REVIT 2011 Tips and Changes

Below is what appears to be an Autodesk Produced video on some of the technical changes to the REVIT 2011 product line. * The video kept jamming on me so I skipped ahead and it worked.

If you don't have time to watch here's the poop in a nutshell:

1. YOU NEED A CERTIFIED GRAPHICS CARD.

(the list is yet to be published, REVIT 2010 did not produce this list)

2. You will be able to download a utility to check the compatibility of your current card and driver.

3. The 32 Switch for 32 bit systems causes crashes with hardware acceleration graphics enabled.

4. It's all about the new certified card + hardware acceleration.

5. I suspect we all need to go 64bit with the certified card at this point in the game.

6. Rendering Materials is common across AutoCAD, REVIT and MAX so the interface has changed and working with old projects will probably cause problems with materials. I personally think the materials nightmare between the apps is not over yet.

7. No more limit on the processing 'core' requirements. Both Dual and Quad core should work for rendering performance.

8. FBX export to MAX from REVIT 2011 only works in MAX 2011.

9. Worksets have been re-written on the inside.

10. You now have visibility graphics control of worksets through a linked file.

11. Personalized 3D views that 'appends a newly created 3d view's' user name with your name.

12. Sync with Central performance has improved.

New Features of REVIT Architecture 2011

User Interface A modeless properties palette allows the user to change the properties of an element during placement or modification. Contextual tab improvements reduce the number of tab switches and provide consistent tool locations. Users now have the ability to adjust and customize the order of tools on the Quick Access toolbar. Temporary Dimensions Revit now remembers edits to temporary dimension witness lines per session. Once you tweek a temporary dimension on an object it remembers that tweek during the editing session. Adaptive Components Adaptive component functionality is designed for situations when components need to flexibly adapt to unique contextual conditions. Adaptive points are created by modifying reference points. The geometry drawn by snapping to these adaptive points results in an adaptive component. Form Editing A form can be edited in sketch mode by modifying the curves from which it was created. A form can also be dissolved back to the curves from which it was created. Once a form has been dissolved, its profile curves and path (when applicable) remain. These curves and path can be edited to create a new form. The Dissolve Form command removes the surfaces from a form, leaving the valuable defining profiles, curves and points. Large Team Workflow Improve your ability to work with projects containing linked files with the capability to apply view filters, tag elements, and control visibility of worksets. Text Improvements Improvements to text tools enable you to: Adjust the location of the leader relative to the text block Format text with bullets and numbering Modify text using the Find & Replace Text tool Structural Tools Several structural tools, previously available only in Autodesk® Revit® Structure software, are now available to Autodesk Revit Architecture users. These tools include: Curved Beams Metal Decking Slanted Structural Columns Trusses Beam Coping tool Beam System Tags Enhanced Visualization Autodesk Revit Architecture now provides the ability to display materials and ambient lighting in editable views. Keyboard Shortcuts Autodesk Revit Architecture now provides a new interface for managing keyboard shortcuts for Revit Tools. Add or remove keyboard shortcuts and assign multiple shortcuts for each Revit Tool. Import keyboard shortcuts from another user. Export keyboard shortcuts to share them with other users, or to a spreadsheet program where you can sort, organize, and print a list of shortcuts for quick reference. Custom Elevation Tags Define the appearance of view tags used for elevations. Elevation tags can now have any shape and any number of arrows pointing in nonorthogonal directions relative to the tag body. Background Images in Rendered View Autodesk Revit Architecture now provides the ability to display images in the background of rendered views. Sheet Improvements Improvements to sheets enable you to: List sheets on the drawing list that are not in the project, such as consultant drawings Consistently align views on sheets. Convert Line Types The convert lines tool converts existing model lines, detail lines, and symbolic lines into the preferred line type. Repeat Last Command Revit 2011 makes it easy to repeat the command that was last used, or select from a list of recently usedcommands Reporting Parameter Let's you create a parameter that is easily usable in other families and schedules such as reporting the wall thickness in a door or window schedule. More Information Key Features Common to all Revit Platform Software Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2011, Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2011 and Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2011 software share a common set of key enhancements for improved design functionality and workflow to help design teams accelerate better design with tools that promote productivity and support sustainable design and analysis. See the Autodesk® Revit® Platform Enhancements for 2011 backgrounder for information on the platform enhancements. Enhancements specific to Revit Architecture 2011 include: Form Editing: Sketch editing for conceptual masses in Revit Architecture 2011 has been improved with the ability to edit individual profiles of any type of form without having to delete the form first, similar to “sketch mode” but even more accessible. The Dissolve Form command removes the surfaces from a form, leaving the valuable defining profiles, curves and points. In the past, only voids could be used as cutting elements for Boolean operations, and it was difficult to access them again for further transformations. Now solids can be used to cut other solids, so that when the cut is executed, geometry from both forms remains visible. Surface Rationalization: The ability to rationalize surfaces has been enhanced. Surfaces can now be split by levels, reference planes and model lines. Now, divided surface patterns can be made up of any combination of UV grids and intersects created by these new elements. Adaptive Components: The adaptive component is a generalized implementation of the pattern-based curtain panel family, which was introduced with the 2010 release of Autodesk Revit Architecture. It is designed to handle cases where components need to flexibly adapt to many unique contextual conditions. The adaptive component can be used to simply fill in the empty edge panels on a divided surface or for more complex modeling or framing applications. Structural Tools: Several features formerly available only in Autodesk Revit Structure software are now available in Autodesk Revit Architecture, such as the ability to create: Curved beams Slanted columns Beam copings Trusses Metal deck profiles, and more Rendering Enhancements: Background Images Revit Architecture now provides the ability to display images in the background of rendered views. Procedural Textures Create custom procedural textures based on patterns such as checker, gradient, wood or tiles. New Autodesk Material Library More smoothly exchange material data between Autodesk applications with the new Autodesk Material Library. Materials can be exchanged with certain other supporting Autodesk applications (AutoCAD®, Autodesk® Inventor®, Autodesk Revit MEP and Autodesk Revit Structure software) in a true one-to-one mapping — helping create a consistent definition and rendered look and minimize the need to rework materials after data import. Note: The new Material Library in Revit Architecture 2011 will only export materials, lights, or environments to 3ds Max/3ds Max Design 2011. Removal of Four-Core Rendering Limit Rendering in Revit-based products is no longer limited to the use of four cores on multiprocessor computers. Revit-based products can now take advantage of as many cores as are available on your computer. Access to Autodesk® Green Building Studio® Web-Based Services (Available with Subscription to Revit Architecture) More smoothly extend BIM workflows to include sustainable analysis. With more than 1.6 million virtual weather locations across the globe, the climate information used in analyses can be more local, accurate and current. By using the power of cloud computing, Green Building Studio can generate analyses in a matter of minutes, thus helping architects and designers to iterate through multiple design options earlier and more often. For new buildings projects, whole building energy analysis can help predict more accurate building operation costs before construction. For renovation and retrofit projects, the software helps users to make the most efficient design choices.

Parametric Room Size Label

CADclips

Now offers Full REVIT Video Downloads for $199

This family tutorial will teach you some cool stuff about nested families, parameters and also save you a ton of time if you ever need to label room sizes.

We teach you how to nest an annotative family (with instance parameters) into a model family. Then we link up the two sets of parameters in the model family and tie it all together with reference planes that result in downstream shape handles at the project level.

Once the family is loaded into the project you can 'align and / or lock' the nested / controlling reference planes to walls or parallel edges and the room size label updates . Use the 'align tool' or select the family and use the shape handles.

* The lessons learned here on nesting an annotation family within a model family and being able to nudge or move 'the annotation' part of the model family at the project level is NOT widespread knowledge.

Below is an embedded playlist with 1 CADclip demonstrating the family in action and 3 more CADclips showing you how to build the family yourself from scratch.