The Revit Kid on Novedge!

I am honored to have been featured on Novedge's Blog.  Aurora, a writer over at Novedge, reached out to me for an interview about myself, The Revit Kid.com, and BIM After Dark.  Having heard of Novedge and having followed their "Pulse" section over the years I was very excited for the opportunity.

Click here to check out the interview... (Sorry about the "in-your-face" large photo of me...)

A little about Novedge, the company:

Novedge is the leading online software store for design professionals. From architects to engineers, from filmmakers to graphic designers, we go to great length to find all the software you need, so you can focus on your projects. Our website offers unparalleled search and comparison charts, with clear licensing information for over 8,000 titles. 

Our team is knowledgeable and can offer unbiased advice, guiding you to the right products for your specific needs and our prices are the the most competitive in the industry. We recognize the everyday creativity of all the professionals designing the future today: your passion and innovation make our world possible.



Aurora, thank you again for thinking of the blog!  You're awesome!

4 Reasons You Should Attend RTC, #4 is My Favorite (#RTCNA)

I've officially registered for Revit Technology Conference North America 2014 (#RTCNA).  RTC is by far my favorite conference to attend.  If you have followed this blog over the years you would have seen numerous posts before and after the last few RTCNA's.  This year, I thought I would publish a post long before the event and give you my reasons why YOU should go. 

The Revit Cat is ... Purring? Tim's Been Busy.

I first met Tim Waldock at Revit Technology Conference North America (2012) in Georgia.  Before meeting him, I sat in as he spoke about the "new" repeater function in Revit.  Once you stop mesmerizing over his awesome accent, you start to see the awesome stuff he is doing.  If you are not following Tim's blog (The Revit Cat), you should start now.

Tim has been publishing quite a bit of valuable content recently.  In fact, I have been enjoying reading his feed so much I just had to share it with you all.  Here are "Index" pages Tim has created for some of the main topics he has been publishing...

Revit Tip - Strip Down Model for Sharing

This is an awesome tip I saw on Twitter one day.  I cannot remember who posted it (if you were the publisher please let me know and I will give you credit!).

It can be quite a hassle to save and prepare a Revit model to share with consultants, contractors, etc... Personally, I am all a little more liberal when it comes to sharing my Revit models.  Of course, many companies are still very conservative when it comes to what information is left in the model (ie. Titleblocks, details, families, etc...).

Stripping the model of the "baggage" can be cumbersome to say the least.  The video below will show you an awesome tip that will could possibly save you hours of time.

The Mysterious Case of Revit's Family View Range Properties

Have you ever tried to change the view range when in the Family Editor environment?  No? Go try....

If you have not run into this before (or just never really needed to do so) I bet you are scratching your head and thinking, "where the heck is it?".

I promise you, it's there...

Autodesk Cloud Rendering and Light Sources

If you have followed this blog over the year you would know how much if a proponent of Autodesk's 360 Cloud Rendering service.  In fact, there is quite a bit of talk and information on cloud rendering in BIM After Dark, too.

Click here for a lists of posts mentioning cloud rendering over the years (ups and downs)... 

Also, here are few interesting oldies when it was in the labs as "Project Neon"

Well, there has been a pet peeve of mine when it comes to using the cloud for renderings that include artificial lights...

Revizto 2.0: The Club Revit Review

It fascinating to me how things can organically connect throughout my blog.  For example, my tutorial about adding depth to elevations flowed beautifully into my announcement of BIM After Dark (without me even know about what BIM After Dark would be when creating it).  Additionally, my "Revizto for Revit: The Complete Guide" post galvanized the interest you, my readers, had in real-time visualization.... leading to the creation of a bonus eBook within the BIM After Dark series.

Well, in another ubiquitous connection, after reviewing BIM After Dark, Michael Anonuevo published an excellent Review of Revizto 2.0!  

BIM After Dark - Ultimate Gallery

BIM After Dark has now been live for almost two months. The concept of "BIM Can be Sexy" and "BIM for design" has really began to surface and develop in my mind throughout the process of creating BIM After Dark and discussion with you, my readers.

I wanted to create a post to document the images I have created (and hopefully you will create) using techniques I illustrate in BIM After Dark: Volume 1.  I hope to continue adding images (created by both you and I).  Every image below was made using Revit, Photoshop, and BIM After Dark. (oh, some images may have required a pen or pencil too).

If you have not done so yet, head over to my BIM After Dark website to purchase your copy of the video series (or check out the free sample video).  If you have done so, email me images you have created using the techniques within the videos and I will add them to this post for everyone to see!

BIM After Dark: Image Gallery

(Click to enlarge or start slideshow)

...be patient while they load...

Revit Tip - Double Duplicate for Less Headaches (Material Browser)

This is one of those things that can make you throw your keyboard if you don't know about it.  That's right, throw your keyboard!

What am I talking about?  Well, here is the scenario:

You are cruising through a Revit model creating walls, doors, windows, and applying materials.  You are also duplicating and creating new materials.  Assigning them some properties and continuing along.  Finally, you stop to take a coffee break and save.

When you get back from your coffee break, you flip tot he default 3D view and turn on Realistic Shading.  To your disbelief, your entire model is yellow!  What?!  Why??

It turns out the first material you made was a yellow gypsum wall.  Then, you duplicated that material while creating all of your new materials.  The problem is that you did not duplicate the "Asset" as well! I know what you're thinking, "what the heck is the asset?!  I never had to duplicate that before!".

Well, Revit 2013 and 2014 introduced some major changes in the material browser (I promise, I won't talk about the disaster of Revit 2013's material browser).

Tutorial - Using Revit on Multiple Monitors

It is no secret that Revit does not natively support multiple monitors... At least not without some manual labor.  

Well, there has been a good discussion over at RevitForum.org about the subject. within the discussion some members were sharing their workflows while managing multiple monitors.  One member (BLothian) even posted a descriptive "how-to".  I thought it was valuable enough to post here.  First, here is a look at his final result:

Now, onto the tutorial...

Free Revit Classes from Autodesk University 2013

About 200 Autodesk University classes are available On Demand (for free with a simple email registration).  I've taken the liberty of searched and filtering the Revit classes for you:

Click here to view the list of AU2013 Revit courses...

Some good stuff from likes of Marcello, Paul Aubin, Brian Mackey, and more...

Do yourself a favor and check them out!

Revit Tip - I Can't Select my Link!?

This is one of those little gems that sort of slips through the cracks. I had a colleague who was extremely frustrated because he could not select the structural model linked into his architectural model!

He had checked worksets, design options, visibility setting, the link type, etc...

Well, with the release of 2014 there are some new buttons on the bottom right hand corner of your Revit window.

 "Select Links" is one of them.