Autodesk Revit Model Review - Whats New

Today marks the release of Autodesk Revit Model Review, formerly Avatech BIMreview and it is packed with extra goodies making this into an even stronger product.  This post is focused on what is new inside of this release or changes from the prior BIMreview product.  For starters Model Review is not sold separately, it is only available as part of the Subscription Advantage pack, to get this login to the subscription center and download.  There are two versions available for use with all flavors of Revit (Architecture, Structure & MEP); one for 2009 and the other for 2010 (both support 32 & 64 bit).

What are some of the new features that this release offers?


Lets start by breaking this up to the two main interfaces:
Check - the interface used to identify which checks to run against your Revit project(s)

Similar to the previous version, for Revit 2010 users you will find a check not available for 2009 called Content Standards.  Why is that you ask? Due to Revit API's that did not exist for 2009.

The ability to run Model Review on content librarys (via the Select Folder option) makes this a nice addition to reviewing your expanding content libraries, more on that later.

Manage - the interface used to create and configure your Revit checks

Similar to the previous version but with extra items included.  Most notably the organization and additional Check templates, in total there are now 32 check templates that let you configure a multitude of different types of checks.  The help file has a great breakdown of each template under the Manage BIM Standards>Check Types Explained that are further broken down by each category.  Another notable addition for Revit 2010 is that developers can expand the checks that are offered via the Plugins option.  More details on this can be found in the Developing_Model_Review_Plugins.pdf in the installation>>Plugins folder.

Other goodies:

• Support for meters (instead of just feet), shown within the Manage UI
•  Ability to import single or multiple checks from another file (useful for merging multiple check files together). Found under the Manage>Check pulldown
• Adjust the order displayed for Check files (shown in the Check UI and in the Manage>File>Predefined flyout) with Manage>Profile>Edit. BIM Managers Note: this is also where you can set local and/or network check file locations
  
• Once you select a check template in the Manage UI and need some assistance configuring, go to the Help>Help:On This Check. Its subtle and will take you right to the help file with additional details on what this check can do, including correction options where applicable.
• Family (.rfa) files can be checked (2010 only)
• Working between Architecture Rooms and MEP Spaces, there is a new check that can check to make sure the Space Name and Number matches the Room Name and Number, this also has an option if they are not to synchronize them.  Similar to the Avatech Space Update & Autodesk Space Match utilities
• If you have ever had duplicate geometry on top of each other, ex. someone accidentally copy/pastes all the walls in the project 5 times, there is a new template (Manage>Check>Add>Cleanup) called Duplicate Elements that will show these items, options to include types, rotation and even "look" between overlapping phases.  This also has an optional correction to remove and leave one copy behind (similar to the AutoCAD overkill feature). 

There is a lot more under the hood that I probably overlooked, if I missed an item or you want more clarity post a comment below.