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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Revit Tutorial - Phases (New and Existing Construction) (Revit Clinic)

Sometimes when I get an email about a specific question I like to search my follow bloggers sites for the answer before going on and making my little videos. Here is a perfect example... A post on Revit Clinic from 2 years ago that still will help today:
Time to phase…
Phases are a pretty difficult animal in Revit to wrap your head around. The reason it is difficult is that the functionality works a little differently that is expected. Architects have very specific uses for Phases while designing and working on a project. Revit doesn’t always mesh with those uses exactly.
The most common problem with phasing is that users can’t get objects to display the way they would like to in a view. This problem actually contains 5 different parts. View properties, Phases, Phase filters, Graphic Overrides, and finally the properties for a object. In order for the objects to display correctly all of these things must be setup correctly. If any one thing is not correct, the objects in the phase will not look correct. Three of these items are all controlled in the Phasing dialog box so let’s take a look at that first.



Cick here to view the rest of the tutorial...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Revit Tutorial - Adaptive Points (What Revit Wants)

Great little tip by Luke... I find Adaptive Points to be a lot of fun...



Bending the Rules with Adaptive Points (2011 Secret #16)


You should all know something about adaptive points by now. I will here describe how I recently used them to solve a modeling problem.


Basically, I need to create a surface that was quite irregular - it did not fall in a way that could be describe in 1 or 2 slopes. I didn't want to use a shape-edited floor, as I wanted a form that would be smooth - not triangulated. Further to this, I wanted to be able to easily edit this form, and I wanted to be able to be able to derive some intelligence from it (ie. report the slope of the form). What would you do?


Here is how I handled it:


1.Create an Adaptive Component (generic) family.

2.Place some points and make them Shape Handle Points (Adaptive)

3.Create two splines based on these adaptive points that meet at two endpoints (see image below).

4.In the Project, create an in-place Mass family.

5.Create an Instance of this Adaptive Component inside the in-place Mass.

6.Finish the in-place Mass.

7.Create a new Wall based on the face (surface) from the Adaptive Component family.

8.You are done!


The fun part is editing - here is how you do it...

Revit Tutorial - Adjusting the Weld Symbol

I have recieved a few emails about adjusting the size and/or scale of a weld symbol.  Well, thanks to the Revit clinic I no longer have to make a video tutorial for it...

Adjusting the Scale of a Weld Symbol



I have seen many users attempt to adjust the scale of the OOTB weld symbol and end up with unexpected results; most often the issue is that leaders display a gap instead of attaching to the geometry directly. I'd like to explain the methodology with an example of scaling this family down 1.5 times while making sure that the leaders work properly. Please keep in mind that this is not for Family Editor beginners. You need a good understanding of Family Editing before being able to follow these steps. I'm going to illustrate a simplified version with 3 symbols and no notes, as it should illustrate the process without making this intolerably long.
You will still have to bear with me though because this is going to be longer than a normal post, but I think is more valuable to have all of the information together than to break it into pieces. I'm going to put in small thumbnails of the images to try to keep the flow of the document manageable; you can click on the images to see them full-size.
Generally one of the best ways to figure out how to model a family is to look at an existing one. So I am going to do a lot of comparing with the existing Weld Symbol.rfa family to make sure we understand what is making it work. One of the most important things to consider before you attempt to create this new family is scale. Scaling down has to be done precisely or it will not work, so it is important that all of the adjustments you make are set to the same scale.
Let's begin by opening our existing family at Annotations > Structural > Weld Symbol.rfa, starting a new Generic Annotation.rfa family, and viewing them side by side in Revit.
In the Weld Symbol, go to Family Types and turn on the visibility of the Tail Note, Weld All Around, and Field symbols. Then go into Visibility/Graphics and turn on Dimensions and Reference Planes. Go ahead and hide the text labels to clear up space since we're not going to deal with them in this example....

Click here to see the video and the rest of the tutorial...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Revit Community - Win Free CAD Clips!

Very cool competition that you should all think about... Free CAD Clips is full of information...

Dear Revit Community Professional,
RevitCommunity.com is marking its third birthday with a party for new members. Join thousands of your fellow Revit users in the best place on the web for Q&A, Tips, News, Profiles and more. Membership is free – click the join link in the upper right hand corner ofwww.RevitCommunity.com
…And, if you join before July 8 2010, all new members will be entered into a drawing to win one of a dozen prizes:

Join Learn Advance
- and WIN!
10 Winners will receive 5 Free Hours of Unlimited
Access
CADclips is a leading provider of Revit Training with 100’s
of hours of video.More info
One Lucky Winner gets a $399.00 course!
John Bohan has been training Revit users for years.
 More info
One lucky person receives a free subscription to
ASCENT’s Revit Architecture 2011 Fundamentals
eCourseware title.
ASCENT – Center for Technical Knowledge is one of the
designated providers of Autodesk Official Training Guide
content for Revit 2011. More info.

Guest Blog Post : Barbara Young

I am excited to introduce a first ever guest blog post on The Revit Kid.  Our guest author this week is Barbara Young who writes at 12 Volt Solar Panels.... Given that this is a student related blog I thought it would be great to have her give a little introduction to solar panel technologies.  Do you REALLY understand solar panels?  When you are modeling a building in Revit that uses solar panels... How to go about it?  


Here’s an instant way to learn how solar panels work

What's solar power ?
Solar energy is radiant energy that is produced by the sun. Daily the sun radiates, or sends out, an incredible volume of energy. The sun radiates more energy in a single second than people have used since the beginning of time!
The energy of the Sun comes from within the sun itself. Like other stars, the sun is really a big ball of gases––mostly hydrogen and helium atoms.
The hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core combine to form helium and generate energy in a process called nuclear fusion.
During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom. But the helium atom contains less mass than the four hydrogen atoms that fused. Some matter is lost during nuclear fusion. The lost matter is emitted into space as radiant energy.
It takes millions of years for the energy in the sun’s core to make its way to the solar surface, and then somewhat over eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles to earth. The solar energy travels to the earth at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, the velocity of light.
Only a small portion of the energy radiated from the sun into space strikes the earth, one part in two billion. Yet this amount of energy is enormous. Each day enough energy strikes the united states to provide the nation’s energy needs for one and a half years!
Where does all of this energy go?
About 15 percent of the sun’s energy which hits the planet earth is reflected back into space. Another 30 percent is used to evaporate water, which, lifted into the atmosphere, produces rainfall. Solar power is also absorbed by plants, the land, and the oceans. The remaining could be employed to supply our energy needs.
Who invented solar energy ?
Humans have harnessed solar power for centuries. As early as the 7th century B.C., people used simple magnifying glasses to concentrate the light of the sun into beams so hot they would cause wood to catch fire. Over a century ago in France, a scientist used heat from a solar collector to create steam to drive a steam engine. At first of this century, scientists and engineers began researching ways to use solar power in earnest. One important development was a remarkably efficient solar boiler invented by Charles Greeley Abbott, an american astrophysicist, in 1936.
The solar hot water heater gained popularity at this time in Florida, California, and the Southwest. The industry started in the early 1920s and was in full swing just before World War II. This growth lasted until the mid-1950s when low-cost propane became the primary fuel for heating American homes.
People and world governments remained largely indifferent to the possibilities of solar energy before oil shortages of the1970s. Today, people use solar power to heat buildings and water and to generate electricity.
How we use solar power today ?
Solar energy can be used in a variety of ways, of course. There's two simple kinds of solar power:
* Solar thermal energy collects the sun's warmth through 1 of 2 means: in water or in an anti-freeze (glycol) mixture.
* Solar photovoltaic energy converts the sun's radiation to usable electricity.
Let us discuss the five most practical and popular solutions solar energy is employed:
1. Small portable solar photovoltaic systems. We see these used everywhere, from calculators to solar garden products. Portable units may be used for everything from RV appliances while single panel systems can be used traffic signs and remote monitoring stations.
2. Solar pool heating. Running water in direct circulation systems via a solar collector is an extremely practical method to heat water for your pool or hot tub.
3. Thermal glycol energy to heat water. In this method (indirect circulation), glycol is heated by the sun's rays and the heat is then transferred to water in a hot water tank. This method of collecting the sun's energy is a lot more practical now than ever. In areas as far north as Edmonton, Alberta, solar thermal to heat water is economically sound. It can pay for itself in 3 years or less.
4. Integrating solar photovoltaic energy into your home or office power. In numerous parts of the world, solar photovoltaics is an economically feasible solution to supplement the power of your home. In Japan, photovoltaics are competitive with other types of power. In the US, new incentive programs make this form of solar technology ever more viable in many states. A frequent and practical method of integrating solar energy into the power of your home or business is through the use of building integrated solar photovoltaics.
5. Large independent photovoltaic systems. If you have enough sun power at your site, you could possibly go off grid. You may also integrate or hybridize your solar power system with wind power or other kinds of alternative energy to stay 'off the grid.'
How do Photovoltaic panels work ?
Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to create photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electric power. The power created then flows into an inverter. The inverter transforms the energy into basic voltage and AC electrical energy.
Solar cells are prepared with particular materials called semiconductors for example silicon, which is presently the most generally used. When light hits the Photovoltaic cell, a certain share of it is absorbed inside the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is given to the semiconductor.
The energy unfastens the electrons, permitting them to run freely. Photovoltaic cells also have more than one electric fields that act to compel electrons unfastened by light absorption to flow in a specific direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by introducing metal links on the top and bottom of the -Photovoltaic cell, the current can be drawn to use it externally.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of solar technology ?
Solar Pro Arguments
- Heating our homes with oil or natural gas or using electricity from power plants running with oil and coal is a reason behind climatic change and climate disruption. Solar power, on the contrary, is clean and environmentally-friendly.
- Solar hot-water heaters require little maintenance, and their initial investment can be recovered in just a relatively limited time.
- Solar hot-water heaters can work in almost any climate, even just in very cold ones. Simply choose the right system for your climate: drainback, thermosyphon, batch-ICS, etc.
- Maintenance costs of solar powered systems are minimal and also the warranties large.
- Financial incentives (USA, Canada, European states…) can aid in eliminating the cost of the first investment in solar technologies. The U.S. government, as an example, offers tax credits for solar systems certified by by the SRCC (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation), which amount to 30 percent of the investment (2009-2016 period).
Solar Cons Arguments
- The initial investment in Solar Hot water heaters or in Photovoltaic Electric Systems is greater than that required by conventional electric and gas heaters systems.
- The payback period of solar PV-electric systems is high, as well as those of solar space heating or solar cooling (only the solar warm water heating payback is short or relatively short).
- Solar water heating do not support a direct combination with radiators (including baseboard ones).
- Some air cooling (solar space heating and the solar cooling systems) are costly, and rather untested technologies: solar air conditioning isn't, till now, a really economical option.
- The efficiency of solar powered systems is rather dependent on sunlight resources. It's in colder climates, where heating or electricity needs are higher, that the efficiency is smaller.


Who am i ? - Barbara Young writes on solar RV battery charger in her personal hobby weblog 12voltsolarpanels.net. Her work is focused entirely on helping people save energy using solar energy to lower CO2 emissions and energy dependency.

Thanks for the post Barbara and I hope my readers learned something new today...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Revit Tutorial - Converting Linework (Model to Detail, etc...)

Nice little tutorial over at Revit Elemental...

Converting Linework: Model Lines to Detail Lines (and Vica Versa)This blog discusses a technique for changing Model Lines to Detail Lines and Detail Lines to Model Lines.
People will sometimes draw details in their live model views using Model Lines not realising the impact it is having on the visibility in 3D view or section/elevation. When they realise their mistakes, it is often too late to redraw the details using drafting lines as too much has been done.
Instead you can use this technique to ‘convert’ Model Lines into Drafting Lines and vica versa without the need to redraw anything!
There are three methods discussed in this blog
•Model Lines to Detail Lines in a Project


•Detail Lines to Model Lines in a Project


•Model Lines in a Project to Detail Lines in a Family


Here is a typical example: The rainwater pipe and other linework on the corner of this building has been drawn using Model Lines.
 
Click here to view the rest of the post and see images as well...

Monday, June 14, 2010

Revit Tutorial - Unpin Multiple Elements

This is a very old post over at Revit OpEd but I decided to create a short video to compliment it.  First, here is the post about unpinning multiple elements (very useful when working with curtain walls):




Unpin Em All
When you have a number of pinned objects you can unpin them one at a time using the little Push Pin icon that appears for the objects. The only trouble is clicking the pin only unpins the one you clicked. The others just get deselected.

To unpin multiple objects you need to use the menu item 
Edit and choose Unpin Position. The default Revit keyboard shortcut for this is UP.

Happy Unpinning!!


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Revit Tutorial - Complex Family Shapes

Great find by Alan over at Revit Learning Curve...



Michael Anonuevo has posted a very detailed educational post to the Club Revit website. It goes into great detail on creating a very nice Beer Mug family. 

The great part is that it covers lots of family modeling techniques. You can view the post by clicking on the link below:

http://clubrevit.com/?p=216

You can also check out Michael's web site at: http://littledetailscount.com/


Thanks Alan!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

How do I make a Roof?

I have received countless numbers of emails about different roof types.  Here is a cool find over at What Revit Wants:

Roof forms - How do I make a 'xxx' roof?

Okay, xxx means "insert your desired roof type here". One of the best and easiest ways to find find the answer you are looking for is by downloading this file on Roof Forms from the Revit 2011 Content Distribution Center.
From here, you should be able to figure out the 'best practice' when it comes to creating the various different roof forms.

Still can't figure out how to make your roof type?  Shoot me an email at Jeff@TheRevitKid.com and I will do my best to figure it out and possibly create a tutorial like the hundreds on this site.

Autodesk / AIA Sustainable Competition - VOTE NOW!

Go check out all the submissions! Tons of Revit models and images for you guys to see...  Vote for your favorite.  I will be posting the top 3 or 4 when the votes are final.

Voting Instructions
  • Click here to view the list of submissions.
  • Select an entry and click on it.
  • Read the description and view the images
  • To vote for an entry, simply click on the "like" icon 
Note: Use your browser back button to return to the people's
choice gallery and view the other entries.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Architactile - iPAD, Architecture, and BIM

Back when I wrote my first post about Architecture and the iPad I received an email from a great guy named Matt.  Matt was in the process of developing an Architecture based product for the iPad.... Well, a few months later he sent me another email announcing that the product is coming soon!!


Architactile was founded by Tulsa based technologist Matt Galloway and inspired by conversations with and ideas from Matt’s long-time friend and local architect, Taylor King. Like good architecture, the goal of Architactile is simple yet transformative: we want to increase the efficiency of the business of architecture by streamlining and automating those actions, habits and behaviors that work.  We are currently working on our first product, tentatively named Inception, which is designed to help accelerate project initiation by improving data collection, scope definition, information management and communications from the point of the first client meeting through the signing of the contract.




This looks to be a great software that will generate new uses for the iPad... I immediately thought of how this software could link with, say, Revit?  I am not sure the basis of the software and if it utilizes some sort of database (looks like it does).  Perhaps there is a way to utilize a similar file type that Revit exports for room data, etc...

What do you think Matt?  Readers?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

What's New in Revit MEP 2011 - 90 Second Video Tutorials

I always love the little glimpses into products from Autodesk.  Thanks to Alan over at Revit Learning curve for putting the list together...

What's New in Revit MEP 2011 ~ 90 Second Video Tutorials

.
Here are some more Autodesk produced 90 second videos uploaded to YouTube, on the 10th may 2010. These short videos are really useful. however If only Autodesk could actually watch them before posting as the sound quality in this batch is not good as the last lot and could have been adjusted to make these perfect!.

What's New in Revit MEP 2011 - Valves & Fittings – 0:53
It is now possible to place valves, fittings, and other types of duct or piping accessories while in an elevation or section view. For example, you can switch to an elevation view and place a valve in a vertical pipe. You can also add and modify valves and fittings in the 3D view.

What's New in Revit MEP 2011 - Text & Leader Improvements – 1:01
Users can use text formatting keyboard shortcuts and be able to find and replace words within their notes. The leader enhancements include allowing users to set the proper justification for the leader within the top, middle, or bottom locations of the text note and adjust the distance between the leader end and the text note.

Click here to view a few more nice videos from autodesk....