Model Checking - How I use Assemble System's Insight

Before I get started, I want to point out that everything I am about to show can be done in Revit. You can make the same views and schedules I am going to show in Assemble System’s Insight in Revit. Ideally that is where the work should be done. But not every member of the project team may have access to Revit or even know how to use Revit. So having someone with limited experience play in the model can be a little scary. I like using Assemble for these types of tasks because the software is very easy to use and it allows project stakeholders that might not be proficient in Revit the ability to consume BIM data, as they need it.

If you are not familiar with Assemble, it is a cloud base data management tool that runs thru a browser. The tool basically allows you very easy access to model data and geometry without having to open Revit. You can also edit property data in Assemble and push the changes back to Revit. So when I am using the Assemble for Model Checking, the focus is on the data (parameters) checks not the geometry checks. If I want to look at focus on geometry, then I use Navisworks or Solibri.
One of the first couple example checks I like to do is look at:

• Wall Functions
• Curtain Walls/Storefront & Windows
• Fire Rated Elements
• Change Management

The first example I am going to show is how to look at the Wall’s Type Property Function. The screenshot below shows an example model and the image can be broken up into three sections from left to right.

The Left section is the Visibility Settings or the Filter that is used to create the view. This is somewhat similar to using Revit’s Visibility Graphics dialog to control what is being displayed in the view. In the case of Assemble, we are filtering by the Revit Category and by Properties.

The Middle Section is the model viewer.

The Right section is the Properties palette. All the parameters (including shared) from Revit are visible in Assemble and organized by Instance and Type via the tabs at the top.



The view that I created above was setup to show me All Walls with a Function of Foundation but exclude anything that has a Type Name of Massing. As you can see, we have some walls shown in the view that are not Foundation walls. I can either send a screen shot of this to the designer, refer them to the view (Assemble license allows for unlimited users per project card) or I can change the Function parameter value from Foundation to Exterior in Assemble and since the data back to Revit.

The next view I like to make is looking at Curtain Walls/Storefront and Windows. As we all know, a Curtain Wall and a Window are two different components. Scheduled, manufactured, priced, etc differently. For many users though, it is a lot easier to create a custom Window using a Curtain Wall than creating a new or editing an existing Window Family. This is a great example of how someone that may not be proficient with Revit can review the model and look for issues, like when Curtain Walls are used for Windows. If an estimator sees this and they are using Revit to extract quantities, they at least know there is a deficiency in the model and can take that into account.



The next example is reviewing Fire Rated elements. With Assemble, because we are looking at parameter data, we have a lot of flexibility as to what we are going to display. In the example below though, I simply created a new showing the components that have an applied Fire Rating. In this example, I just looking at the Architecture model, but I could do this across all disciplines as needed. In reviewing the model, I can see that the overwhelming majority of my doors to not have a Fire Rating assigned. As in the previous example, if I am a PM or a Senior Project Architect or Engineer that has limited Revit experience, I can change the Fire Rating assignments in Assemble and then push that data back to Revit.



The last example I want to discuss in this post if Change Management and I am using this term very, very loosely. One of the powerful features of Assemble is the ability to quickly see what has changed in the model from one version to another using Assemble’s Show Changes tool. Whenever a model is published to Assemble, that model is stored in a separate database from other versions of the same model. So Assemble is able to compare the Revit Element ID’s from one version to another very quickly. Items that have been Added, Removed, Type Change or a Quantity Change are displayed graphically as well as in a spreadsheet like view. Unfortunately, the one thing that the Show Changes tool does not do is show if a element has moved. So if a door moved within a wall, that will not show.



Another great feature of this Show Changes functionality for the non-Revit user is the ability to see how the model is changing. I hear it a lot from more seasoned staff who are not Revit users who are managing Revit users and not knowing how long it is going to take for a task to be complete or having the ability to check work without having someone print a set of PDFs. With Assemble, it is very quick and easy to see what changes have been made.

As I mentioned at the start of the post, everything I have shown can be done in Revit. If you can’t use or access Revit though, then you can’t utilize the data in the model. I use Assemble because its a data management platform for model data that can be used by just about anyone.

Full Disclosure - In addition to my BIM/VDC Consulting, I work for Assemble Systems as their Customer Success Manager. I was introduced to Assemble while working for a design firm and I quickly realized the strengths as a data management tool as well as giving the non-refit user access to the model and model data. The product learning curve is extremely shallow and very functional.

Model Checking Made Easy - Assemble Systems

Due to time constraints at my AUx Dubai presentation, we ran out of time and I wasn't able to cover all the functionality of each tool, including Assemble Systems model checking functionality. The video below covers the model checking functionality that Assemble Systems can assist with that I was not able to cover in the presentation.

Revit Model Checking - Invicara BIM Assure

I am a big fan of model checking. It's one of our core services at Davis Consulting Services.

A new tool that is in development for model checking is from Invicara and it is called BIM Assure. It's currently in development, but from what I have been able to play with, it shows a great deal of promise. If you get a chance, I would recommend that you take a look.

AUx Dubai - Advanced Model Checking

I want to thank everyone that attended my Advanced Model Checking class at AUx Dubai. The presentation can be found at our company website: http://davisconsultingservicesllc.com/index.html

Autodesk Certification - 2016 Products

I don't know if anyone noticed, but the Revit Architecture 2016 Certification test was a lot harder and took longer to take this year.

The good news though, is that the wait times for Certification at Autodesk University 2015 were a lot shorter this year. No re-takes and being open on Monday really helped.

Customizing the CADD Microsystems Revit Model Checker - Duplicate Elements

Customizing the Revit Model Checker from CADD Microsystems can be a fairly easy process, once you find the software you need and understand the basic structure of the tool.

To start customizing, the first thing that you need to do is download the Model Checker Configurator for Revit. Use this link to access the site. Once installed, an application separate from Revit is installed and it can be found in the Autodesk folder for your Windows applications.

Figure 1 - Model Checker Application Icon

Launching the Model Checker loads the dialog found in Figure 2. The dialog is broken up into three main sections:

• Section A allows you to Open, Create and Save configurations, as well as preview and export new configuration files for use with the Model Checker.
• Section B is where we create the rule checks.
• Section C tells you where the current configuration file is being saved.

Figure 2 - Autodesk Model Checker Configurator

Section B is where you will be spending the majority of your time and efforts. In our first example, we are going to define a simple check that looks for Duplicate elements in the model. While this is a simple check, it is important because it can result in inaccurate schedule information.

To create this rule, the first step is to open the Model Checker Configurator for Revit and to beginning defining the checks. The second step is to start defining the structure of the configuration file.

1. Click on the New button to start defining a new Model Checker Configuration.
2. Under General Settings and under Structure, click Add Heading.
3. Edit the Heading Title and Description. Name the Heading to reflect the theme of the checks you will be defining.

Figure 3 - Adding a Heading

The next step is define sections for our checks. For example, we may want to define specific rules that check parameter data and other rules to perform checks on geometry, etc. Using sections, we can organize our checks into groups.

1. Click the Add Section button under Structure.
2. Edit the Section Name and Description.

Figure 4 - Adding a Section

The next step is where we start to define the individual rule. In this example, we are going to look for duplicate elements.

Figure 5 - Defining the Element Check Configuration

1. Click the Add Check button under Structure.
2. Change the Title Name to Duplicate Elements.
3. Run Default. If this option is checked, the check will be set to run the first time the configuration is opened.
4. Enter the Description for the Check.
5. Failure Condition: There are two options which I explain below. We are going to using the Report Matching Condition option.
1. Report Matching Condition: When individual model element failures will be reported for all elements matching the filters defined. If no elements match the filters, success will be reported.
2. Report Failure when No Elements are Found: A failure will be reported if no elements are found that match the filters. Success is reported is elements are found that match the filters.
6.  Element Filter: This is the section that defines what we are checking. For our duplicate element checking, we need to define three filters.

Figure 6 - Duplicate View Filters

With these steps complete, you can now save the configuration. The file will be saved as a .XML file. You can now switch over to Revit. To run our new check, you first need to configure the Model Checker to run our configuration check. In Revit:

Figure 7 - Model Checker Pane

1. Navigate to the Addin's tab and click the Configure button in the Model Checker pane (Figure 7).

2. In the Model Checker | Open Configuration (Figure 8), click on the Open an Existing Configuration File radio button in the lower left-hand corner of the dialog. Then click on the more button to the right to open a dialog to select the example .XML configuration file that we created. When the configuration file is loaded, click the OK button to close the Model Check | Open Configuration dialog. This will open the Model Checker Configuration dialog (Figure 9).

Figure 8 - Model Checker | Open Configuration dialog

3. The Model Checker Configuration dialog (Figure 9) will list all of the rule configurations that are available in the .XML file that we loaded in the previous step. In this dialog, you have the option to turn on and off the rule checks that you do not want to run, by unchecking the checkbox next to the rule. When you are done making any changes, click the Finish button on the toolbar. This will save the file and make the configuration file available to run.

Figure 9 - Model Checker Configuration

4. Navigate to the Addin's tab and click the Run Check button in the Model Checker pane (Figure 10). This will run the configuration file that we have loaded in the previous steps. Clicking the Run Check button will open the Model Checker Processing Options dialog.

Figure 10 - Model Checker Pane

5. The Model Checker Processing Options dialog (Figure 11) provides would will options to select the models (links) loaded into your current project that you want to process and/or to add additional files to process. Clicking the checkbox to the left of the file name enables that model (link) to be processed. Clicking the Run Report button on the toolbar processes (Figure 12) the models (links) selected.

Figure 11 - Model Checker Processing Options dialog

Figure 12 - Model Checking Progress Checking

Once the models have been processed, a report (Figure 13) is generated detailing any of the issues that have been found. The nice thing about the report is that it will provide you with a link that will take you to the model elements in question.

Figure 13 - Model Checker Report

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11/03/2015

ASCENT- Center for Technical Knowledge Partners with CADLearning to Provide Free Autodesk Certification Preparation Materials

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Revit Model Checker - Sample Rule Configurations

As mentioned in the previous post, the Revit Model Checker comes with several per-defined sample check files. In this post, we will walk thru the setup and configuration for the sample check files.

Figure 1 - Revit Model Checker Sample Check Files
 

One installed, the Model Checker panel is added to the Add-Ins Ribbon tab within Revit.

Figure 2 - Model Checker panel in Revit

Included with the Model Checker are four sample rule sets (Figure 1) that provide sample configurations for checking yours models for:

• COBie Compliance
• General BIM Modeling Checks
• Comprehensive and Quick USACE BIM Requirements checks

To load and use one of these sample rules:

1. With a model open within Revit, navigate to the Add-Ins Ribbon tab.
2. Click the Configure button from the Model Checker panel of the Add-Ins Ribbon tab.
3. From the configuration dialog, click Open.
4. Choose Open An Existing Configuration File (Figure 3) from the Open Configuration dialog, and navigate to the one of the sample Model Checker Configurations (.mck) file.
5. Click OK to return to the Revit Model Checker for USACE v4.0 dialoig.

Figure 3 - Revit Model Checker Configuration dialog

Now that we have a sample Model Checker Configuration file loaded, we now have the ability to modify the default settings for our particular project. To configure the Model Checker (assuming the Configuration dialog is open):

1. Choose modules to be run by selecting corresponding check boxes. All available checks are enabled with a check mark by default.
2. Expand individual modules to choose specific checks, and level-of-detail of applicable.
3. Click Save As to generate a new Model Checker Configuration (.mck) file that includes configuration changes for units, enabled and disabled checks, and the level of detail settings associated to select checks.

Figure 4 - Configuring Rules