Tuesday, April 27, 2010

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 !

Sunday, April 25, 2010

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)

Friday, April 16, 2010

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 . . . .

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

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.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

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.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Parametric Room Size Label

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.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Operable Overhead Door Family

As indicated in the animated image above, the 5 CADclip tutorials below demonstrate how we can easily and quickly convert an out of the box REVIT overhead door to have the option to be open.
This CADclip is packed with custom family tips that you can use in your own family creation.

Only in Canada


I know this is off topic but could not help but post this photo of the Canadian Olympic Torch with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) posing out front.
In Vancouver, BC of all places.
Only in Canada !

Sunday, February 21, 2010

REVIT Residential Model Demonstration

I needed to convey some information to some customers of mine so I thought I would take advantage of all my resources. 

Although I could send them hard copy prints, a little video goes a long way as well.

Here are a few CADclips enhanced with a little audio dub.



Thursday, February 18, 2010

Add Sheet Counter to REVIT Title Block



REVIT does not come installed with a title block family parameter that displays how many sheets are in a sheet set. In fact REVIT doesn't have sheet sets.
Some people prefer to display the total number of sheets in a set as the '15' displays above.
In the 3 CADclips below you are first introduce to the completed title block family in a project then we start from scratch and show you how to build it yourself.
1. Create a Shared Parameter named 'Number of Sheets'.
2. Use this Shared Parameter in the Title Block rfa family file.
3. Load the title block family into a project.
4. Create a local Project Parameter of Category 'Project Information' pointing to the same Shared Parameter.
5. Set the 'Number of Sheets' value manually in the Project Information dialog box or the field in the title block and witness the change to all sheets.



CADclips

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

RAC 2010 - The New Curtain System by Lines

Here's the new way to create a 'Curtain System by Lines'.
In previous versions of REVIT there was a simple straight forward way to create the curtain system as illustrated above by using a tool called 'Curtain System By Lines'.
The first thing we noticed in RAC 2010 is that tool is gone without at trace. Not only is it gone but if you go to the help menu to the 'Where is my Command' tool and search for it you will discover that it does NOT tell you where that command went to. It has been erased from the face of REVIT without any direction as to the 'NEW' way to do it . . . . . . that is until now of course : )
1. Create a new In-Place Mass Form by picking existing geometry or linework.
2. Turn the linework into a 'Form' and finish the mass.
3. Use the Curtain System by Face tool.
4. Add the Curtain Grids.
5. Add the Mullions.
6. Bob's your Uncle !
See the CADclip below for a complete demonstration.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

CADclips Offers 25% Commission on all Referrals

Become a 'CADclips Partner'.
This is ideal for REVIT / CAD bloggers, Autodesk Resellers , User Groups, Content Creators and Sales People. It also pays in $$Dollars$$ not in pennies like Google Adsense.
Simple as 1, 2, 3 my friends . . .

1. CADclips provides you with a unique '10% discount' coupon code.
2. You publish the coupon on your web page any how or any where for people to use.
3. CADclips notifies, tracks and sends you 25% of the total list price(s).
You never actually have to meet or talk to the customer. You just advertise the 10% savings coupon on your web site or blog and CADclips sends you the commission $$$.

This includes single sales as well as large corporate / educational sales and the sky is the limit people !
You have the traffic and contacts. CADclips has a solid proven product. So do yourself a favor.
Let's do a little math . . .
1 $300 sale gets you $75
$2500 in sales gets you $625
$10,000 in sales gets you $2500
CADclips provides you with everything you need to close the sale.
Interested in a nice little chunk of side revenue with zero effort ?
Why wait ?
Contact Paul Thompson for your unique coupon code and start making money just as the REVIT wave takes flight.
Post the coupon code on your web site or hand it out one at a time and you're on your way !

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

REVIT Stepped Footing Tutorial

Out of the box REVIT just doesn't make it easy to create stepped footings.
We need to:
1. Create some Reference Planes
2. Model the stepped footing using an In-Place family
3. Split the walls
4. Apply the Concrete Material and then Join Geometry

Below are 5 CADclips embedded in a single viewer on how to create the stepped footing you see above. This is good for both for REVIT Architecture or Structure.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

REVIT Live Editing Tutorials

Below I have embedded 13 CADclip tutorials in a single viewer to provide live editing to convert the House with the Garage to the House with the Front Porch as illustrated above.
First we do all the modeling and then we go through and cleanup all the Views and Sheets.

Friday, January 29, 2010

REVIT Wood Framing Walls Extension



Please see the CADclip Video Tutorial at the bottom of this post.

Also, a big REVIT Rocks 'Thank You' to these four sites for their generous exposure:

REVITCITY - (great discussion)

The REVIT KID (fairly new on the block but in a word ...'SMART')

Cadalot - REVIT Structure Learning Curve (a relentless hunt for learning)

CADDIGEST (oodles and oodles of links to free tutorials)
We'll start with the images : )

In this tutorial we are going to introduce you to the new and exciting REVIT Wood Framing Walls Extension available for free to all REVIT subscription members.
Thanks to > REVIT Learning Curve for bringing this app to my attention.
It's taken me a solid 15-20 hours of tinkering before I could get it to create what I wanted in a single attempt, however there were MANY failed attempts.
There are a few things that need to get 'fixed' with this REVIT extension before it's 100% ready for the market but it has amazing potential.
I went from being excited to being dissappointed no less than 5 times.

Review Summary:
This extension is not 100% ready for market use YET . . . but it has huge potential. It works . . . but it is cumbersome to use and has a few fundamental glitches that need to get fixed after you get it up and running. Make sure you have the wood material loaded and make all walls load bearing before you start (otherwise it will prompt you to make them load bearing).

Number 1 problem is the ability for this app. to differentiate between 'wall thickness' and 'core thickness'. It places the studs 'centered' in the wall thickness where we really want the studs centered in the 'core thickness'. This is pretty much a show stopped right there. However I have a feeling it's not a difficult fix. Once that gets done we're off to the races. This observation is readily visible in the app. dialog box.

Number 2 problem (as I discovered) is when you try to duplicate the O.T.B. structural framing member families to hard code dimensions to the framing cross section ie: 2 x 4 = 1 7/8" x 3 7/8" (38 x 89) etc. The app. seems to prefer using 'User defined framing parameterization' framing profiles rather than the 'revit project active families'. The actual naming of these two options is confusing to say the least because the user defined profiles are actually the ''revit project active families'' and not the one that says 'user defined'. Either way it causes down stream problems unless you just let the app. make the profiles automatically based on the wall thickness. (Tricky one to explain in words.)
Number 3 problem is the tedious process of applying the framing specifications to each and every wall and opening. There is no way to specify the framing (headers, sills, kings) to 'all selected door openings' or 'all selected window openings'. You have to go through each and every wall in the project. I soon discovered that with a simple 1200 sq ft bungalo it took me FOR EVER and you can see from the posted images I still missed some walls because the top plates are rotated the wrong way (or shall I say . . . the DEFAULT way). Who uses a top plate rotated vertically . . . . come on people . . . get with the building code).

Number 4 problem is the fact that you need to 'rotate' the opening headers and sills even though the image shows it oriented the right way. Seeing as the header has Profile 1 and profile 2 this can be very confusing as you try to bumble you're way through this learning process. The default profiles should at the very least get placed as seen in the dialog box.

Number 5 problem is Tee connections. These show up ramdomly where there is no Tee and don't get placed where there are Tee's.

Number 6 problem is wall corner connections. They just don't cleanup properly at the top and bottom plate consistantly. I tried playing with my wall corner joins with no better results.
Number 7 problem is 'units' . OMG The app. uses the Project Units and converts everything to the Units 'round off' of say /32 or /8 etc. AND you cannot enter units in decimal form as in 1.5". It simply will not allow you to vear from the project units. If you specify 1 7/8" it will convert that to say . . . 1 28/32". Weird but true.
What you end up doing is defining each wall framing configuration and then deleting all the framing it creates and then doing it again. . . .and again . . . and again . . . and yes again . . . until it FINALLY gives you what you want. In he mean time you may find it creates duplicate framing members occupying the same space or creating no framing at all, but thinks it is actually there. The thing is the framing configuration seems to be saved somewhere externally (and not as a property of the wall) and you can delete the framing entirely, save and close the file, open the file back up and the wall will remember how you wanted it framed.
It will allow you to tweak the framing by using the grips to stretch a single framing member but it causes problems too.
In the end this app. has SUPER potential but it's really only 75% complete at best. . . . in true Autodesk fashion (even though this is not their app. (which is another topic altogether) ) they'll let us test it out and then report back with the bugs (DOH!) .
(17.5 hrs @ $97.25/hr = $1701.87 . . . thank you Autodesk . . . you can contact me for my paypal address. : ) )
Gotta run . . . the kids are up . . . : ) . . . . have a look at the CADclip below for a more graphical explanation. Comments are always welcomed. 



CADclips REVIT Videos Here

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

REVIT Good Bubble Bad Bubble

Good Bubble !
Bad Bubble !
By default REVIT uses View, Callout and Section tags (bubbles) that do not provide industry standard forward and backward referencing. I prefer the Good Bubble image.
Below is a sketch with a little more detail on the good bubble ingredients.
Below is a CADclips on how to swap the Bad Bubbles out for the Good Bubbles !

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Adding Cost and Currency to REVIT Schedules

Below is a CADclip on adding Currency ($$) and cost to REVIT Material Takeoffs and Schedules.

Most people can create a good material takeoff and or quantity schedule in REVIT and get totals and grand totals. But bridging the gap to costing and the almighty $ sign is tricky.

For many regualr 'schedules' all you have to do is add in a 'cost' as part of the instance or type parameters. But 'material takeoff's' are a little different.

If you create a foundation 'material takeoff' schedule that tells you that you have 1500 cubic feet (CF) of 'cast in place concrete' and you know your cost is $15 / CF then you should be able to formulate that overall cost. But you will run into a road block > error: Inconsistant Units

The problem occurs when you try to use the 'currency' unit (dollar) and the 'volume' unit (CF) together in the same REVIT schedule field formula. You will get an 'Inconsistant Units' error.

The answer is to create an intermitant variable that translates the volume unit to real number units. Then multiply that number by the cost / unit and Bob's your uncle.

For 30+ free REVIT Lab Exercises go to this post > CADclip Labs

Set the Pixel width to 720p for HD video quality.

Here's the CADclip.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

REVIT Architecture Lab Exercise Videos

Below you will find a series of free CADclip 'Lab Exercises' on how to model and document the drawings for a double car garage. This is a great training aid / resource for anyone who is teaching REVIT or learning to use REVIT (Architecture or Structure).

There are 31 videos included within the single playlist embedded below which walk you through the exercises step by step.
The playlist starts at Lesson 1 and moves on.
Remember, these are 'Lab Exercises' and not a Tutorial. They are best utilized after getting familiar with REVIT. For more detail tutorials visit CADclips.

We start with grid lines and levels, then walls, doors, windows, footings and a roof. Then a sloping slab and notched foundation wall at the overhead door. Then we put the plans, elevations, section on a sheet and annotate them for documentation. We create Schedules and Material Takeoffs that include Totals and Costs.

We also constrain and align the walls, grids, roof and slab to establish a nice neat parametric project. Move a grid line and the entire project updates right down to the sheets, schedules and costs.
Set the Pixel width to '720p' for HD video quality.



Monday, January 18, 2010

Group REVIT Schedule Headers

Did you know you can edit the 'header' information in REVIT Schedules and 'Group' (or ungroup) columns as indicated above?
It's easily demonstarted in the 1.5 minute CADclip below.
Set the Pixel width to '720p' for HD video quality.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

50% Off all REVIT Video Tutorials

CADclips is offering 50% off all REVIT Video Tutorials until the end of January 2010.
Enter the coupon code BIM then click the [Update Cart] button to see the discount as illustrated above.
Here is the CADclips Store link.
You can browse REVIT topics on the left hand side.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

REVIT Parametric House Magic

Below is a great CADclip demonstrating the power of REVIT, BIM and Conceptual Massing.
I navigate the entire demonstration from a single sheet view of a project.
The project contains one parametric conceptual mass setup to control the shape of a basic two storey house and attached garage.
Then within one project, using Phases and Scope boxing you can create unlimited versions of the same basic house shape but with different dimensions, floor levels, roof slopes and MATERIAL TAKE-OFFS !
You can even have different wall, window and door types per instance.
Control each version of the same model from the associated conceptual mass.
Click the conceptual mass and change the foundation depth, floor to ceiling height, floor thickness, garage width or length, house width, length or height and the entire model updates and so do all the views and the material take-offs !
With a little more work you could sit down with a client, change a few dimensions and print out unlimited versions of construction documents and corrisponding material take-offs. All with just a few clicks.
I think they call this B I M !!
Here is the process used to create what you see in the CADclip below: 1. Create a conceptual Mass Family with parametric constraints. 2. Load it into a project. 3. Use the building maker tools to skin the conceptual mass with walls etc.
4. Place and Constrain the doors and windows to the wall corners and intersections. 5. Make a copy of both the mass and the associated walls, roofs etc. 6. Create and assign phases to seperate the two models. 7. Schedule the material take offs based on phase and material type. 8. Make parametric changes to one of the masses aand then tell the walls, floors, roofs to update to the new mass faces. 9. Place the views on a sheet. 10. You now have multiple parametric models with associated material takeoffs.
Here's the CADclip !
Set the Pixel width to '720p' for HD video quality.

Friday, December 18, 2009

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:

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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.

Monday, December 14, 2009

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.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Canadian Unemployment Rate Starts Improving !

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