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Friday, September 30, 2011

BIM Execution Plan (BEP) Examples

I am working with a firm in the creation of a BIM Execution Plan.  We have many of the typical examples from various colleges and resources.  Does your firm have a BIM Execution Plan?  If so, would you min sharing it with your fellow readers and myself?  Or perhaps some of the resources you used to create it.

I figured I would throw this out there because I think it could help my readers as well as myself to see other BEP's.  I know how much effort could go into the BEP so I completely understand not wanted to share.

Comment below with a link to your BEP if you are willing!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Revit 2012 - Web Update Number 2

Just in case you have not seen it yet....

Click here to update to the latest build of Revit 2012....


Before You Download

Please read before downloading and installing:
Service Pack Readme (htm - 86Kb)

Get Started

Read all instructions above then click the following links to download.
Note: The update release can be applied to both the standalone and suite versions of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012.

Design Intelligence - Revisiting the Design Enterprise Cycle

Great article of at DI.net...

Generating new work, organizing it efficiently, doing it well, and getting paid are still the building blocks of any great firm.
Our book How Firms Succeed: A Field Guide to Design Management, first published in 2004, proposed a simplified diagram to explain how the various complexities of design firm management are interrelated in a self-propelling process called the design enterprise cycle (DEC).


The DEC is like a four-cylinder engine. It comprises the basic functions of marketing, operations, professional services, and finance. Each part, when properly balanced and synchronized with the others, generates increasing momentum and value creation:


Marketing is the process by which firms attract and retain new work.


Operations deals with how work and the workers are organized.


Professional services constitutes the heart and soul of the enterprise; it’s where design value is actually created.


Finance provides the fuel to sustain and grow the organization, thereby attracting new clients and new talent to enable the cycle to renew itself.


....Continue Reading...

There is one part I found interesting about Marketing:
Marketing
  • Use social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and the like) to stay in touch with existing clients and create new contacts. This is an especially useful way to engage multiple generations in the marketing and business development process.
  • Use cross-functional, team-based marketing rather than chasing jobs as a single firm. Choose consultants carefully, building on previous relationships to present the strongest possible team. In other words, don’t try to be the smartest person in the room. Learn to sell the synergy that comes from collaboration.
  • Upgrade your marketing collateral. Use desktop publishing, high-quality graphics, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and 3-D and 4-D imagery. Compelling images tell a compelling story, so take full advantage.
  • Use the Internet for marketing research. Find out all there is to know about clients, their projects, key staff, business model, and growth plans. Use business metrics to show how your design expertise can contribute to clients’ bottom line.
  • Use electronic outreach (e-mail newsletters, e-cards for holidays and other special occasions, and press releases) to keep in contact with clients and prospects. This will increase your audience tremendously.
  • Build your brand to new levels of relevancy. The brand should be both distinctive and clear. Make sure clients know what you stand for and how you will deliver the goods.
What I find so interesting about these little bullet points is how EASY and CHEAP it has become to spread out information across massive amount of people.  My competitors are no longer simply the five or six firms in my area.... It truly is becoming a global market.  Can you compete?

Monday, September 26, 2011

Padding the Floor: When to Use Building Pads and When to Use Floors?!

As a result of Luke's post and a discussion I recently had with a colleague I find myself pondering...  What is the correct method of utilizing a building pad and a concrete floor slab?

There seem to be two typicality methods of using floor slabs and building pads:

  • Using a floor and overlapping the building pad.  Typically shutting off the building pad when it can be seen.
  • Using only a building pad (set to the same properties as your floor would be) as the floor slab.
What is your method?  Let's discuss.  Comment below.





Sunday, September 25, 2011

View Revit Models on your iPhone and iPad - Design Review Mobile

Well, we can finally view .dwf files on our iPhones and iPads...  Design Review Mobile.

Description
Expedite the design review process by viewing and redlining design files in the field. Autodesk® Design Review mobile app enables you to review Autodesk 2D and 3D design files directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. View, mark-up, and annotate drawings on the spot, reduce the need to carry around over-sized paper drawings, and enjoy an all-digital design review workflow.






✓View
• Open and view 2D and 3D DWF files from your Autodesk Cloud account
• Use multi-touch to zoom, pan, and rotate drawings
• View meta data and other details about elements within your drawings


✓Markup & Annotate


• Use simple and intuitive redline and markup tools to communicate changes
• Add text or comments using familiar callouts and drawing tools

Awesome!  I have been fooling around with it today on my iPad and I have to say it is working great.  3D, Floor Plans, checking properties. Orbiting with your fingers is interesting at first but then becomes very nice and fluid.  This is a highly recommended app!  Think of the possibilities... just think..

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Free Brick Patterns for Revit/CAD (.pat) Files!

Eric, an AUGI member emailed me asking if I would like to post about a poll...

Would you like to see more Project Templates from Manufacturer Associations and Reference Organizations? One of the biggest problems facing firms transitioning to Revit is lack of Useful Content. Please find the enclosed PDF for what could become the definitive Revit Brick Template. All content would be contained in a single RVT available to the design community. Calculated Values and Shared Parameters assigned to Families as required to Schedule and “quantify”.


Just click here and vote for the poll at the top of the page... Then download the zip file full of Brick Patterns!

Thanks Eric!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Revit Tip - Revit and Photoshop Image Manipulation (Shades of Grey)

Luke re-posted this before I got to it.... Great piece of information.  Remember, I did say this blog would give you quality over quantity...

Courtest of http://grevity.blogspot.com/


Click here to see the post about Revit and Image Representation.

Revit Tip - Finish Editing a Design Option

This is more of a frustration than a tip...  When you have design options and you want to edit one element in an option you simply use the "Pick to Edit" tool.  So you edit your element and now you want to finish the edit... Naturally, you look for a big check mark, or a button that says "Finish"... Where the hell is it?!

Open the Design Options dialogue box (located on the toolbar under the "Manage" tab (or the little box on the very bottom of your screen.  Duh, silly user...

Come on Autodesk, give me a button!!!  GIVE ME A BUTTON!

Revit Tip - Funky Topo Edges and Pads (What Revit Wants)

Luke posted a nice little tip that I have ran into numerous times during my Revit-using career...


You know when you have two pads meeting at a common edge, and then Revit for some reason shows this tiny sliver of created topography between them?


Click here to see his tip....

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Blog - Grevity (Shades of Grey)

David Light posted about a new Revit blog making it's way into the blogoshpere... I have to say when I see new blogs I always look through quite a few posts (and not just the very first page of posts if there are more than one page) before I decide to let you all know about it.  This one looks like it will be full of interesting information and Revit tutorials or tips. The blog is not loaded with posts (only 11 this year) but it definitely shows quality over quantity.

Check out the blog here... You will not be disappointed.  

Monday, September 12, 2011

Navisworks and Mixed (Augmented) Reality

I dream of the day where this stuff is used... Dream...  Please let this become reality.



Check out the labs post here...
The people:
The hardware/software:

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Revit Tip - SAuBIM Code Calcs for Colored Floor Plans

I have spoken to you all before about the program my friend and I developed over the summer (SAuBIM - Code Calcs)... Well, turns out that while you are gathering code information, creating egress plans, and doing plumbing fixtures counts, SAuBIM makes it very simple to create a presentation floor plan with colored rooms!

Click here to see the Revit Tutorial via YouTube...
Click here to see the Revit Tutorial via Screencast....

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Project Vasari Version 2.1 Released!

Check out the new Vasari release!

OVERVIEW

Autodesk® Project Vasari is an easy-to-use, expressive design tool for creating building concepts. Vasari goes further, with integrated analysis for energy and carbon, providing design insight where the most important design decisions are made. And, when it’s time to move the design to production, simply bring your Project Vasari design data into the Autodesk® Revit® platform for BIM, ensuring clear execution of design intent.
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. This new technology preview is now available as a free download and trial on Autodesk Labs.

LATEST UPDATES

  • Ecotect Wind Tunnel Analysis  
  • Improved Automatic Zoning for Energy Models 
  • Performance and Stability Improvements 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Revit Tip - Phasing and Room Names - Revisited...

Michael, one of your fellow readers, brought up a great point to the little tip I posted about Phasing, Demo, and Room Names:

"Having a separate Demo phase is definitely not the way to do it. It is a work around for the existing rooms problem but raises further issues. 
What happens when you place a new door into an existing wall? It demos that part of the wall in the same phase as the new door was placed. If you have a separate demo phase before the new door was placed then that demolished wall won't show up in your demo drawings because it wasn't yet demolished in that phase."
That is an excellent point... And, of course, brings us full circle to my very first post about Room Name Frustrations...

This is why I love when you guys comment and start a dialogue... The three aforementioned posts are perfect examples of how great and informative these conversations can be..

Now, what do we do about these Room Names?!?!


Saturday, September 3, 2011

Revit Tip - Use other View's Settings (View Template)

Here is another nice gem I just noticed in Revit Architecture...  I noticed it in 2012 but check to see if it existed in 2011... And, surely enough, it did!



You can simply grab the overrides of a single view and use them towards another view.  Excellent.


Friday, September 2, 2011

Revit Tip - Phasing - Demo Existing and New Room Names

I posted a few days ago about some frustrations I was having with the Rooms and phasing of Revit.  Well, turns out a simple change of my thought process on Phasing helped out a lot... Thanks to a comment by a reader named Marty M!

First, we must remember that Room's exist on the phase they were placed on.  That is to say, whatever phase your view is set to when you place a room, that is the room's phase.

Second, your project should have a minimum three phases (as opposed to the Autodesk template of only two): Existing, Demolition, and New Construction. I say minimum because this is all based on the project.  You may have more than three.  ***EDIT*** DEMO IS NOT A PHASE!!

Build your existing building and add all the room names in the Existing Phase.

Now that you have all three phases set up and views for each phase.  Everything that you demolish should be demolished on the "Demolition" Phase... Not the "New Construction" Phase.  This is where my mind set had to change a bit.  I had always set the "Phase Demolished" to "New Construction" and I think it was due to the Revit Template only started with two phases. **Note**  When using the Demolition "Hammer" from the tool bar make sure you are in the Demolition phase view.  The hammer sets the elements demo phase to whatever view you are in. ***

Finally, in your Demo floor plans... Set the phase to "Demolition" and set the phase filter to "Show Previous + Demo"...  Go back to your Existing floor plan with the room names and select all the Rooms... (Not the Room Names... you want to select the blue squares).  Copy to your clipboard, and paste the Rooms into your demolition view.

Tah dah!  Now you have your Existing Room names in your Demo views...

Of course, the one caveat is that you are managing two sets of Existing Rooms.





Thursday, September 1, 2011

SAuBIM - Code Calculations for Revit Back to School Sale Last Day!

Tomorrow (September 2nd) is your last chance to receive SAuBIM - Code Calcs for Revit Architecture at 40 percent off!  Just a friendly reminder for you guys.

That means the you can save hours and hours of work as well as take advantage of early conceptual code analysis for less than 14 dollars!  Let's see... 14 dollars to save 8 hours billed at 150 dollars an hour... That saves you $1186.00 every day!  Or better yet, that MAKES you $1186.00 every day!

Click here to learn about SAuBIM and purchase now!

Last chance!