Revit Structure Web Update 3

From BIM & BEAM

New Web Update 3 build of Revit Structure 2009 (20081118_1045) is now available on the Web!

Dear Revit Structure users,

1) I am pleased to announce that our structural product team has just released the English version of Web Update 3 for Revit Structure 2009 (Build 20081118_1045) and it is now LIVE at:

www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads

2) Web Update 3 is also using the Service Pack technology and will be for English version only. All localized versions of Web Update 3 will use the previous Full Install method, but we will continue to improve the service pack technology for all languages in the future release of Revit Structure. Also, we are currently working to release the localized Web Update 3 over the next several weeks.

3) Before you install the English Web Update 3 Service Pack, please make sure that you read carefully the entire “Service Pack Readme (pdf)” as it will explain how to use the Service Pack as well as its current limitations.

4) Here is the list of improvements made in the current Web Update 3 build (20081118_1045):

Revit® Structure 2009 Enhancements

• View break no longer causes brace elements to be offset unexpectedly when exporting to DWG.

• Improves stability during export to DWFx when font doesn't exist on computer.

Revit® Platform Enhancements

• Slab Edges when joined to their hosting Slab/Floor will now be able to cut the floor when the user

manually remakes the join.

• Improves IFC Export for Walls and MEP elements.

• Improves stability when using the Split tool.

• Improves stability when using Temporary Hide/Isolate functionality in 3D view.

• Improves stability when binding a linked Revit file into a project.

• Improves stability when switching between views.

• Improves stability when selecting any of the column headers on the CAD Formats tab of the Manage Links dialog.

Thank you

Wai Chu

HNTB and Solibri

Press Release


HNTB Architecture Inc. extends BIM capabilities by executing a firm-wide implementation of Solibri Model Checker v5.

Las Vegas, NV, December 3, 2008 - HNTB Architecture Inc. has selected the Solibri Model Checker v5 technology as part of its corporate initiative to advance the practice of BIM. “We are committed to BIM and are always exploring ways to improve the consistency and quality of our processes. Using the Solibri Model Checker will allow us to establish an internal BIM quality assurance program, where we can dramatically extend our model analysis capabilities, throughout the organization”, said Phil Read, VP and Director of Technology at HNTB Architecture.

Jonathan Widney, CEO of Solibri LLC (the US HQ of Solibri) stated, “HNTB Architecture is regarded as a leader in BIM and Solibri is a company that is totally dedicated to improving the quality of BIM analysis. This will allow us to work together to advance the BIM process and practices. We will continue to provide market leading BIM solutions, incorporating the needs and enhancement requests of valued customers like HNTB.”

For Solibri

Solibri, Inc. was established in 1999 to develop and market solutions that improve the quality of Building Information Modeling and make the entire design process more productive. Solibri is well recognized as the pioneer in providing out of the box software that automates the BIM Model Checking, Design Review, Analysis, and Code Checking process. Solibri’s customers include building owners and users, construction companies, architects and engineering firms.
For more information about Solibri, please visit www.solibri.com.

For HNTB Architecture Inc.
HNTB Architecture Inc. serves aviation, private, education, federal and local government clients across the nation. The employee-owned firm's design professionals provide comprehensive architecture services ranging from planning to design to construction services.
For more information about HNTB Architecture Inc., visit www.hntbarchitecture.com.

Revit Assessment Test

Yesterday at Autodesk University I had the pleasure of getting a demo if the CADSmart Revit Assessment or Skills testing tool. The test essentially has the user complete a series of Revit tasks, be it modeling, annotating, etc. The models that the testee generates a report. The testing modules in the tool today are rather elementary, but the great thing about this software is the ability to customize the tests.

Another nice feature of the tool is that the reporting mechanism is linked to a tool from CADLearning. Based on the users score from the assessment test, a list of lessons from the CADLearning library will be presented to help direct the student to lessons they should focus on.

For anyone interested, I think the CADSmart tool has an incredible amount of potential. It will definately help us deliver better training. I like the technology and structure of the CADLearning tools, but I am not so impressed with the course material, but you do have the ability to remove CADLearning lessons and load your own.

AU2008 - Digital Fabrication Survey

Help Shape the Future of Digital Fabrication
This year, Autodesk University attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an important new initiative dedicated to helping define the trends that are shaping some of the latest advancements in the building product and fabrication industry.

The building product and fabrication industry is accelerating its use of BIM (Building Information Modeling) and Digital Prototyping processes to deliver better predictability and control, from design though fabrication. Advancements in technology are allowing companies to greatly improve productivity, better manage change throughout a project’s lifecycle, and create truly innovative buildings.

With this change, a new industry trend is emerging – Digital Fabrication. As BIM and Digital Prototyping increasingly drive the development of Digital Fabrication, the roles of both designers and fabricators will change dramatically.

Autodesk is kicking off a long-term customer research program at this year’s Autodesk University focused around the needs of Digital Fabrication customers. The goal of this program is to better understand the workflows and tools designers and fabricators employ to drive successful projects that leverage BIM and the custom fabrication of building components.

If you have a desire to make a difference, and have experience in driving building fabrication or building components into building design, we’d like to hear from you. To take part in this important effort, either while attending Autodesk University or in the future, please complete this short application no later than Friday, November 21, 2008.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Zjo3PRYt5wzHTSx9BDk7Og_3d_3d

We’ll be contacting successful applicants in the coming weeks with more details about this important initiative.

We thank you for your time, and look forward to working with you.

Respectfully,

The Autodesk Digital Fabrication Team

Help improve AEC Products at Autodesk University by participating in User Research!

Want to help improve the Autodesk AEC products you use every day and get an early opportunity to try out future releases?

This is your chance to participate in user research sessions at AU (or in the future) that will give us a deeper understanding of how you use our products and what we can do to improve them.

We conduct user research throughout the year, so we’re interested in hearing from you even if you can’t participate at AU.

To learn more, you can either:

Visit us Online:
http://www.autodesk.com/aecusability

Visit us in person:

AEC Usability Center (Zeno room 4601 in the AEC Campus on the 4th floor) for AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, Civil 3D, Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure
Exhibit Hall Collaborative Project Management Usability Booth (#354) for Autodesk Buzzsaw and Autodesk Constructware.
Thanks for your support. We look forward to seeing you there!

James McElroy, on behalf of the AEC User Experience Team

AU 2008 Sessions

For those attending AU 2008 and are interested in Buzzsaw, I thought you might find this interesting.

Tuesday, December 2

10:15-11:45 AM: Effective Communication with Autodesk® Buzzsaw® Business Processes

Wednesday, December 3

1:00-2:45 PM: Autodesk Buzzsaw User Forum - meet with Product Management to learn about recent and upcoming product advancements (NDA required). Please RSVP here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tGBoWmND09u9BozSTwO_2bBg_3d_3d), as seating is limited. This meeting is for Buzzsaw customers only, and will be held 1-5 PM in Galileo 906 in the Venetian.

Thursday, December 4

8:00-9:30 AM: Reduce your Carbon Footprint using Autodesk® Buzzsaw®

3:00-4:30 PM: Using Autodesk® Collaborative Project Management Products—Buzzsaw® and Constructware® as Virtual Glue for your BIM Teams

Help make our products even better - participate in usability research at AU

Get involved and help improve Autodesk Collaborative Project Management products. To participate in usability research, you can:
- Stop by the CPM Usability Booth (#354 in the Exhibit Hall) or
- Sign up for an AU usability session now at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=teWYXXqzH9GSYoBYpL2K9w_3d_3d

If you aren’t available at AU, you can join the CPM User Experience program to participate in future research: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=G9E0SjGILUt7s7zSx0DrCA_3d_3d

In addition to the above content, there are more than a dozen Construction & Real Estate-related sessions, as well as hundreds of other sessions available to you.

I look forward to seeing you at AU.

-Matt

Matthew E. Wheelis
Senior Product Manager
Construction and Real Estate Industry Solutions

Autodesk, Inc.
3780 Mansell Road, Suite 200
Alpharetta, GA 30022

AU 2008 Show Guide

For those attending AU, you might want to check out the link to the AU 2008 Show Guide that details the entire event

Subscription Updates

From Shaan Hurley

14 November 2008 New Feature Releases for Autodesk Subscription Customers

On November 14th 2008, Autodesk Subscription members, as part of their benefits, can download the following new feature releases:

Listed in alphabetical order by product

Autodesk NavisWorks 2009

2004 DWG Object Enabler Extension for Autodesk NavisWorks 2009.1 software – English
Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Review: Project Review e-learning – English
Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Simulate: Animate, 4D Simulations and Project Presentations e-Learning - English
Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Manage: Effective Project 3D Coordination and Analysis e-Learning - English

Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2009

Robot Extensions for Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2009 software – French, Spanish, Russian, Polish

Revit 2009

Revit Extensions for Revit Architecture 2009 64-bit – French, Italian, German, Simplified Chinese, Polish
Revit Extensions for Revit MEP 2009 – Simplified Chinese
Revit Extensions for Revit Structure 2009 64-bit – French, Italian, German, Simplified Chinese, Polish
Revit Architecture 2009 64-bit – Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
Revit MEP 2009 64-bit - Japanese, Simplified Chinese
Revit Structure 2009 64-bit – Russian, Polish
Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 - Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
German Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009 – (Available in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland only) – German
Austrian Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009 – (Available in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland only) – German

Cheers,
Shaan (experiencing bad jetlag)

New Survey on AutoCAD MEP Satisfaction from Autodesk® AutoCAD MEP Customer Council!

Greetings from AutoCAD MEP Product Team,

Please click on the link below to take a new survey on AutoCAD MEP Satisfaction.

This survey should take approximately 10 minutes of your time.

Please note if you are unable to complete the survey in one sitting, please close your browser. You may return at a later time and start the survey where you left off. The survey will be open for approximately 2 weeks.

http://adskmepcc.com/7CYUFJCYP-HAXVI9JVS6

If you are having any challenges accessing this survey, please forward this email to councilmanager@adskmepcc.com.

Thank you!

AutoCAD MEP Team
Autodesk, Inc.
111 McInnis Parkway
San Rafael, CA 94903
www.adskmepcc.com

AU 2008 - HNTB Sessions

Another class that HNTB Architecture was asked to present (two weeks ago I believe) is:

AB314-3 Custom Stairs and Railings in Revit Architecture

In this session, students will learn how to create families for posts, balusters, panels, railings, and stair nosing. Focusing on design for high-end commercial and residential projects, this class will dive directly into the use of the Family Editor to physically build the components needed. Once the families are established, the class will move to Assembly in the project to expose the difficulties designers face. The commercial portion of the class will cover extruded steel with glass panels; the residential portion will cover custom handrails and raised panels. You’ll also learn how to design winding and spiral staircases, as well as how to create custom materials with wood hatching that you can apply to the stair components to give the stairs and railings your personal touch.

Since we did not originally propose this class, Phil Read, Todd Williams and I have taken a little creative liberty to change the ciriculum a little. We will be focusing on:

Introduction

UI / Understanding the Dialog Boxes (what they do)
Images and Notes
General Best Practices
Maintain Detail Level
Start Generic>Move to Specific
Copy Paste
Stair / Railing Template
Leverage Other Projects

Conventional Custom Stairs with the Stair Tool
Core Functionality
UI / Dialog Boxes
Best Practices
Tips / Tricks
Conventional Examples

Unconventional Custom Stairs without the Stair Tool
Specialty Equipment / Casework
Pros: Very Detailed / Control / Kit of Parts
Cons: Scheduling / Graphic Standards

Conventional Custom Railings
Core Functionality
UI / Dialog Boxes
Best Practices
Tips / Tricks
Conventional Examples

Unconventional Custom Railings
Advantages / Disadvantages
Repetitive Elements: Planting / Outdoor Lighting / Train Tracks?
Pros:
Cons:
Curtain Wall Tool
Pros: Contain Space / Baluster Unlock and Move
Cons: Scheduling
Unconventional Examples

Best Practices
Examples

Conclusion

So, if you have any have any comments or suggestions, please let me know.

AU 2008 Class Highlights

For those attending AU 2008, I thought I would post some classes that I think are interesting. Horrible Hacks is going to be a very interesting classes with Steve Mintz, Sean Burke and Bob DeFeo. I have promised not to release any advanced information or tips from the class, but I will throw this out (sorry Steve). If you are working on projects that routinely require you to create multi-segmented grids, you want to attend this class. Steve is going to demonstrate a very elegant solution to a problem that Autodesk should have fixed many releases ago.

“Horrible Hacks™” 

(and Other Tips & Tricks for Revit® Power Users) 

Steve Mintz, P.E.  – Revit Structure Technical Consultant 

Sean Burke, Assoc. AIA  – Revit Architecture Technical Consultant 

Bob DeFeo  – Revit MEP Technical Consultant 

 

SE404-1P Have you ever seen a stunt demonstration with the tagline:  "Warning! Do not 

attempt at home!”? This class presents the latest tips, tricks, and hacks developed by the Revit 

Experts of the Autodesk Consulting Team. Years on the front lines of the most complicated 

projects have fostered out-of-the-box thinking to create solutions in ways you would never 

imagine. Advanced problems require advanced solutions; we present to you our latest and most 

innovative solutions for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP. 

 

Revit® Platform 

Looped and Offset Grids 

Dimensionless Dimensions 

Quickly Rename Levels 

Layered and Graded Site 

Phased and Packaged Submittals 

Oops, I Forgot to Uncheck “Visible by Default” for my Workset 

 

Revit® Architecture 

Curved and Complex Ceilings 

When is a Floor not a Floor? 

Museum Board Renderings for Revit® 2009 

 

Revit® Structure 

Scheduling Wide Flange Area and Weight 

Steel Take-offs in PSF using Global Parameters 

Parking Garage Floors 

 

 

Revit® MEP 

Create Conduit 

Cable Trays