Happy new year Revit-ers! I know, I know… This post is a little late this year. I typically publish my “year in review” posts before the craziness of the holidays. This year, my personal and professional schedule pushed it into the new year. Well, better late than never, right?
Welcome to 2018!
Before I dive into what’s on the drawing board for The Revit Kid and BIM After Dark in 2018 I wanted to review and highlight 2017. When I think of 2017, three key subjects come to mind: Virtual Reality, 3D Printing, and Dynamo…
Continue reading for a detailed review on 2017 and what’s on the boards for 2018….
Welcome to 2018!
Continue reading for a detailed review on 2017 and what’s on the boards for 2018….
Some Stats From the Blog in 2017:
436,483 People Visited this blog...
BIM After Dark = 198 New Students!
Email Subscribers Exceeds 16K!
(From 13,123 to 16,199 Subscribers)Click here to join the free email list!
Facebook Page Gains 631 more followers.
Click here to like The Revit Kid on Facebook...
Twitter Followers Exceeds 3K!
My Personal Highlights for 2017:
Beyond this business and other professional endeavors taking place in 2017, there were a few big moments in my personal life that took place last year.
My wife (that's right, I am married over a year now!), Melissa, and I sold our condominium and purchased a home! We moved closer to both of our families and have been enjoying how much easier it is to spend time with them. On the other hand, I am “enjoying” having to mow my own lawn and shovel my own snow :: womp womp :: ..
Being closer to home has allowed me to reconnect with old friends and spend more time with family (including my nephew and niece). After a crazy few years of working, graduate school, architecture license testing, and getting married, moving back “home” in 2017 was just what I needed to re-center, focus, and remember what is truly important in life.
Also, as the header image way above illustrates... I got to travel to California for the first time in 2017... It was awesome! Being in San Diego, I obviously had to visit the Salk Institute...
For me, 2017 was the year where virtual reality became a common tool in my workflow and process. I’d like to thank Enscape3D for making it way too easy to connect a Revit model to VR headsets. From design to construction, the HTC Vive got a ton of use in 2017.
Click here for a detailed post on how I used the HTC Vive and Enscape3D to create realistic VR environments.
What Happened in 2017?
Virtual Reality:
Click here for a detailed post on how I used the HTC Vive and Enscape3D to create realistic VR environments.
3D Printing and Revit:
Last year was the first time I really dove heavily into 3D printing and Revit. For years I have fooled around with it but never really utilized 3D printing in the course of a project or commercially. Well, I wish I kept track of the number of PLA rolls we went through last year… because it was A LOT!
It’s funny how something so analog like a 3D printed physical model can thrive at the same time as something so digital (VR) is becoming a normal part of our process. I think it is similar to those who prefer reading a physical book over a Kindle. The tactile and juvenile feeling of a 3D printed or hand built physical model is something that I can see withstanding any major digital revolutions.
Click here to view a post from last year demonstrating my process of 3D printing directly from Revit (no other software needed)...
D.I.Y. Dynamo Launches with First Enrollment!
At the beginning of 2017 I laid out a plan to launch a beginners course on Dynamo. Fast-forward to October of 2017 and D.I.Y. Dynamo was born. I spent a lot of time developing the most useful, actionable, and valuable course possible. The results of our first “session” of students were better than I anticipated.
73 students enrolled for the first session in October!
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| Thanks for being an awesome student Joanna! |
In addition to video tutorials and bonus content, D.I.Y. Dynamo was the first time I introduced a closed Facebook group for those enrolled in the course. The Facebook group was a huge success. It gave students a direct line of communication with me and other students working through the same exercises. I also held three live office hours where we discussed the current week’s problem, solution, and topic.
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| Quick screen grab of the Facebook group from a month or so ago... |
I am so happy with the results (and I believe the students are, too!) that I am planning on introducing this concept with future courses.
Make sure you sign up for the DIY Dynamo mailing list to find out when the next enrollment period will be open… (Also, check out the DIY Dynamo Cheat Sheet...)
First "Podcast" Style Interview:
I listen to a lot of audio-books and podcasts. Like, a lot. So I have always wondered if that medium could work here on The Revit Kid.
Some of you may have heard my appearances on the BIM Thoughts podcast in the past. Bill does a great job hosting and interviewing… But, I was wondering how I would do as an interviewer and if you, my lovely readers, would be interested.
So, as part of the D.I.Y. Dynamo launch, I made an attempt at a “podcast style” interview. I had a conversation with John Pierson of 60SecondRevit:
What do you think? Is this something that could stick? Would you enjoy listening to more conversations like the one above? Let me know in the comments below!
Public Speaking in 2017:
When 2017 started, I had zero speaking engagements scheduled. By the end of 2017, I spoke at a total of 5 conferences and held 2 multi-day long training sessions. As much as a enjoy public speaking about Revit, BIM, etc… I was pretty spent by the end of the year.
A few of the conferences I had the pleasure to speak at in 2017:
The Building Content Summit (part of BILT NA) in Toronto.
CMAA National Conference in Washington DC.
Greenbuild / ABX Boston in Boston, MA.
All-in-all, I enjoyed all of these events. This year, I may be a bit more “picky” with where and when each of the conferences are that I attend. Or, at the least, make sure there aren’t three in one month… Lessons learned.
What's the Plan for 2018?
Bringing Sexy Back... For Real...
Last year, I declared 2017 would be the year of “bringing sexy back”. Well, due to the amount of time and effort I put into D.I.Y. Dynamo, last year became the year of Dynamo. This year, I am 100% bringing sexy back…
My major focus on the blog and BIM After Dark will be presentation and visualization. I released BIM After Dark - Volume 1 in December of 2013 (crazy, I know!). So many things have changed, while so many things are still the same, when it comes to presentation and visualization (ie. real-time rendering (Lumion), virtual reality, etc…).
This year, I will completely re-creating Volume 1 from the ground up… There will be new content, new techniques, new tips, and new tricks. Even the content that may not have changed much over the last few years will be re-recorded because either my techniques have changed slightly, the programs have changed, or new features have been introduced.
Also, I have upgraded the equipment and software I use to record over the years so the audio and video quality will be improved.
Get ready… We’re bringing sexy back to BIM in 2018... For example...
D.I.Y. Dynamo - Multiple "Semesters"
Although the blog will be hyper focused on presentation and visualization this year I plan on opening enrollment to DIY Dynamo a few times throughout the year. I have not determined the exact schedule but be sure to sign up for the mailing list to find out when enrollments will be…
What About You??
What are you focusing on for 2018? Comment below and let me know…
Here’s to a successful and fulfilling 2018 for all!
