I recently came across a unique feature in Revit. It is called the I-drop drag and drop feature. The feature works by clicking the thumbnail image of the file and dragging it onto the Revit plan, elevation, section, etc. Release the file into the appropriate view. See the image below showing the highlighted file on the right that was dragged into the Revit file on the left. Revit does not link the file; it recognizes it as an object inserted into the current view only. After placing the object, the user can explode it if they choose to do so. Just a reminder that if the baseplan.dwg layout changes, the modifications will not be automatically updated. The user would have to perform the I-drop command again or decide to link the import.
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As most people in the building industry know, LEED is becoming more mainstream. It is evident in one area and that is Revit. Revit and LEED have gotten together to start to implement LEED technology into the Revit software. Autodesk has gone out and partnered with Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES). This means that Autodesk is attempting to support green design with their Revit software. I have not been fortunate to do a LEED project in the Revit software but I look forwarded to that in the future. From what I have read, the user in Revit can run quick thermal, day lighting, and heating and cooling load analysis. The user does not need to recreate the building geometry for the analysis as was needed in the past. The building geometry has to be done correctly for the calculations to work properly. Rooms need to be given certain info such as room heights. Obviously, Autodesk will continue to enhance the LEED capabilities within Revit. Will Revit be able to properly compute the information needed for LEED? Only time will tell.
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As most Revit users know, we often have made a detail in AutoCAD that we could really use in Revit. There are a few ways that I know of to solve this issue:
- You can recreate that detail from scratch in Revit
- Import the 2D detail and draw over the top in Revit
- Import and explode the 2D detail
- Import and modify the layers to work better inside of Revit
I have personally done all four methods during my time using Revit. I have found that if you import the detail and leave as is, then it will most likely not print the way that you would like to see it. Some users that I know prefer to trace over the imported detail and detach the detail when they have completed the new Revit detail. I have used that method when I wanted to use Revit fill patterns so they were consistent from sheet to sheet. If you choose to import and explode the detail you will have to change the individual lines, hatches, etc. to work with Revit lines, fill patterns, etc. This can cause the file size to grow rapidly in Revit. For future projects that I work on in Revit, I am going to use the method of importing and modifying the layers using the “Visibility/Graphic Overrides” command. It may not be a flawless way to get the previously made details into Revit but it may be a time saver.
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During our first attempt at a full MEP project the Owner requested Autocad Documents toward the end for final delivery, so even through the project was started in Revit, its final delivery output was in CAD. The lesson learned is to try to gear a project toward a Revit firm that will be expecting the deliverables in Revit. Everyone is bouncing back and forth on an inevitable topic that is BIM will be the standard. It may not be today, next week on even this year but it will be here very soon. As all of you know the government agencies and most hospitals and higher ed facilities have already publically announced a Revit cutover date.
We are revving up to start our second full service Revit project next month which will entail all aspects of Revit Architecture, and MEPFP. We plan to utilize the same process as before however now we have most of our needed families identified. To keep users up to speed with Revit we have had our users spend four hours a week converting an Autocad project to Revit. This allows them to identify key problems and missing families. We then listed all of the needed families and started the hunt. We found that Lithonia Lighting has started converting their materials library to Revit. We have been looking for a mechanical manufacturer to step up to the plate and start converting their blocks, after talking to Trane (one of the biggest mechanical manufacturers) but we were told it is not on their plate. So as a solution we will be turning to Broutek to submit out cut sheets.
Once we start the project we will utilize the same training process used on the first project. Ross & Baruzzini will let all of the users start the project with direction from CADD Centers. We will fly the CADD Centers' trainers into our office to get everyone going on the project and make sure that everyone’s questions are answered from the beginning. This insures we start off with everything working and all model linking is correct. We will then engineer and create the model in-house for delivery. Once we get close to the closing of the project we will once again bring our trainers in to assist in any final cleanup that may be necessary. I believe this process to start your earlier Revit projects will ensure your success and understanding of the process rather than creating frustration.
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I recently read a review of Revit Architecture 2009 by Lachmi Khemlani. She wrote about the improvements that Revit has included in the latest release. I suggest reading the article. It can be found at: http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2008/RevitArch2009_pr.html.
Some of the improvements that she writes about are going to be very helpful to Ross & Baruzzini as we continue with the implementation of Revit. I have not been able to check out any of these new improvements with 2009, but plan on checking them out very soon. The improvements that I am looking forward to are the improved rendering/visualization, color display, and dimensioning features.
Revit 2009 has made rendering scenes much easier to produce. Revit has added several materials and modified the folder organization. The user not only has several more options when choosing materials/ colors, but they have much more specific control to modify the material/ color to meet their needs. I am looking very forward to checking out these new improvements because I feel that Revit was strongly lacking in this area in previous versions. I often had to go out on the internet and find a material or color and import into Revit. That would often cause the final rendering to not represent the material properly.
Another improvement with Revit 2009 is the ability to use the color display in more views than just the plan view. In the past I had wanted to show a building section with the color scheme shown. Until now this was not possible, but after reading the above mentioned article, I am excited that Revit has made this improvement.
One of the most basic dimensioning issues that I have come across in the past is the inability to control dimension text. In this latest Revit issue, the user can override the dimension text. In the past the user has been able to add text as a prefix or suffix to the dimension text. Now the user will be able to replace that text with specific notes to the contractor. From my experience I often had to add floating text adjacent to the dimension to relate information to the contractor. If the dimension moved, the user would need to remember to move the floating text as well. That is a big hassle.
The above mentioned improvements are very nice to see for a user of Revit. I hope that Autodesk continues to improve and tweak Revit so that it can become a more prevalent CAD product. I once again want to recommend to anyone reading this, to please go to the link above and read Lachmi Khemlani’s article for she discusses other improvements in more detail.
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My name is Derek Freand and I am a Project Architect for Ross & Baruzzini. I have been with R&B for 11 months but have used Revit dating back to 2003. Here at R&B we are getting the Revit programs started. Architecturally we have done two projects to CD completion, but we also use Revit as a modeling tool to represent proposed material layouts showing 3D views and renderings. During my time of using Revit I have completed nearly 30 projects. It is a very valuable tool for our industry and will most likely be around for quite some time.
Over the past few years of using Revit I have come across several people that have said, "Sure, Revit is great for the 3D capabilities, but you cannot make 2D details as well as you can in AutoCAD." I have learned that is untrue, because it is easy to detail in Revit if you just get used to it.
First of all, Revit has a "Drafting" tab that I use frequently. For continuous lines Revit has thin, medium, and wide. I have found that using these three linetypes in a detail is enough. Obviously, you will need to use hidden, center, and other lines but they are there as well. Hatching in Revit is called a Filled Region and is very easy to use. Actually much easier than CAD. Revit has one text size when detailing. If you decide to change the scale of the detail later, it is as simple as changing the scale button at the bottom of the frame. The text, lines, and filled regions, etc., automatically update per the new scale. Also, when cutting a wall section you can add very detailed information in that section. The section will show 3D components exactly how you have drawn them and then you can add insulation, gypsum board, J-mold, blocking. etc. Revit comes with many 2D drafting components such as metal studs, steel angles, channels, CMU blocks of all sizes, furniture, and many other items. As mentioned above making 2D details is easy and you will be happy with the end product.
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Where Are My Families?
After starting our first MEP BIM project with Revit we quickly learned that the out-of-the-box product is severely lacking the tools to needed to make a project of any complexity successful. The tools are there, this is true, but the building blocks to make the end product complete were missing. In the Revit world these building blocks are called Families. Revit 2008 out-of-the-box does give you some basic Families however, here at Ross & Baruzzini the aesthetics of the drawings are very important and they need to be maintained to produce the professional output drawings we are proud of and known for today. So the big question is, "Where are my Families?" It seems the rest of the Revit world is still catching up on the MEP side. Manufacturers are trying to keep up but are finding it hard to produce a line of Revit Families since the masses are not yet committed to a BIM solution. We have looked high and low for Free Revit Families and can only find the few sites listed below.
The Solution
The Ross & Baruzzini solution was to train our Revit users how to make and manipulate Revit blocks for use in-house. We used CADD Centers of Florida for a one-day training session over GoToMeeting as we did the product training. We then contacted the Broutek, a company whose sole purpose is creating Revit Families. You can buy a block of (50) Families for $2,400.00 … a steal when you think of the man hours needed to create each Revit family. The process is simple: Just send the cut sheet to Broutek and they create the Family with all intelligence and in all specified sizes. Once complete (24-48 hours) they place the Family on their site to be downloaded though your subscription. If you are going to use this process you should go though CADD Centers of Florida as they are the Official US Distributor of Broutek.com Revit Family Content and will give you a 5% Discount.
Online Family Resource Links
BimWorld - MEP and Architectural Families
Broutek - Custom Families
RevitCity - MEP and Architectural Families (good For General Electrical)
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To help standardize our work flow we implemented a CAD committee. Over the past five years we have established firm wide standards for the ever-changing AutoCAD. The group is comprised of our top CAD users from all disciplines from all of our offices. This teamwork approach allows us to make CAD additions and changes to the company with full buy-in from all disciplines, in other words, NO SUPRISES. When the decision was made to move forward with Revit, the CAD committee sprang into action. First, we had to decide, "What is the implementation cost?" Since we already had previous Architectural Revit users onboard, we had a head start for their training at a local firm in St. Louis called Sieler. Sieler is a team of architects and engineers with real world experience and hands-on expertise with the product. The custom, training was done over five days; I say custom because the training was created by Sieler NOT directly from the book. This was great for the architectural side, however they are not MEP trainers.
We looked and decided to move forward with Hagerman as our MEP training provider and setup the offsite training schedule. After the first day, our users returned with a definite "no-go attitude" due to the trainer involved. This was a surprise, we have worked with Hagerman in the past and have always gotten great service. The trainer we were given did not have the MEP background we expected and he was training directly from the book. This was not acceptable, so the CAD users quickly requested an alternative. We then looked at CADD Centers in Florida. They were recommended by a partner of ours that uses them exclusively for all Revit and AutoCAD training. This was great for our Florida users, but the added cost to fly our St. Louis users to Miami was unacceptable. So we trained our Miami users with the three day Revit essential class at CADD Centers. The results were great, the Miami team was very happy with the outcome. This led us to remote training using GoToMeeting for our St. Louis and remote users. This worked great, we had all of our users in-house so they could still be available for emergencies and at the same time they were in a locked training room environment. Thanks to CADD Centers of Florida, we are now on our way with Revit certified users. If you ever need training, I would recommend CADD Centers of Florida, as they have been a great resource for training, implementation and follow up support.
Revit Training
Gregory Arkin
CADD Centers of Florida
(954) 772-7300 x127
Greg’s Blog
www.revit3d.com
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Ross & Baruzzini is Revit Ready..
Ross & Baruzzini is in the process of making a major change in our Computer Aided Design (CAD) system. In years past, our firm has been utilizing CAD. We’ve seen it grow and have adopted and customized the system created a very streamline and powerful tool. When we began with CAD, it was basically an electronic drafting board of lines and boxes. We still drew every line, in every detail, every time it was seen. The return on investment or ROI is surfaced when the time for revisions was greatly reduced making it quicker than the traditional graphite or ink. The next big breakthrough was the addition of connecting drawings together through x-referencing. This allowed the end user to attach an architectural background to his work without having to add the information to his sheet. This also allowed for disciplines working in-house to drastically reduce the size of each sheet and maintain updated information without having to update their drawing. When a change is made to any drawing it is reflected on the other users' referencing the data as well. Since the early 80s Ross & Baruzzini have adopted the Autodesk technology. We are currently in the process of switching to a new BIM based technology by Autodesk called Revit.
What is BIM and why would I want to change my primary design tool?
Building Information Modeling (BIM) entered the market about ten years ago to move from the traditional 2D drafting to 3D modeling solution. By introducing the 3D aspect we are able to give variables and intelligence to all sides of and object. This was a big leap forward in the creation of BIM. Now you could drop in blocks or "Families" to interact with another discipline's object to perform automatic tasks such as scheduling, calculations and checks and QC. BIM was brought into the industry not only to increase efficacy while also reducing design mistakes and change orders resulting in less overhead cost to the owner or client. According to Autodesk you can save 33% on total design time for every project life cycle. While many other organizations have taken a wait-and-see attitude about BIM, Ross & Baruzzini is dedicated to being a leader in the Midwest region. We are in our first year of implementation and will be tracking our manpower and project cost so we can trend the data and get a real life analysis. Customers using BIM will save time and money, see fewer design errors, experience improved productivity, and have access to new business opportunities. BIM is not a technology, but it does require suitable technology to be implemented effectively.
Change is never easy, make the transition as smooth as possible
It is never easy to change you primary design process. Most users have been using the Traditional Autocad software for so long that they could not imagine learning a new way to think. However, our users have had a very positive attitude though the entire training process. We trained all of our users in-house though an online web meeting with all of our offices. We are now identifying potential projects to move forward. We plan on being a Midwest leader in the Revit realm providing our clients with clean BIM documents. We are dedicated to moving forward and championing this process for all of our clients and partners.
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