Thumbnail previews for RVT/RFA files

For one reason or another, several of our Revit 2011 installs cause Windows not to display the thumbnail preview of Revit project (.rvt) and Families (.rfa). After speaking with Adsk support, they determined the problem to be with Windows and not Revit. The fix is pretty easy.

You first need to open a DOS Window in Windows. From the Windows Start menu, click Run and then type "cmd" in the Run dialog. This will open a DOS Window. In the command line then type:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ Revit Architecture 2011\Program\Revit.FilePreview.dll"

The Revit.FilePreview.dll will register the DLL library for previews. If everything registered successfully, a successful registration of the DLL module should appear and the thumbnail previews will appear.

Workset Visibility in Revit 2011 - Inside the System

Workset Visibility in Revit 2011

From Inside the System

Has this ever happened to you?

"Frankly, I’m annoyed by having to turn on my workset every time I create a new view. "

When a workset is created, there is an option to make it not visible by default. If you've run into the scenario above, this box was unchecked when the workset was created.

One work-around is to create a new workset that is 'Visible in all views', and then delete the original workset. When you delete a workset that contains elements, you have to option to move those elements to another workset, so you can move them to the newly created workset. However, be aware that when you do this, those elements may be visible in views where they weren't previously visible (assuming their category is visible in those views). So, you may need to 'clean up' after yourself, to turn off the worksets where they're not needed.

New in 2011 is the ability to change your mind about the workset visibility default. In the worksets dialow, there is a new column titled 'Visible in all views' where you can toggle this setting.

This setting is then tied to the 'Use Global Setting' option in a view's visibility graphic overrides settings. The Global Setting will indicate Visible or Not Visible as appropriate. You also have the options of Show and Hide as in previous releases.

I have advised against unchecking the 'Visible in all views' option prior to 2011, because if a file had worksets marked as such, there was no way to turn on the worksets when linked into a host model. However, now with 2011, you have the ability to control the visiblity of worksets in linked files.

However, I would still advise to exercise judgement when making something not visible by default. Consider a scenario where roof drains are on a workset marked not visible in all views in the architectural model. The plumbing designer, not knowing any better, doesn't go looking for roof drains in toggled off worksets.. he just expects to see them if they exist in the project. IMO, it is better to have things visible, then turned off by the 'view owner' if/when not needed.

Better control of workset visibility, especially for linked files, is a great enhancement in Revit 2011.

Where is the ceiling?!!? Check the Underlay Orientation - Revit Clinic

Where is the ceiling?!!? Check the Underlay Orientation

from The Revit Clinic

Fewer things in life are more frustrating then when you think you have all the bases covered, and yet you’ve overlooked the obvious.

Here’s a real-life example: A friend of mine owned a lawn mower that would not start. So after doing a little research online (as he was not a small engine mechanic by trade), he performed some basic maintenance: cleaned fuel filter, carburetor and belts, checked the spark plug, and changed the oil. Satisfied that he did everything by the book, he put the mower back together and gave the pull-cord a yank. No dice. He tried again. Nothing. Getting frustrated, he started the tried-and-true method of kicking the mower. Still wouldn’t start. Finally, after calling the (inanimate) mower a slew of bad names and threatening the (lifeless) mower with certain harm and even permanent injury, I….umm..I mean, my friend thought, ‘Hmmm. I wonder if there’s enough gasoline in the tank’.

We all know how this story ends. Gas was added and mower started on the second try. Despite being so thorough, the obvious item (gas) was overlooked. My buddy felt kinda silly, but you can bet that will be one of the first things he’ll check next time.

The same principle applies to resolving issues in Revit. Sometimes, it’s the seemingly obvious things that we forget to check. One specific issue that has come up several times from Revit MEP users is the inability to see the ceiling grid in their ceiling plan views, particularly when the ceiling is on a linked model. In most of these cases, customers have done their due diligence and checked all the right things:

• Ceiling category is on in Visibility/Graphics
• Worksets are visible
• The view range settings are correct
• The view discipline is set properly
• The correct view template has been applied
• The linked model actually has a ceiling grid

Yet, after verifying all of this, the ceiling still does not appear. Frustrating. But, what is the one thing that these individuals often overlook? It is the Underlay Orientation setting in the view properties.

In Revit MEP, Underlay Orientation can be set to either Plan or Reflected Ceiling Plan. By default, this parameter is set to Plan when creating new reflected ceiling plan views. As long as it is set to Plan, the ceiling grid will not be visible. Seems so obvious, right? Well, not necessarily. With good reason, most users assume that applying a ceiling plan view template (i.e. Mechanical Ceiling), would cause the ceiling to appear. Unfortunately, Underlay Orientation is not controlled by a view template; it has to be manually changed in the view to Reflected Ceiling Plan. This is the part that is not so obvious, which is why I employed the formatting trifecta of bold, italics and underline to emphasize it (similar to: Mower needs gas to start!!!)

Here is a brief video illustrating this. In the video, you’ll note that new levels are copied/monitored from the link, and new reflected ceiling plans are created from these levels. However, no ceiling grid appears in the view. Applying the mechanical ceiling view template doesn’t work either. It’s not until the Underlay Orientation setting is changed in the properties window that the ceiling appears.

I hope that highlighting this not-so-obvious step will help our readers avoid the frustrating process of trying to do something as basic as displaying a ceiling grid in their Revit MEP project. At the very least, this knowledge might help you avoid acting like this guy. Screaming at inanimate, lifeless objects like Revit seldom works; it didn’t work for me……uhhhhh.…I mean….my friend.

Oh, and by the way, to answer your question: Yes, a wish request has been logged to have Underlay Orientation automatically set to Reflected Ceiling Plan when creating a reflected ceiling plan view.

Silenting installing Revit Add-ons

Working for an organization with multi offices, installing software can be a time consuming. I'm not IT, don't want to be IT, but making sure that everyone has functioning software is more often than not something a BIM or CAD Manager needs to attend to.

To minimize time someone has to spend installing software, I wanted to create a batch file to install Revit and then the add-ons. The only interaction I want to have to do for the install if to double click on a single file and walk away. Working with some of the talented people at Autodesk I have been able to create a batch file to install the main product and several add-ons for Revit. The add-ons, like worksharing monitor are the tricky ones to silently (no user interaction) to install.

To automate the install process, the first thing I did was create a network deployment. Autodesk's Help file provides some basic information on completing that task. For add-ons that are a standard .msi file, I used one of the following command lines to install the software in silent mode (thank you Anthony).

msiexec /i /quiet
msiexec /i /passive
msiexec /i /qn (No UI)
msiexec /i /qb (Basic UI)
msiexec /i /qr (Reduced UI)

I now could then make my batch file to install Revit. The following is the basic syntax for installing:

pushd \\network folder install location
RevitVersion.lnk (name of the network deployment shortcut)
msiexec /i addonname.msi /quiet

Below is the batch file that I created for our Revit Architecture 2011 64-bit install. Note that we store our add-ons in a different folder location so we don't need to have duplicate copies for 64 and 32-bit versions as well as Revit flavors. Comments are shown in itlaic

pushd \\adclic03\bim\Installs\RAC2011\64-bit\
RAC2011-64.lnk
popd (This resets the folder location)
pushd \\adclic03\bim\Installs\RAC2011\Additional add-ons\ (location for 2011 add-ons)
msiexec /i worksharingmonitor.msi /quiet (installs worksharing monitor)
msiexec /i globelink2011.msi /quiet (installs globe link)
msiexec /i 2011dblinksetup.msi /quiet (installs DB Link)

This has simplified the install procedures, but we must still install any add-ons that are an .EXE separately like the Revit Extensions. I'm sure there is a way to do that, just haven't found it yet.

There are of course other methods to install apps, like pushing thru Group Policy, but I don't have a means to perform that. If you have any suggestions or comments, let me know.

Revit OpEd: Dept. of Subtle - Moving Fields in a Schedule

Revit OpEd: Dept. of Subtle - Moving Fields in a Schedule: "As you probably already know, moving schedule fields around is limited to a Move Up and Move Down button in the Schedule properties dialog. ..."

Multiple Layer Slabs and Slab Edges - From The Revit Clinic

Multiple Layer Slabs and Slab Edges

From The Revit Clinic

When a substrate layer is added to a floor's structure, it will cut the slab edge, rather than the edge cutting through and directly attaching to the slab. While some of you may be aware of possible ways to work around this, I wanted to relay a method as I still see the question float around.

The following screenshot shows the default behavior when you add an edge to a slab with a substrate layer:

To have the edge cut through that layer, first Unjoin the geometry:

Then Join it, making sure to select the edge first and then the slab:

I hope this helps!

Revit OpEd: Revit MEP and CADworks - Online Presentation

Revit OpEd: Revit MEP and CADworks - Online Presentation: "I received an invitation to a presentation of the new piping productivity pack that CADworks has released. Here's a little bit of what the e..."

Revit OpEd: File Size - A Red Herring?

Revit OpEd: File Size - A Red Herring?: "Every now and then I read a post on a blog or user forum advocating various techniques to reduce a Revit project's file size. Is file size a..."

Quick Tip - Evenly Spacing Pipes - Insid the System - Revit MEP [Tip]

Quick Tip - Evenly Spacing Pipes - Insid the System - Revit MEP [Tip]

Revit OpEd: Revit Technology Conference 2011 - USA

Revit OpEd: Revit Technology Conference 2011 - USA: "I've mentioned the Revit Technology Conference before but now that a little bit more has been sorted out I'm writing again. The location wil..."

Revit3D.com / IamBIM.com - BIMBoom Revitlution - BIM Unfiltered: Revit in Motion: Sheet Grid Guides

Revit3D.com / IamBIM.com - BIMBoom Revitlution - BIM Unfiltered: Revit in Motion: Sheet Grid Guides