Converting Wall-based casework to Face-based in Revit

Recently there was a need for a custom piece of Revit family casework which was inadvertently made using a wall-based family template. I came across this post about switching lighting families from wall hosted to face-based and with a little tweak, made it work for casework.

This is how you do it.

1. Open up the family you need to convert to face based. Note the "Host" is currently set to "Wall" below.

2. Click on the "Family Categories and Parameters" button

3. Change the Category type to "Lighting Fixtures"

[We do this because the Copy-monitor function, which is a step in the process, only works on certain family categories]

4. Now, create a new project and load the family into it. Save the project as "Wall-hosted family.rvt"

5. Create another new project and link in the "Wall-hosted family.rvt" file.

6. On the Collaborate tab click "Copy Monitor" and "Select Link", and select the file you linked in.

7. Click the "Copy" Tool and select the Casework family, then click "Finish"

Ok, now here's the last part. 

8. Make sure the family isn't already open. Select the family now live in the project and click "Edit Family"

9. When the family opens up, click the "Family Categories and Parameters" button again to change the Category back to "Casework" and note that the Host is now set to "Face", woohoo!

10. Save your family file as an .RFA file in your library and you are done!

Trash the project files unless you've got more to convert. You can load multiple families into the project for this process if needed but you'll have to edit each one independently and save.

Cheers!

Scan-to-BIM

A portion of the laser scan point cloud loaded into Revit

A number of people have asked "What is Scan-to-BIM?" and so I take the opportunity here to showcase an exciting project as an example. 

In short, Scan-to-BIM is where we take a highly-accurate laser-scan of a space or building and build an existing conditions Revit model for use, reference, or archive. Why do this? Anyone who has had the experience of using a laser scan will likely tell you that they would never do it any other way going forward for several reasons.

1. Accuracy - laser scanners such as the Faro Focus3D X 330 which I prefer are accurate to the fraction of a millimeter and can scan as close as 0.6m to as far as 330m. From experience I can tell you that people (of which I include myself) make mistakes, especially on surveys.
2. Accessibility - sometimes it is difficult to measure high ceilings such as the Academy of Music. Laser scanning makes this a snap, including this information in the scan, as it not only scans great distances 360 degrees around, it also scans above.
3. Speed - Scan duration, with standard scan resolution in b/w is approximately 2 minutes, and in color approximately 5 minutes, per scan "drop". A "drop" means each time the scanner is set down to scan. There were 4 scan drops for the main room seen below in Carpenter's Hall. Each took about 5 minutes which means in a span of 20 minutes we had a detailed measurable account of the entire space. If this were surveyed by hand, it would most likely mean going back to the project site to verify, and sometimes more than once, racking up hours and hours. Instead, it was short work. With a laser scan, if any measurement needed verification or a moulding profile like below is required, the information is available on demand with no need to revisit the site. 

Photo of the main hall in Carpenter's Hall

With the scans complete, the Revit model could start and the process is fairly straight-forward. The raw scans are "Registered" (tied together accurately based on markers within the scan) using the Faro Scene software or Autodesk's Recap Pro, then linked into the Revit file using the "point cloud" button on the Insert tab.

Detail of the point cloud in Revit showing dimensioning of the interior wall

Note that if you are working with a team in an office, you will want to place the scans in a network folder before inserting into Revit, otherwise, the other team members will not load the files correctly.

Note also that point clouds can be rather large files, often in the Gigabytes, so check with your IT group before clogging up your servers.

Detail of the door frame moulding and column fluting.

Building the Revit model is then fairly straight forward as well. You see the point cloud in the model space and then begin drawing walls, creating and placing elements until you have the level of detail required. One thing worth noting is that with exisitng buildings, you will find the walls and other building elements are not always plumb and often you'll find yourself questioning which point to select to begin drawing. My rule of thumb is to start with the middle-most or average point within the extremes, and to make your model plumb. This will result in some inconsistent overlap of the point cloud and your model but at the end of the day, if the project needs to be rebuilt, the plans will not want to have odd angles and measurements. On the other hand if the project is a renovation or retro-fit, then you might reconsider this. Regardless, you will have the point cloud which can be placed on the sheet as it is with any new construction modeled as a hybrid drawing.

Screen capture of  the Revit working model

There are many other uses for laser scanning, Scan-to-BIM, and modeling, including construction monitoring, real estate transactions, building damage recording, monument protection, facilities management, accident re-creation, and much more.

BIM infographic

I came across this infographic the other day on the Line/Shape/Space blog. I always find new metrics/statistics on BIM interesting and you may find this interesting too.
Enjoy!

Click for Full Size image

Revit Hatch patterns revisited

A long time ago I talked about the in's and out's of hatch patterns in Revit and how they are made from scratch. I'm not sure why the universally used functionality hasn't been addressed in any shape or form by the Factory but thanks to some talent out there in the world, there are easier ways to address patterns. I recently came across Hatch22, a fairly easy-to-use Revit Add-in that addresses the missing functionality. It's Pay as you Please and worth a look if you find yourself in need of non-standard patterns. I found the instructions fairly concise and thorough except for a few things: The View type (Dratfting/Detail/Model) in which you draw your pattern was vaguely referenced, and the wording describing how drawing Scale relates to the pattern and it's output was unclear. The plugin dialog looks like so:

You essentially draw your pattern and pattern boundary in a Revit drafting view, and use the four line styles Hatch22 loads into the file to help the lines do what you want them to do.

The Add-in and a new pattern for a Perforated Ceiling tile

I found that it did not recognize circles, spitting out a blank boundary file and that it had some issue with some of the hexagon linework, to where it had to be "corrected". All in all it's a good tool and Gregory Mertens deserves some patronage for his work.
Cheers

Revit viewport arranger

This looks darn handy. It's a Revit 2013 add-on utility that arranges your viewports in Revit. You may already now some of the keyboard shortcuts like WT for window tile, ZA for zoom all, and Ctrl-Tab for switching between open windows, but this utility gives you even more handy flexibility in arranging windows. It's called Palladio X and it's free, thanks to the folks at Mensch und Maschine Software SE. I like the classic architectural reference in the name.
Check it out here on the Autodesk App Exchange.

Left: Revit managed viewports     -     Right: Palladio X managed viewports

Nicely stacked viewports...

Now if you are working on a large project, keeping this many windows open may decrease your performance and may not be a good idea. It would be a good idea to close the ones not in use. That being said, there are lots of working scenarios where this utility would be very handy. If you try it out, leave a comment. Thanks to Markb for posting this to Revitforum.org
Cheers

Increase efficiency and accuracy of surveys

Earlier this month Tobias Ebbinge from Picard Innovations reached out to me to introduce his company and software called Yuzu. You may have seen Steve Stafford’s post on this at Revit OpEd. Like Steve, I saw a similar technology at AU last year called PKNail. They are similar tools according to Tobias but Yuzu is available for Revit and Autocad as well, and there's a price difference on top of that.Yuzu facilitates Architectural surveys with the help of a Leica Disto (sold separately) and a Windows laptop with Revit.
Here’s the video walk-through:
http://vimeo.com/42406629
There are some great benefits to this method of surveying. First, as you survey, the model is built with only a little help from you.  The Leica Disto device communicates via Bluetooth so there’s no messing with cables. Yuzu and Revit create the walls and etc. using the wireless measurements as you survey.

Second, from experience I can tell you that people (of which I include myself) make mistakes, especially on surveys. Sometimes this means going back to the project site to verify, and sometimes more than once. Since you are building the Revit model as you measure, you’ll leave with a finished and laser-accurate survey model.
There are some good tutorial videos to get in-depth understanding of how it works here:
http://www.picardinnovations.com/support/product/yuzu_for_revit/
Yuzu is currently $750 and will work with the less-expensive Leica D3 BT checking out at $379. Making it a bit over a grand investment but now consider this: The number of hours saved by reducing your survey trips, reducing the number of people required to survey(1), eliminating the time it takes to translate your chicken-scratch into a model back at the farm, and leaving the project site with a complete and accurate survey model… It likely pays for itself after the first project. If you use Yuzu or PKNail, I would be interested in hearing your opinion on it. And if you have a spare Leica Disto, send it my way!
Cheers

The casualties of the Revit revolution start their recovery

This speaks volumes and may bring a tear to your eye…

If you are interested in helping this chap out, here is the link.
Cheers

Revit Hardware?

Over the years I have seen this question pop up pretty consistently, and that is the "Hardware" question. "What's the best workstation for Revit". I'm not sure if you are aware of it but there's a relatively new page on Autodesk's website that helps you find suitable hardware for Revit, and other Autodesk software as well.

There's a good description of it here: Without A Net

With the advent of Cloud computing there are many more options that include virtual workstations, "Private Clouds" and so forth that should be considered an option because they can be easily expanded for little cost and is considered a "Capital Expenditure" which can be billed to a job, versus the firms overhead, or your pocket book.

A rookery of folks on the LinkedIn Revit Users discussion board commented on the question of hardware and provided a slew of opinions for you if you are interested. This rookery included a few folks from BIM9 and Advance 2000, who offer cloud services.

Cheers

Revit Technology Conference–RTC 2012 Georgia

Browsing the speakers list for the upcoming Revit Technology Conference next week, I came across an intriguing individual. His description reads as follows:

Mortimer Vunderbight
Project Sauron Inc
At the prompting of his mother, Mortimer has been designing Evil Lairs since childhood and hoped to pursue a career in Architecture while attending Eton College. However, the University of Cambridge was busy turning out one architectural hack after another, so Mort turned to technology. Mort's PhD thesis on "The Monetization of Playful Kittens" drew scorn from all except one professor Dr. LaM, who convinced Mort to post his findings on the professor's new (yet struggling) web video venture. The You Tube phenomena was immediately born, making both men each more rich than the Queen. Mort is the Director of BIM/VDC for Dr. LaM and Project Sauron.

Though the picture’s file name is Phil_Read_RTC12.jpg, I know Phil and he does not wear turquois turtle necks. I consulted my personal clown and friend Googlestein for some insight into this speaker. He came across this post on Augi.  It provides a Twitter handle that has some fantastic Revit projects that “Mort” has worked on… 

Look a little further and you’ll find what is presumably his current and/or future lair project location in the Marquesas Islands. From the satellite imagery it appears like the project is under construction but a cloaking technology is active fooling the satellites as you might expect. Luckily enough, you can see some of the Revit work on Mort’s YouTube channel.
If you read to the end of the Augi post, it appears that I am a little behind the times with the following of Mort. Never the less, I hope to hear more from him, especially of his lair and ship designs. I would also love to see the structural analysis of that stair.
Dr. LAM a.k.a. Reginald Snoddgrass IV is still a mystery…
Cheers

Tags: Revit,Technology,Conference,Georgia,Mortimer,Sauron,Evil,Architecture,Eton,College,Cambridge,Mort,Monetization,Playful,Kittens,professor,Tube,Director,Though,Phil,friend,Googlestein,speaker,Augi,Twitter,Look,lair,location,Marquesas,satellite,imagery,construction,YouTube,analysis,stair,Reginald Snoddgrass,Cheers,speakers,Lairs,phenomena,Islands

Revit DB

I am in the middle of reorganizing my home office and was in the need for some Swedish furnishings for my Revit model. I came across this site which has some decent Euro pieces, including Ikea. They are pretty well made and if you speak Portuguese, then you’ll understand the material parameters. Thanks to Rui for posting and hosting some cool content for the everyday man.

Revit DB

Exciting news!

 

I don’t usually discuss things like this on this blog but in this case I will make an exception. My company, KlingStubbins, is merging with Jacobs Global Buildings! What does this mean for you? I’m not really sure, but for us it is very exciting. It’s a publically traded company so buy stock if you can! This new Revit powerhouse will be making waves!
Here’s the 360+/- degree moment of the big announcement by our CEO Mike Lorenz and Jacobs’s Group VP, Tom McDuffie:

Here’s the press release
You can call us "KlingStubbins Inc. a Jacobs Company"

Ideate Explorer for Revit

We have been using Ideate Explorer for about 4 months now and have been finding it very useful in supporting and troubleshooting projects. It allows you to find lost CAD imports and links, export results to excel, view zone and space information, amongst many other features. There’s a free trial so check it out.

Noteblock for tracking comments in Revit

This is one of those ingenious uses of the tools in Revit to make collaborating better:
BIM Troublemaker: Comment Tracking Using Noteblock Scheduling

AIA Philadelphia TAP Announcement

In the AIA Philadelphia Chapter newsletter that was published July 27th 2011, the AIA announced the creation of the Philadelphia TAP group. I am posting this here because Revit currently plays a major role in the technology of the AEC industry and will most likely be a consistent thread of commonality weaving through the many topics of discussion. Follow the link to read the announcement. The announcement describes the need for a Technology in Architectural Practice(TAP) discussion in Philadelphia, it's affiliation with the National TAP group and identifies it’s Groupspaces website and contact information.
The announcement also requests nominations for Advisory Board members and encourages membership by all industry professionals in the Philadelphia area. If you are in Philadelphia, join the discussion here.

Open Revit Standard

The Twittersphere and bloggersphere is igniting over the "Open Revit Standard" http://openrevitstandards.com. I was reading the Knowledgesmart blog whom we are evaluating as a resource for evaluating new hires and staff, and think that their perspective may be shared as well by others. 
I would be interested to hear your thoughts, discussion, and if there’s participation from your companies?
Our 60-year old company is so far sticking firmly to it's belief that the contractor and client care deeply about our unique view titles and section marks and graphic titleblock and lineweights and symbols and so on. And they may be right, who knows. There is the aspect of professional pride in this as well. But as BIM standards go, and in terms of the National BIM standard and the success of the UK National BIM standard, an Open Standard following the form of Wikipedia in my opinion has got legs that can run and run.
It's an interesting concept and far from the proprietary environments of the past. One of the creators of this movement is Dave Fano who is a friend and colleague of mine and a is one of the geniuses behind the Design Reform site and Case Inc.

New Revit uniforms

If your office is considering implimenting Revit, make a splash with a Revit outfit like this. If you already are amongst the Revit guru firms, your star Revit team will look like real pros outfitted with these!

There's also a "Revit-Rave" pant with codpiece and shin balls(?) and Revit printed on the ass, made by the same company, for the more extreme Reviteers:

Package your Revit projects in a jiffy

Check out eTransmit for Revit, in the Labs now. A much appreciated tool provided by our friends at Autodesk. It's described as follows:

• Copy and detach a Revit model and associated files to a single folder for internet transmission. This removes the typical error messages when you copy central files using the operating system.
  
• Locate dependent files automatically and include them in the transmittal folder, reducing the possibility of error. All dependent files are automatically converted to use relative paths to ensure that the dependent files can be located by the model.
  
• Choose to include related dependent files such as linked Revit models, CAD files, DWF markups, decal images, and external keynote files. You can transmit any Revit (.rvt) model that has been upgraded to Revit Release 2012.
  
• Transmit models that are using file-based worksharing or server-based worksharing. eTransmit for Revit will also work with non-workshared Revit models.

There are some known issues and Revit 2012 Web Update 1 is recommended.

Rendering in the Cloud - Project Neon for Revit 2012

Check out Project Neon for Revit 2012.
http://neon.labs.autodesk.com/index.aspx
David Light -has a great post on this.

Natasha Luthra in my office ran a few images using our In house projects and the results were impressive. Other than a slight lag in accessing the server (apparently they are slammed with requests) the rendering itself took only a few minutes and even allowed her to add a few environment maps after the image was rendered. Best of all, she could continue to work on her project while the "Cloud" rendered her image.
According to #jvandezande this morning at about 10:30, it is currently having an issue with anyone who updated to SP1 but he says they are working on fixing it.

Revit 1.0

I enjoy coming across Revit-related things I have never seen before. Just now I ran into Jim Balding and Anthony Hauk hovering over a book of CD's that happened to be all of the earliest versions of Revit, including an original beta. Jim is going to install Version 1.0 on one of the lab computers here at the conference. Check it out:

Revit 2012 Viewer

Revit 2012 has a "Viewer mode" which is a method to enable the Revit-savvy Architects, Engineers, or Revit Illiterates access to explore a Revit model without any chance of effecting the Central file or production in the model. It is installed when you install the full version of Revit and accessed from the Windows Start menu program list.

The viewer allows all standard functionality of Revit but:

• You can't save or save as,
• You can't export or publish views/models *if you make any changes, but can export certain formats if no changes are made.
• You can't Print *if you make any changes, but can print if no changes are made.
• You can't edit elements in a workshared file, but you can if you open 'detached'.

In our office we use Navisworks Freedom for Project Leaders to review models. The difference between this and Navisworks freedom is that this is Revit and the model sizes we often create require higher levels of computer hardware to open, whereas Navisworks Freedom does not have high hardware requirements. Also, Navis. Freedom is far simpler and easier to use for the average Project Leader.

When you use the viewer to open up a workshared central file, Revit viewer mode uses a read-only method to lock you out of the central file preventing any and all ownership of elements, but still allows you reload latest, and therefore, monitor changes.
What is this Revit viewer useful for?

1. Reviewing models real-time, without fear of accidentally obtaining ownership of building elements
2. Checking the file History
3. Viewing coordination issues and running Interference checks
4. Walking through models without fear of accidentally obtaining ownership of building elements

The viewer does does not pull a license so keep that in mind if you use it.

Update: The commenter is correct that the viewer is not supposed to pull a license. I talked with the Revit platform manager about it. Viewer mode is re-titled Demo mode which you may have come across when you lose a license or went beyond the trial period.