Revit Extended - Update

Thanks to some great feedback the Avatech Revit Utilities have been updated to include changes for the following:


1. For those on a 64 bit OS, the new builds will now support that.

2. For those without RAC but who have other Revit flavors (ex. RST, RMEP) installation will now complete for you.

If you were having any trouble with installation please re-download and give the latest builds a go. If you are not sure if you have the latest build you can compare the build numbers against those on the site link above.

Revit Structure & Revit MEP SP#3 New Build

I overlooked in my last post that Revit Structure and Revit MEP also have a new build available for download:

Revit Structure SP#3 build (20071109_2345):
From the web enhancement update list of improvements:
• Improves API for element coping.
• Improves API for instance creation of cellular beam.
• Improves API for rebar group distribution.
• Improves File > Open performance time when opening some project files in Revit Structure software.
• Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
• Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit file linked into Revit
Structure when the link is unloaded.
• Improves stability when selecting sections.
• Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit Structure on a computer with the Microsoft
Windows Vista™ operating system.
• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
• Improves performance when views contain many objects with overridden graphics by element.


Revit MEP SP#3 build (20071109_2345):
From the web enhancement update list of improvements:
• Consistent Electrical Fixture insertion behavior after creating Electrical Fixture schedules.
• Improves performance when placing Callouts on MEP models in certain situations.
• Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
• Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit link when the link is unloaded.
• Improves stability when selecting Sections.
• Allows the ability to insert an electrical receptacle into a legend view.
• Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit MEP on a computer with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.
• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
• Improves performance when views contain many objects with overridden graphics by element.

Revit Architecture - New Build SP3 20071109_2345

A new build for Revit Architecture has been posted, available here.


From the web enhancement update list of improvements:
• Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
• Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit file linked into Revit
Architecture software when the link is unloaded.
• Improves stability when selecting sections.
• Allows the ability to insert an electrical receptacle into a legend view.
• Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit Architecture on a computer with the Microsoft Windows Vista™ operating system.
• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
• Improves performance when views contain many objects with overridden graphics by element.

Revit Extended

If your working with Revit and finding a few minor items you would like to add or automate to your suite of tools then chances are favorable that through the Revit API this could be accomplished.

I mention this because over the past few years since the Revit API was released our development team has been actively developing tools, both large and small and today we are releasing the first round of free public tools for you to use. These tools come from requests by our Revit implementation/services team, trainers and of course folks just like you.

So without further typing here are todays 5 Free Revit Utilities:

Room Renumbering - allows you to renumber or insert rooms in a sequence

Door Mark Update - to make the door mark match the room it swings into

Change Case - for those who would like to keep a common theme/style on items like view and room names UPPER CASE, lower case and Title Case

Revit Content Browser - this tools will open up inside your revit environment and allow you to download content directly from popular industry locations. The main window currently goes to RevitCity for this release and allows you to review the content you would like and organize it by name and folder location when you download.

Earth Connector - a new update to an existing toolset that now allows you to now work with 4D (time and phasing) from Revit for use in Google Earth.

These work for the Revit 2008 suite of products (Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP) and have been tested on Windows XP and Vista.


Take a moment to download and use, for any feedback send an e-mail to: devfeedback (at) avat.com

Matt has spent a good bit of time working on these and I appreciate him leading this charge, the next round of tools are under development now. If you have a particular tool or need for Revit development please let us know how we can help.

A press release of these tools is available here.

Viva La Revitlution... :)

Revit Structure 2008 & CIS/2

To make this a bit easier to find for those using Revit Structure 2008 and looking to be able to export to CIS/2 format you can find a plug-in available here.

More detailed information and research about CIS/2, CIMSteel & IFC files can be found here.

9 Creative Staircases

The following staircases offer something more than a boring stair:

9 Creative Staircases

My personal favorite #5. I have pinged Robin to see if he has seen this live before.