Submit Revit Model - Installation Images

Very cool. Now, when you are sitting there and waiting for all the damn extracting and installing of Revit you could possibly see your model! This brought out an idea in me. Why not have a completely different set of images during the student install? Images of all student works in Revit? I am going to have to bring this up to Autodesk or hopefully catch a reader of mine who can make this happen.

• Here is the post from BIM & Beam.

Tutorial - Revit and Calculus - Part 1

My Calculus 1 professor has given us the option of doing a final project instead of taking a final exam. Given the hatred I have for any type of testing I decided to start tackling the idea of a final project. One thing that has always fascinated me about Revit families is the ability to use formulas.

The ability to create parametric families is already a major advantage but using formulas to drive some of these parameters opens up a whole new world. First, I would like to copy and paste the page in "Revit Help" that presents the correct syntax to use when conducting formulas within Revit:

"Formulas support the following arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, logarithms, and square roots. Formulas also support the following trigonometric functions: sine, cosine, tangent, arcsine, arccosine, and arctangent.
The valid formula abbreviations for arithmetic operations and trigonometric functions are

• Addition— +
• Subtraction— -
• Multiplication—*
• Division—/
• Exponentiation—^: x^y, x raised to the power of y
• Logarithm—log
• Square root—sqrt: sqrt(16)
• Sine—sin
• Cosine—cos
• Tangent—tan
• Arcsine—asin
• Arccosine—acos
• Arctangent—atan
• e raised to an x power—exp
• Absolute Value—abs

You can enter integers, decimals, and fractional values in formulas, using normal mathematical syntax, as shown in the examples below:

• Length = Height + Width + sqrt(Height*Width)
• Length = Wall 1 (11000mm)+ Wall 2 (15000mm)
• Area = Length (500mm) * Width (300mm)
• Volume = Length (500mm) * Width (300mm) * Height (800 mm)
• Width = 100m * cos(angle)
• x = 2*abs(a) + abs(b/2)
• ArrayNum = Length/Spacing.

Parameter names in formulas are case sensitive. For example, if a parameter name begins with a capital letter, such as Width, you must enter it in the formula with an initial capital letter. If you enter it in a formula using lower-case letters instead, for example, width * 2, the software will not recognize the formula."

Now, my goal is to create some sort of element, family, or project that will be driven solely by calculus, trigonometry, and basic mathematics. The purpose is to prove the use of these subjects within my field of study (architecture). Therefore, how would architecture and calculus relate?

• Click here to see the first video of this series.

Topics Covered:

• Creating a Conceptual Mass.
• Create From with Spline and Profile.
• Edit and Create formulas within Families.
• Drive formulas with parameters.
• Add Profile.
• Use CALCULUS IN REVIT!

Here is a great video to compliment my tutorial: Greg Lynn at TED:

Revit 2010 Advantage Pack and Students

I promised that I would find out some information about how the Student subscription is represented in this whole ordeal. Debra Pothier, Senior Education AEC Marketing Manager at Autodesk, was kind enough to help me, and all my readers, out.

"...So the way to get these great extensions into the students hands …is if the institutions actually purchase the subscription package.

So the way the students can help… is to let the professors/institution know that they need to explore these subscription packages so they will have the latest extensions!..."

There you have it fellow students. When you begin to see all the videos and images of awesome looking wood framed houses, structural steel decking, and switching back and forth from model to detail lines, remember to talk to your department chairs. Tell your peers and gather up to talk to your department chair about these options.

Thanks, Debra, for your time and help with this matter.

Revit 2010 Advantage Pack.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Autodesk's Revit Blogger event... This was an online webcast review, featuring, and demonstrating the newest package of extensions and features for Revit 2010 Products.

This package is only being released to subscription users. After watching and listening to the new features for an hour and half now it looks to be quite a giant step. I am sure you have all read the features lists on many other blogs already but here is my quick list:

Revit Architecture 2010:

- Revit Structural Features added to Revit Architecture:

• Curved Beams
• Slanted Columns
• Create Trusses
• Beam "Coping" Tool
• Slab Direction and Decking
• Tag Beam Systems

- Split wall with gap.

- Wood Wall Framing

- "Countrification" Content for:

• China
• Russia

Revit Structure 2010:

• Insulation Tools
• "A" and "W" User Defined Paramters in Schedule Field
• Placing 3D Beams from geometry references in imported 3D drawings.
• Control Beam Length tolerance.
• Wood Framing - Extension
• Interferences of Reinforcing Bars- Extension
• Bridge Design Modules- Extension

Revit MEP 2010 Additions:

• Temporary dimensions in layout mode.
• MEP Performance Improvements.
• "Contrification" Content.

Screen shots:

I also asked about how those of us using student subscriptions will or will not be able to obtain this package. The people at Autodesk believe there is a way for us to use the subscription packages. When they tell me how to use it you will be the first to know!

The meeting was great and I cannot wait to show you all some of the many new improvements to the software. The Wood Framing Extension is one of my favorite and it will be yours when you see it as well. Stay tuned for some follow up posts.

Revit Architecture and Civil 3D Videos

Great find from Greg over at Revit3D.com.

Now... go onto your Autodesk Student Community login... download Civil 3D for FREE... and on your next studio project you can be the Architect, Structural Engineer, MEP Engineer, and Civil Engineer... Talk about getting your feet wet!

Transferring Site Data Between Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Civil 3D

This skill builder is a series of videos that show how to share and manipulate site data in Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Creating a Toposurface in Revit Architecture Learn how to import a DWG file into a Revit Architecture project, establish a survey point for coordination with AutoCAD Civil3D, and create a toposurface for site layout.

Exporting a Revit Architecture Project for Use in AutoCAD Civil 3D Learn how to prepare a 3D view of a Revit building site and export it to an ADSK file for import to Civil 3D.

Importing Revit Architecture Data into AutoCAD Civil 3D Learn how to import an ADSK file from Revit Architecture into an AutoCAD Civil 3D drawing.

Exporting an AutoCAD Civil 3D Surface to Revit Architecture Learn how to extract contours as 3D polylines from a proposed ground surface and write the polylines to a drawing file that can be used to update the Revit Architecture model.

Updating the Revit Architecture Toposurface with an AutoCAD Civil 3D Site Design Learn how to update the linked drawing file in Revit Architecture and recreate the toposurface. Then, see how to use the Globe Link Extension (available for subscription customers) to upload the Revit model to Google Earth and further explore the design.

10 Conceptual Massing Tips - Revit 2010

Great post over at RevitClinic explaining some tips and tricks about Revit 2010's conceptual massing environment.

Click here to view their post.

"10 quick tips to utilize in the conceptual mass workspace. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Spacebar Toggle Coordinates

When selecting an object on a form, you can use the spacebar to toggle the coordinates between the object and the model orientation.

2. Reference Lines versus Lines

When forms created from lines are deleted, the original lines are deleted as well. When forms created from reference lines are deleted, the reference lines remain to easily recreate the form.

3. Background Color

Under “View Properties”, “Graphic Display Options” you can specify the gradient background on or off as well as adjusting the colors if needed.

4. Remove Divided Surface

After the divide surface tool is utilized, you can later remove the divided surface if needed simply by highlighting it and choosing the “Delete” tool.

5. Enable 3D Snapping

To easily snap between points in 3D, after selecting the line or reference line tool a “3D Snapping” setting will become active on the Options Bar.

6. Rehost a Reference Point

When a reference point is highlighted, a “Rehost Point” tool will appear on the ribbon. By selecting the tool, you can easily host the point to another location.

7. Create a Sphere

Draw the line for rotation, draw the arc as needed, then “Create Form”. Afterwards in the "Element Properties" of the sphere, you can adjust the “Start Angle” and “End Angle” between 0 and 360 degrees.

8. Create a Plane with Adjustable Height

Reference lines allow for creation of planes with “Positive” and “Negative” offsets in "Element Properties". Simply draw a reference line, “Create Form”, and open "Element Properties” to adjust offset value.

9. Mass Transparency

In the Conceptual Mass family or project, you can adjust the transparency of the mass objects. Edit Materials, and locate the “Default Form” material. You can slide the transparency as needed; the default is 0 % in the family environment but 70% in the project environment.

10. Parameters for Divided Surface

After dividing a surface, open the "Instance Properties" for the object. You can associate a parameter to the values if you would like to utilize formulas or create numerous family types with multiple values in “Types”.

Service Pack Update 1 - Revit 2010

Service Pack 1 has finally been released for all Revit 2010 Suites!

Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 — English

IMPORTANT

This download is the latest update for Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 software as a standalone product and as part of AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2010 and AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Visualization Suite 2010 software.

It is available to users who have purchased a valid license for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010, AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2010 or AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite 2010, and is subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that appears during installation.

For a list of improvements, please download the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 Update Enhancement List:

Update Enhancement List (pdf - 67Kb)

Note: Build Number can be found in the Update Enhancement List

Update 1 – June 2009

Important Note:
Update 1 is not a full install; rather it is using service pack technology similar to AutoCAD®- based products. Prior to installing the Update 1, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 which is available below.

Before You Download
Please read before downloading and installing:

Service Pack Readme (htm - 55Kb)

Get Started
Read all instructions above then click the following link to download.

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 Update 1_32-bit (exe – 62.8 Mb)

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 Update 1_64-bit (exe – 87.4 Mb)

Note: The service pack can be applied to both the standalone and suite versions of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010.

Thanks to Greg at Revit3D.com for the Post ad the initial post in June!

Tutorial - Roof Dome - Conceptual Massing

Cool tutorial over at Revit Clinic with a great video.

I want to go through an approach for creating a domed conceptual mass in Revit 2010, with parameters attached for height and width.

See the tutorial here.

Soft Shadow Techniques - Tip

HOK posted a great tutorial following Zach's post about soft rendering. This techniquw is explained by HOK:

What this actually does, is turns off the sun (as its night time ), but keeps the sky image map and the low level ambient lighting. As noted by Zach, to achieve the best results, it's worth setting your render quality to "best" to get the best shadow depth you can. Setting your render to "best" will obviously result in long render times, so it's probably worth doing a few low resolution renders in the first instance to be assured that the settings will work for you.

Check out the Post Here.

Revit 2010 Tutorial - Seamless Panels

buildz posted a sweet Revit 2010 tutorial about creating seamless panels using the new panel family:

The new paneling functionality in Revit 2010 does some pretty new and fun stuff. Especially compared to the limitations of the old curtain panels. You can do non-planar, patterned, and all sorts of crazy, expensive stuff. One problem I hear about is people having difficulty making seamless edges...

Check out the post and video here.

Revit 2010... Suck it up and go for it!

Some great blog posts to read about Revit 2010:

• Autodesks explination about Revit 2010 and the reason behind the much talked about Ribbon Tool bar. (Credit to Revit3d.com)

• Revit Rocks! - An interesting take on why you need to go for 2010.

Don't be afraid of change... give it a chance!

Revit 2010 Links and Videos.

Some interesting Revit 2010 posts and links I have found:

• Don't use 64 bit Revit with Internet Explorer 8
• Localisation Enhancements

And a couple videos:

Having trouble with 2010?

Are there a few commands you just can't seem to find. Do you get to frustrated finding them? Here is a great web page. Simply click the command in Revit 2009 and it will show you where the command is in 2010:

Check it out here!



Thanks to Greg over at Revit3D.com for the fin.

Revit 2010 Enhancements.

Great post over at The Revit Clinic pointing out some new enhancements in Revit 2010.  The ability to control halftone is great and I know will help me out.  The gradient 3D bacground is also much more pleasurable to work one than flat white in my opinion.

Check out the Post here.

Check out some new Structural features here.

Also, Revit Fix posted and interesting piece about some the bugs/errors in the program previously as well as if they have been fixed in 2010.

See that post here.

I.E.S. Version 5.9.1 for Revit 2010!

Version 5.9.1: Now compatible with Revit 2010

Integrated Environmental Solutions is delighted to announce that the latest edition of the software, version 5.9.1 has just been released and is now available for download along with the updated Revit plug-in.

Download version 5.9.1 TODAY!

This new version of the software is available for download through your software installation via IES Online > My User Area.

Full details regarding all software updates in this version are contained in the updated Release Notes and New Features documents.

Also... 

Autodesk Green Building Studio has a Beta plugin for 2010.  I have used it and it works very well... Check it out!

Revit 2010 vs. Revit 2009 - Rendering

All over the blogosphere and the internet there is talk about the rendering speed on Revit 2009 versus the rendering speed on Revit 2010. I took it upon myself to run a few tests of my own. Long behold, Revit 2010 WON!

First, here are the specs of the machine I rendering on:

• 15.4" Macbook Pro
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit (Bootcamp 2.1)
• 4gb Ram
• Intel Dual Core 2.4

I had no other programs running. I first ran the render with Revit 2009. The settings for both rendering were identical:

• Quality - Medium ( I didn't feel like sitting there all day)
• Resolution - Screen (1180 x 537)
• Lighting - Exterior (Sun only)

And the results:

• Revit 2009 = 6:38
• Revit 2010 = 4:57

That is a total increase on rendering time of 1.41. I ran the test a few more times and it came out to the exact same numbers. If i did my math correct that is a 25% increase in rendering time. Therefore, if this stays constant a 1 hour render in Revit 2009 will only take 45 minutes in 2010. It is getting there... If they would only introduce multi-core support for Revit rendering...

My second test (same scene and settings except for Quality being set at Best):

• Revit 2009 = 4:5:36
• Revit 2010 = 3:10:58

Roughly, 25% increase! Looks to be constant!

Here are the images that were rendered (these are on Medium Quality):

• Revit 2009 Rendering
• Revit 2010 Rendering

Perhaps I will do a few more studies adding in artificial lighting and different factors. Furthermore, we have a number to spit out when the conversation about how much "faster" the new Revit is. I believe I am the first one to do a full out bench mark test and publish it. So feel free to spread it around!

Revit Architecture 2010 for Students!

Head on over to the Autodesk Student Community!! Revit 2010 is now available for download to all students! 64 and 32bit versions. This is much earlier than I expected! Great!

Autodesk Student Community

Download Revit Architecture 2010 Now!!

Thanks to Greg at Revit3D.com for linking direct downloads of all the new Revit software:

• Revit Architecture 2010
• Revit Structure 2010
• Revit MEP 2010

Download, download, download! Even if you can't register you can get used to the program. The only restriction is you cannot save.

GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AutoCAD 2010

I know this is a Revit blog but this could be good Revit student news. The new AutoCAD 2010 is availiable for downloads to students on the Autodesk Student Community site today! This comes a week or so after the official subscription release of AutoCAD 2010.

This COULD mean Revit 2010 will be availiable to students within the next two weeks... I will keep you all updated.

By the way.. here is Autodesk Ed's youtube channel. Some interesting videos there!

Revit 2010 Information.

Some videos and information about Revit 2010:

• Revit 2010 UI Tour (Credit to Greg for the find).
• DesignReform.net new Tutorial
• Interesting little tip at The Revit Clinic
• Some interesting Posts about the new Revit.