Revit MEP 2010 to Estimating and CAM

Caught this video on YouTube from Technical Sales International on their external tool for Revit MEP 2010 that allows you to export Revit MEP objects to fabrication using CAM-Duct, CAM-Duct, and CAD-Mech.

Autodesk University 2009

Registration for Autodesk University 2009 has opened.

Navisworks Manage Tutorial Series

My friends over at 4D Technologies (CADLearning.com) have released a Navisworks Manage Tutorial Series of videos. I have not had a chance to look at the video yet, but I have been very pleased with the other videos that CADLearning.com has produced.

If you end up purchasing any videos, please mention KCRevit.com.

Chapter 1: Getting Started
User Interface
Workspaces
File Units
Managing Files
Object Enablers
Opening and Appending Files
Publishing Files
Realism Controls
Navigation
Head-up Display
Navigation Wheels
Navisworks Performance
Automatic Save and Recover Files
Cameras

Chapter 2: Review - Publisher
Selection Tree and Selecting Objects
Highlighting Options
Object Properties
Find Objects
Hide Objects
Selection Sets
Overriding Materials
Measuring Objects
Moving Objects
Viewpoints
Editing Viewpoints
Import/Export Viewpoints
Animations
Animation Slideshows
Make Comments
Smart Tags
Sectioning
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks Options
Comparing Models
Collaboration Toolbar
Switchback

Chapter 2: Review - Publisher
Rendering and Lighting Modes
Collision Detection
Adjust Display of Primitives
Database Support
Add Redlining

Chapter 3: Simulate - Timeliner
Timeline Interface
Create Tasks Manually
Create Tasks Automatically
Synchronize Tasks from External Scheduling Software
Simulation Playback
Configuring the Simulation
Export Simulation

Chapter 4: Simulate - Animator
Animator Interface
Creating Object Animations
Cameras and Viewpoints
Manipulate Objects in an Animation Set
Manipulation by Linear Movement
Manipulation by Rotation Movement
Manipulation by Scaling
Manipulation by Changing Color & Transparency
Section Plane Sets
Animation Scene Playback

Chapter 5: Simulate - Scripter
Scripter Interface
Managing Scripts
Events
On Start Event
On Timer Event
On Key Press Event
On Collision Event
On Hotspot Event
On Variable Event
On Animation Event
Actions
Play Animation Action
Stop Animation Action
Show Viewpoint Action
Pause Script Action
Send Message Action
Set Variable Action
Store Property Action
Load Model Action

Chapter 6: Simulate - Presenter
Presenter Interface
Add Materials
Add Lighting Effects
Add Background Effects
Add Rendering Effects
Export Rendered Images
Export Animation Video
Edit Materials

Chapter 6: Simulate - Presenter
Advanced Material Editing
Ground Planes
Individual Light Effects
Image-Based Lighting
Environment Backgrounds and Reflections
Custom Environments
Light Scattering
RPC Content

Chapter 7: Manage - Clash Detective
Clash Detective Interface
Select Items to Clash
Clash Settings
Clash Rules
Clash Results
Clash Comments
Clash Reports
Clash Audit Checks
Batch Clash Tests
Export/Import Clash Results
Custom Clash Tests
Laser Scan Data Clashing
Holding and Releasing Objects
Switchback with Clash
Preparing a Time-Based Clash
Clash Timeliner Report

2009 UI in 2010

If you wish that you could use the 2009 UI in 2010, here is the solution for you:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13126336&linkID=9243099

Revit Support for the Mac

Autodesk Expands Support for Mac Users

Autodesk is expanding assistance for Macintosh® users by adding support for Boot Camp for select products in addition to offering native Mac OS products.

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The good news to Mac users is that you can now get official support if you are running certain Autodesk products like Revit via Bootcamp on a Mac.

RAC 2010 WU1

Have you installed wed update 1 yet?



I haven't had time to install it on any of my test boxes. However, a collegue, friend and mentor (I think reluctantly) has installed the updated and made some interesting comments.

• Fixed the Course / Medium / Fine detail icons in the view control bar by putting back the old ones.


• The ribbon is still there and refreshes slower.


• If you made any changes to your QAT bar, they’re gone – the QAT gets reset to add a Sync To Central button.


• Some of the commands that are layered save the last command run, but some don’t.

He summed things up by indicating that there is actually less clarity now than before.

I would be interested in hearing what others think about the changes in WU1.

Changing the File Association of Revit files

From The Revit Clinic

If you have multiple versions of Revit on your system and you open files by double-clicking on them in Windows Explorer, you may find that Revit doesn't launch the version you want it to. If you have trouble with this, please try the following:

This example will set .RVT files to open with Revit Structure 2010.

Go to the Control Panel > Folder Options.
In the Folder Options dialog, click the File Types tab.
Scroll down to the RVT file type. In the bottom pane, click the Advanced button (if you've already made changes, click Restore, then the Advanced button will appear).
In the Edit File Type dialog, click New.
Under Action, type Open with Revit Structure 2010.
In the Application used to perform action field, type "C:\Program Files\Autodesk Revit Structure 2010\Program\Revit.exe" "%1".
Click OK to exit the dialogs.

Revit Architecture 2010

Web update 1 has been released.

Building Skills with Skill Builders

This post is from The Revit Clinic

A friend of mine responsible for coming up with Revit Architecture tutorials asked me to announce some new tutorials that are available for everyone to download.

The User Assistance team for Revit Architecture has recently released the first of the Skill Builders for Revit Architecture 2010. The first skill builder is a tutorial covering the Conceptual Design Environment (new massing) in Revit 2010. The tutorial is a series of 6 short animations covering topics of making forms and applying parameters to them and creating panels which can be applied to your conceptual forms. The Conceptual Design Skill Builder can be downloaded from the flowing location, or accessed from inside of Revit Architecture via the InfoCenter.

Skill Builders: Conceptual Design

The Skill Builders give the User Assistance team the opportunity to deliver updated content on a regular basis. The traditional tutorials shipped with Revit give users a great foundation to start using Revit as soon as possible while the Skill Builders will expand on that base of knowledge and explore more specific topics in depth.

The User Assistance team is always looking for user feedback so let us know what you think of our first Skill Builder and what topics you might like to see covered in future Skill Builders. So please comment with your feedback and thoughts about other tutorials you would like to see.

Library Viewer for Revit - Thumbnail Explorer

I thought I would pass along a very inexpensive utility that allows users to quickly locate content in your Revit library. One of my favorite tools like I like is the Thumbnail Explorer from Raiz Labs.

Thumbnail Explorer is an easy to use tool for anyone who deals with graphics, and CAD files. The software indexes your library of Revit files and allows you to quickly and visually find any file across multiple folders without browsing or using Windows search. As you type a part of the file name Thumbnail Explorer will show a list of thumbnails and will enable you to work with corresponding files without resorting to Windows Explorer. You can then drag and drop from Thumbnail Explorer into Revit.

We have a fairly extensive library and unfortunately we have some duplicate families in there. While I have two other tools to manage our library, Thumbnail Explorer can also be used to do some very rudimentary management of our your library. For example, if you search for Windows, Thumbnail Explorer will list all families with the name Window in it. You can then delete the duplicates.

A free trial of the software is available and per user copies are just $10. The program was developed by Leonid Raiz one of the founders of Revit and is available for download at:http://www.raizlabs.com/software/thumbnailexplorer/

IE 8 and Revit Architecture 2009 problem

I just ran across a problem on workstations with Internet Explorer 8 and Revit Architecture 2009. After an update to WSE 3 SP3 (Web Service Enhancements) was applied during the installation of another application and impacts Internet Explorer 8, Revit Architecture would crash when you try to start a new project with a template or open an existing project. This would result in a fatal error.

Autodesk support could not narrow down which Interner Explorer 8 component was causing the problem, but uninstall IE 8 and going back to IE 7 allowed RAC 2009 to function. None of the workstations with the error have RAC 2010 installed, so I am not aware if this impacts RAC 2010.