Revit Projects Gallery Update

First, thank you all for posting some links to your projects and to all of you that emailed me links to your projects. It looks like the is an interest in this idea...

Turns out, it completely slipped my mind, that DesignByMany.com is essentially a Revit Projects database... I have been so busy I haunt checked DesignByMany in a while and there has been tons of activity! David, thanks for reminding me... The site looks like it is going great.

So, to my readers, head over to DesignByMany.com and post your projects... It is free and full of great projects, challenged, and examples...

David, one suggestion if I may. Perhaps adding a "Software Used" text box when submitting a project? Just a thought.

Posted by: Jeffrey A. Pinheiro, LEED AP at The Revit Kid.com!

Free Revit Architecture Certification at AIA

Autodesk is offering free certificaiton at AIA in New Orleans!  I highly recommend taking the test... Check it out:

Get Autodesk Revit Architecture Certified This Year at AIA in New Orleans from May 12^th -14^th …For FREE!

For students, Autodesk certifications are a reliable validation of your skills and knowledge, and can lead to accelerated professional development, improved productivity, and enhanced credibility. Now more than ever students need to showcase their BIM skills to keep them competitive in this tough job market. Certification is a great way to do this.

Key Benefits

• Industry recognized credential that proves your skill level using Revit Architecture.
• Autodesk Revit Certified Logo on your resume.

·         Display your Autodesk Revit Certified certificate.

To ensure you are ready for the test, please go through the simple steps outlined below.

Step 1. Choose the certification that is right for you.

§  Select your desired certification program, level and product. Certification is available for many Autodesk applications. (If you are looking for Instructor Certification click here.) Download and read the comprehensive Exam Guide to learn what to expect.

Step 2. Assess your readiness.

§  Locate an Autodesk Certification Center and purchase an assessment test to measure your knowledge of the application and identify areas for further study and preparation. 

Step 3. Get the training you need and practice your skills.

§  Take a course at an ATC and/or purchase a training guide book to prepare.  Be sure to practice using the software, as direct experience using the application is critical to your success.

Step 4. Take the required exam.

For more information on Autodesk Certification, please go to www.autodesk.com/certification.

Once you are ready, don’t miss the chance to get certified for free when you stop by the Autodesk booth at the AIA Conference May 12 – 14 in New Orleans.

Revit User's Project Database and Gallery

I had a crit last night for one of my design classes and it got me thinking. I feel that the more I present different Revit created projects and showcase all the advantages, visuals, and WOWs that Revit has I seem to convert 1 or 2 other students into believers. These fellow peers of mine are typically AutoCAD/Sketchup users...

That being said, I think creating a single location for my projects and my readers projects would be very beneficial to all of us. So, I ask you, my readers, to post links in the comment section below to your Revit projects and presentations. Whether you are in school or using Revit professionally, post them!

For now, use whatever means of uploading your images or PDF's and simply add the link to the comment below. Along with your link, tell us what version of Revit you used, any other software used, and if it was done in school or professionally. Of course, Revit has to be used in the project!

If anyone has any good ideas of a third party client or location where we can set up a single destination for uploading these PDFs and Images let me know. I was thinking of either something I'm can link to or a built in server for a page on the blog that you guys can simply click "Upload". Any ideas?

I will be posting some of my own projects soon.

Revit / Vasari Physics

Just absolutely jaw dropping.... I still can't believe it is Revit (well... Vasari).... Thanks to Zach over at buildz for the post.

Sgambellurian Physics and Phorm Phinding: Nucleussimo!

Marcello Sgambelluri has done it again. Again we are awed by (and a little worried for) Marcello. This time around he is showing his mad Nucleus skillz in Vasari.
Behold:

Sgambellurian Physics

Revit City.com is Back Up!

It appears that RevitCity.com is back up and running...

All of you who emailed me asking me if I knew what happened can go ahead with what you were doing...  I guess the site was attacked by some sort of hacker/trojan/virus...

Now go ahead an post, read, download, upload, and enjoy!

Revit City.com ... Where did you go??

Does anyone out there know what happened to RevitCity.com?

Weird...

More Autodesk Webcasts for Students and Recordings

Just in case you might have missed the Student oriented Vasari webcast here is a recording to it:

Click here to see the video...

Also, Phil Bernstein (whom I like to call Uncle Phil on this blog) is presenting in the next Autodesk Student Community webcast.  For those of you who have never seen or heard Phil speak about Revit and IPD I highly recommend you watch this webcast (and search for all his other speeches, writings, etc..).

Autodesk AEC BIM Online Webcasts

Date: April 11, 2011. 1:00–2:00 p.m. PT

Building Information Modeling and the Implication for Architecture PedagogyBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) is being rapidly adopted by architects, engineers and contractors with significant, if only vaguely understood, implications for the practice of architecture.  Changes in design approach, project organization, collaboration, legal and risk parameters, fabrication and construction execution are likely to be profound, as are the ramifications for pedagogy.  This presentation will examine both industry context and teaching implications of BIM in the training of architects, investigate potential relationships with accreditation criteria, and propose strategies for connecting BIM, practice and teaching approaches.

Speaker Information: Phil Bernstein is vice president, industry strategy and relations, Autodesk AEC Solutions. In this role, he is responsible for developing and delivering technology solutions and design tools to the architectural, engineering, and construction industry.  Bernstein has served as Lecturer in Professional Practice, Yale University School of Architecture since 1988.

Webcast Link: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PG1541600&p=5469443&t=c

Audio Dial-in: 888-390-1019 or 1-415-228-3908

Participant Passcode: 5469443

Materials of Interest that Support this Topic:

Autodesk BIM for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Management 2011 Curriculum
http://students.autodesk.com/ama/orig/bim2010/Start.htm

Yale BIM Symposium Videos
http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=m_newarticle_detail&article_id=4954

Case Studies Highlighting BIM in Curriculum
http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=m_newarticle_detail&article_id=4968

Revit 2012 and Autodesk 2012 Education Community Release Date

I have not been able to get a concrete number from Autodesk as to when the Revit 2012 and all 2012 products will be up for download over at the Student Community. If I had to make a guess, it would be around May 4th, 5th, or 6th... If these numbers are true then you can install the full trial version of Revit in the middle of April (when the full commercial version is released) and activate it on Cinco de Mayo with your student license... This means that you can be cranking on Revit 2012 long before your final crit... Woot!

Not a member of the Student Community yet? Sign up!!! It's free.

Stay tuned for more updates as I try and get the scoop.

Posted by: Jeffrey A. Pinheiro, LEED AP at The Revit Kid.com!

Revit2012.com - Check it out!

Greg at Revit3D.com just released his Revit2012.com domain name...

Go there and you will find up-to-date information about the newest release of Revit as well as sign up to win free software!

I don't know how many years in advance Greg has purchased Revit domain names but I wonder if he will still be posting when Revit 2040 is released?  Will Revit 2040 finally have improved stairs?!  Hm....

Revit 2012 - New Architecture Features!

Revit Architecture 2012 is just around th corner and there are two notable features (that I am the most excited about).  Of course, there are more and I will be filling you all in soon...

• Parts
  Being able to break a wall apart by components and push, pull, and manipulate many system elements is a huge enhancement in my opinion.  For me, a student and intern architect, I am excited to use this for stunning and "WOW" factor visualizations...
  
  More to come..
   
• Visualization Enhancements
  Again, the enhanced visualization you will find in Revit 2012 is going to make Revit presentations look incredible.
  - Ambient Allocation in ALL VIEW TYPES!
  - Semi-Transparent Elements
  - Enhanced edges.
  - Shadows in "Consistent Colors" style.
  - Ability to Create your own templates for visual styles.

Those two features alone make it worth it for me...

Of course, I do not have to go through all the details because there are plenty of blog posts about it already out there.  I actually watched the invite only Blogger webcast in the back of class... shhhhhh... Don't tell my teacher. So I couldn't get any great screen shots...

Head over to David Light's blog for the best post on Revit 2012 so far....

And boy is it a great post.  David, I am sure all the bloggers thank you for the post...

Autodesk Webcast for Everyone!!!

You're invited! There is a kick-off webcast will be hosted by Amar Hanspal on March 21^st at 5p Eastern Daylight Time. This webcast is open to the general public.

· What: Autodesk invites you to a live webcast featuring Senior Vice President Amar Hanspal. Learn about Autodesk's new products for the design, engineering, and entertainment industries.
· When: Monday, March 21 @ 5p EDT
· Preregister: http://autode.sk/glzUsA


I am sure you will not be disappointed... Check it out!

Big News Coming Soon...

Stayed tuned this week and the upcoming weeks for some big news...

On top of all the other news you may think I am referring to I had a very busy weekend working on a special project....

Stay Tuned!!!

Project Vasari Website

I do not know how this post slipped by me... it has been in my drafts for a while and the Autodesk webcast today reminded me...  A great website for all things Vasari.  Lots of activity on the site... check it out:

Project Vasari.com

Welcome to the ProjectVasari.com online community!.This is a platform for you to learn how to use Vasari as well as share your experiences, questions, tips and work you have created with Vasari.


Some things to get you started:

• Revit 2011 Conceptual Design White paper: a high-level introduction to conceptual design using the Revit 2011 modeling platform - on which Vasari is based.
• Essential skills videos: one minute videos to get you started with modeling in Project Vasari.
• Advanced skills videos: covering parametric and energy analysis techniques
• Tips and Tricks on parametric modeling and energy simulation/analysis.

Revit Tip - Occupancy Loads / Room Capacity Scheduling and Calculations

An interesting issue that I worked through at the office today...  Thought I would share.

Basically, the issue is in the math.  When calculating the occupancy load using the schedule we had a parameter already in the schedule that divided the Room Area (based on the Revit Model) and the SF Per Person (A fixed number manually typed in based on certain factors).  This would then yield the Room Capacity.  Because we cannot have 1.75 of a person this number is usually rounded.  First, to round the number I used a Field Format override of (0 decimal places).  This rounds the number found up (if over 0.5) and down (if under 0.5).

This worked great but now we have an issue of rooms with a Room Capacity calculated at 0.35…  This will round down to 0 in our schedule.  Some of these rooms will need a Room Capacity of 1 as a minimum.  I solved this with an IF statement.  First, I had to create 2 parameters… One is called Room Capacity Multiplier (which is the quotient of Room Area divided by SF Per Person) and becomes a hidden field.  I then created a new “Calculate Value” parameter called “Room Capacity” (which will be the final number).  The IF statement looked like this:

if(Room Capacity Multiplier < 0.5, 1, Room Capacity Multiplier)

Based on the If Statement formula :  If(<condition>, <result-if-True>, <result-if-False>)

And that is it… Now if the number is less than 0.5 is will now show as 1 instead of 0 on the schedule.

Now, if we could only get the darn plan Symbol for room capacity to link with this schedule.

Please, share you experience, ideas, and solutions to using Revit for these types of Load Calcs, Fixture coutns, etc...  Comment below.

 ** Edit ** There is now an Add-in for Revit that handles Occupant Loads and Tags... I teamed up with another awesome Revit blogger to create SAuBIM - Code Calculations for Revit...

Autodesk Building Analysis Webcast for Students

I am very excited to announce that Autodesk is hosting some great webcasts geared towards us students... Check it out!


The first of many informative webcasts is scheduled this week. Be sure to mark your calendar!


Date: March 17, 2011. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PT


Parametric Design and Energy Analysis – What Students Need to Know


In this webcast, we will discuss energy simulation workflows and why students need to be aware of the tools available. Attendees will learn more about Autodesk® Project Vasari, an easy-to-use, expressive design tool for creating building concepts. Project Vasari is focused on conceptual building design using both geometric and parametric modeling. It supports performance-based design via integrated energy modeling and analysis features. We will also discuss passive thermal analysis and other tools available to accomplish sustainable design goals.


Webcast Link: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PG1550964&p=2262251&t=r
Audio Dial-in: 888-282-0367 or 1-212-287-1858
Participant Passcode: 2262251


Materials of Interest that Support this Topic


Project Vasari Overview
http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=m_newarticle_detail&article_id=4969


Autodesk Sustainable Design Curriculum
http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=content_box_layout_view_v3&layout_id=24


Autodesk BIM for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Management 2011 Curriculum
http://www.blogger.com/


Project Vasari on Autodesk Labs
http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/vasari/

The Future for Architects, Justin Bieber, and BIM...

How are they all connected?  Who knows.  But the title sure grabbed your attention. The title "Justin Bieber: Aspiring Archtiect" grabbed my attention in the most recent Architectural Record Newsletter...

So, it turns out that Bieber wanted to be an Architect.  Had it now been for YouTube he very well might be applying to an Archtiecture College.  Beyond that, there is no real value to knowing this piece of information (although, think of what a great title for a blog "Bieber BIM" would be...).   Within the Off the Record post I found some great articles and links:

• The Future of Architects
• Star Architects Urged to Stop Exploiting Student

I found these two articles very interesting and had to share them.  I am still reading the report on The Future for Archtiects (it is quite a few pages) and it is very interesting.  Not only do they mention BIM quite a bit but also the roles an Archtiect could play in the future global market of Archtiecture. 

The second article speaks for itself.  Two main points I dragged out of the article were the idea that students were not being prepared properly when the graduate and they exploitation of the students once in the workforce is hurting the profession.  I agree 100% with the idea that students are not fully prepared when graduating.  I look back on all of my architectural education so far (3 years in high school and 5 years in college) and my professional work experience (7 years at professional firms).  When I think about how much I learned about construction, the profession, wall sections, budgets, phasing, proposals, consultants, fees, etc... I learned it all in the field.  If I had to chose a percentage, 10-20 percent was learned in school.

The way I see it, a BIM based education can solve this.  In order to do BIM you must know how a building goes together, is scheduled, constructed, and how consultants do their jobs as well.  You must actually decide how that corner you cannot see in elevation looks. 

Now, go register the domain Bieber BIM and start the Revit-lution.

Revit Tutorial - Creating and Modifying Surface Patterns ( .pat files)

Surface patterns and filled regions are a very important part of CD's in Revit. I refuse to call them "hatch patterns" for obvious reasons but they are essentially the same thing (only better).  Model Patterns are very powerful when used correctly and can save loads of time, energy, and money.  I have copied/altered/pasted from the default Revit .pat file to break it down a bit and give you an understanding of how to create your own simple pattern.  I also made a video at the end of the post to help you understand.  First, find the default Revit .pat file.  In 2011, it is located at:

• C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Architecture 2011\Data

The pattern we are going to create is a 24"x144" running metal panel.  To edit the .pat file simply open it in notebook.  Instead of showing you those lovely notepad lines full of text I made a nice little table to graphically understand what to do:



This pattern is called "24x144 Metal Panel"; you will see this name when you import it into Revit. It is
a model pattern. It has two families of lines. The first family creates the horizontal coursing:

Revit Tutorial - Creating Curtain Wall Elevations in Revit (Revit Dialog)

A new blog surfaced a few months ago and I completely forgot to mention it....  Looks to be a promising resource with some great little Revit Architecture tips already...  Chris, good look in the Revit blog world and great looking blog.  Anyways, this is a great little pointer on creating curtain wall elevations.

Creating Curtain Wall Elevations Using a Custom Elevation Tag



Currently curtain wall elevations can’t be shown in a legend like you can with a door or window family – you only have the option of a plan or section. Many offices use a callout in elevation to create the elevations which gives you the benefit to tag and create intelligent Head, Jamb, Sill detail views but you’ll more than likely want to hide these initial callouts in elevation. What if you could create an elevation so it looks like a “tag” and not deal with hiding callouts?


Elevation “Tag"


In Revit Architecture 2011, you can now customize the elevation body and pointers to whatever your creative mind can come up with. So what if an elevation marker looked just like your wall tag? This creates an elevation for you AND shows a tag for your curtain wall.


Family Creation


So your curtain wall elevation body should look just like your wall tag, you can copy the lines from one tag family and into the elevation body family.


With elevation families, you also need to have a “pointer” loaded into the elevation body family, but you don’t want to see a pointer with wall tags. In order not to have the pointer not show, I created a small straight line in the elevation pointer family and made it invisible so you don’t see it in your views, but you can still select it to adjust your extents on plan and in turn makes the family editor happy.


Elevation body with nested elevation pointer (in blue)

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

Room Renumbering in Revit - Finally!

Thanks to Steve Stafford for the post... 

This is one of those plug-ins that makes you say, "Duh!".  I cannot count the numbers of time projects are just sporadically numbered throughout the early phases and when they get to the later stages you need to manually renumber every damn room!  Well... tah dah!

Autodesk Labs - Room Renumber

Historically the ADN (Autodesk Developer Network) plugins of the month have been dominated by AutoCAD. This year we are keen on featuring plugins from ADN members who write them for some of our other applications like Inventor and Revit. So it should come as no surprise that this month's plugin is related to Revit.

Download RoomRenumbering for Revit 2011 via Autodesk Labs

Recall that each plugin includes the source code so prospective developers can see just how easy extending the functionality of our design applications actually is. Provding the source code also allows users to modify or extend the functionality to suit their particular needs. Each plugin includes a read me with all of the skinny related to the plugin. This month's read me mentions... Click here to see the Rest of the post...

Revit Sucks ... Again?

Wow... 2 years after I posted this people are still commenting. Cool...

The post, as I said before, was ment to be facetious and stir up interest. In that sense, it has been greatly successful. The very fact that people are googling the words "Revit Sucks" is interesting to me. I, personally, am a Manchester United fan. Yet, I have never googled the words "Liverpool Sucks". (Little analogy for my soccer/futball fans). Could the fact that over the last few months responses to that post have ramped up due to the traction Revit is gaining in the industry?

I was not receiving the emails for any of the comments for this post after switching the comment provider on the blog to IntenseDebate.

I guess I would just like to generally respond to all the posts I have not responded to yet and let them know I have read their comments and care about them.

First, a trend with the comments from people who do not seem to like Revit is that many of them state they are an engineer of some sort... I refuse to reply to them because I am much more comfortable with Revit Architecture and use it on a daily basis over the other versions. I have used the other versions but not enough to defend them. The only thing I will add is that within the past few months I have worked on two 100,000 SF schools. On the Architecture side, we used 100% Revit. Structural and MEP also used Revit. It seemed to work out very well.

I have said it 100 times over the 2 years I have had this blog... I believe in BIM. Revit is simply my preferred method of BIM. The name of this blog is TheRevitKid.com...expect pro-Revit replies from me. I will continue to "ignorantly" defend my passion and love for Revit as my BIM solution. Just as ArchiCAD lovers defend theirs.

I would like to end with something I heard Greg over at Revit3D say a few times at AU2010 last year (for some reason this quote will not leave my mind. If I screw it up please comment Greg):

"When you are driving on the highway there are two types of people driving around you. The people who are speeding past you are assholes and the people that you are passing are morons."

I hope I didn't butcher that... I think you all get the gist. Where do you want to be on the highway? I, for one, don't want anyone speeding past me and have no problem with the drivers I am passing calling me a moron.

***Edit*** Thanks for David Kingham for clarifying the source in the comments area:

Actually he's quoting George Carlin "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"