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Create Revit Levels using Array

September 16, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

I have wrote about creating new levels in Revit. It’s fine if you only have several levels. But what if you have 20 levels? or may be 50 levels? Drawing each level will be ridiculous. Why not create new levels using array?

Open one of your elevation view. Select the top most level (by default it’s level 2). Your ribbon will open contextual tab: modify. Select array tool.

You may want to turn off the group and associate option. Then fill the number of levels you want to add, select move to 2nd (this will define floor to floor heights)

Click on your 2nd floor level on your drawing area, then move your pointer up. Type floor height you wanted then [enter].

I know a lot of you might already try this. But some are asking me: I saw the level in my drawing, but why can’t I see them on my project browser? It’s still showing Level 1 and Level 2.

Your levels is already defined. You can use them as reference, but Revit is not automatically create the plan views. I think this is a good smart choice by the programmer. If you have typical floor (I mean identical floor plans) from level 4 to 50, I don’t think you want all of them showing in project browser, right?

We have to define which floor plan views appear on project browser. Open view tab on your ribbon. Select plan views>floor plan.

This will open new plan dialog box. Select the levels you want to appear in your project browser. You can hold [shift] or [ctrl] then click for multiple selection.

Click OK. There you go, you can see your plan views in your project browser!

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Source: CAD Notes – Create Revit Levels using Array
Go to Source: CAD Notes

Tags: array tool, browser, elevation view, floor, level, paypal, plan, project, project browser, Revit No Comments »

by CADcaster

Far Creator

September 10, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

The FAR Process is built from 3 main components; the FAR Manager, the FAR Data and the FAR Creator. The FAR Creator is the piece of the puzzle for the Manufacturers that will take their product data whether it originates in Inventor, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Pro E, etc. in order to create the FAR Data set required to automate the creation of a Revit Family.

The FAR Creator really is not one application but a set of API’s that will be built for each Manufacturers, based on their software and their industry. The ultimate goal is to get the FAR Creator set up for the Manufacturer so they will not be dependent upon an outside provider for creating and maintaining their Revit families. Each Manufacturer will be able to use their own set of API’s to create the FAR Data necessary for automating the creation of their own Revit families using the FAR Process for custom and future product developments.

Another cost advantage with the FAR Process is that the FAR Creator allows the Manufacturer to have the ability for updating architect data automatically when changes are made to the engineering data – thus eliminating the need to manage multiple sets of data.

In addition, we feel one of the greatest advantages of the FAR Process for Manufacturers and Architects is found when working with customized product data. The FAR Creator allows the ability to create the FAR Data set for customized products for Architects automatically, thus eliminating the cost and reducing the amount of time for both the Manufacturer and the Architect to create this data.

The FAR Creator creates the data and automates the creation of the Revit Family to appear as if it were done manually. The FAR Process has the ability to automatically create an efficient, effective and high quality Revit family consistently, each and every time.

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in seeing a demonstration of the FAR Process.

Patrick Johnson

Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc. – Far Creator
Go to Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc.

Tags: Creator, Data, enhancement inc, far manager, manufacturer, Patrick Johnson Source, piece of the puzzle, Process, product developments, Revit, revit families No Comments »

by CADcaster

Far Process and Manufacturing

September 10, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

As we started putting together the plan for the FAR project one objective we were trying to accomplish was to automate a process where Manufacturers could create Revit families without the investment of purchasing Revit software, training, and the staff to manage Revit. Our original plan was to create a way for the product data from the Manufacturer to be passed to the Architect who has the FAR Manager and Revit software so Architects could create the Revit family on their side automatically, since Manufacturers were focused on producing products instead of creating data.

For the past 6 weeks we have been presenting demos of the FAR process. Those initial demos were designed to get feedback from both Architects and Manufacturers. One item that we were hearing from the Manufacturers is the desire to create the Revit families themselves. The reason behind this was coming from the marketing side as they want the ability to decide where the Revit families reside in order to get the most exposure for their families and ultimately, their products. As a result of that feedback we are now offering the option for Manufacturers to implement the entire FAR process which includes both the FAR Manager and the FAR Creator to enable the capability for automating the creation of their own Revit families.

I think this was the beauty of these demos, not only did we obtain feedback regarding the concept of the FAR process but we also learned how companies plan on managing their architect data moving forward.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who participated in our initial demos of the FAR process and welcome other Architects and Manufacturers to contact us if interested in scheduling a FAR demo.

Patrick Johnson

Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc. – Far Process and Manufacturing
Go to Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc.

Tags: architects, enhancement inc, far manager, feedback, Patrick Johnson Source, plan, Process, Revit, revit families, software, software training No Comments »

by CADcaster

FAR Demo Summary

September 10, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

Throughout the past 5 weeks CAD Enhancement Inc. has been presenting demos of the FAR (Family Automation Revit) Process which is a tool that automates the creation of Revit families. One of our intentions with the initial FAR demos was to obtain feedback from manufacturers and architects to improve this application to best meet your needs.

The concept of the FAR Process was well received resulting in outstanding feedback that is definitely having a positive influence in the outcome of the FAR Manager and the FAR Creator.

We wanted to share the following feedback and updates with you as a way to keep you informed of the progress we are making with FAR.

Feedback / Suggestions to create:

Searching capabilities for existing Families (to be included in the 2nd Release of the FAR Manager)
Shared Parameters (to be included in the 3rd Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to add Parameters (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Alphabetize Groupings and Parameters (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to save Families or save Types (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to add Types (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
BIM Manager Tool Set (to be included in the 2nd Release of the FAR Manager).

Will Include ability to set the file directories
· Will include the ability to set-up the search tool
· Will include the ability to batch process the adding of Parameters

Turn-key ability for manufacturers to create Revit families to market their Revit families where they see fit (available with the development of the FAR Creator and set-up of the FAR Manager)
Available standard naming conventions (will be an ongoing process as we add content and receive additional feedback)
Ability to state comments on a family from within the FAR Manager instead of only going to RevitCatalog website (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)

Updates:

The FAR Process has a Patent Pending status
1st Release of the FAR Manager is scheduled for the week of August 17th – 21st
2nd Release of the FAR Manager is scheduled for mid-September
3rd Release of the FAR Manager TBD (Fall 2009)

Thanks to all that have participated

Patrick K Johnson

Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc. – FAR Demo Summary
Go to Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc.

Tags: Ability, enhancement inc, far manager, feedback, K Johnson Source, Manager TBD, manager updates, naming conventions, Process, Release, Revit, revit families No Comments »

by CADcaster

Bridging the communication Gap between Architects and Manufacturers

September 10, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

In my development of the FAR process which includes a tool that allows the ability to create a Revit family automatically I have been taking a long look at the manufacturing modeling technique and comparing it to the architect modeling technique. It has become apparent to me there is a great need for the manufacturer to understand the method being used in Revit when considering a more seamless process to automating the creation of Revit families.

Obviously, the manufacturers first and foremost interest is to create and sell their product(s). Architects have stated “When a manufacturer provides their product data in a quality BIM format they can trust, and is user friendly as well as easily accessible, that product will be spec’ed more and in turn the manufacturer will sell more. “

This is a simple concept; however, the communication between the two industries and the passing of data between the manufacturers and architects is breaking down at a time in our economy when efficiencies should be at the utmost of importance. We need to work together to bridge this communication gap so everyone can benefit.

Sometimes having an understanding of the other industry is all that is required. For instance, reading the data compared to creating more rules would be more efficient. To emphasize this point I will share a personal example of how I changed my ideas about work planes when looking at them from another perspective. I was never a big fan of using work planes all over the model as I always preferred using faces to work from instead of creating work planes. However, I have discovered with proper modeling standards in place and a true understanding of the product, using work planes creates a cleaner and more workable model. It has become apparent to me when considering from the architect’s perspective, that the use of work planes in the correct position with correct labeling is extremely helpful in the extraction of data without the need for too many rules.

Share your comments.

Patrick K. Johnson

Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc. – Bridging the communication Gap between Architects and Manufacturers
Go to Source: CAD Enhancement, Inc.

Tags: communication gap, foremost interest, manufacturer, Modeling, Patrick K. Johnson Source, personal example, product, Revit, revit families, work, workable model No Comments »

by CADcaster

Creating Staircase

August 13, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

If you always create stairs by drafting it in AutoCAD, you will love stair tool in Revit! Revit create stairs automatically, it will also calculate how many risers you should create to the next level. It’s pretty easy!

We have created 2 story house. So, we need to add a stair to connect this two levels. Open your 1st floor level plan. We will start here.

First of all, let’s put some references for our staircase so it will be easier to define our staircase run. Activate Ref Plane from your ribbon bar.

Place your plane as below. You remember how to place objects in Revit right? It similar way with placing exterior walls here and interior walls here.

Now, let’s do the magic. Activate stair tool. This also bring us to sketch mode, just like floor and roof tool.

By default, the active draw mode is run. We can also define it by drawing boundary and riser. More about this later. For now, just make sure run is the active mode.

Now we have to define the points for this stair run. Click consecutively on point 1,2,3 then 4 as below.

When defining the stair run, you will see a preview of your future stair. It will also mention how many more riser you should create. It should be 0 remaining at point (4).

Now that we finish defining our stair run, click finish stairs.

Review your design. Open your 2nd Floor level plan. You should see the 2nd story floor connected to our stair is not correct yet. Let’s edit it. You do remember how to do it right? Review how to do it here.

Let’s review it by placing a camera. Open your 1st floor plan. Open your view tab on your ribbon. Click the small arrow below 3D View, then click camera.

Now place your camera: first click define camera location, and second point define camera target.

You might see that not all of your staircase shown. Select your camera view boundary, then click and drag the view grip. Arrange until you see your staircase as you want to.

Try to select your railing, and change the railing type!

Source: CAD Notes – Creating Staircase
Go to Source: CAD Notes

Tags: camera, camera view, click, click camera, D View, floor, interior walls, Revit, ribbon bar, stair, staircase No Comments »

by CADcaster

Architectural Technologist – CADline

August 7, 2009 in CAD, Vectorworks

: Image via CrunchBase

Autodesk software supplier CADline has started to offer Autocad and Revit users some interesting videos on tip and trick via there youtube account at www.youtube.com/cadlinemidas I watched a couple and they seem to jump in at the deep end with some of their videos, , offering little by the way of explanation but fans of revit will like them I’m sure.

How to: Modify Objects With Non-Uniform Scale

August 7, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

I drew this image using AutoCAD. Just using simple drafting tools. I haven’t met Revit at that time. If you see the area in red circle, you can see that it is scaled on X axis, but the scale on Y axis is not affected. Or may be you think I drew all of the baluster at the location manually? No, I use non-uniform scale. Only scale it on X axis, but ignore the scaling on Y axis. How to do this?

I know MicroStation can do this with scale tool directly, but in AutoCAD there is a workaround we should do.

First of all, I create a block to define the baluster . Then I insert the block. In the block dialog box, I turn off the uniform scale check box, left the X scale to 1, and change the Y scale a bit. I repeat this several times until all of them placed. I may have to do trial and error several times to get it the right size. Well, we can do it easily in Revit or AutoCAD Architecture. But obviously not in 2D drafting!

Source: CAD Notes – How to: Modify Objects With Non-Uniform Scale
Go to Source: CAD Notes

Tags: AutoCAD, axis, baluster, Block, drafting tools, Revit, scale, trial and error, workaround No Comments »

by CADcaster

How to: Use Additional RPC in Revit

August 6, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

Since Revit 2009, Revit has the ability to use RPC (rich photographic content). You can easily add people, cars, plants or any other entourage available to your model. Revit already has several nice RPCs for you to use. But you might feel it’s not enough, and want to use your own RPCs. But how you can add your own RPC to Revit families?

After you copied your RPC files to your hard drive, you can’t use it directly. You have to install ArchVision Content Manager (ACM) to manage your RPCs. You can download this for free in ArchVision website.

After you finish downloading and installing ACM, run this application. On ACM, content tab, you’ve should see your RPCs. If ACM can’t detect your RPC location automatically, click paths tab. You can add your folder by clicking start manual scan or select your folder manually. You can close your ACM.

Take a look to your taskbar. You should see ACM icon, because it’s running on the background now.

Now you can create your RPC family. Create new family, and use (metric) RPC family.rft. On your ribbon, family properties section, click types to open family types window.

Click render appearance under identity data category.

Select your RPC, then you’re done!

Source: CAD Notes – How to: Use Additional RPC in Revit
Go to Source: CAD Notes

Tags: ACM, content tab, family, manual scan, photographic content, Revit, rft, RPC, RPCs No Comments »

by CADcaster

AutoCAD and Photorealistic Rendering

August 6, 2009 in AutoCAD, CAD, Revit

Rendering with AutoCAD? Why not. AutoCAD can produce very nice rendering since AutoCAD 2007. Autodesk change the render engine with mental ray. It’s not exactly the same with mental ray in 3ds Max, but it is good enough.

Every image in this post is created with Revit, and rendered with AutoCAD. Isn’t Revit also has mental ray rendering? Yes, and it’s good too. I created this model in Revit 2008, when Revit still use Accurender. Rendering it in AutoCAD, is a lot better than doing it in Revit before.

Let’s see more of my AutoCAD renderings.

This model below is from the getting started tutorial in Revit. I exported it to DWG, redefine all the materials, and render it. I only use sunlight, no other light is defined. The smooth shadow and indirect lights look very nice.