Back to the Basics: Revit Essentials with Paul Aubin

On this weeks episode of BIM After Dark Live I was honored to hose the "bim-famous" Paul Aubin as my guest.

I am sure many of you out there know who Paul is and have learned something about Revit from him at some point in your lifetime.

Paul and I discussed topics surrounding his latest book, "Revit Essentials for Architecture". Paul got into some interesting topics and we even went on some short rants about View Ranges, Model Groups, and In-Place components...

No matter what level of Revit experience you have this episode is certainly valuable. To new users, it will be a great glimpse into what Revit can do. For experienced users, it will be a reminder of what it took to get to where you are today (and maybe even an illustration of how you've been doing that ONE THING wrong this whole time... ;).

Sit back, relax, and join the conversation.

Continue reading for the episode replay and related links...

Practical Revit Family Tips and Tricks (w/Special Guest Philip Chan)

 

Mind. Blown. 

That is all I can say about last nights episode of BIM After Dark Live.  Philip Chan, of the Phil-oshophy in BIM blog, joined me to demonstrate some practical family tips and tricks.  

Ahead of the episode, Phil only sent me a few bullet points about what he was going to talk about. He did not give away any of his "punch-lines".  This is one of those episodes that you will want to watch regardless of your experience in Revit.  The little tricks that Phil demonstrates are not just useful but also show how you can use creative thinking to develop new ways of doing things in Revit.

Just some of the content we covered included:

- How to use nested profile to control rotation in your family 

- How to use nested profile to make exposed curve end beam family - Tips on getting the manufacturer family behave the way you want it

- Tips on re-purposing existing content as nested family

Continue reading to view the episode and links mentioned....

Thinking Outside the Box - Don't Let Revit Dictate Your Designs

 

This week marked the start of a new semester for most architecture students.  One of the things that has driven me crazy over the last 10+  years has been hearing architectural professors tell students that "Revit is only good for designing boxes" or "Revit restricts your designs"... 

Well, during this episode of BIM After Dark Live I took a look back at all of my studio (and professional) projects and highlighted the ones where I used Revit for more than "just boxes".   In this episode I dive into three specific projects and walk through exactly how they were created and what my design process was like.

Continue reading to see the episode, related links, and higher resolution images of the projects...

Filters in Revit - The Ultimate Guide (w/Aaron Maller)

 

Last night, Aaron Maller from Parallax Team joined me on the latest episode of BIM After Dark Live.  As usually, Aaron dropped a bunch of great Revit knowledge.  The topic was "view Filters". 

If you have not used View Filters in Revit yet, or if you are trying to figure out the best way to use them for your projects or templates, then this episode is for you.  I, for one, discovered view Filters late in my Revit journey and they have truly changed my perspective on the program.

Topics Covered:

- What is a View Filter?
- Best practices to implement view filters in your templates and projects.
- Using "INCLUDE" filters and parameters.
- Hiding different section and elevation types.
- Using the View Filter Manager Plugin
- Filtering casework concepts.

...and so so much more...

...continue reading to view the replay and links mentioned...

"Ask the Revit Kid" - Episode 20 Replays

 

Yesterday marked a milestone for BIM After Dark Live... Episode 20!  To honor the occasion we held a double header Q&A, stump the Revit Kid, extravaganza!

The format was simple... Ask me anything.  

And boy did you all ask!

Both sessions were around an hour long and I don't even think I was able to get through ever single question that was asked!  We touched on everything from dimension styles to rain-screen facades to cold form metal framing...  Thank you all for being so engaging and asking such awesome questions...

Continue reading to view both episodes, topics, and links...

Add an "X" Symbol When Your Framing is Cut in Revit

 

Today's quick tutorial was inspired by a post in the BIM After Dark Community. Tom was asking about adding detail items within families so when you cut a section you can see the detail...  He wasn't talking about stud framing but it reminded me of this tip that I wanted to share with you.

We have all spent time placing those pesky little Wood Stud Detail Components in our wall sections...  Well, there is nothing worse that doing that when you actually HAVE THE FRAMING MODELED!

So... here is a tip that will show you how to get the silly little "X" within your framing model families.  It can also be applied to any family times (ie. Adding more detailed line-work into a double hung window family.. you name it.).

Continue reading to view the tutorial...

Rebuilding Notre Dame... In Revit.

Wow...

That is all I can say after the latest episode of BIM After Dark Live...  

Andy Milburn joined me to walk us through one of the most stunning Revit models I have ever seen:  Notre Dame de Paris.  Andy and an awesome team of Revit-eers from around the world have re-built an absolute masterpiece of Gothic architecture in Revit. 

While walking through the actual model live, Andy explained their approaches to many unique elements around the building.

Topics Covered:

- How the initial plan was developed using images, exterior scans, and "Revit-tized".

- Unique Elements such as some really neat stairs.

- Exploration of modeling a variety of groin vaults.

- An Enscape fly through!

Continue reading to view the episode...

How to Model Board and Batten Siding in Revit

I have received many questions and emails over the years about how to model board and batten siding in Revit.  So, when I decided to run through the process during an episode of BIM After Dark Live I knew it just had to be stripped out and cut into it's own tutorial.

Topics Covered:

- Two ways to make Board and Batten Siding in Revit.

- Using Curtain Walls for more than just curtain walls.

- How 3D battens enhance your renderings dramatically.

Continue reading to view the tutorial and find out how to download the sample files....

Connecting Revit to Power BI : An Introduction to Visualizing Model Data (Replay)

In this episode of BIM After Dark Live we explored the data inside our Revit models...

We spend so much time modeling, making documents, and making pretty pictures we tend to forget about the "I" in BIM.  The information.  In this episode I demonstrate some simple ways you can start visualizing the data in your models with Power BI.

Topics Covered:

- Exporting Revit Data into Power BI friendly format(s).

- Introduce Power BI and make some visuals using our Revit data.

- Update the model and refresh your data dashboards.

- Use Dynamo to export a true "multi-category" schedule.

- Show how I created a construction cost estimate dashboard to track a project's budget.

I'll give you the power of data visualization... What you do with it, is up to you!

Continue reading to view the episode and see all of the links mentioned...

My Revit Design Process: Split Level Redux (Part 1)

On the latest episode of BIM After Dark Live I introduced a current residential project I am working on. I plan on documenting this project throughout the year and using it as an example for discussions, questions, and so on.  

During the live session last night I walked through some tips for modeling existing conditions (in fact, there were quite a few questions that kept me on that topic longer than I thought!), I ran through some unique demolition tips, I show you how Enscape can be a quick design tool, and more...

Continue reading to see the latest episode and view the links mentioned...

Tutorial - Revit Placeholders in Twinmotion (Replace Object With It's Base Point)

Here is a really quick but super valuable tutorial if you are using Revit and Twinmotion (actually, it may be helpful for any FBX export from Revit).

Typically, when you export a model from Revit to FBX (using the Twinmotion plugin) the project base point is your insertion point.  Meaning, every mesh that comes in (even if separated but material or category) all share the same project base point in Twinmotion.

Well, that doesn't always have to be the case.  You can actually export objects and they maintain their own base points.  For example, a chair or desk in Revit can have it's "origin" from the family editor as it's placement point in Twinmotion... 

I know, so cool, right?!

Well, it get's even better... Knowing this, you can use Twinmotion's "Replace Object" functions to swap our families with Twinmotion library elements!

Continue reading to find out how...

Data = Better BIM (A History of Data Analytics & AEC) w/Konrad Sobon (Episode 16)

Last night's episode of BIM After Dark Live featured Paul Aubin and Konrad Sobon.   If you're a Dynamo user then you've probable used a custom package built by Konrad (ie. arch-lab).  

During the session Konrad walked through some really interesting examples of how he got started in data analytics (and visualization) and what led him to where he is now (co-founder of bimBeats).

Continue reading to view the replay and see the links mentioned...