Modeling Tips for Assemble Projects

One of the questions I am often asked by Assemble users is for any modeling tips or model setup tasks that should be completed or considered. There are a number of things that can and should be considered when setting up your projects BIM Plan.

Here are a few tips to consider when planning to incorporate Assemble into your BIM project processes, but this are also applicable for any BIM project.

Ensure level integrity
Filtering a model in Assemble by level is an easy way to iterate through a building to verify design completion, decisions, and quantities.  Level filtering also allows you to target an individual floor of the building and view only that floor’s data and quantities. One of the keys to level integrity is having the top constraint set to the level above and not to span multiple levels with a single object. While it is common to have some items, such as elevator shafts, columns, exterior skin, span the entire height of the building, you lose the ability to work the objects on any level other than the one assigned.

Designers will have very good reasons for not wanting to split elements by level, especially early in the design process. This can have an impact on production time and potential impact the look of certain views associated with their construction documents.

If you are a general contractor, you may want to consider slicing the model after you receive it from the designer and before publishing to Assemble using a tool like DPR model slicer. This will allow to quickly slice the model by level in Revit prior to publishing to Assemble.

Utilize worksets in logical building breakdown
In addition to allowing multiple people to work on a single model, Worksets allow for you to split up the building in logical arrangements.  It is often necessary for owners to review the building information categorized in different ways.  It may be a hospital divided by departments, a multi-use building separated by retail, residential, and parking, or an office building organized by program areas.  By utilizing Worksets when creating the model, you build in a powerful and easy way to group and filter the data within Assemble.  With saved views for each Workset, you are able to quickly generate reports that organize the building’s data in the way that makes the most sense to the owner.

It's very important though to meet and discuss potential workset scenarios as soon as possible with the design team members. This will allow them to review any potential issues and make any adjustments before they are too involved with the project and the team is used to working a certain way.

Added parameters
The inclusion of custom type and instance parameters result in limitless ways for which you can group and filter your model. In addition, the extra parameters allow you to increase the possible workflows and extend the life of your model well past the pre-construction and estimating phases. Simply adding “constructed” and “constructed date” parameters allow you to track current state of construction and identify what was built, when, and compare that to the anticipated schedule.

Furthermore, you can use the automatically generated quantities from Assemble in conjunction with the constructed date and verify quantities and progress from sub-contractor pay requests.  All of this is possible by adding two custom parameters and publishing to Assemble.

LoD and Elements
It's important to consider what is going to be modeled and in some cases what Revit tool is going to be used to create that element. For example, lets consider Windows, Store Fronts and Curtain Walls. Custom winodws require the creation or editing of Revit families. Mkore often than not, I see projects were the designers have substituted a store front or curtain wall for a window, as it is easier to create a curtain wall or store front that represents a window rather than editing a window family.

This might be acceptable if you are just creating 2D documents and your schedules are not coming from Revit. But if you want to use Revit to get an accurate count of windows, not using the Window object could cause problems.

Another example would be ceilings and floor finishes. It has been awhile, but I sat in a very interesting presentation on how a form was using Ceiling to model floor finishes. For that firm, that approach provided them with the desired results, but this could cause serious issues if the GC or CM wanted to obtain quantity information from the model.

The lesson here is to make sure that you define how elements are to be modeled (what Revit tool) and what LoD they should be modeled at. This doesn't need to be a long drawn out process, but I can't even think how many projects where I have seen columns represented with a short (length) wall.

Model vs 2D Documentation
Depending on where you are in the world, the designers experience using Revit can vary. Have you ever been sent a "model" that was nothing more than a .RVT file with 2D detail lines? It happens. It's always important to understand how the 2D documents relate to the model. After all, most contracts stipulate that the 2D documentation takes precedent over the model. I have found a fairly simple approach to checking this.

When you get a model from the designer, the first thing I do is remove any linked or inserted CAD files from the project so that I am only working with Revit geometry. I then delete all 2D detail and 3D model lines, as I only want to work with elements like doors, columns, ducts, etc.

I then publish the plan, section and elevation sheets from the model. Using Bluebeam, I then compare the original sheet PDFs from the designer to the sheets I published from the purged model. Bluebeam will then show me the variance between the two sets of documents.

If you look at a plan sheet and you see for example that walls are in different locations, then there is a good chance that the plans might have been embellished or edited in AutoCAD rather than Revit. This unfortunately is done a lot because a firm may or may not have sufficient Revit users to perform all the updates and many people find AutoCAD easier to use.

My general rule is that if you are working on a BIM project, Plan, Sections and Elevations should be generated from the model. I also think the majority of schedules should come from Revit, but this isn't always possible to commercially (financially) a viable option.

Autodesk Revit Model Review - Workset Checking

If you have read any of my previous posts about Model Checking, then you are probably aware of how much I like Autodesk Revit Model Review. It’s free and it is fairly easy to use. When it comes to model checking, free and easy to use are important options.

At Davis Consulting, when we are tasked by a client to check models (cost is typically $400-1200 depending on complexity of model and standards to follow) we need to perform some kind of check on the worksets. There are numerous ways to do this, but we like to use automation as much as possible to reduce the time and the cost of the checking process. Unfortunately, workset checking  with Autodesk Revit Model Review has some issues and is one area where Autodesk Revit Model Review needs to be improved upon.

In the example I am going to show, we are going to check a model to make sure that all Interior Doors are in the Interiors workset. The shortcoming with Autodesk Revit Model Review is that we can’t just create a check that queries all the interior doors and makes sure they are on the worksheet called Interiors. The reason, Autodesk Revit Model Review doesn’t check for the worksheet name, it looks for a Revit internal value. We can query this value using the Pick Test tool found under Help >  Pick Test

Figure 1 - Accessing Pick Test

When we pick on a element, in the class of Figure 2 a door, Autodesk Revit Model Review will open up the the Element Property List. This list exposes various parameter data. In this example, we want to look Worksheet data. The Text Value for the element we have selected is Interiors. However, if we want to search for the Interiors workset, we must search for the value 555, which is Revit’s internal value for the Interiors workset. Just note, that if you create a workset named Interiors in your project file, the internal value probably will not be 555. I don’t know how the internal value is created, but it appears to be random. This means if you want to run this check on multiple files, you would have to create different check files (.bcf) for each file, since the internal values for the worksets will be different.

Figure 2 - Element Property List

For our workset check, we are going to create a new Parameter Requirements check, Check > Add > Standards > Parameter Requirements.

The second step is to create a Filter, to filter the objects that we want to examine. In this example, I want to look at Interior Doors. Now, there are several different ways we could approach this. Maybe your door family naming convention indicates interior usage, or an assembly code value could be specified that we could use to filter, etc. How I like to filter for this scenario is using the Function type parameter. This unfortunately, is another one of those situations where we can’t check the value that is exposed to the user in the Properties Palette, we have to check Revit’s internal value.

In Figure 3, I used the Pick Test tool and selected a door to validate the value of the Function type parameter. For an Interior value I need to use the internal value 0 in my check definition.

Figure 3

So for my filter, I am going to filter so that I am only checking Category = Doors and the Parameter.Function = 0 and remember 0 = Interior.

Figure 4

The third step is to define the Details of what we want to check, in this example, that Interior Doors are on the Interiors (555) workset. There are a couple ways that you can populate this dialog. you can do it manually by entering the values as shown below or you can use the Pick Element And Choose Parameter… option. This as the name suggests allows you to pick an element and then select the parameter that you want to use.

Figure 5

You then need to save the file and then make sure to edit your profile (Profile > Edit) to add the check file so that you can run the check file. If you just want to download the .BCF file, it can be found here: http://davisconsultingservicesllc.com/Downloads.html. You will still need to edit your Autodesk Revit Model Review profile to include the check file in your profile so that you can execute it.
When you run the check, the results will appear similar to below.

Figure 6

BIM Modeling Services

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The key difference between Davis Consulting Services and our competition:

• 100% US based project team
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Our team consists of architects, engineers, and other highly skilled professionals who can design and model BIMs from scratch or convert 2D drawings into 3D models. Davis Consulting Service saves time and money by virtually assembling a building before construction actually begins. According to required BIM output and LOD, we can create simple models that generate Clash Detection reports; further, more complex models can produce Quantity Take-Offs, Shop Drawings, or 6D Facility Management.

The advantages of Davis Consulting Services include:

To further assist you, we can assign one or more of our BIM professionals to your project team for the duration of your project. Our BIM/VDC professionals will help in your office or in the field (On-Site Support), while the rest of the team at Davis Consulting Services guides you from our offices.

For more information, please contact us at info@davisconsultingllc.net or visit us at http://davisconsultingservicesllc.com/
 

Autodesk Revit Model Review - Duplicate Element Check

In my last Model Checking post, I covered using the CADD Microsystems Revit Model Checker to search for duplicate elements. Autodesk has their own Model Checker which can be downloaded from the app store. It seemed to disappear for awhile (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough), but it's back for 2016 and I hope Autodesk puts the previous versions back up.

I really like the Autodesk tool. It's simple, yet provides a great deal of flexibility for checking models. Within a couple hours, you can create an entire checkset for a project. The Model Review also has a API that allows you to create custom checks.

The only disappointment that I have with the product is related to workset checking. There is not a way to check for specific worksets easily, due to the way Revit stores workset values. I'll cover this in a future post.

I'm going to walk thru the process of creating a rule in Autodesk's Revit Model Checker for checking for duplicate elements. The Autodesk Revit Model Checker can be download from the Autodesk App Exchange.

1. In Revit, from the Add-Ins tab, select the Manage button in the Model Checker pane (Figure 1). This will open the Autodesk Revit Model Review dialog, where you can create and edit check files.
   
2. From the Check pulldown menu select Add > Cleanup > Duplicate Elements.
   This is a pre-configured rule, so we do not need to make any additional changes. We could however we could go to the Details tab and make some adjustments to the elements Rotation into account and overlapping phases.
   
    
3. Save the check and then run the results.

This is a really simple example, but very powerful tool.

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

Revit OpEd: Revit 2016 R2 - Changes to Underlay

Revit OpEd: Revit 2016 R2 - Changes to Underlay: They've reconfigured the Properties Palette and changed how they describe and provide access to the Underlay concept. As you can see...