

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I like to take advantage of ALL of REVITs wonderful benifits . . . . . and here's another.

Watch the CADclip below to see how you can instantly turn a regular section view into a 3d

sectional view.

OH . . . . . did I mention that this also works for plan views as well. By default the 'section box' gets turned on but the visibility has been turned off so you will have to use the 'light bulb' tool to access the section box.

Great for the MEP people with Plenum Spaces.

REVIT Reset Level to 3D Extents

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Have you ever been frustrated trying to 'Reset to 3D Extents' for a Level !

I know I have.

Here's the tip:

You cannot 'Reset to 3D Extents' for a level 'while the view is being cropped'.

That's it.

Just (temporarily) 'turn off' the 'cropping' of the view you THEN you can freely 'Reset to 3D Extents' for a Level with a 'right click' or by dragging the level's 2D or 3D grips.

This had frustrated me to no end in the past.

Below is a fresh CADclip demonstrating this concept.

UPDATE:

I have since been informed that if all 3D extents of a level line lie 'within' the crop region then you CAN in fact use the 'Reset to 3D extents' tool. When you think you know everything . . . . be afraid : )

REVIT has Totally Changed my Deliverable

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I need new sun glasses because the BIM shining through is making me quint.

I am just tickled to provide drawings like above to my customers. A 3D view that takes about 4.8 minutes to generate and is worth it's weight in plutonium, on the job site. This is just a plain jane residential foundation. Think about what could be done in a much more complex model. I chose to isolate the concrete but you could isolate what ever you wanted for the needs of that BIM aspect.

Spot Elevations are a structural modeler's 'Fairy God Mother'. Sprinkle a little BIM dust on the model and all the spot elevations update instantly. It's easy to do. 1. Duplicate the {3D} view (or create a new camera view etc) 2. Isolate only the objects you want with the temporary hide / isolate tool. 3. Go back and forth with the light bulb tool until the view shows what you want then Apply to the view.

! DANGER: This next step requires the use of Sunglasses 4. Slap in some 'Spot Elevations'.

. . . . NOW, CAN YOU FEEL THE HEAT RISING?

REVIT MEP 2011 Review

Here is a link to a REVIT MEP 2011 review posted at REED Construction Data.

REVIT MEP 2011 Review

Looks like RMEP has made some significant improvements and is moving in the right direction according to Mark Mergenschroer.

Key features mentioned in the review are:

Fixture Management

Customizing Electrical Panel Schedules and using Panel Schedule Templates

Assign spares and spaces

Rebalance Loads

Move Circuits Easily

Lock the Circuits

The ability to place the Panels on Sheets for Consistency and Size

Demand Factors Monitoring and ‘Total Demand Load’

Functionality to Coordinate Realistic Conduit and Cable Trays

Flat Oval Ducts

Reconcile Hosting Under the Collaborate Tools

Selecting all Instances Visible in the View or in the Project

Worksets in General

Place Valves and/or Fittings in a Section or Elevation View

Tag on Placement

Properties Palette

Speed of Software and Model Management has Improved

CADclip - Waffled or Coffered Ceiling Tutorial

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In the 5 minute CADclip below I demonstrate how to create a Waffled or Coffered Ceiling using a REVIT In-Place Void family.

I keep it pretty basic but you could use multiple void / solid geometry to achieve a more creative result.

REVIT 2011 Interface - Can we stop now ?

Some days while I am working or teaching on the big screen I just stare at the REVIT 2011 ribbon and go blank trying to find something like . . . . . . . . 'Object Styles'. It is especially frustrating when the button I am looking for has now been moved to it's very own 1 square inch peice of realestate on the ribbon. I know, I know, I can use the keyboard shortcuts but after all I make my living teaching others how to use the software. If the Autodesk programmers redesign the @&# interface one more time I am going to hitch up my dog sled, portage my way to the main land, across New Brunswick, down through Maine to Boston and then stand outside the building and yell profanities. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

REVIT Jogged Section Lines

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This is nothing new but I'm surprised at how many people are not aware of this feature. Select a section line and then use the Split Segment tool to create jogs in the section line and subsequent view.

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REVIT 2011 Roof Basic Videos

Below are 10 great CADclips on REVIT Roof basics as illustrated in the image above. The CADclips cover the basics for Gable, Hip, Intersecting, Gambrel, Mansard, Butterfly and Shed roofs. Alhough I am using REVIT Architecture 2011 in these CADclips these lessons apply to RAC and RST back several versions.

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Training topics listed below:

REVIT Architecture

REVIT Structure

REVIT MEP

AutoCAD Architecture

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

MAP

Inventor

Sketchup

Navisworks

MS Office

REVIT 2011 Known Issues and Limitations

The following are known issues with this release: Rendering Additional Render Paths work differently with Realistic Views than with Rendering. Previously, if you moved your model or moved your custom textures and decals, Revit would allow you to add an additional render appearance path. This functionality let you specify a 'back-up' location for Revit to look if it did not find your custom images. In order for Revit to take advantage of the additional render appearance path functionality with Realistic Views, you have to add the path to the original image before you assign the custom image or decal. This tells Revit to use a relative path rather than an absolute path to the image. This only affects Realistic views; Rendering workflow will allow you to specify an additional render appearance path after assigning the image. Many families have 2D masking regions (or filled regions) in plan view and have the visibility of the 3D elements turned off in plan views. If this is the case, then your family will 'render' white when in Realistic view display. This will be true in both the family environment and the project environment. In order for your family to render correctly in Realistic views, you need to make the 3D elements visible in plan views, assign a render material, and delete the masking region. Upgrading IES lights. If your Revit 2010 project file contains IES lights and you upgrade to 2011, then your render may return a black image. If so, try turning off the IES lights. Not all IES lights will render incorrectly, however if a light does not render then try using another IES file. Custom Elevation Tags Best Practices for using Custom Elevation Tags in an upgraded Project If you upgrade a project from a previous releases of Revit to 2011, you will see your elevation tags look and behave exactly as they did previously. If you choose to modify an existing elevation tag and customize it, then you will see erratic changes when reloading the tag. Older elevation tag behavior was not concerned with correctly orienting elevation tags N, S, E, W. The UP direction was rotated to face Left, Right, etc. It is our recommendation not to customize upgraded elevation tags without investing additional work to fix and redraw elevations. Customize the Circular Elevation Tag Family before placing instances If you are starting a new project from the Revit 2011 default template file and you are planning to customize your circular elevation tag family, it is best to customize the family first, then load it into the project, then place instances. Elevations placed before the Circular tag family is customized will not update correctly after loading the custom tag. Pantone The Pantone "Find Color" field does not search for a matching color In the Materials Dialog, click on a color swatch to enable the color picker, and then click the Pantone button. In the Pantone color picker dialog, you are able to type in a number-but the search is currently not performed. You must scroll to find the Pantone color. Conceptual Modeling Division by Intersects Partial and Overhanging border panel conditions may require individual attention. To replace a border panel, delete the panel and manually place curtain panel by pattern or an adaptive component by snapping to the surface nodes. Adaptive Components An Adaptive Component cannot be placed from the component placement tool or using the CM keyboard shortcut. You must drag the component from project browser. Adaptive Components can only be placed in a Mass family, an In-place Mass, a curtain panel by pattern family, or another Adaptive Component family. Model Lines Model Lines and all in-canvas labeled dims and reference points associated with those model lines are absorbed when a form is made from those lines. Consistent Materials Install/Uninstall If you were on a Beta or Alpha with any Autocad, Inventor, Max, Maya, Showcase, or Navisworks product, you must manually uninstall the three material libraries using Windows Add/Remove Programs. The libraries must be removed in this order: Autodesk Material Library 2011 Medium Image Library Autodesk Material Library 2011 Base Image Library Autodesk Material Library 2011 To reinstall the material library, you can use the original installation media: Install Products > Select only >Autodesk Material Library 2011 Medium Image Library.> Proceed with installation. All libraries will be installed. Export Guide grids are not visible when exported to DWG and DWF files. When utilizing Windows Classic appearance theme, the Export CAD Formats dialog may not display properly after resizing the dialog. The dialog will be displayed correctly when the dialog is reopened. Display If your video card supports DirectX 9 or higher, Hardware Acceleration is enabled by default. When utilizing the 3GB Switch, Revit may crash displaying 3D views when Hardware Acceleration is enabled. In order to display materials using the Realistic visual style, Hardware Acceleration must be enabled. If Hardware Acceleration is not enabled, Realistic views will display similar to the Shaded visual style. In order to display Ambient Occlusion, Hardware Acceleration must be enabled. If Hardware Acceleration is not enabled, the Ambient Occlusion setting will be grayed out. When you start Revit, if your computer's video card and driver have not been tested with Revit, or if they do not meet minimum requirements, a warning displays that describes the issue. The warning has a hyperlink to an Autodesk website that lists the tested video cards and drivers. Upon start up of Revit and unknown dialog is displayed. This is due to a conflict with hardware acceleration enabled and ATI FireGL Card V3350 8.563.0.0 Unknown dialog may nolonger display when turning off Desktop Manager through Video Card Properties > Catalyst Control Center > and restarting Revit. When Revit is launched through a VPN (Virtual Private Network), you may need to re-enable Hardware Acceleration (Application Menu > Options > Graphics). Decals in Realistic Views When displaying Decals in views with Visual Style set to Realistic, a graphic box containing an "X" incorrectly displays over the Decal image. Sun Path When using Sun Path and Shadows the size of the ground plane (if active) set large enough as to reflect the shadows from the sun at 5 degrees above horizon. Any position of the sun lower than 5 degrees shall not make the ground plane larger and the shadows can get "clipped" by the edge of the ground plane. The sun path may not be displayed for projects located near the Earth's poles. Design Review If you try to repair the Design Review install you get prompted to insert disk 1. It does not matter if you have the Revit DVD in the drive, this is not what the repair mechanism is looking for. So you have to cancel out and can not repair the install. Workaround: Browse to en-US\Support\ADR, right-click on the msi and select reinstall. Communication Center When selecting some RSS Feed links from Communication Center they may not open correctly, this is caused by incompatible format of the RSS feeds.

REVIT 2011 System Requirements

Here's the poop on REVIT 2011 performance and recommended hardware. When REVIT Architecture installs it checks your current display adapter configuration. Then on startup you are notified you if certain features will not work. This notification can be turned off. I'm liking it so far but adapting to the new ribbon ain't no picnic. If I go for that stupid 'old' split properties button or right click for 'view properties' one more time I'm going to jump off the Confederation Bridge. 3 releases of REVIT inside 24 months and 3 different interfaces. It looks like Autodesk has finally removed the original REVIT programmers and replaced them with the AutoCAD programmers. Although the specs below are relative to RAC I'm sure RST and MEP are the same. RAC 2011 Performance Recommendations Operating systems Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Service Pack Service Pack (SP) 2 (or later): Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Business Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Home Premium Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Ultimate Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Enterprise CPU type Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor (2.50 Ghz, 2X6M L2, 1333) or equivalent AMD processor ® Memory 8 GB RAM Video display 1280 x 1024 with True Color Video adaptor 512 MB DirectX® 9 capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------- RAC 2011 64-bit Hardware and Software Requirements Operating systems Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2 Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Service Pack 2 (or later) Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Business Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Home Premium Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Ultimate Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64 bit Enterprise Microsoft® Windows® 7 64 bit Microsoft® Windows® 7 64 bit Home Premium Microsoft® Windows® 7 64 bit Professional Microsoft® Windows® 7 64 bit Ultimate Microsoft® Windows® 7 64 bit Enterprise Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later CPU type Microsoft® Windows® XP ® Professional x64 Edition SP2: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD AthlonTM Dual Core, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology Microsoft® Windows ® Vista® 64 bit SP2 (or later) or Microsoft ® Windows ® 7 64 bit: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD AthlonTM Dual Core, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology Memory 3 GB RAM Video display 1280 x 1024 with True Color Video adaptor Basic graphics: Display adaptor capable of 24-bit color Advanced graphics: 256 MB DirectX® 9 capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 Hard disk 5 GB free disk space Pointing device MS-Mouse compliant Media Download or Installation from DVD9 ------------------------------------------------------------- RAC 32-bit Hardware Software Requirements Operating systems Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2 (or later), including: Microsoft® Windows® XP ® Home Microsoft® Windows® XP ® Professional Microsoft® Windows® Vista® Service Pack 2 (or later), including: Microsoft® Windows® Vista® Business Microsoft® Windows® Vista® Home Premium Microsoft® Windows® Vista® Ultimate Microsoft® Windows® Vista® Enterprise Microsoft® Windows® 7 32 bit Microsoft® Windows® 7 32 bit Home Premium Microsoft® Windows® 7 32 bit Professional Microsoft® Windows® 7 32 bit Ultimate Microsoft® Windows® 7 32 bit Enterprise Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later CPU type Microsoft® Windows® XP ® Service Pack 2 or later: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD AthlonTM Dual Core, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology Microsoft® Windows ® Vista® 32 bit Service Pack 2 (or later) or Microsoft® Windows ® 7 32 bit: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD AthlonTM Dual Core, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology Memory 3 GB RAM Video display 1280 x 1024 with True Color Video adaptor Basic graphics: Display adaptor capable of 24-bit color Advanced graphics: 256 MB DirectX® 9 capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 Hard disk 5 GB free disk space Pointing device MS-Mouse compliant Media Download or Installation from DVD9 Connectivity Internet connection for license registration

REVIT 2011 Stepped Footing Family CADclip

Below are 4 CADclips on how to create a very slick Stepped Footing family.

A family that will get used many times !

CADclip on REVIT 2011 Keyboard Shortcuts

The CADclip below demonstrates how to use the new REVIT 2011 Keyboard Shortcuts Interface.

Looks like they finally caught up to the AutoCAD interface . . . oops did I say that out loud. . . (you have always been able to edit the keyboardshortcuts.txt file . . .right)

RAC 2011 Truss Tips

Now that RAC 2011 has some of the RST tools built in, we need to cover a few RST tips.

Here's some basic truss info. that the RST people are already well aware of.

The first time drawing a Truss all members get assigned to the last 'Beam' that was drawn. As shown below with a C-Channel.

Then we change the framing members in the truss type properties as shown in the two images below. Here's the poop:

By default, when you draw a truss the first time it uses the last 'Beam' member used in the project as all the truss chord members. So the first truss may look a little wonkie because it places C-Channels or WF beams as the truss chord members.

If you check the 'type' properties of the truss you can change all the truss members after (or before) the fact. Once the new members have been assigned to the truss type you are ready to draw more trusses or duplicate and create different types.

Try this:

1. Start a new project and use the beam tool or load a different framing family and draw a beam.

2. Start the Truss tool and draw a truss end to end.

3. Go to a 3d view or elevation and check the truss members. They will all be the same family as the last beam you placed in point 1. above.

4. To fix, just change the truss type properties for top, vertical, diagonal and bottom chord.

* Change your detail level to 'Course' and trusses (like all structural framing) become single line diagrams.

* Trusses can also extend upward and downward by 'attaching' (just like walls) to shape themselves to a roof or floor. . . . but that is a different lesson . . . .