Sloped Shower Floor / Drain in Revit (Quick Tip Edition)

In our next "Quick Tip" video I demonstrate a few different approaches to making your floors slope to a drain in Revit.  This could be used for showers or any sloped floor, really...  Enjoy!

Tutorial - Revit Placeholders in Twinmotion (Replace Object With It's Base Point)

Here is a really quick but super valuable tutorial if you are using Revit and Twinmotion (actually, it may be helpful for any FBX export from Revit).

Typically, when you export a model from Revit to FBX (using the Twinmotion plugin) the project base point is your insertion point.  Meaning, every mesh that comes in (even if separated but material or category) all share the same project base point in Twinmotion.

Well, that doesn't always have to be the case.  You can actually export objects and they maintain their own base points.  For example, a chair or desk in Revit can have it's "origin" from the family editor as it's placement point in Twinmotion... 

I know, so cool, right?!

Well, it get's even better... Knowing this, you can use Twinmotion's "Replace Object" functions to swap our families with Twinmotion library elements!

Continue reading to find out how...

Ductwork for Architects - An Introduction to Revit MEP Systems (with Sample Files!)

During this weeks live happy hour I demonstrated how to make ducts and piping in Revit.  As an architect, it took me a long time to realize how much I could gain from understanding how to properly model MEP systems in Revit.  If you've ever attempted to model a duct in Revit and got the "the routing solution failed"... This tutorial is for you!

Continuing reading to view the tutorial and download the sample file...

Twinmotion vs. Enscape (Operating Room Case Study)

I was a bit nervous last night while presenting this case study live...  But, it all worked out in the end!  No crashes, no freezing, and the conversations were great!

Ultimately, last nights episode was a fun one.  Back when I started to dive into Twinmotion 2020, I wanted to really test it out on all fronts (exterior, interior, VR, etc...).  I thought a perfect way to really compare Twinmotion to other software I had been using was to force myself to use it on a real project.

Then the perfect project came along to test out the interior rendering abilities of Twinmotion and Virtual Reality (VR).  The project was a virtual mock-up of an operating room.  Normally, I would do this in Enscape and use it for renderings, live walk-throughs, and VR.  So... I decided to do it in both Enscape and Twinmotion to compare and contrast...

Last night, I presented my results...

To view the video replay and links mentioned, keep reading...

Revit & the Design Process - The Making of "Stilted Studios" (Sketching, Lumion, & More)

Way back in 2013 I created a free eBook called "Design:BIM - A Guide to Using Revit During the Design Process".  The eBook documented how I used Revit while designing buildings.

Believe it or not, the eBook has been downloaded 10,746 times! I know, crazy, right??

Although my general process is similar, some of the tools and methods have changed over the last six years.  So, I decided to document (in this blog post and a video, below) how I approached the design of a recent, and really exciting, project called "Stilted Studios".  I am really proud of this post/video and it is full of tips, tricks, tools, and techniques.  From Revit to Lumion to hand sketching...  You name it.

Additionally, there is some long overdue BIM After Dark - Volume 1 enrollment news at the end of the post...

Keep reading to learn about my design process and the BIM After Dark course news...

Tutorial - Creating Bump Maps for Revit Renderings

In our last "Residential Revit" series post we talked about finding custom materials for your residential renderings and images.  This week, I want to show you how to make a "bump map" from those images you find using the resources in our last post.

A "bump map" is essential when rendering with Revit.  The bump map is a high contrast, black and white version of the rendered texture.  When paired with your rendered material in Revit the bump map will tell Revit how to slightly displace the texture to add realism. 

Residential Revit: Parametric Angled Wood Bracket

Today, I am going to continue the "Residential Revit" series with the same project from last week: The Rocky Mountain Modern House.  Today, we are going to look at a family that I created specifically for this project (but continue to use on other projects to date). The family is a fully parametric wood bracket with a steel plate and some bolts (seen above and below).

Continue reading to learn some of the family creation techniques I used to create the family and download it for yourself to use and explore...

Residential Revit: Wood Slat Wall (Yoga Room)

Over the last ten years I have received many questions, requests, and general emails about Revit and residential architecture.  I finally decided to put together a little series of tutorials related to my own personal residential work (check it out at studio.bad architects).

My goal with the "Residential Revit" series is to highlight specific details  of real-world residential projects created in Revit and develop little tutorials about them.

The first project and detail I am going to highlight is a project I have featured here on the blog in the past, "The Rocky Mountain Modern House".

The detail I am going to focus on today is a wood slat wall that provides shading for the home's "Yoga Room".'

Continue reading for more information about this detail and the video tutorial...

Revit Tutorial - Parking Striping the Follows Topography

I was pretty excited when Autodesk introduced the ability to host railings to topography a few releases ago... But, I didn't realize the possibilities a simple new feature (albeit, one that should be applied to more than just railings) would open up.

The ability to host a railing (which contains swept profiles (rails) and repetitive families (balusters)) can be "hacked" to created other types of objects that host to topography.  To date, I have taken advantage of this feature to make things such as earth retention, utility piping, site fencing, retaining walls, curbs, and guard rails...

Today, I want to demonstrate how to use the railing tool to overcome Revit's limitations in parking and road striping.

Continue reading to learn how to "hack" the Revit railing and make parking / road striping that will actually follow your tomography.

The Best of BIM After Dark - Volume 1

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Volume 1 is closing this Friday and I thought it would be fun to look back at the most popular presentation content here on the blog. Five years of “presentation” content is a lot to look through but here are some of the most popular posts (some of which are directly extracted from Volume 1).

The “BAD Ultimate Gallery”

There is definitely a sense of nostalgia I feel when looking through the renderings and images within the “BAD Ultimate Galleries”. It also reminds me that I need to make a “Part 3” with examples newer than 2014. Either way, I think these galleries represent what can be created using the techniques, tips, and tricks from BIM After Dark - Volume 1:

Click here to view the BAD Ultimate Gallery - Part 1

Click here to view the BAD Ultimate Gallery - Part 2

Tutorial - Adding Depth to Your Elevations

Believe it or not, this tutorial is one of these most visited posts on the blog. It also has over 25,000 views on YouTube. Clearly, creating sexy elevations is a need/want for Revit users. Good news, this tutorial is still relevant today… Although, I will be exploring the “Depth Cueing” abilities of newer Revit versions for the re-make of Volume 1….

Rendering Tip - A Simple Material Change to Add Realism

This tutorial is also one of the highest ranking on the blog. Why? Probably because the default Revit glass material can be underwhelming in many situations. This tutorial shows a technique that will create a dynamic and more realistic glazing material.

Click here to view the tutorial and video….

Revit Material Management Tips and Tricks Post

This post is actually one of my favorites because I find myself referring to it from time to time (yes, I do forget the content in some of the posts I’ve created over the years). This post included tutorials about creating a materials library and bringing it from project to project.

Click here to view the ultimate Material Management post...

Course Closing Discount is Still Going On...

Don't forget this week I will be offering 20% off BIM After Dark - Volume 1 and 10% off any other BIM After Dark volume or bundle.

For 20% off BIM After Dark - Volume 1 use offer code “sexyclosing20”

Click here to purchase BIM After Dark Volume 1 before it closes!


For 10% off any BIM After Dark course use offer code “sexyclosing10”

Click here to view the Bundle discounts (remember, it will be 10% off this already reduced price).

Click here to view Volume 2 - BIM Can Make Paper...

Click here to view Volume 3 - We are family…


Remember, Volume 1 will be closing this Friday, June 22nd, 2018 at 8PM EST.

DIY Dynamo - Enroll Today

It took me a while to decide what kind of Dynamo class to create when I sat down early last year and began planning the course.  After much deliberation and our first successful session last October with 74 students I am glad I chose to start right at the beginning.

I published some posts recently that discussed some of the challenges I recall from a few years back when I began learning Dynamo.  The first had to do the challenge of where to begin.  The second was a "Q&A" session to analyze those first attempts at learning Dynamo... 

Finally, last week I posted a video tutorial (extracted directly from DIY Dynamo) to demonstrate how and where to begin and how easy it can be to get started!

Now, are you ready to start your Dynamo journey?  Enrollment is officially open for DIY Dynamo - A Beginners Course on Dynamo for Revit. 

Continue reading to learn more about the course, what's inside, and a special launch day discount...

The Mysterious Case of the Moving Parameter Button and Arrays

When I am teaching students how to create parametric families in Revit it I have become familiar enough with the differences between each version of Revit that I can usually call out where a button may or may not be.  For example, in the image above the "Add Parameter" has moved from the options bar in 2016 (top image above) to the ribbon in 2018 (bottom image above).

Great, so whenever I am teaching someone how to add a parameter in the family editor in 2018 versus 2016 I can tell them where to look....

Or can I ....?

Revit Tip - Auto Section Box Using Scope Box

This is a simple tip that can help improve your efficiency, improve live model viewing, and assist when exporting part of your building(s) to other formats.  I discovered this a while back when I had to export a large project by level for viewing on iPads in the field.  All 15 floors had to be sliced and exported.

Keep reading and you will see why this technique helped me achieve my task....

3D Printing and Revit - Yes, It's Possible, and Here's How ...

When I was given the opportunity to purchase and use a LulzBot Taz 6 my first reaction was, "awesome".  Until I started doing research on 3D printing an actual Revit model, "not so awesome".  With a deadline for printing a project approaching my feeling of excitement turned to anxiety.

I found out that you just can't "press print" on your every-day Revit model and expect it to 3D print.

I also found out that there is very little information regarding the processes required to actually 3D print your working Autodesk Revit building models... So, I will save you the trouble of searching and do my best to break down the quickest and most effective method I've found to printing ANY of your Revit models.... Step 1 is the key...

From Revit to Lumion - The Ultimate Review (Revisited)

Example of a House and Site  Modeled in Revit and Rendered in Lumion

This is one of those posts that has been in my "draft" queue for quite some time now.  Finally, it is complete!  

There have been two new releases and lots of great updates to Lumion since my last post in 2015.  The review I posted in 2015 is still relevant in describing the great benefits of using Lumion (so be sure to check it out). But now, let's talk about what has happened to Lumion over the last 2 years...

Revit Tutorial - Custom Shaker Cabinet Family

I recently wrote about the dangers of not creating your own custom Revit families.  More specifically, I used the example of modifying the out of the box Revit casework families.  In this post, I wrote about how representing your model incorrectly due to “lack of time” could kill a project's budget.  In this post, I wrote about how drafting in details over your families to make them look correct could add hundreds of hours of re-work when changes occur (and they always occur).

Now, to demonstrate just how simple it would have been for you to make a custom shaker door and modify the existing casework families I created a tutorial.  Continue reading to view the tutorial and to fully comprehend the power of custom family creation in Revit….

2 Years Later - Top Ten BIM After Dark Videos...

As of this past Thursday (December 10th) the BIM After Dark series has been live for two years!  I know, it's hard to believe... As of today, BIM After Dark has 907 awesome customers and counting!  The feedback has been incredible and I am learning as much from you as I hope you are from me.  Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 have exceeded expectations and I am truly humbled.  Additionally, I will be publishing the release date for Volume 3 very soon... 

In honor of the two year anniversary, I went through the many posts relating to the BIM After Dark videos.  Some of them are direct segments extracted from the videos and others are simply related to either Volume 1 or 2.  I thought it would be fun to rank them based on page views and compile a list of the top ten...  keep reading to see the hottest topics over the past two years from Volume 1 and 2...

Revit Tutorial - Overhead Line Trick

When it comes to being productive and efficient in Revit finding little ways to NOT have to update annotative elements is key.  For example, if you use a detail line set to "" and simply draft the canopy above a first floor entryway you will have to adjust that line work EVERY SINGLE TIME you move  or adjust the canopy.  I have created a little trick to make those overhead lines automatically updated with your canopy.

How does it work?  Well, it's pretty simple...  The "above line trick" means that overhead line you see in the first floor entry of your canopy above is the actual edge of the canopy model element. 

Want to learn the trick? Keep reading for a tutorial extracted directly from BIM After Dark - Volume 2 (releasing soon!).

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 - 2013 Beginners Series on YouTube

It amazes me to see the amount of Revit tutorial videos around the web...  When I started this blog, almost 4 years ago, there were very few Revit training videos of any sort on the internet.  Initially, that is what inspired me to start blogging and recording my own videos.  Anyways, yet another step-by-step Revit tutorial series was launched by Alex over on YouTube. 

Autodesk Revit Architecture: Basic course

Each item is a link to correspond YouTube-video, and also has start and end Revit file.
Please leave comments if something doesn't work.

Part 1: Intro

1. Start screen. Revit Settings
    Watch Autodesk Revit free on-line video tutorial on my YouTube channel
     Start file | End file (will be available in February)

2. Interface
    Watch Autodesk Revit free on-line video tutorial on my YouTube channel
     Start file | End file (will be available in February)

3. Grid: Creation
    Watch Autodesk Revit free on-line video tutorial on my YouTube channel
     Start file | End file (will be available in February)

... Continue to Alex's blog for links and more information about the sereis...

Thanks to Luke for the find...