What Revit Wants

Talking Dynamo with Zach Kron

2013-05-17T13:07:00.003+10:00

The latest Vasari Talk (29) has been uploaded. Playlist embedded below:

Another Add-in Challenge = determine Wall orientation relative to North and add to Parameter

2013-05-17T11:35:00.000+10:00

I received this request via email:
a question in revit vasari or you can get the orientation and exposure of a face of a mass or a wall
for example classify all the walls to the north or the south-west?
and put them in a schedule of the walls?

Vanilla Revit can't do this. But perhaps someone would like to make a little add-in, macro or script that processes Walls, determines their 'facing' orientation, and then inputs this data into a Shared Parameter of Walls? Successful challenger will obviously get a mention on the blog.

Maybe something like this already exists out there... Feel free to comment!

ANSWER
Thanks to Amy Manning, who 'reminded' me that Case do have a tool that does exactly that :-)

@lukeyjohnson doesn't case have one like this? It reports either the orientation or the angle of the wall and writes it to a parameter.
— Amy Manning (@amyonymous) May 17, 2013

Its the aptly named "External Wall Facings". More info at this link.

Much of the legwork was done back in this 2010 post by Jeremy:
The Building Coder: South Facing Walls

Note: I used my Revit Master Search, which led me to this post, which led me to Sort and Mark by tools4revit. However, I don't think this adds orientation relative to North - I'm pretty sure it just determines Flip/Mirror orentation?

Using Extended Entity Data to determine the "original" Revit Category

2013-05-16T14:45:00.000+10:00

Jeremy shows how you can review a DWG file to determine if the source entities were Text or Labels in Revit. This principle extends further, as he describes:

The differing TypedValue 11 is consistently -2000300 for a text and -2000280 for a label element.
What does this mean?
Well, is actually quite easy.
On seeing these large negative numbers in this specific range, an experienced Revit developer will quickly suspect built-in category or parameter enumeration values.
You can check what they actually represent in the Visual Studio debugger, by jumping to the definition of these enumerations and searching for the specific values.
Looking back at an ancient blog post on the DWG and DXF export Xdata specification confirms that these numbers do indeed represent the built-in category of the source element and thus can be used to distinguish the two.

via
The Building Coder: DWG Issues and Various Other Updates

Revit Interoperability for Inventor 2014 - Update Release 1

2013-05-15T09:32:00.003+10:00

Update Release 1 is not a full install; rather it is using service pack technology similar to AutoCAD®- based products. Prior to installing the Update Release 1, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Inventor 2014.
You can apply this update to Autodesk Inventor 2014 running on all supported operating systems and languages. Consult the readme file for installation instructions and be sure to install the correct update (32-bit or 64-bit) for your software and operating system. This Update Release improves data integrity and visual fidelity when exchanging models with Revit.

	Revit Interoperability for Inventor 2014 - UR1 (32-bit) (exe - 36351Kb)
	Revit Interoperability for Inventor 2014 - UR1 (64-bit) (exe - 52375Kb)

Readme (select language version):

English (htm - 29Kb)

via
Autodesk - Autodesk Inventor Services & Support - Revit Interoperability for Inventor 2014 - Update Release 1

Autodesk 360 update - Live Update 1

2013-05-15T09:31:00.000+10:00

This update applies to Autodesk 360 desktop companion if your version is 4.0.27.1 to 4.0.32.100.
To see your version of your 360 desktop companion: log into Autodesk 360, right-click on the system tray icon and select preferences (the version is listed in this dialog).
Fixes in this live update include but are not limited to:

Better Inventor file and folder structure support
Customer Error Reporting Support
Performance fixes
Stability Improvements

Please close all applications before installing and restart after installing. Be sure to install the correct update (32-bit or 64-bit) for your operating system.

	Autodesk 360 desktop companion live update (32-bit) (exe - 6160Kb)
	Autodesk 360 desktop companion live update (64-bit) (exe - 7422Kb)

More information about Autodesk 360 desktop companion can be found at the Autodesk 360 FAQ.

via
Autodesk - AutoCAD Civil 3D Services & Support - Live Update 1 for Autodesk 360 desktop companion

The difference between Parameters and Groups from 2013 to 2014

2013-05-13T15:08:00.001+10:00

Good post from Dave Light - he describes how you can use a Generic Model family to schedule group instances in Revit 2013, or use the parameter variance ability in Revit 2014 to drive data between Group instances and Schedules. Cool huh?

From David Light's blog

Read the whole post:
Revit: Scheduling Apartments

Autodesk Suite Uninstallation Tools

2013-05-13T13:44:00.000+10:00

Building Design Suites as of 2014 have a built-in uninstallation tool (very handy).

For (some) 2013 suites:
How to perform an automated uninstallation of the AutoCAD Design Suite 2013 family of products

You could also go the "manual" route:
How to remove all Autodesk products from a Windows system

2013: How to Complete a Clean Install [Uninstall] of Revit products

2012: How to Complete a Clean Install [Uninstall] of Revit products

Heads-up via
revit in plain english: Building Design Suite 2014 Unistaller
via
https://twitter.com/MicroCAD3d/statuses/332585560122224640

Comprehensive list of Autodesk Product Keys

2013-05-09T14:42:00.001+10:00

Note: these are not serial numbers. Microsol Resources (an Autodesk Gold Partner), have posted two pages, covering Autodesk products from 2010 through 2014. Here are the links:

Product Keys for Autodesk Products (2010-2013) | microsolresources

Product Keys for 2014 Autodesk Products | microsolresources

Another 'Studio' addin - this time for Revit Door openings

2013-05-09T13:14:00.001+10:00

I recently posted about a Window Studio, now here is a Door and Door Hardware Studio (addin for Revit) ... Assa Abloy Openings Studio (AOSS).

Unfortunately, it is very limited in availability. When I inquired about it, Assa Abloy told me:
Not at this time we let it to professionals who we work with directly.
The main problem is that it is an American tool for our North American
brands.
So sorry it is not available at this time.

Interesting chat on Twitter as to its usefulness:

Company link:
Openings Studio - assaabloydss.com - School Safety, Locks, Doors, Access Control

Note: you don't need to put in your address when filling in the register form...

There is the beginnings of a tutorial channel on Youtube:

Also:
Door Scheduling Made Easy Thanks To ‘Openings Studio’ By ASSA ABLOY | Floosted by Architizer .

72 min NYC-RUG session about ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio for Revit on Vimeo:

ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio for Revit from Alfred Huang on Vimeo.

Related NYC-RUG link:
ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio for Revit. - New York City Revit User Group (New York, NY) - Meetup

Heads-up:
Twitter conversation

Links via:
Architizer Blog � Door Scheduling Made Easy Thanks To ‘Openings Studio’ By ASSA ABLOY

Course materials for download - Revit for Landscape Architecture

2013-05-08T14:11:00.002+10:00

Wow - a free course for Landscape Architects who want to use Revit!

It includes:

session recordings of 5 lectures
handouts (pdfs and rvt / rfa / pdf / dwg files) from each session

Check them out and download at:
LADcourses: LAD202 - BIM for landscape architecture using Revit

The official course name is LAD202 – 3D Computer Modelling for Landscape Architecture - spring 2013 – part#2 using Revit Architecture

Heads-up:
Revit Landscape - Urban Design by Åge Langedrag

Dutch Revit Standards for download

2013-05-08T14:01:00.001+10:00

Dutch Revit standard (template) for download:

Download - RevitGG.nl
Translated version

There is a link to download version 0.8 from Dropbox at this page.

The download includes content like:

project template
families
family templates
materials
resource files (CAD import / export maps, Shared Parameters and more)

Happily, these standards are Creative Commons licensed.

Heads-up http://www.revitgg.nl

Permanently Remove Areas and Remove Empty Tags addins

2013-05-08T11:58:00.004+10:00

Dima has moved his blog to http://dp-stuff.org/

Here are the most recent two addins:

PermRemovAreasRooms Revit Addin

PermRemoveAreasRooms Revit API addin allows you to delete rooms or areas permanently on the fly directly from any of your Revit views without having to do it from the Revit schedule. You have two options: either pre-select the elements and run the tool to delete just the rooms/areas in your selection, or you can collect ids of rooms/areas that you want to get rid of and copy/paste them via “Type In Element Ids” method.
04-02-2013 PermRemoveAreasRooms2013 (DOWNLOAD for Revit 2013)

RemoveEmptyTags Revit Addin

Just as the name suggests this Revit addin allows you to find and remove empty tags from your Revit 2013 document. You will have two options whether you want to remove empty tags in the active view or in the whole document. You can use it in conjunction with out-of-the-box Revit Tag All tool.

03-25-2013 RemoveEmptyTags2013 (DOWNLOAD for Revit 2013)

via LinkedIn:
Hi Luke,
Just posted a PermRemoveAreasRooms tool on my blog as a part of my revit Utils. Little tool that I use a lot when having to delete Rooms / Areas permanently from my revit doc.

Also here's another one(RemoveEmptyTags) that I posted last week:

Incase you find it useful please don't hesitate to share the link with your readers.

Do Worksets have a place in modern Revit?

2013-05-08T10:44:00.003+10:00

Non-recent comment from Kyle (Autodesk staffer):
Recognizing that Worksets alone were not flexible enough to facilitate productive collaboration in many cases, we implemented Element Borrowing. This enabled the transparent borrowing of elements when a user operation required them to be editable, without the need to explicitly "check out" of the entire Workset that contained them.

So Element Borrowing is really the implementation of Worksharing in modern Revit. Worksets were never deprecated, since many existing users at the time still used them for their original purpose. Even today, we see the pre-Element Borrowing understanding of Worksets discussed and implemented in the market. Ultimately, that's our fault for not communicating as effectively as possible with the Revit community.

Check out the whole thread:
Some thoughts on Revit Worksets and Worksharing | LinkedIn

Migrating from AutoCAD to Revit?

2013-05-08T09:58:00.003+10:00

Some wisdoms from Paul Aubin:
BIM isn’t a particular product, but rather a description of the process and intent of the deliverables used to describe, construct, and even maintain a facility. It’s therefore possible to deliver BIM with any tool, even AutoCAD.

The hardest part of the transition from AutoCAD to Revit is not the learning of the new tools and interface, but rather the “unlearning” of AutoCAD approaches and replacing the thought process used to approach a building design project with the corresponding Revit-based workflow.

In other words (dare I say it), you need to learn What Revit Wants...

Read the whole post:
How to approach migrating from AutoCAD to Revit | lynda.com | lynda.blog

Workflow for Iterative Design using Revit and 3ds Max

2013-05-08T09:45:00.000+10:00

Interesting post with some helpful graphics, images and videos from Payette:

Read the whole post:
Workflow for Iterative Design: Revit and 3ds Max

Void Visibility Tricks

2013-05-08T09:37:00.003+10:00

Ever wanted to "hide" a void, or stop it from cutting? There are at least two ways:

1) parametrically moving the void outside of the solid form when you dont want it to cut (this is the "old way")

or this interesting solution via Twitter:
2)

@revitspace @the_reviteer @barleyboy voids in host based family duplicate nest one not cut geometry link family type to yes no done easy.145
— Johnny Furlong (@FurlongJonathan) March 22, 2013

IFC updates (including Revit 2014)

2013-05-08T09:27:00.000+10:00

via email (note that the Sourceforge link for the 2014 UI is recommended over the App Store version):

You are getting this message because you downloaded a version of IFC Exporter for Revit 2013/2014 or Revit IFC Export Alternate UI prior to May 7, 2013. We have posted updates, which you can get to using the links below:

IFC Exporter for Revit 2014 (v3.2):

http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3aifcexporterforrevit2014%3aen

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2014 (v2.2): (* See note 2 below)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ifcexporter/files/2014%20UI/IFC%20Export%20UI%20for%20Autodesk%20Revit%202014%20v2.2.0.msi/download

IFC Exporter for Revit 2013 (v2.10):

http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3aifcexporterforrevit%3aen

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2013 (v1.10):

http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3arevitifcexportalternateui%3aen

Note 1: The 2014 versions will also work on Revit 2014 LT, which now supports IFC export.

Note 2: The 2014 UI version on the App Store currently has a problem with the “Assignments” button. Please use the version from SourceForge instead and we will update the App Store version ASAP.

Updates from the previous versions are listed below. Please upgrade to the newest version!

If you do not wish to receive upgrade notices, please reply and I will make sure you don’t get these notices in the future.

Regards,

Angel Velez

Senior Principal Engineer

Autodesk, Inc.

What’s new for IFC Exporter for Revit 2014 v3.2/ IFC Exporter for Revit 2014 v2.10:

New Functionality:

- Add property sets: Pset_ElectricalDeviceCommon, Pset_SwitchingDeviceTypeCommon, Pset_SwitchingDeviceTypeToggleSwitch

- Add support for electrical current, electrical voltage, frequency, and positive plane angle units.

- Allow Name/ObjectType/Description override for IfcSystem.

- Allow using "IfcExportAs" = "DontExport" to remove an individual element or type from the export.

- Export DuctLining.

- Export Groups, including nested groups, as IfcGroup.

- Export electrical systems and connectors.

- Export local coordinate system for IfcDistributionPorts.

- Export PipeInsulation.

Bug Fixes:

- Allow MEP zones to export Pset_ZoneCommon, fix 2 property names.

- Correct export of parts for Coordination View 2.0.

- Correct height of Revit Areas.

- Correct material assignment for generic MEP exporter.

- Correct units and unit scaling for volumetric flow rate.

- Fix export of multi-storey stairs.

- Get material for ducts and pipes from system.

- Properly associate internal ElementType Revit property sets with IfcElementType, instead of adding to instances.

- Properly scale door and window lining properties.

- Protect against trying to add a null property to an IfcPropertySet.

- Remove extraneous property sets when exporting Rebars.

- Remove stale IfcSurfaceStyle and IfcPresentationStyleAssignment handles from caches for some aborted attempts to export items as multiple IfcExtrudedAreaSolid.

- Return correct Boolean value for GetBooleanAtribute function.

What’s new for IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2014 v2.2/ IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2013 v1.10:

General:

We did some work to try to make the UI a little more user-friendly. This wasn't intended as a complete overhaul, but instead an improvement within the current setup of the alternate UI. This includes:

1st Page of Export:

- Change default to "IFC2x3 Coordination View 2.0" MVD from "Default 2x3", which was the original IFC2x3 Coordination View MVD.

- Don't create an "Update Setups" transaction unless "Modify Setup..." is chosen.

- Move the "Export..." button to the lower-right, next to the "Cancel" button.

- Remove the "Save setups and close" button; setups will be automatically saved when pressing "OK" button "Modify Setup" page.

- Re-order and rename the built-in configurations to match the real file versions and MVD names.

- Sort the table into "included" and "not included" for customizable options.

2nd Page of Export:

- OK button saves configuration changes; no need for "Save setups and close" button.

- Re-group the custom options into more logical groups.

Downloading Subscriber Benefit Apps from Autodesk Exchange

2013-05-03T14:58:00.002+10:00

There are now 9 apps for Revit 2014 uploaded to Autodesk Exchange that are classed as "Subscriber Benefit Apps". These are basically standalone install packages for things that are bundled up in the Revit Extensions package.

You can view the list (and download the packages) here:
http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/en/List/Search?productline=RVT&query=&facet=_subscriberBenefitApps&collection=

Note: you will need to login to your Subscription account, then go to Autodesk Exchange (or use the above link).

This same list is copied from the Revit Extensions feature summary:
o    Wood Walls Framing, Roof Framing, and Roof Trusses extensions are
available now as Timber Framing package
o    Compare Models
o    Grids Generator
o    Civil Structures
o    CIS/2 Import/Export
o    SDNF Import/Export
o    Excel based model generation
o    Frame Generator
o    Composite Design

Setting Workplane of a view with keyboard shortcuts

2013-05-02T22:14:00.001+10:00

As most of you know, I love keyboard shortcuts. Harry shows you how you can map an external tool to a keyboard shortcut to make this happen:

via
Setting a view’s work plane with keyboard shortcuts | Boost Your BIM - making Revit even better

So Harry, where's the code? :-)

Index to Tips and Tricks (RFO)

2013-05-02T22:09:00.001+10:00

Just in case you haven't seen it yet - you should check out this great thread on RFO:
.......Index to Tips and Tricks.......

Remove all Views not on Sheets

2013-05-02T22:02:00.001+10:00

... by using a very wild script from dp Stuff!

Comes with a disclaimer:
Warning! Make sure you don't run this script on your central model - detach it from central first. Because once the views are gone - they are GONE! Don't tell me that I didn't warn you - use it at your own risk.
Download Revit IronPython Shell script via
dp Stuff: Remove Working Views With Python Shell and Revit API

Convert Family from Wall to Face based

2013-05-02T21:58:00.001+10:00

Have you created a heap of wall based families that you would like convert to face based? Jarod Schultz provides a nice workaround for this. Essentially, you Link and then Copy/Monitor the elements, then when you use the Edit Family button, Revit swaps them to Face based for you!

"Get into a 3D view so it is easier to see your linked file and the lighting fixture. We are now going to use the “Copy/Monitor -> Select Link” tool to “Copy” in the light fixture."

Read the whole post at:
Jarod Schultz: Revit Wall/Face Based Family Trick | Jarod Schultz

New Revit 2014 SDK, and the gbXML2dwfx tool

2013-05-02T21:49:00.001+10:00

Two great tips via The Building Coder today. Firstly, the updated Revit SDK is available for download from here. Here are some links:

	Revit 2014 SDK (Update April 24, 2013) (exe - 217899Kb)
	Revit 2013 SDK (Update April 11, 2012) (exe - 161112Kb)
	Revit 2012 SDK (Update June 22, 2011) (exe - 151105Kb)

Secondly, did you realise that Revit 2014 comes with a tool to convert gbXML data into a dwfx file? Look in your Revit program folder for a file called gbXML2dwfx.exe

Using Whitefeet Parameter Math tool to copy a untaggable System parameter into a Shared Parameter

2013-05-01T10:37:00.003+10:00

In the image below, I show the basic process used to drive a Floor Area parameter into a manually added shared parameter. Obviously, this scenario is not ideal - the data link isn't dynamic, so we have essentially created a mini-silo (that's what I'm going to call "in-software unlinked BIM") right inside Revit.

In any case, here is how you can quickly do it with Whitefeet tools (start at 1 and follow the arrows):

I previously posted another workaround for this - using a filtered schedule:
Tag Floor Area in Revit workaround

Extensions for Revit 2014 available for download on Subscription portal

2013-04-30T09:41:00.001+10:00

Check out your Subscription page: