Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Revit Model Review - Advanced Part #1

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Autodesk Revit Model Review is quite a powerful tool, of course I may be a bit biased about that. Over the last few weeks I have seen more requests asking about advanced topics for Model Review. It seems that Revit users are starting to push this beyond the OOTB checks and creating their own to match their standards and project requirements. In this post we will cover the Manage interface. Within Model Review there are really two main interfaces:
  • Check - This is the main UI that users will use to run checks. This is kept as clean and straight forward as possible.
  • Manage - This is a bit more daunting and is geared more towards administrators (BIM Coordinators, Cad Leads, BIM/CAD Managers, etc...). Within here you configure and edit the checks.















Figure 01 - Manage UI

Let's run through each tab for a better explanation:
  • Basic Info: At a minimum each check will require a "Name". Some of the other items you can do within here include:
    • "Category" which can be used to sort the list and order of checks
    • "Status"
      • "Enable" the checks, if you uncheck the check is saved but not shown or used when the check is run. This can be useful when you are creating or editing a check, especially in a larger work environment. 
      • "Report Only", doing this no longer returns a pass/fail instead when the check is run in the report it will return what was found. It sounds less harsh to return a message that does not have the terms: Pass/Fail.
      • "Allow Correction", for checks that have a common correction you can use this to automate correcting if checked. 
        • An OOTB example is the "Firm/Project Standards-Minimal", it contains a check called "Text Uppercase", if you have text that is not set to Uppercase this can review the entire project documentation and automatically change them all to match, pretty handy from an automation standpoint. 
        • Another set of examples that are OOTB is the "Revit Modeling and Energy Standards", using this you can take a Design model and quickly prep it for use as an Energy Model, imagine having to do this manually to a few hundred rooms and you can see where the "Allow Correction" option can start to come in really handy.
  • Details: This is the meat and potatoes for most checks. In here you configure or tell the Check what you want to actually do. What is shown may differ based on which "Check Template" was selected. If you would like to review every option available for each Check Template the shipping help file is a great place to start, it lists everything and some common uses for each.
    • "Pick Elements" is sort of an easy button. The list of Element Type(s) within Revit can look intimidating, using the Pick Element button you can just pick an object in the project and choose from a list (shown on left for Text) this will then auto-fill out the areas (Element Types, Parameter, Value, etc...) for you. 
    • From here you can One area that we will cover in a future post is the use of "Regular Expressions", this is where you can really do some unique things with Pattern Matching.

  • Filter: This allows you t control what elements are checked. A common use is to specify which items should/not be included when checking.
    • An example of this can be found in several of the checks, notably the "GSA Template Standards". Within this the Room Name ignores Rooms that are smaller than 9 SF and anything larger will check their names against the values listed in the PBS Business Assignment Guide.
    • If you are finding that some checks take longer to run, you can use a filter to reduce the need to scan the entire model and focus on a specific set of categories (ex. only apply this to Doors and Windows vs. every object in the model).
  • Fail/Pass Message: This is a HTML WYSIWYG editor, if the check passes or fails this controls what is displayed to the user. You can use images, text, tables and variables to get more control and give the report meaningful information.
Do you have any items or checks in particular that you would like to create? Let me know so I can share some more of the required steps and planning behind creating more complex checks.

    Saturday, July 18, 2009

    Blogger -The New Post Window for Compose Too Small

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    Are you using Blogger in a browser? If so you are all too aware that the window to compose your prose is too small to work within.

    Now that I am writing more again this was the first thing that started bothering me. In the end I want something like this for an interface to work within:

    Well want to know a secret? The example above can be done in under 1 minute.

    Friday, January 11, 2008

    CES TV mischief - Video

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    Have you ever wanted to turn off multiple TV's at once, maybe for a bit of mischief/pranking or even a "real" life need (and I keep drawing a blank on what that could be). Well the Gizmodo crew did just that at CES:


    In browsing the web this morning I ran across video from CES showing just such a scenario courtesty of Gizmodo here. For those who may want to tinker with this device, for under $20 it can be yours here.

    prank on...

    Thursday, January 10, 2008

    Revit Clean Tips Contest... chance to win $$

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    If you are a Revit user who "cleans" geometry and/or non-graphical data within Revit (Arch, Struc and/or MEP) on a regular basis, at certain key points within a project, deliverable or for analytical needs then this is for you. We are looking for your tips and offering $$ :) If your interested read on below:

    With so many great users, project types and expanded uses for Revit in the industry, we are compiling a list of items for a future post (credit given to submitters) of the items that need to be fixed, checked or adjusted at various stages.

    Please send your entry/list to us via e-mail with the subject line: Revit Clean. In exchange we have two $100 gift certificates for two (2) randomly selected winners from the entries received. All submittals must be done by 6:00 EST on January 24, 2008. Winners will be notified on January 25, 2008.

    Thats it, if we left something out or you need any clarification let us know. :)

    Friday, December 21, 2007

    Troubleshooting 3ds Max - Profile Reset

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    The last few days have offered a nice vacation from daily work and given me time to get back to some house projects and in-between back to some rendering related fun.

    With that in mind here is a great tip for Max users to help troubleshoot corrupt files and other "anomalies". Similar to the profile in AutoCAD, Max has a .ini file that holds things like plug-in paths and more. This file is found in the root Max folder and is called 3dsmax.ini. with your max session closed browse to this location in windows explorer and rename the file (ex. 3dsmax.ini.bak). From here you can start your max session and it will create a new "clean" 3dsmax.ini file for you automatically.

    When debugging trouble scenes/files this is a good way to test if it may be one of your own "custom" settings. Note: when doing this locations of toolbars and more will be reset.

    happy rendering...

    Thursday, December 20, 2007

    Create a 3D Snowflake even if its warm out...

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    The weather here at Will render for food headquarters is jumping from 70 to 30 every few days so this is a way to bridge those gaps this season. With a focus on modeling, rendering and animation sometimes one of the best things you can do is to take a step back and try a different approach. From the title you probably thought this was going to show how to create a digital snowflake, instead how about something you can touch and share with others this winter season.
    Over at wikiHow we ran across a tip that involves making a six-armed three dimensional snowflake. To do this you will need: 6 pieces of paper, scissors, tape and a stapler.

    Below is the version Dylan and I did this morning hanging from a light. Only modification was thick card stock, a hole punch and thread/fishing line. While the card stock was tough to cut it is holding up well and the holes were punched right at the tips.

    Seasons greetings...

    Friday, December 14, 2007

    Combining Existing & New Technologies

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    With the rise of new technologies it is useful to have existing "tried & true" technologies take advantage of newer ones. That said users of Outlook can now utilize twitter thanks to OuTwit from TechHit.

    Thursday, December 13, 2007

    Google Earth Inner Workings

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    Ran across this link earlier and with the recent update we have done to take your file from Revit and publish to Google Earth it provides an interesting look at what drives this.

    Google Earth inner workings described in newly published Google Patent App

    Wednesday, October 03, 2007

    Autodesk Labs - Content Search

    2 comments
    Autodesk just released a new Labs product called Content Search, still listed as Alpha at this stage, entirely web based, searchable and available from the main page here.

    Content Source quantities (as of 10/2/07):
    Autodesk - AutoCAD Architecture 2008 (60)
    Autodesk - AutoCAD MEP 2008 (3019)
    Autodesk - Revit Architecture 2008 (2150)
    Autodesk - Revit MEP 2008 (2312)
    Autodesk - Revit Structure 2008 (1916)
    McGraw Hill Sweets (9292)
    Reed FirstSource (445)

    Items with:
    dwf (1583)
    dwg (5192)
    dxf (1570)
    pdf (1991)
    rfa (6378)

    Item Type:
    Generic (9457)
    Manufactured (9737)


    URL: http://cs.labs.autodesk.com
    Added: October 1, 2007

    Recommended Browsers:
    Firefox 2.0 or higher (yeah!!!)
    IE 7 or higher

    Tuesday, September 18, 2007

    Social Bookmarking Blogger Addition

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    While working with social networks and bookmarking over the past two years, it has been interesting to see how it can bring together groups of people with similar interest while not being limited by geographical boundaries.

    In that time we have seen a number of technologies grow and others start to fade away, all the while the idea of the now branded "Web 2.0" and the collaboration mash-ups and creations it has spawned have been fueling a new way to interact with individuals. Instead of having to have a large single list of your favorite websites to visit you can now have an online version, complete with other recommended sites that may match your interests (ex. Del.icio.us) or even a site that users submit sites they find interesting and add their vote showing interest (ex. Digg). This extends beyond just websites and is now including books, music, etc... Each of these offers you the ability to gather and store content in the best way that matches your personality. For me the idea of a wiki was the start to getting into this and now I am excited to see a few other possible avenues for development for the AEC community, more on that later.

    So to keep my blogging and writing efforts back on track I am adding a few social bookmarking links to the bottom of each post. In looking for a way to automate this addition I ran across a few good tips out there, though none better summed this up than Amanda over at Blogger Buster with information on how to add this to the new blogger templates.

    Sunday, June 03, 2007

    Google Labs - Timeline & BIM


    The new Timeline feature of google offers some interesting ways to view your search data; from the usual "list view" to the new experimental timeline feature and map view of data.

    As an example I did the search term BIM (click here for the timeline search) and it came up with a timeline of related terms starting around 2002. Switching to the Map view showed a great alternative to view how big this subject is around the world.

    Happy searching...

    Monday, July 19, 2004

    AutoCAD Blocks

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    Do you use acad blocks? Do you use the same blocks in multiple drawings? Ever need to update the blocks?

    If you answered yes to any of the above questions then this posting is for you. I recently gave a refresher/updated materials course for a few AutoCAD users and part of this involved different methods of using blocks and redefining existing definitions in different drawings. If you need to accomplish this here are a few examples of ways to accomplish this:

    1. The ability to have a block in a drawing and manipulate the block(s) by redefining/changing all instances can be done with the refedit command, or by recreating the block and using the same block name. This will update all the blocks in the current drawing of the same name.

    2. If you are defining your linework for an object to become a block in an external file you can use the "insert" command with the browse option to choose the external file to override blocks in your drawing of the same name. If this is not working the most likely issue is that the file was wblocked out as a block to a file of the same name. If so explode the block in the external file to simple linework and purge the block from this drawing and save the file. The insert command>>browse option will now insert the file as desired.

    3. If you are wblocking information out to an external file or block library as blocks and not linework you can use DesignCenter (Ctrl + 2) to redefine blocks in your drawing. To accomplish this open DesignCenter and browse using the folder tab to the file and expand the sub-files and select the blocks option. Nowright click the block you wish to redefine in your current file and choose "Redefine only" to update the block definition. You can use the "Ctrl + Tab" and/or "Ctrl + Shift + Tab" key combinations to cycle through open drawings and repeat as needed.

    4. Of course for those of you who would rather type, script or use lisp you can still use the alternative -insert with the = option (-insert , ExistingBlockname=path of drawing and FileName, choose "yes" to redefine the existing blocks in the drawing).
    Example -insert, MyBlock=C:\WorkingFiles\MyBlock.dwg which will replace all instances of the block "MyBlock" with the information from the drawing "MyBlock.dwg". This is very similar to Step 2 above and has the same limitations of requiring linework only in this file.

    *5. Of course you could always use a small bit of lisp code to swap one block out for another, courtesy of David.

    (defun c:SWAPBLK (/ SELECTIONSET COUNT NBLK BLOCK ELIST)
    (princ "\n SWAPBLK")
    (setvar "cmdecho" 0)
    (setvar "osmode" 0)
    (prompt "\nSelect blocks to be swapped to another:")
    (setq SELECTIONSET (ssget) COUNT 0)
    (setq NBLK (getstring "\nName of swapping block:"))
    (repeat (sslength SELECTIONSET)
    (setq BLOCK (ssname SELECTIONSET COUNT))
    (setq ELIST (entget BLOCK))
    (setq ELIST (subst (cons 2 NBLK)(assoc 2 ELIST) ELIST))
    (entmod ELIST)
    (entupd BLOCK)
    (setq COUNT (+ COUNT 1))
    )
    (princ)
    )
    (princ "\nSWAPBLK loaded.")
    (princ)


    This should help you to understand a few of the many ways to use blocks more effectively in AutoCAD.

    Happy cadding...
     

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