AUGI has done it again... bringing you another great opportunity for learning and networking called the cad matinee. For those in the Tampa area you will find the following building design and construction classes offered on November 01, 2005:
Autodesk Revit 8
Creating Custom Wall Components
Walls are more than parallel lines. When you work in Revit, you’re actually creating a 3D model of your building using Revit components. Although Revit comes with a number of pre-designed walls, what do you do when you need something new? This class will explain how to modify existing wall components and create your own custom walls, including combinations of materials such as brick, masonry, and siding. We’ll also look at compound walls, reveals, and sweeps. It’s a lot easier than you might think.
Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems
Project and Data Management Made Easy
In today’s world of building design and construction we are continuously hearing the words data management, document management, drawing management and even building lifecycle management. The question is how this applies to the everyday use of CAD. In the past this was simply done by the use of subdirectories and file-naming conventions. Today Autodesk has embedded tools into Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems that manage this for you. In this session we will cover Building Level Management, Constructs, Elements, Views and Sheet Sets in the Project Navigator. Now you can manage your data with a new level of control.
There are also two great AutoCAD and Civil 3D classes that will be offered for those interested!
Hope to see you there,
b
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Recharging
The past few weeks have been full of many fun travels with the chance to meet and work with many great BIM and visualization users from Pennsylvania, Vegas, St. Louis and more...
With all that and more the past week was a chance to take a short vacation and recharge. We headed to upstate New York (near the canadian border) and spent some time with friends and family. Great trip but way too short, the topper was the final night it snowed 12".
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog postings... oh and 3 new pet projects are inline to start debuting within the next month. If you missed the most recent pet project debut (project wiki) it has been taking off with the help of many users like you, one edit at the time!
your refreshed neighborhood blogman,
b
With all that and more the past week was a chance to take a short vacation and recharge. We headed to upstate New York (near the canadian border) and spent some time with friends and family. Great trip but way too short, the topper was the final night it snowed 12".
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog postings... oh and 3 new pet projects are inline to start debuting within the next month. If you missed the most recent pet project debut (project wiki) it has been taking off with the help of many users like you, one edit at the time!
your refreshed neighborhood blogman,
b
Monday, October 17, 2005
Revit Building - Wiki Phase II now live
The Triple D Design Wiki is continuing to grow and develop thanks to the participation of users like you, one edit at the time. With that growth it is my pleasure to announce that the phase II project, or Revit Building, is now live and active. The Revit Building section can be found here or follow the link from the main page of the wiki.
Many thanks to my buddy Steve Stafford for helping get the timeline for this phase moved up, and to the many others who have offered their support, edits and knowledge. With this section of the site now live and active we are looking forward to the continued growth and evolution of the site and pages.
For those out there who have not yet participated in the site it is a unique experience in that you can edit the content when a change needs to occur (new release, feature set changes/additions, better explanation, etc...). For more information on how to get started you may find this getting started post helpful.
Stay tuned for more and happy editing...
Many thanks to my buddy Steve Stafford for helping get the timeline for this phase moved up, and to the many others who have offered their support, edits and knowledge. With this section of the site now live and active we are looking forward to the continued growth and evolution of the site and pages.
For those out there who have not yet participated in the site it is a unique experience in that you can edit the content when a change needs to occur (new release, feature set changes/additions, better explanation, etc...). For more information on how to get started you may find this getting started post helpful.
Stay tuned for more and happy editing...
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
ADT - Applying Materials
When migrating older legacy styles and drawings forward, one of the more time consuming tasks is dealing with any program changes and/or new features. A good example of this would be migrating an existing wall style library from ADT 3.3 and lower to ADT 2006.
One of the best improvements for walls was the addition of materials to ADT 2004, giving us more "global" display control over the linework, plan, surface and section hatch as well as the sectioned body and boundary control. Unfortunately you may find that updating your existing library by going through each wall style and adding/editing the material definition to be time consuming. The good news is you can use the "Apply Material" tool to apply a particular material at the style level or object level quickly and easily.
You will find this tool on the Design tab of the tool palettes in ADT 2006, called "Material". To get a better idea of how this works, you may wish to review the Applying Materials video example.
happy BIM'ing...
One of the best improvements for walls was the addition of materials to ADT 2004, giving us more "global" display control over the linework, plan, surface and section hatch as well as the sectioned body and boundary control. Unfortunately you may find that updating your existing library by going through each wall style and adding/editing the material definition to be time consuming. The good news is you can use the "Apply Material" tool to apply a particular material at the style level or object level quickly and easily.
You will find this tool on the Design tab of the tool palettes in ADT 2006, called "Material". To get a better idea of how this works, you may wish to review the Applying Materials video example.
happy BIM'ing...
Monday, October 10, 2005
Triple D Design Wiki - Getting Started
This past week has brought about some good comments and feedback from numerous users who are embracing the idea of the Triple D Design Wiki. Here is a short video clip explaining how to get started.
The premise is quite simple, if you find a section you either wish to add/edit for further clarification all you need to do is select the edit button right next to the page sub-section. After adding/editing your text, add a small summary and choose the save option. Instantly your changes will be shown on the page.
If you have been troubled by the help files in the past or just wanted to participate in a unique community resource this is your chance. Why do I like this? Good question I will give you a three simple answers (ok #3 has multiple sub-items but I could not stop there):
Over the past two years I have used the wiki engine in a number of ways; from personal and project related notes to cad manuals and more. This truly is a living document, spend a few moments running through the site to expand your knowledge and if you find a section that peaks your interest or particular skill set, take a moment to give back and help to make this community resource even better.
Phase II - Revit Building will be released within the next week, thanks to all those who have sent e-mails offering support and especially to Steve Stafford for helping to get the shell outlined and setup (not to mention moving the launch date up). :)
happy editing...
The premise is quite simple, if you find a section you either wish to add/edit for further clarification all you need to do is select the edit button right next to the page sub-section. After adding/editing your text, add a small summary and choose the save option. Instantly your changes will be shown on the page.
If you have been troubled by the help files in the past or just wanted to participate in a unique community resource this is your chance. Why do I like this? Good question I will give you a three simple answers (ok #3 has multiple sub-items but I could not stop there):
- No knowledge of HTML needed for anyone to work with the site.
- Simplicity of the interface, if you need to edit a section choose the edit link.
- It is different than other resources out there, in that you get a true "living document" as a community resource.
- E-mail is a form of communication from person to person. While good it does not reach everyone and can be hard to search and way too easy to delete.
- A mailing list is a form of communication from one person to a group, but like the e-mail issues there a few unfortunate drawbacks.
- Discussion forums are a form of communication from one person giving another person a chance to respond. While this is great in that the search feature can help find information, there is a lot of extra "junk" that one must wade through.
Over the past two years I have used the wiki engine in a number of ways; from personal and project related notes to cad manuals and more. This truly is a living document, spend a few moments running through the site to expand your knowledge and if you find a section that peaks your interest or particular skill set, take a moment to give back and help to make this community resource even better.
Phase II - Revit Building will be released within the next week, thanks to all those who have sent e-mails offering support and especially to Steve Stafford for helping to get the shell outlined and setup (not to mention moving the launch date up). :)
happy editing...
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Autodesk Maya???
The rumors are true, Autodesk to aquire Alias for $182 million in cash.
Press Release: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_Press_Release.pdf
Fact Sheet: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_Fact_Sheet.pdf
General FAQ: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_External_FAQ.pdf
Courtesy of Shaan
happy rendering...
Press Release: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_Press_Release.pdf
Fact Sheet: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_Fact_Sheet.pdf
General FAQ: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Alias_External_FAQ.pdf
Courtesy of Shaan
happy rendering...
Monday, October 03, 2005
Comment Punks
Well unfortunately over the past few days I have been getting a number of bogus comments (new form of spam) and have now had to turn on a new blogger feature that will enable a user to enter the alphanumeric character shown on the screen before comments can be posted.
Wiki - New ADT Resource
Well the time has come to get this pet project off the ground and out to the public for use, may I introduce to you a new community resource: Triple D Design Wiki.
The first question you may be asking is what is a wiki? In short this is a website that allows users to add content. What makes this different and unique is that anyone can also edit the content when a change needs to occur (new release, features set changes/additions, better explanation, etc...).
The second question you may be asking is if anyone can edit this what about malicous users? The wiki is based on a SQL database and gives us the ability to track who made what changes and should an incident occur we can "rollback" the malicous changes in a matter of seconds.
The software we have chosen to run our wiki platform is MediaWiki which is the same platform as the popular wikipedia. We have instituted a phased implementation to cover muliple software platforms. Phase I includes Architectural Desktop while Phase II includes plans for Revit Building. Phase I currently has a rough shell of topics and some areas are filled in as a starting point while a few others a more finished out. If you see an area that interests you or notice an item that has not been added yet, take a moment to edit/add this section.
We are looking forward to the growth of this wiki, one edit at the time. If you are interested in getting started please see the User's Guide for usage and configuration help. I will be posting a video showing how to use this later in the week for anyone having trouble.
All the Triple D Design Wiki content will be distributed under the Creative Commons License.
happy Wiki'ing...
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Revit Platform - Shortcut Keys
While spending a few days in Baltimore, MD after a short trip to Roanoke, VA last week with a great group of Autodesk product users I got posed a question in a follow-up to the AutoCAD platform Shortcut key post on ways to do something similar using the Revit platform.
The use of the keyboard shortcuts in most computers these days make can help to make you a bit quicker. For those who work with Revit you can customize these menu shortcut keys (keyboard accelerators) as the default ones you see are stored in a standard .txt file called KeyboardShortcuts.txt which can be easily edited.
You will find the KeyboardShortcuts.txt in the following location: C:\Program Files\Autodesk Revit Building (version)\Program\. Note: If you have installed Revit to another location you will find the file in the location you installed this to.
To modify this you need a standard .txt editor (Notepad is fine). Once open you will notice that each line begins with either a semi-colon (;) or starts with a quote ("). The ones that start with the semi-colon have not been customized, the entries without the semi-colon are customized items.
To add your own custom short keys for commands you can remove the semi-colon and enter a key combination between the parenthesis.
Ex. the move command uses the key combination "MC". To modify this to use another key combination you can use the following: "MO" menu:"Edit-Move". Save your file then restart your Revit session. Unfortunately there is no command similar to the REINIT in AutoCAD to keep from having to close your Revit session.
One other item you will notice once you restart is that not only does your new keyboard shortcut work but if you look in the pulldown menu's you will also see the new shortcut key combination listed next to each command you modified.
Happy Revit'ing...
The use of the keyboard shortcuts in most computers these days make can help to make you a bit quicker. For those who work with Revit you can customize these menu shortcut keys (keyboard accelerators) as the default ones you see are stored in a standard .txt file called KeyboardShortcuts.txt which can be easily edited.
You will find the KeyboardShortcuts.txt in the following location: C:\Program Files\Autodesk Revit Building (version)\Program\. Note: If you have installed Revit to another location you will find the file in the location you installed this to.
To modify this you need a standard .txt editor (Notepad is fine). Once open you will notice that each line begins with either a semi-colon (;) or starts with a quote ("). The ones that start with the semi-colon have not been customized, the entries without the semi-colon are customized items.
To add your own custom short keys for commands you can remove the semi-colon and enter a key combination between the parenthesis.
Ex. the move command uses the key combination "MC". To modify this to use another key combination you can use the following: "MO" menu:"Edit-Move". Save your file then restart your Revit session. Unfortunately there is no command similar to the REINIT in AutoCAD to keep from having to close your Revit session.
One other item you will notice once you restart is that not only does your new keyboard shortcut work but if you look in the pulldown menu's you will also see the new shortcut key combination listed next to each command you modified.
Happy Revit'ing...
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
ADT 2006 Service Pack 1
For those running ADT 2006 a service pack was released yesterday which is available for download here or by going through the communication center (look for the lighting bolt icon that says Maintenance Update Available).
From the readme here are some of the primary items this service pack addresses:
Curtain Walls
A fatal error no longer occurs when you are editing a curtain wall while in a shaded view of a drawing started from the AEC Model (Metric DACH)ctb.dwt template.
Stairs
Tread edges are now displayed for stair styles configured to only include a slab stringer.
Drawings that contain certain configurations of ramps with landings will now open successfully.
Ceiling Grids
An internal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which a ceiling grid that uses a space object as its boundary has been grip edited.
Spaces
The location information for space objects will now persist within the Properties Palette if the Audit command is used after an action (such as invoking the VBAIDE command) has caused the AcVBA.arx module to load.
Areas
The Calculation modifiers option for area objects is still displayed in the Properties Palette after the first area is tagged in a drawing.
AEC Dimensions
Location of opening height text within an AEC Dimension is now properly retained after the AEC Dimension is mirrored.
The edit in place functionality now allows you to individually edit the position dimension text within AEC Dimensions that are configured to dimension the wall width via components.
AEC Polygons
An internal error no longer occurs when you open files that contain AEC Polygon styles in which hatch patterns have been enabled.
Plot preview and plotted results are now the same where break marks are used to mask objects. See Additional Known Issues for related issue.
Materials
Materials that do not include texture maps (such as Doors & Windows.Glazing.Glass.Clear) now display correctly when i-dropped into a drawing from Content Browser.
Project Navigator
Elevations stored in View drawings will now regenerate appropriately after changes are made to levels within the project.
Project Browser
A fatal error no longer occurs when accessing properties of a network-shared project in Project Browser while a network connection is unavailable.
Tool Palettes
A fatal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which a tool has been created by dragging and dropping content from Style Manager to a project tool palette.
Tool properties edits will now persist within the current Architectural Desktop session if the Audit command is used after an action (such as invoking the VBAIDE command) has caused the AcVBA.arx module to load.
Modifications to the following properties of a window tool are now retained: Measure to, Head height, and Sill height.
A fatal error no longer occurs if you are simultaneously editing multiple AEC style-based tools and attempting to edit the tool images.
Content Browser
Moving multiple command tools to a palette with Content Browser no longer results in duplication of command tool properties, such as name and description.
Detail Component Manager
When you add new components in Detail Component Manager, the Block drawing location field now displays the path to and name of the drawing file that was selected as the block library.
Italian masonry anchor details now scale properly when inserted into drawings using meters as the drawing units.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you insert dovetail corrugated anchor details into drawings using meters as the drawing units.
Layer Manager
Creating new layers through use of the New Layer from Standard command in Layer Manager no longer results in the unexpected selection of the last layer filter. Now the currently selected layer filter remains selected.
Style Manager
A fatal error no longer occurs when you use mnemonics while editing door or window styles in Style Manager.
When exiting Style Manager you are now prompted to save changes to drawings if new structural member styles were created through use of the Create Style command.
Display Manager
A fatal error no longer occurs when you select display representations associated with Curtain Walls, Curtain Wall Units, or Door/Window Assemblies in Display Manager.
Clicking Apply in Display Manager no longer results in the unexpected selection of the parent drawing file. Now the currently selected configuration, set, or representation by object remains selected.
The appropriate icon for configurations is now displayed after the Override View Direction option is enabled in Display Manager.
ARX_ERROR: eNullObjectId and ERROR: Could not instantiate AecDict! errors are no longer displayed at the command line when Display Manager is launched after you start multiple new drawings without templates.
Export to AutoCAD
The appropriate display of wall cleanups for intersecting walls that reside in separate xrefs are now retained in files generated by the Export to AutoCAD command.
Hatch patterns associated with sloping slabs or structural members are now flattened after use of the Export to AutoCAD command.
The Export to AutoCAD command now produces files with the appropriate display of xrefs with display configuration overrides.
Design Center
A fatal error no longer occurs when you drag content from Design Center to drawing file.
.NET API
ArchDBVariables can now be created to allow access to the AEC object settings in the Options dialog.
Fixes have been incorporated to deal with the autodelete feature of managed wrappers as well as NULL point checkers.
Miscellaneous
A lengthy startup delay no longer occurs while the AEC Recipe Base is loading.
Cannot find resource string number 25207 in resource AecResUi40 error is no longer displayed when you are editing Architectural Desktop styles.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you attempt to enable the Separate Hatch option in the Hatch and Gradient dialog for a hatch pattern that has been modified using the Subtract AEC Modify Tool.
The Property Lookup Table is now displayed during the creation or modification of lookup actions in the Block Editor.
Both Schedule Tags and Callouts using Right-Reading text will now have the text in a vertical orientation when placing at a 90 or 270 degree orientation.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which the properties of a tool associated with a linked catalog were modified.
Happy ADT'ing...
From the readme here are some of the primary items this service pack addresses:
Curtain Walls
A fatal error no longer occurs when you are editing a curtain wall while in a shaded view of a drawing started from the AEC Model (Metric DACH)ctb.dwt template.
Stairs
Tread edges are now displayed for stair styles configured to only include a slab stringer.
Drawings that contain certain configurations of ramps with landings will now open successfully.
Ceiling Grids
An internal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which a ceiling grid that uses a space object as its boundary has been grip edited.
Spaces
The location information for space objects will now persist within the Properties Palette if the Audit command is used after an action (such as invoking the VBAIDE command) has caused the AcVBA.arx module to load.
Areas
The Calculation modifiers option for area objects is still displayed in the Properties Palette after the first area is tagged in a drawing.
AEC Dimensions
Location of opening height text within an AEC Dimension is now properly retained after the AEC Dimension is mirrored.
The edit in place functionality now allows you to individually edit the position dimension text within AEC Dimensions that are configured to dimension the wall width via components.
AEC Polygons
An internal error no longer occurs when you open files that contain AEC Polygon styles in which hatch patterns have been enabled.
Plot preview and plotted results are now the same where break marks are used to mask objects. See Additional Known Issues for related issue.
Materials
Materials that do not include texture maps (such as Doors & Windows.Glazing.Glass.Clear) now display correctly when i-dropped into a drawing from Content Browser.
Project Navigator
Elevations stored in View drawings will now regenerate appropriately after changes are made to levels within the project.
Project Browser
A fatal error no longer occurs when accessing properties of a network-shared project in Project Browser while a network connection is unavailable.
Tool Palettes
A fatal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which a tool has been created by dragging and dropping content from Style Manager to a project tool palette.
Tool properties edits will now persist within the current Architectural Desktop session if the Audit command is used after an action (such as invoking the VBAIDE command) has caused the AcVBA.arx module to load.
Modifications to the following properties of a window tool are now retained: Measure to, Head height, and Sill height.
A fatal error no longer occurs if you are simultaneously editing multiple AEC style-based tools and attempting to edit the tool images.
Content Browser
Moving multiple command tools to a palette with Content Browser no longer results in duplication of command tool properties, such as name and description.
Detail Component Manager
When you add new components in Detail Component Manager, the Block drawing location field now displays the path to and name of the drawing file that was selected as the block library.
Italian masonry anchor details now scale properly when inserted into drawings using meters as the drawing units.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you insert dovetail corrugated anchor details into drawings using meters as the drawing units.
Layer Manager
Creating new layers through use of the New Layer from Standard command in Layer Manager no longer results in the unexpected selection of the last layer filter. Now the currently selected layer filter remains selected.
Style Manager
A fatal error no longer occurs when you use mnemonics while editing door or window styles in Style Manager.
When exiting Style Manager you are now prompted to save changes to drawings if new structural member styles were created through use of the Create Style command.
Display Manager
A fatal error no longer occurs when you select display representations associated with Curtain Walls, Curtain Wall Units, or Door/Window Assemblies in Display Manager.
Clicking Apply in Display Manager no longer results in the unexpected selection of the parent drawing file. Now the currently selected configuration, set, or representation by object remains selected.
The appropriate icon for configurations is now displayed after the Override View Direction option is enabled in Display Manager.
ARX_ERROR: eNullObjectId and ERROR: Could not instantiate AecDict! errors are no longer displayed at the command line when Display Manager is launched after you start multiple new drawings without templates.
Export to AutoCAD
The appropriate display of wall cleanups for intersecting walls that reside in separate xrefs are now retained in files generated by the Export to AutoCAD command.
Hatch patterns associated with sloping slabs or structural members are now flattened after use of the Export to AutoCAD command.
The Export to AutoCAD command now produces files with the appropriate display of xrefs with display configuration overrides.
Design Center
A fatal error no longer occurs when you drag content from Design Center to drawing file.
.NET API
ArchDBVariables can now be created to allow access to the AEC object settings in the Options dialog.
Fixes have been incorporated to deal with the autodelete feature of managed wrappers as well as NULL point checkers.
Miscellaneous
A lengthy startup delay no longer occurs while the AEC Recipe Base is loading.
Cannot find resource string number 25207 in resource AecResUi40 error is no longer displayed when you are editing Architectural Desktop styles.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you attempt to enable the Separate Hatch option in the Hatch and Gradient dialog for a hatch pattern that has been modified using the Subtract AEC Modify Tool.
The Property Lookup Table is now displayed during the creation or modification of lookup actions in the Block Editor.
Both Schedule Tags and Callouts using Right-Reading text will now have the text in a vertical orientation when placing at a 90 or 270 degree orientation.
A fatal error no longer occurs when you exit an Architectural Desktop session in which the properties of a tool associated with a linked catalog were modified.
Happy ADT'ing...
Sunday, September 11, 2005
ACAD Platform - Shortcut keys
Hello gang and greetings from Bonita Springs, FL. This is a short trip and beautiful area, driving from the airport earlier with Charlie I got to see my first flamingo in the wild. =)
This post is for those new to using cad or the vertical products based on the AutoCAD platform. One of the best things you can do to speed up your work is to learn/understand how the command aliases (aka shortcut keys) work and how you can add/edit your own. This will allow you to modify the key combination used to invoke a command or external program.
The command aliases are stored in a file called "acad.pgp". For those using ADT the default path is found in the following location: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Autodesk\ADT 2006\enu\Support
If you are unsure of which acad.pgp file your cad session is using you can always type the following:
(findfile "acad.pgp")
Once typed this will return a path to where the command aliases are stored. Of course this only returns the path, if you wish to open the file try the following:
(startapp "notepad" (findfile "acad.pgp"))
Once you make a change you will need to either use the "reinit" command to reinitialize the pgp file or close your cad session and reopen.
====
Guru Note
====
The AutoCAD platform uses the first "acad.pgp" file it finds from the Options>>Support File Search Path to load into memory.
happy cadding...
This post is for those new to using cad or the vertical products based on the AutoCAD platform. One of the best things you can do to speed up your work is to learn/understand how the command aliases (aka shortcut keys) work and how you can add/edit your own. This will allow you to modify the key combination used to invoke a command or external program.
The command aliases are stored in a file called "acad.pgp". For those using ADT the default path is found in the following location: C:\Documents and Settings\username
If you are unsure of which acad.pgp file your cad session is using you can always type the following:
(findfile "acad.pgp")
Once typed this will return a path to where the command aliases are stored. Of course this only returns the path, if you wish to open the file try the following:
(startapp "notepad" (findfile "acad.pgp"))
Once you make a change you will need to either use the "reinit" command to reinitialize the pgp file or close your cad session and reopen.
====
Guru Note
====
The AutoCAD platform uses the first "acad.pgp" file it finds from the Options>>Support File Search Path to load into memory.
happy cadding...
Monday, August 22, 2005
August Developments
The past few weeks have been heavy on travel and on-site consulting; with a two week gig in Texas focusing on AutoCAD/ADT Modeling techniques, a presentation explaining BIM; Past, Present and Future ,and a bit of Revit Building thrown in for good measure. During this trip I bumped into quite a few people (Jay Moore from VisionREZ and Chip Foose from OverHaulin TV Fame complete with rendering in hand).
This week I am working in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg area) working with a great group of folks using ADT. If you are an Autodesk product user in the Machanicsburg/Harrisburg/York area and interested in getting together for a "Geek Dinner and Chat" drop me an e-mail.
There are plenty of new things under development (from communities, websites and more) that I can share over the next month, stay tuned... =)
This week I am working in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg area) working with a great group of folks using ADT. If you are an Autodesk product user in the Machanicsburg/Harrisburg/York area and interested in getting together for a "Geek Dinner and Chat" drop me an e-mail.
There are plenty of new things under development (from communities, websites and more) that I can share over the next month, stay tuned... =)
Sunday, August 21, 2005
AU 2005
While driving back from South Carolina the other day I saw the greatest license plate "I Love AU" but unfortunately my camera was in the back of the car so no photos showing it... :( That being said you have a chance to see if you agree with the woman driving the "I Love AU" car.
The upcoming AU 2005 will be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida from November 28 - December 1, 2005. This year you can expect 375 classes and hands-on labes in addition to the ADN conference and the 3ds Max Developers Conference. This will be my fifth year at AU and each one just keeps getting better and better!
For those looking to get approval from your company the "Justifying AU" section of the website may be of some help.
This year I have two classes I will be teaching:
Cutting Your Way Through the Collaboration Process with Autodesk® Buzzsaw®
Tuesday Nov 29, 2005
5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Session Code: CD22-1
A Manager's Guide to Centralizing Autodesk® Architectural Desktop Content on Your Network
Wednesday Nov 30, 2005
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Session Code: BD33-3
I look forward to seeing you there...
The upcoming AU 2005 will be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida from November 28 - December 1, 2005. This year you can expect 375 classes and hands-on labes in addition to the ADN conference and the 3ds Max Developers Conference. This will be my fifth year at AU and each one just keeps getting better and better!
For those looking to get approval from your company the "Justifying AU" section of the website may be of some help.
This year I have two classes I will be teaching:
Cutting Your Way Through the Collaboration Process with Autodesk® Buzzsaw®
Tuesday Nov 29, 2005
5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Session Code: CD22-1
A Manager's Guide to Centralizing Autodesk® Architectural Desktop Content on Your Network
Wednesday Nov 30, 2005
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Session Code: BD33-3
I look forward to seeing you there...
Sunday, August 07, 2005
ADT Project Navigator - Defined
One of the most useful items within Architectural Desktop is the Project Navigator. Unfortunately this is also one of the more difficult item to understand and one that I get the most questions from new users/companies moving to using this. Whether this stems from having a traditional cad background, program terminology or other reasons the bottom line is that with a little understanding you can successfully start using this for you next project.
This post will attempt to explain the workflow and terminology for use with the project navigator to help get you started.
In traditional cad we have always worked with multiple files that related in some way to our project. What Project Navigator attempts to do is to manage that "flow" of information. This "flow" is what I like to call the "Information Life Cycle".
Information Life Cycle - The 4 Step Program
Step 1 - Creation
Step 2 - Organization/Management
Step 3 - Publication
Step 4 - Changes
More on the Information Life Cycle later...
To better understand the Project Navigator we need to examine the typical project workflow. This is typically where most companies/users have instituted some type of external reference structure (how xrefs should go together). The use of the PN can be summed up as a three tier external reference system.
For us this begins with our first tier or base drawing. This is typically where geometry is drawn such as Walls, Doors, Windows, etc... It is quite common that this base drawing is what is shared with other members of the design team (consultant) as a background reference.
Once we have the base geometry defined we move into the second tier or annotation. This is typically where annotation is generated such as: text, leaders, dimensions, symbols, schedules, etc... When working in the annotation drawings this is usually when you start to consider the particular view/region that will be showing when plotted and of course the intended output drawing scale of the "view" becomes important in this tier.
Moving to the third and final tier or plotting. This is typically where you will find the base drawing and annotation brought together to load onto the sheet for plotting.
Project Workflow Summary
First Tier - Base Drawing
Second Tier - Annotation
Third Tier - Plotting
Project Navigator
The Project Navigator Palette is divided into 4 tabs; Project, Constructs, Views & Sheets. Each of these tabs has a specific role to play in your project. Let's define some terminology starting with the Project tab.
Project Tab - This is where non-graphical project data is entered.
Within here we have two areas that need some clarification; Levels and Divisions.
A "Level" separates the building in a horizontal plane with a physical separation. Typical uses include Grade Levels, Footings, Floors (partial & full), Roofs, etc…
A "Division" separates the building in a vertical plane and can be either a physical/virtual separation. More on what the physical/virtual is shortly. Typical uses include Building Wings/Extensions, Project Phasing (Phase I, Phase II), Construction Options (Demo, Existing, New, Temporary, Future), Design Options of differing configurations, Disciplines (Arch, Struc, PME,) etc… Essentially this gives you a controlled way to break up the building model.
Constructs Tab - This is where the base drawings begin.
A "Construct" is a unique portion of the building on a particular level in a particular division. Typical uses include Floor Plans & Roof Plans.
An "Element" while similar to the Construct in that your base geometry is drawn has a fundamentally different definition as it is a portion of the building WITHOUT a specific location, level or division within the building model. This is most often a repeatable type of element such as a bathroom layout, Unit Based Design, Titleblocks, etc…
Views Tab - This is where the annotation drawings begin.
A "View" is a report of the building model. By using the project navigator the needed base drawings (Constructs and/or Elements) are brought together to create the required view. Typical items within the views include Text, Dimensions, Leaders, Symbols for floor plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules, composite building models, etc…
Sheets Tab - This is just for plotting
A "Sheet" is a "Ready to Plot" report of the building model. Typically this involves the created view defined in the Views tab loaded onto the sheet for printing. Typical items you find in the sheets are the titleblock (can be an element) with fields referencing your project information.
Workflow Summary
We mentioned the Information Life Cycle Four Step Program above, so how does this apply to using the Project Navigator? Great question lets look at this one step at the time:
Step 1 - Creation. The creation of your project begins with the project browser. Once the project is started the creation of all new files associated can be done within the project navigator. Within the Constructs, Views, or Sheets tab you can right click to create a new working file. Depending on which one is chosen you will be presented with a dialogue box indicating which files will be referenced together to document your building model as required.
Step 2 - Organization/Management. With all the working files in one location anyone working on the project can see the files that make up the building model. From those working in/out of drawings on an hourly/daily basis or those less frequently you can find and work on the needed drawings at any time in one easy to manage location without going outside of your ADT session.
Step 3 - Publication. The sharing of this information whether digital (2d/3d) or hardcopy prints is a necessary part of the documentation. From sharing with Consultants to print shops to building owners; with all the design submittals along the way the most time consuming part (besides design time) is plotting. The project navigator alleviates this by giving you a simple right click on single or multiple drawings (without opening, printing and closing each manually) and deliver in any of several methods (e-transmit, printing to file, printing to plotter, etc…).
Step 4 - Changes. During the design process changes happen constantly. By having your project drawings in one easy to access interface (once you learn the basics) you can get in/out of your working drawings and make changes as needed. For those using ADT 2006 and higher the introduction of "Project Standards" allow you to make style/display changes and have these updated to the multiple files that make up your building model either manually, semi-automatically or automatically.
The ILC and PN concept is a repeating cycle as you create design data, organize and manage this data, publish/share and then continue to refine your designs through numerous changes all managed in one central location for your entire project.
There are plenty of additional items that the Project Browser and Project Navigator offer including migrating legacy projects (pre-PN days) that we have not covered. I would encourage you to explore this further once you begin your journey into using the Project Navigator. Now that you have the concepts understood the actual implementation of putting this into action should go much easier!
Happy BIM'ing…
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Tech Call - PDF vs. DWF
Ran across this tech support call over at Lee's site, pretty funny. User having an issue with PDF vs. DWF. Source unknown.
Note: Flash player needs to be installed on your machine to use.
Note: Flash player needs to be installed on your machine to use.
Monday, July 18, 2005
EVAUG Extravaganza - Thursday, July 21, 2005
The Eastern Virginia AutoCAD Users Group is hosting the yearly "EVAUG Extravaganza" on Thursday, July 21, 2005.
This meeting is a great chance to network with other AutoCAD professionals in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, and I hope you’ll be able to join us.
Our keynote speaker on Thursday is H. Edward Goldberg, AIA. He is a practicing licensed architect, industrial designer, technical writer, and educator, and you may have seen his articles in Cadalyst. He’s a wonderful speaker and we’re honored to welcome him. You don’t want to miss meeting him!
Agenda: 2006 Autodesk Products and Workflow Building Information Modeling explained Food, Fun, and Prizes!
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2005
Time: 6:30pm-9:00pm
Location: Advanced Technology Center (ATC) Theatre / Auditorium
Find directions and more information about this location here: http://www.vbatc.com/a-directions.html
You can RSVP via email to info@avat.com.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!
This meeting is a great chance to network with other AutoCAD professionals in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, and I hope you’ll be able to join us.
Our keynote speaker on Thursday is H. Edward Goldberg, AIA. He is a practicing licensed architect, industrial designer, technical writer, and educator, and you may have seen his articles in Cadalyst. He’s a wonderful speaker and we’re honored to welcome him. You don’t want to miss meeting him!
Agenda: 2006 Autodesk Products and Workflow Building Information Modeling explained Food, Fun, and Prizes!
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2005
Time: 6:30pm-9:00pm
Location: Advanced Technology Center (ATC) Theatre / Auditorium
Find directions and more information about this location here: http://www.vbatc.com/a-directions.html
You can RSVP via email to info@avat.com.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!
ADT - Mass Tool Palette Generation
In past releases of ADT (2004/5) the creation of tool palettes containing ADT styles was always one of the most time consuming tasks. Fortunately in ADT 2006 this process has become much easier, unfortunately little has been mentioned about this useful topic.
To create a new tool catalog from styles located in one or more drawings try using the Tool Catalog Generator found in the Cad Manager pulldown (if the Cad Manager pulldown is not visible in the menu bar, click the Window pulldown and choose the Pulldowns>>Cad Manager pulldown).
The Tool Catalog Generator has numerous options which are subdivided into three main categories: Catalog, Content Source, Tool Organization and then finally a listing of 22 object types within ADT. The following will help to clarify what each section/option does.
Catalog:
In this location you have two radio buttons; the first allows you to create a new catalog by first providing a Catalog name then browsing to define the location of this catalog (with the opportunity to provide the Catalog name) the second to add to an existing catalog with the option to append an existing catalog (optional choice to ignore duplicate style) or overwrite the existing catalog.
Content Source:
In this location you have two radio buttons which allow you to specify whether you want the new catalog to be created from multiple drawings located in a folder or from a single drawing and enter a path to the respective folder or file location. When choosing the Create from drawings in folder option, any sub-folders are included in the new catalog.
Tool Organization:
In this location you have 2 check boxes and 2 radio buttons that allow you to organize your soon to be created tools. If the "Group tools by source drawing" is selected your tools will be organized by the source drawing (quite useful when used in combination with the drawings in folder option of the Content Source section). If the "Group tools by object type" is selected your tools will be organized by the object type (ex. useful for organizing your content from among multiple drawings to keep them grouped similar to the following: Doors, Windows, Walls, etc...).
From the help file:
1. If both options above are enabled, the catalog is first grouped by the drawings and then by the object type, generating categories from the drawings, and palettes from the object types. This is implemented because palettes cannot be nested. In this case the radio buttons for categories and palettes are disabled, and the Create tools in palettes option is selected for the catalog.
2. If neither of the two options is enabled, all new tools will be generated in the top category of the catalog.
3. To organize the new tools in categories, select Create Tools in Categories. If you selected Group tools by source drawing, a category will be created for each source drawing. If you selected Group tools by object type, a category will be created for each object type.
4. To organize the new tools in palettes, select Create Tools in Palettes. If you selected Group tools by source drawing, a palette will be created for each source drawing. If you selected Group tools by object type, a palette will be created for each object type.
The next step is to specify the object styles you would like to appear as tools in the new catalog. Using a combination of the Select All/Clear All, one at a time selection or windowing across multiple objects and selecting the check boxes to get the right mix of object styles as needed.
Finally choose the OK button and a progress bar in the status bar area informs you of the progress of the catalog generation. NOTE: For large catalogs this may take time to generate.
This process is much easier than dragging your styles one at a time and provides a quick way for you to generate standard palettes for use in your office.
happy cadding...
Monday, July 04, 2005
RB - Door Insertion
When working on a project it is quite often the little tips/tricks that make us even faster in production:
When placing a door in Revit Building you can easily choose the side of the wall you wish to place a door either before or after insertion. If you find yourself changing the door swing using the arrow indicators after insertion; you may find it a bit easier to use the space bar while placing the door. Doing this will allow you to flip the instance of this door swing left/right for single door families before placement.
For those looking for a video example the following clip shows 3 doors being placed:
Door 1 is placed and flipped after placement
Door 3 is flipped before placement using the *space bar
*This is also a tip shown in the status bar (bottom left of screen), if you have been ignoring this section pay attention as it gives valuable information depending on the object/family.
happy BIM'ing...
When placing a door in Revit Building you can easily choose the side of the wall you wish to place a door either before or after insertion. If you find yourself changing the door swing using the arrow indicators after insertion; you may find it a bit easier to use the space bar while placing the door. Doing this will allow you to flip the instance of this door swing left/right for single door families before placement.
For those looking for a video example the following clip shows 3 doors being placed:
Door 1 is placed and flipped after placement
Door 3 is flipped before placement using the *space bar
*This is also a tip shown in the status bar (bottom left of screen), if you have been ignoring this section pay attention as it gives valuable information depending on the object/family.
happy BIM'ing...
Independance
Happy Independance Day!
Please keep those in the military stationed around the world in your thoughts.
For those that have their own fireworks and children, a cool tip just learned (courtesy of Jim) is to draw a circle using chalk and have the kids stay within it to watch.
Please keep those in the military stationed around the world in your thoughts.
For those that have their own fireworks and children, a cool tip just learned (courtesy of Jim) is to draw a circle using chalk and have the kids stay within it to watch.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Acad - Fields, Attributes and Objects
If you are using AutoCAD 2005 or higher and need to input square footage information (spaces, planning, etc...) the use of Fields can make the tedious manual process much easier by giving you the ability to update automatically as your area changes.
This can be accomplished through the use of a closed pline object and Fields. To do this insert any text (single, multi-line or attribute) in your drawing, right click and choose Insert Field. From here set your Field category to Objects and the Field names to Object. From here simply select your pline using the Select Object button next to the Object type area. Final item is to select your formatting and in 2006 set your precision.
This tip courtesy of Mark Couture and that's not all. Watch the video example showing how to accomplish this with attributes and fields then putting this information into a table and use the formulas feature in 2006 to total the areas here.
**Note**
To view this video you will need the camtasia codec available from Techsmith.
This can be accomplished through the use of a closed pline object and Fields. To do this insert any text (single, multi-line or attribute) in your drawing, right click and choose Insert Field. From here set your Field category to Objects and the Field names to Object. From here simply select your pline using the Select Object button next to the Object type area. Final item is to select your formatting and in 2006 set your precision.
This tip courtesy of Mark Couture and that's not all. Watch the video example showing how to accomplish this with attributes and fields then putting this information into a table and use the formulas feature in 2006 to total the areas here.
**Note**
To view this video you will need the camtasia codec available from Techsmith.
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