Revit in the Real World - HOK's Dali Museum

Cool article over at World Architecture News.com. I love seeing Revit being used at such high levels or design.  HOK has been doing it for quite some time.  Great images in the article too.

We have spoken to HOK in the past regarding the practice’s use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Autodesk products, such as Revit, that have helped to push the firm's design and constructional ambitions. The use of Revit and BIM in this case study has enabled the team at HOK's Tampa office to design intricate and structurally challenging elements in the Salvador Dalí Museum, efficiently and most importantly, successfully... Click here to read the rest of the article...

Click here to see HOK's website about the project...

Revit Tutorial - Logo Painted CMU Wall

Here is a cool one that a buddy of mine asked about. Sean asked:

 I was wondering if you knew of a way to place a logo or an image on a surface like a wall, while also showing the detail of the wall say (CMU wall). I tried taking it out of photoshop as a png., tiff., and jpg. and eliminated the white. Also tried to make it a transparency tiff in photoshop, but couldn’t get it to print without the edges with the white fill. Whats my issue?

Rendering of a CMU Wall with a Logo Painted on it.

Topics Covered:

1. Splitting a walls face.
2. Creating the logo Material.
3. Applying the logo Material.
4. Rendering and viewing the logo.

Click here to view the video via YouTube.

Click here to view the video via Screencast.

Revit Tip - Wall Wraps, Brick, and Windows

My buddy Nick was having trouble figuring out how to get his brick to stop at the CMU layer (similar to the image below).  How can you ensure the brick is always wrapping correctly?  The answer is simple... The closure...


Check out the videos below for a better explanation....

Topics Covered:

1. Wrapping Brick in a wall.
2. Editing the window family.
3. Re-Aligning the "closure" reference plane.
4. Testing the new window.

• Click here to view the video via YouTube.
• Click here to view the video via ScreenCast

Revit Tutorial - Adaptive Components

I am not sure where Luke found this but it is an awesome full length video about adaptive components. Even if you are new to Revit or just diving into family creation I would give this a look... In fact, if you are just diving into family creation I would learn both "primitive" family creation (I think I might coin that term) and adaptive at the same time.

Click here to view the adaptive component tutorial....

My Activation Nightmare

Well, I finally was able to activate Revit 2013 on my desktop.... If you have been following the blog you will remember this post over the weekend.

Some helpful readers responded with their possible solutions.  Most people, including myself, figured it was an Internet Explorer issue.  Well, it was... A reader commented and directed me to this link:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=6404339&linkID=9240617

I followed all of those steps numerous times with no luck.  Basically, I was determined to fix the issue without having to reformat my machine.  Not a crazy thing to think, right?  I mean does Autodesk really expect us to just reformat every year??

The most progress I was making was when following the 4th step in the above link.  There is one thing you have to realize when using that step... The Revit 2013 file ARE NOT IN THE DIRECTORY POSTED IN THE LINK.  I am not sure if this will be the same for every computer but here is the location of my Revit 2013 .html files...

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdLM\R5\en-US\Webdepot

Notice that the "R1" from the link is now an "R5"...  That was a huge step in the right direction.  With each HTML file I updated I got a tad bit further in the activation sequence.  Eventually I got all the way to the point where I can click "Activate Online Now"...  I clicked it... And....

HAHA FANTASTIC!  As I checked my school email I realized all the failed attempts were somehow being registered as activated.... Needless to say I called Autodesk today and I am FINALLY running my registered copy of Revit 2013.

If you run into the same problem feel free to email me or comment below.  I wish I took screenshots of the process but as you can tell I don't want to relive it.

I would like to thank Autodesk for taking something so simple and integral and making it an absolute mess.

***EDIT**** I finally solved it!!!  Hopefully this post will help you all now!!!!

Revit Structure Tutorial - Revit 2013 to Robot 2013

Nice little glimpse into the world of structural analysis and Revit from Lawrence...

Revit Structure 2013 to Robot Structural Analysis Professional 2013

Posted on May 20, 2012 

With the release of the Building Design Suite Ultimate 2013, many of you will now have access to Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional 2013. I thought I would spend a little time looking at the interface between Revit and Robot and also checking out some of the transfer options and how they work with the Revit 2013 release.

In older releases the transfer option from Revit to Robot was located on the extensions ribbon but this is now found on the Analysis ribbon along with the analyse in cloud option with Autodesk 360....

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

Trouble Activating Revit 2013

Has anyone ever come across this screen when trying to activate new Autodesk software?

My two radial buttons are in the top left hand corner but I can't do a damn thing about it... Any ideas?  I am hoping your comments will help other readers as well...

Article: Augmented reality sandbox lets you change the course of rivers, won't get you wet

I saw this on Twitter last week or so and I thought it was so cool I had to share...

Augmented reality sandbox lets you change the course of rivers, won't get you wet
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/07/augmented-reality-sandbox-lets-you-change-the-course-of-rivers/

Revit and Physical Models - Pepakura (Print Your Revit Model)

I remember a Sketch-Up user showing me this software a year or so ago but I never really dove into it.  I could not quite figure out how to connect it with a Revit model.  Well, Zack (with a little help from the new .STL export function on Vasari) figure it out!

Personally, I have found Revit helps immensely in the creation of final physical models for school.  Unfortunately, it usually takes a bit of time but setting up views facing all of the "faces" of your model and printing them to scale can really help build a physical model. Additionally, if your school has a laser cutter then this very well might be a nice introduction to the workflow between Revit and the laser cutter.  Now that the semester is over I should have some more time to mess around with the possible work flows that can arise.

Image Courtest of Buildz...

Click here to check out how Zack PRINTED his Revit model...
Click here to visit the Pepakura Web Site....

Revit Tip - Generic Ceilings and MEP (Revit OpEd)

Great tip from Steve that I, too, have had to troubleshoot in the past...


Dept. of Echo - Don't use the Basic Ceiling

Originally posted here August 2009 and still true with Revit 2013

When an architect uses the Basic Ceiling-Generic type they are creating a situation for the Revit MEP user they may not be aware of.... 

Click here to see the post and the video....

Revit Tip - Visibility / Graphics Override and The Color White

This is more of a complaint than a Revit tip but it may help you when troubleshooting.  Basically, someone working on a Revit model that I manage overrode the floor project lines to be the color white.  Why? I have not idea... Regardless of the reasons we could not figure out why the damn floor wasn't showing in our plan but it was able to be selected.

Well, if Autodesk would make it easier to see the color white as a graphic override then the problem would have been solved much faster. See below:

Notice how difficult it is to see that there is a "white" color override on the Topography category?  I suggest either inverting the cell or simply showing the word "White" in the cell.

So next time you can't figure out why you don't see the outline of an object here is another possible place to look...

Autodesk BIM Workshop Teaser

Cool video that Autodesk put together promoting their BIM Workshop.



Click here to check out the Autodesk BIM Workshop 

Revit Tutorial - Component Based Stairs (Design Reform)

It has been quite a while since Design Reform released a new Revit video but here is a nice one about the new component based stair in Revit 2013.Many moons ago David's videos are what helped me when I was learning Revit.  It is good to see more videos.

Click here to see the video...
Click here to see the numerous video's on Design Reforms website.... 

Stadia Updates - HDR and Real Time Rendering

I have posted about Stadia in the past and continue ongoing emails with the developer, Robert.  Robert let me know that there will be a new release of Stadia pending and it has some major enhancements.  One of the coolest things that separates Stadia from the other Real Time Visualization software for Revit is Robert's strong belief that the visualization should seamlessly integrate with Revit and not require any extra steps.

I cannot tell you all of the improvements as of yet but here are some before and after Stadia Interactive Renderings for your pleasure:

• Test Model on current Stadia Platform.
• Test Model on NEW Future Stadia Platform.

Click here to view Stadia's website and try it today!

Revit Tutorials - Autodesk Revit Essentials

Alan has this uncanny ability to find videos of Revit stuff... These videos may not be in the strangest of places but they may have slipped under the radar.  Good find Alan!

Click here to check out Alan's post and the tutorial videos....

Here is a sample video:

Revit Tip - Top 10 Revit How-To's for Project Managers

Great presentation from the Houston Area Revit User's Group (Thanks to Luke for the find...).

If you are a project manager and are terrified to open Revit but work on multitudes of projects in Revit CLICK HERE...

Personally, I believe knowledge of Revit (or any of the BIM software used on projects you manage) will be a must in the future.... Better yet, it is a must now.  Understanding the software will not only increase your productivity but improve the quality of collaboration and completed project.  Call me a crazy kid if you must but I'm the one saving hours of time utilizing Revit to it's fullest potential...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD...