Revit Architecture 2010 Crash known Issue

I just helped a client with an issue that has been having problems starting up their Revit Architecture 2010 software.  Apparently its an Autodesk known issue so if your having this problem too, go to the following link and follow the instructions of the document which may help.

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 Crash Issue

Hope this helps.


Cheers.

Controlling Wall Materials through Base & Top line extensions

If you have gone through the process of developing a wall type in Revit, then you may have noticed that there was little to no control for these materials when it comes to defining offset distances from the top or bottom of the level the walls are placed on.

This can only be done if you create a base/top line extension parameter.  To create this parameter first you must go to the type parameters of a wall type you want to modify.

Then go to the wall assembly by selecting the "structure" parameter button.

Once there make sure that your preview window is turned on and that you have the view set to section view which will activate the lower portion of the edit assembly window.  Otherwise you will not be able to continue with the next steps.  I also prefer to zoom in on the upper or lower portion of the wall depending on which part of the material you are trying to modify.

Select the modify button, then when you bring your mouse into the preview window you will see that the lower or upper portion of each material will be highlighted as you place your cursor over the bottom or top of each material.  Click on one material and then you will see an icon which looks like a lock become visible.  If you click on the lock it will be change its display from looking locked to unlocked.

This will now create a new parameter within the properties of the wall that will be visible after you leave the type properties dialogue box and go to the instance parameters of the wall.

Now in section if you select the wall some new arrow grips will be visible that will allow you to manually adjust the height of the newly unlocked material allowing more control for material placement making your wall assemblies more realistic to true construction design.

I created the brick ledge on the lower wall using a wall reveal with the default profile size that is given.  You can apply a specific reveal within the properties of the wall if you want, but thats another blog all together.

Revit Structure 2011- Checking for Rebar Interferences

As part of the Subscription Extensions there is now the ability to verify that your reinforcement design is correct by running a reinforcement interference check via the extensions manager.  This is assuming you have access to the subscription website which is available to Autodesk clients(previously a great sales tool to get the latest and greatest software as its released) now an even better tool to keep up to date with all the new stuff being developed.

First you must begin by placing reinforcement within the properties of concrete structural members via the extensions manager.  Select each member individually and go to the extensions manager to define what type of member is going to be reinforced.

First place the beam reinforcement based on what ever layout rules and type of rebar you require from the Revit library.:

Place column reinforcement and Footing reinforcement again, based on layout rules that suit your structural design.

After all the reinforcement for a typical structural bay has been defined, then you can now run an reinforcement interference check for the selected families.  This intereference check will verify that there is no overlapping geometry based on your rebar placement, thereby reducing unnessary collisions with your rebar layout.

I always like to make my rebar be visible in the 3D view, this can be done by selecting the rebar families and then going to the visibility states in the properties and making sure that its visible as a solid in the 3D view.  Anything in 3D is always good as far as I'm concerned.

Select the members that you want to run the check on:

Selcect the Interference Check of reinforcing bars from the extension manager list of extensions

This new window will show you a list of all the interferences tht occur within the family and with any other adjacent family that also has reinforcement embers assigned to it.

These results can then be exported out to word, or excel, hope you like this extension.

DWF add-on for Firefox

The DWF functionalty is something that many people use for sharing info internally or externally in their office workflow.  Autodesk Labs website has released an add-on that allows for he firefox browser users to be able o navigate and view DWF files like the Internet Explorer.


Yet another ever changing workflow, that helps the world become flatter!!!!!

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/firefox_adr/

Folow the attached link to be able to see it for yourself.

Subscription Advantage Pack's

Another great reason why being part of subscription is getting all the new extensions that are released periodically.  Now, there is a new Subscription Advantage Pack.  There is one download per Revit flavour and there are some pretty cool additions to the platforms.  The one that I like the most is for Revit Architecture which allows for stud modeling to occur.  This has always been a question when talking about wood framing in residential designs, and we always left it alone.  Now, we can in fact model that actual stud framing for a wall, and openings, very cool!!!.

I would suggest that you go to your Subscription webpage and have a look at the new Advantage Packs to see what the new extensions are all about.

How Do I?

With all the buzz going on about Revit, there are a large amount of users that are either learning Revit from the newbie stand point, or are the Revit power users creating content, developing families and fully customized families for your business.

It's been some time since my last post, but training and implementing Revit Arch/Struct have kept me busy. However, instead of providing one of the many types of posts that describe the new tip or trick for Revit 2010 I would like to post a question.

What do you find is the most frustrating thing that you are encountering about Revit? This question is an open ended question for the reader to interpret his/her own frustrations and hopefully respond with a question related to something they’re having problems with related to Revit Architecture/Structure..

Now, I guess this might be a dangerous thing because it can potentially be setting myself up for the unanswerable question, but what the heck, I deal with Revit on a daily basis, so who better to stump or ask for knowledge than a propeller head like myself.

I hope I can help and maybe at least provide some useful insight regarding the Revit learning curve.

I do have two suggestions for the new users:

1) Always look at the Type Selector
2) Always look at you options bar.

Paying attention to these two parts of the interface can help solve many issues since Revit has a way of usually giving you what you need when you need it.

Cheers,

AU University 2008

Autodesk Universtiy 2008 was just held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Needless to say it was fantastic. There are definitely some very interesting things heading our way, for all those of us on the Revit Platform.

Specifically: Revit Structure and Robot Structural Analysis workflow along with the AutoCAD structural detailer software(ASD). We will be able to not only generate and create the 3D model in Revit Structure but push the model out to ASD for shop drawing creation using the CIS/2 format. What I saw was definitely impressive, but I am still very curious as to how the file sizing will be handled in ASD since modelling in the CAD environment can often lead to very big file sizes. Anyone who has used Architectural Desktop can relate to this.

Revit Architecture and Inventor also seem like they are heading toward a more seamless form of communication. A very nice demonstration of curtain walls created in Revit and sent to Inventor for panel sizing and creation was also among the highlights of the conference.

I do plan on posting some more useful tips and tricks relating to Revit Arch. and Revit Struct.
in the mean time watch the clips posted on my blogg and maybe even become a follower of my blog to keep updated as new posting become available.

Thats it for now. Remember to keep living la vida Revit!