REVIT Join Geometry for Window in Frost Wall

I had a great, very basic question today.

Something that all us Canadian's deal with, which is a 'frost wall'.

It is much easier to manage the adjacent frost wall condition with two seperate walls as shown below.

But when you add a window (or door) the window only penetrates one wall.

Use the 'join geometry' tool to join the two adjacent walls and the window will penetrate both walls.

Also make sure the 'material' of the two walls is different or when you 'join geometry' the two walls will try to become one monolithic wall.

REVIT CADclip - Stair with a Winder

The REVIT video tutorial (in HD) below has several nice little tips for you.

1. How to add in stair 'winders' or split up a landing

2. How to make the top of the stair clean up better at the top riser.

3. How to use the split tool for the stair boundaries to change the stringer configuration.

* For best HD video resullts do this in the following order

a) click the Play button

b) click the HD button (wait for video to reset)

c) then click the Full Screen button.

Enjoy !

Slower migraton to REVIT 2010 ?

Well everyone is all excited about the new REVIT interface and features. In fact I know of at least one person who is having RIBBON anxiety. His concerns are "Will all previous training material and reference go out the window?" "Will we need to re-write the entire revit training handbook?" Can I still leverage what training materials we already have?". My advice is 'relax' a little. Take your time and roll out this new release with a little more caution than you have in the past.

The new REVIT box used to show up at our door and it was instantly installed across the board without even thinking. To do so this time around will cause a little blip in your production. This time around the CAD / production managers should be a little more interested in testing things out and getting people properly trained before unleashing REVIT to the masses. My point is, don't feel you MUST install REVIT the moment you can. The walls and roofs and floors of 2009 still work just fine.

The new and improved Ribbon interface that we have all been asking for is finally here. It has been well thought out and widely tested. But just like all changes in life and technology there is going to be a few bumps in the road. True change always involves stress and anxiety. Without which there is no change.

The new interface is not going anywhere. It will be there tomorrow and the next day. The CAD production managers will eventually see their ROI but this time around it's not going to be a seamless transition like all previous REVIT releases.

This time we need to be a little more cautious with the roll out. We need to get 'comfy' with this new interface and most importantly we need to get our CAD operators trained up.

I know for a fact that the new Ribbon interface for AutoCAD 2009 was enough for many to completely avoid the release all together. I do not anticipate this for REVIT 2010 of course because we are a much more progressive group but at the same time it should not be the regular 'business as usual' installation either.

Stay tuned here at revitrocks for lots of REVIT 2010 training videos and good information to help you over this much anticipated REVIT hump !

CADclips free Youtube Playlist

Below is an embedded video player with many free REVIT CADclip videos all organized in a nice Youtube Playlist. The nice thing about a playlist is, as new videos get added at Youtube the dynamic playlist is always up to date.

REVIT Arch Video for Capturing and Importing Images

JMP Design Inc

Multi-disciplined CAD Design and Drafting Services.

Lots of CAD samples and a nice Gallery of Images.

Looks like it is headed up by John-Jun Purugganan in Hawaii.

. . . . . .I'm tired of shovelling snow . . . . I want to live in Hawaii too or at least somewhere that I can golf 12 months a year : )

Revit Zone.com

An abundance of good REVIT information at this site !

iREVIT.com

Check this site out too !

CadKicks.com

I am noticing more and more great REVIT / CAD blogs popping up. CadKicks is community driven and looks promising.

Inside the REVIT Factory

Here's a great new REVIT blog with all kinds of information about the 'nuts and bolts' of the current REVIT products.

The REVIT 2010 Ribbon - Development

Below is a great Youtube video on what to expect with the new REVIT Ribbon.

How many new icons ? 1000+ . . . . . Should be fun !

Free REVIT Walk Through Tutorial on M4V iPod

Below is a link to a 'zipped' M4V REVIT video tutorial for your iPod or iPhone.

REVIT 2009 Walk Through Tutorial on M4V

Free REVIT Training on M4V for iPod Podcast

The REVIT video tutorials listed below have been posted here before but I thought some people may want the M4V Podcast version so you can learn REVIT pretty much anywhere using your iPod.

This is a tutorial series on creating a custom architectural Beam as shown above. The lessons learned here can be carried forward to help solve some of your own custom family challenges.

Here are the 'zipped up' iPod formatted files.

Lesson 1: The Completed Beam Family Introduction

Lesson 2: Parameters and Reference Planes

Lesson 3: Modeling the Main Beam and Flex

Lesson 4: Modeling the Abutments and Flex

Lesson 5: Using Yes / No Parameters to Control Object Visibility

Lesson 6: Use Model Lines and the Linework Tools

Lesson 7: Mental Ray Materials and Rendering

Expect more M4V files for REVIT Training to be posted here !

Download the REVIT Structure 2009 Steel Profiles

I noticed that most of the Structural Steel Shape Profiles (RFA) are missing from the REVIT Architecture installation but they do come with the RST installation.

So I copied the RST steel shape RFA files over to my RAC Library folder. I thought that some people who only have RAC may also want a copy of the RST steel shape profiles, so you can download the zip file below that contains the files listed in the image below. Download> RST 2009 Structural Steel Profiles

HOK chooses CADclips Training Videos

I happen to know first hand that after certain research and testing Autodesk REVIT Award Winning HOK has chosen CADclips Training Videos to be part of their training repetoir(e) . I say, it goes to show that 'knowledge transfer' methods are definitely changing 'for the better' and HOK is using CADclips training videos as part of that new initiative. Can you imagine trying to keep 1000's of people trained and productive during this transfer to REVIT and BIM ? There WAS no affordable way to get everyone trained and then keep them all trained. CADclips has not only bridged that gap they have 'removed the gap'.

REVIT Blog in Argentina

REVIT Argentina 'Primer blog Argentino acerca de Revit Architecture'

Above is a link to my friend Leonardo Aita's REVIT Blog in Argentna.

Free REVIT Video Tutorial Series on Custom Family Creation

Hot off the press !

I thought I would share my latest free video tutorial series with the world. I just put together a sweet REVIT Training Video series that I'm sure most of you will find of value. This is great for all levels of REVIT users who want to learn some cool things about making families. In the videos I create an architectural beam (using the linear model template) with some abutments (for lack of better word). The lessons learned over the course of these 7 videos should get the wheels turning. Then those lessons can be used to further develop your own custom REVIT family ideas. This is a well organized, step by step process that will (hopefully) get you on the right track in making your own exciting new REVIT families. Here's what you will learn about: - The linear model family and associated template - View Range - Parameters and parameter types - Reference Planes - Dimensions to parameters - Solid extrusions - Sketching - Work Planes - Aligning, locking and constraining the solid geometry - Flexing the model in the family editor and in the project - Using the very cool Yes / No parameter to control individual family geometry visibility - Integrating Model Lines with your solid geometry - Using the Linework tool to get sneaky and fine tune the family within the project - Mental Ray Materials - Rendering - Adjusting the rendered image - Saving and exporting the Rendered image. . . . lots more, but let's get at it . . . . Click the link to play the video or right click and 'save target as . .' to download. Enjoy ! Lesson 1: The Completed Beam Family Introduction www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-1-BEAM-FAMILY-INTRO.wmv Lesson 2: Parameters and Reference Planes www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-2-PARAMETERS-AND-REFERENCE-PLANES.wmv Lesson 3: Modeling the Main Beam and Flex www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-3-MODEL-THE-MAIN-BEAM-AND-FLEX.wmv Lesson 4: Modeling the Abutments and Flex www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-4-MODEL-THE-ABUTMENTS-AND-FLEX.wmv Lesson 5: Using Yes / No Parameters to Control Object Visibility www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-5-YES-NO-PARAMETERS-TO-CONTROL-VISIBILITY.wmv Lesson 6: Use Model Lines and the Linework Tools www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-6-MODEL-LINES-AND-LINEWORK-TOOL.wmv Lesson 7: Mental Ray Materials and Rendering www.cadclips.com/downloads/RAC-ARCH-BM-FAMILY-7-MATERIALS-AND-RENDERING.wmv

REVIT Video - Yes No Parameter to Control Visibility

Did you know you can easily turn On and Off individual sub components of a REVIT family ?

It's simple to do and you don't have to have any experience making families.

You can do this to any family regardless of who made the family or how complex it is.

This functionality can be applied to REVIT Architecture, Structure or MEP.

1. Open the Family in the family editor.

2. Create a new parameter and make it a Yes / No type.

3. Assign that parameter to the Visibility property of the desired family sub component.

4. Save the family and place it in a project.

5. Select the family and change the new Visibility property parameter to Yes or No.

DONE !

Here's a quick Video below that sums it all up in about 5 minutes.

A special THANKS to CadDigest for posting this tutorial on their site.

REVIT House Modeled in 10 Minutes

Did you ever think you could model a complete house in 10 minutes? Well you can, and I did.

The image above is just an animated GIF. Feel free to 'right click' it and 'save picture as. .' to download the file.

You can view the full video below or download it from here > REVIT 10 Minute House

REVIT Align Tool Using 3D Surfaces

This Align tip is nothing new but I do come across users who are not aware of this so I thought I'd post a quick tip.

Did you know that you can use the Align tool and select 3d surfaces as the controlling edge and receiving edge of the alignment while in a 3d view as shown below.

My blog is unlocked after 5 months of lockdown.

Well it took just under 5 months to unlock my blog. Wow ! Thanks google. . . not. I had to send an email to google religiously every week for 19 weeks or this blog would have been erased for ever ! I was getting really tired of seeing that Pantheon posting. Ok well, I guess I can get back on track with more REVIT educational information. Stay tuned.

Pantheon Model included with REVIT MEP

There is a nice model file provided in the 'common' folder of the REVIT Training folders of REVIT. I created a quick animantion below depicting all the basic parts.

Autodesk Acquires Robobat !

Thank you Autodesk !

Jan 15, 08 - Autodesk, Inc. today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Robobat for approximately $42.5 million.

Read all about it Autodesk Acquires Robobat !

This is VERY good news for all us REVITeers and specifically the Structural types.

For those of you who are not already aware, Robobat currently makes a Structural Analysis extension for 'REVIT Structure'. Only now they will be working from the inside with all the Autodesk resources.

The RST models just got new legs.

Thanks Autodesk !

Here's the good news.

"Effective on, 14/01/2008, Autodesk will be simplifying accessibility and offering greater value to customers using Revit Structure by providing all Extensions for Revit, both fee and free, through the Autodesk Subscription Program.

In addition to having access to all previously fee based extensions for free in one repository, Revit Structure customers will also be delighted with new functionalities in current Extensions, new Extensions and much more.

CADclip - REVIT 2008 Color Fill Schemes Theory

The image above (click for larger view) depicts the suggested steps involved in understanding how REVIT Color Fill Schemes and Legends work.

Play the video below for a very informative 10 minute REVIT 2008 MEP CADclip video tutorial on the 'Theory' behind using Color Fill Schemes.

Although REVIT MEP is being utilized in this video tutorial, this same 'theory' can also be applied to both REVIT Structure or REVIT Architecture.

REVIT Implementation Tips

Below is a video slide show describing a few tips and guidelines

when implementing your REVIT product(s).

Click the 'Play > ' button above.

To summarize the slide show above you need to:

1. Mark up a set of exiting plans with color coded pens

2. Compare it to what Autodesk supplies

3. Build or Seek out the missing content and symbology

4. Put it all in your Template file(s)

5. Start a simple (as possible) Pilot Project

6. Maintain the Template file(s)