Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014 Essentials - Revit Beginners Guide

I get lots of emails asking about the best Revit books for beginners.  Tobias Hathorn, one of the co-authors, sent me a few copies of their new book "Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014 Essentials".  If you are looking for a easy to follow beginners guide to Revit Architecture that will not overwhelm you this is the book for you.  The images are large and the content is laid out in a manor that does not intimidate (I know how intimidating it can be to learn Revit!).  There is also a Kindle version!  Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014 Essentials: Autodesk Official Press

I will also be doing some sort of giveaways in the future with some of the copies Tobias sent me!  So stay tuned!

"My BIM Journey" - 6 Lessons Learned

Gensler's Jared Krieger offers important tips and advice for managing complex BIM/VDC-driven projects and includes 6 lessons learned (with details):

1. Don’t overcomplicate the BIM execution plan.
2. Get smart about clash detection.
3. Put in prep time for virtual coordination meetings.
4. Apply the two-inch rule.
5. Get to know your subcontractors’ BIM experts.
6. Watch the consultants’ display backgrounds.

Like most heavy-duty BIM users, I experienced that “Eureka!” moment when I became a true believer in the power of this new technology.
My epiphany came several years ago, during a nine-hour preconstruction planning meeting with the design-build team for twin, seven-story student residence buildings at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. As part of the deliverable on the project, each primary consultant—architect, MEP engineers, structural engineer, and contractor—was required to collaborate on a fully integrated Revit model that would be turned over to the client for operations and maintenance purposes. -

Continue Reading....

In addition to this article Jared talks about how to run a BIM coordination meeting in a separate article.  A BIM coordination meeting is something that we struggle with where I work and have been trying to implement them more often and much sooner...

Click here to read about running a successful BIM coordination meeting...

List of BIM Software

Somehow I stumbled upon this list while searching for something completely different.  The list is a few years old but it is cool to see everything laid out and categorized.  What new software can you think to add?!

Architecture

• Autodesk Revit Architecture
• Graphisoft ArchiCAD
• Nemetschek Allplan Architecture
• Gehry Technologies - Digital Project Designer
• Nemetschek Vectorworks Architect
• Bentley Architecture
• 4MSA IDEA Architectural Design (IntelliCAD)
• CADSoft Envisioneer
• Softtech Spirit
• RhinoBIM (BETA)

Click here to view the rest of the list of BIM software....

I'm an Architect - Hey!

Just as I was watching this and thinking about whether or not to post it... then they mentioned Revit and BIM... I found my reason...

BIM for the Terrified ...

Are you afraid of the big bad BIM?  Take a look at this report from The NBS (who are doing some awesome things when it comes to BIM).

...BIM for the terrified is a guide to Building Information Modelling (BIM). Its aim is to provide a good understanding of BIM, explain how BIM has evolved over the years and reasons behind the Government's drive to adopt BIM.

Read the case studies showing how manufacturers are taking up the challenge of BIM, they may help you get a clearer understanding of BIM and the impact it could have on your business....

Click here to download the report...

Thanks to Stephen for the link...

Vasari Beta 3 Quietly Releases...

The latest version of Vasari has been released with some new features.  The new version features some of the new aspects of Revit 2014 such as non-rectangular crop regions, split elevations, double clicking to edit, and the material editor.  I am still waiting for some of the visual styles of FormIt to make their way into Vasari or Revit...!

To download Vasari Beta 3 click here....
To view a list of all the new or enhanced features click here...

Thanks to David for the first word of this...

Revit TIp - The All Powerfull i-Drop

Cool tip from Scott over at Revit Jedi that you should think about when looking for Revit content...

I had a colleague show me this nice little feature from Autodesk.
It'll look familiar if you've use AutoCAD Architecture before.

The i-drop indicator allows you to simply drag and drop content from the web into your drawing session or Revit project.

A great example of this is the furniture from Steelcase, here you can drag and drop (using the i-dropper) furniture symbols into your Revit project. 

Very handy tool which works great. You can test that it works on the Autodesk web site where you can download i-drop.

Respect the Intern, Respect the BIM

I ran across this article on Twitter.  Although it is written in a more "rant" style of blog post there are many interesting points and it really got me thinking.  

Personally, I have always hated the title "intern". It automatically places you at the bottom of the totem pole in almost any situation.  Additionally, it does not give credit to the amount of work an intern completes or the value the intern adds to the project.  This got me thinking about what BIM (in my case, Revit) has done to the role of the intern.

I began my "intern career" using AutoCAD and ended it using Revit.  In most cases the responsibilities of 2D documentation have not changed from the AutoCAD Intern to the BIM Intern..."BIMtern"??...  So what has BIM done for the intern?  

Revit Tutorial - Split Roof (Paul Aubin)

I simple little how-to from Paul.  I like this tip because I have seen split roofs done a few different ways. I think the method gets a bit different depending on how the roofs overlap. One thing Paul did not mention is the exterior wall can be attached to both roofs (I have seen many people making two walls).  The single wall method goes out the window if the roof below (for some reason) overlaps the roof above.

Click here to see Paul's write-up...

Revit Tutorial - Reporting the Length of ANY Curve (Simply Complex)

Great write-up by Marcello... Not only will this tutorial teach you how to find the length of any curve but it will help you dive into some interesting Family/Massing functions and parameter uses....

Report the Length of Any Curve including Splines and Egress paths

What do you mean Report the Length of Any Curve?

Have you ever noticed that when you model a curve in Revit, say in the in-place mass family editor, and you select the curve; the length displayed in the properties window is grey-ed out. The length value is read only. That means it is not report-able.

“The Path Divided Method” presented below gives seven simple steps that will describe how to create a length parameter on a spline made up of 4 points. Note  this method can be applied to any curve or series of curves.

... Continue reading on Marcello's blog....

... Continue reading on AUGI ....

Revit Tutorial - Creating a Tree with Adaptive Components (Revit Swat)

I'm not sure if this will replace RPC trees or photshopping trees after rendering but it is a very cool technique and will improve your knowledge and skills with adaptive components.

This tutorial was created over at Revit Swat (a blog that was started sometime last year and has some god content you should all check out.... Not to mention the website template is very easy on the eyes).

Click here to see the tutorial...

Bloomberg Talks BIM

I love reading about BIM in the "mainstream" media.  I think this article is well written and the term "BIM Model" was never used!  iPads, BIM, productivity, evolution... The fact that Bloomberg is talking about BIM and how technology has basically kept the industry alive is just more proof in the value of it's adoption.

IPads Supplanting Blueprints Boosts Builder Productivity
By Jeff Kearns & Alexander Kowalski - May 31, 2013 12:00 AM ET

As the wind whips through the top floor of an unfinished eight-story office building a block west of the White House, Steven Denbow points to metal air ducts as an example of work that wouldn’t need to be redone... Continue Reading....

Deconstructing "BIM" - BIM Fix Blog

I think I found this post via Randy Deutsch's Twitter Feed (which you should all follow... he tends to post A LOT of articles worthy of a gander).

Anyways, I always love seeing different definitions of "BIM". The term still seems to be flexible enough that many people view it in many different ways...  Brian Renehan, over at the BIM Fix Blog, gave his own definition breakdown in a post from a few days ago.

Click here to view the article ....