The BIM Bulletin

Avatech Solutions and Rand Worldwide, Inc./IMAGINiT Merge

2010-08-18T10:27:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, August 17, Rand Worldwide, Inc. and Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced that they have closed a definitive agreement under which the companies have merged.

The combined company will be called Rand Worldwide and the Autodesk focused operations will operate under the name, IMAGINiT Technologies, when the transition is completed.

For more details check out: http://tinyurl.com/273ljtl.

Who Knew? Where to find the Render Tool in Revit 2010 and 2011

2010-05-07T08:01:00.007-05:00

This week a friend of mine scoured the online Revit help searching for the location of the Render tool in Revit 2010. He found a reference to a teapot button but nothing that specifically stated where to find the alleged teapot. He cracked and contacted me. I showed him that the render tool is conveniently placed... once you know where to look.

Setting Up a View for Rendering in Revit

Create a Perspective View Using a Camera

Make a plan view current where you would like to place a camera. You can place cameras while in an elevation or section view but it is difficult to figure out where your camera is actually being placed in space and predict the appearance of the resulting perspective view.

Navigate to the camera tool on the ribbon at the View tab > Create Panel > 3D View pulldown > Camera.

Confirm that Perspective is checked on the Options bar and specify the camera height by adjusting the reference level and offset from the reference level to suit your needs.

Click a location in the current view to place a camera. As you move your cursor away from the camera you will see a red triangle indicating the camera view area. Drag your cursor and click to specify the target location of the camera view.

A new 3D perspective view will be created with a default name of 3D View 1. Rename the view to something more meaningful either by using the Element Properties dialog in 2010, Properties in 2011 (#1 in the image at right) or by right-clicking the view name in the Project Browser and selecting Rename.

Adjust the Camera View as Required

If you are using Revit MEP you may wish to change the Discipline property of the camera view from mechanical or electrical to Coordination (#2 at right) to display architectural elements in a fashion similar to your MEP components rather than as half-toned, hidden-line objects to clearly view all objects. However, doing so is not required to create a rendering that displays all visible components in the materials assigned to them in the camera view.

Tip! You can leave Revit MEP light source objects (the yellow meshes that represent the shape of the light coming out of fixtures) visible in a camera view. They do not render.

Use the parameters in the Camera category of the Element Properties (2010) or in Properties in 2011 dialog to adjust your rendering settings, adjust your eye elevation (camera elevation) and target elevation (#3 at right).

Adjust the appearance of the camera view within the perspective (camera) view itself using the View Cube, the Steering Wheel, (the Walk and Up/down tools are great for adjusting your camera view) or by holding down the Shift key and middle mouse button.

Move the camera position by right-clicking on the camera view name in the Project Browser, and select Show Camera to display the camera, target and go back to the original plan view or any other view to select and drag either the camera or target to a new position.

Tip! Changes made to the orientation or position of the camera in a perspective view are considered temporary until the view is saved.

Start Rendering

Once you are satisfied with the view and ready to begin rendering, click on the illusive teapot button, officially named the Show Render Dialog button found on the View Control Bar as shown in the image below.

The teapot button is only available on the View Control bar when the currently active view is a perspective (camera) view. Click on the teapot and the Rendering dialog will appear where you will have the opportunity to review and adjust the rendering settings. When ready to render, click the Render button at the top of the dialog to generate a rendered view.

In What Order are Cascading Licenses Available for the Revit and Navisworks 2011 Products?

2010-05-02T15:34:00.008-05:00

Autodesk recently posted a tech doc that conveniently lists the order that cascading licenses will be pulled for 40 of their 2011 products. Following are the licensing orders for the Revit and Navisworks products.

For a complete list of products and their licensing orders follow this link to the tech doc entitled, "Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2011 Products:" http://tinyurl.com/23fpzu3.

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011
AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2011
AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Advanced 2011
Autodesk Education Master Suite 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Architecture and Engineering 2011
Autodesk Design Academy 2011

Autodesk Revit MEP-B 2011 Cascading Sequence:
Autodesk Revit MEP-B 2011
AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2011
Autodesk Education Master Suite 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Architecture and Engineering 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Advanced 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Civil and Structural Engineering 2011
Autodesk Design Academy 2011

Autodesk Revit Structure 2011
Autodesk Revit Structure 2011
AutoCAD Revit Structure Suite 2011
Autodesk Education Master Suite 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Advanced 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Architecture and Engineering 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Civil and Structural Engineering 2011

Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2011 Cascading Sequence:
Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Advanced 2011
Autodesk Plant Design Suite Advanced 2011
Autodesk Education Master Suite 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Architecture and Engineering 2011
Autodesk Education Suite for Civil and Structural Engineering 2011

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2011 Cascading Sequence:
Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2011
Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2011
AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite 2011
Autodesk Plant Design Suite Premium 2011
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium 2011

Creating Multiple Conduit Connectors on a Panel Surface

2010-04-21T12:01:00.010-05:00

Part 3 of a 3 Part Series: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

The previous two parts of this three part series discussed attaching conduit with surface connectors to panels and changing the conduit location on a panel surface. Links to the first first two parts of this series are available at the bottom of this post.

This post discusses the options available for locating multiple conduit connections on a single surface of Revit MEP 2011 electrical panels and other equipment.

New Connector Options

Two new types of connectors are available in the Revit MEP 2011 Family Editor; a conduit connector and a cable tray connector.

When you select either of the new connector tools you will find that the Option Bar offers the opportunity to add either a Surface Connector or an Individual Connector. With the two connector types you can choose whether to provide the users of your customized equipment families the flexibility of repositioning and adding connectors on-the-fly while modeling or customized equipment with predetermined conduit connection locations that cannot be changed without entering the Family Editor. Each type of connector has its benefits and trade-offs, as described below.

Surface Connectors

All of the out-of-the box electrical equipment families that I have opened have had surface connectors on the appropriate sides for conduit or cable tray. Surface connectors offer us the flexibility to create multiple connectors in multiple locations on a surface on-the-fly while we are modeling. However, moving and positioning each additional connector needed requires additional time while modeling and relies on the knowledge and accuracy of the user.

In the screen capture below an electrical panel is displayed in the Family Editor. The surface connectors are easily identified by their rectangular shape as typical elecrical connectors are circular. Each surface connector is located at the center of a surface.

How to Define Multiple Surface Connectors on a Surface

You will find that once you move the default surface connector centered on a surface to any other location on the same surface as shown in Part 2 of this series and then follow one of the two options for connecting conduit to a panel as described in Part 1 of this series (see the links at the bottom of this post), that a new surface connector automatically appears in the default, center of surface location, ready for you to connect to. The software will keep producing additional surface connectors at the surface center provided the position is available - that it is not occupied by a surface connector. See the example below.

Individual Conduit Connectors

If you have specific pieces of equipment that have conduit connections at known, fixed positions you might consider predefining their locations in the Family Editor so that you can then quickly connect to them while modeling; similar to connecting pipes to fixtures.

When using Individual Connectors you are trading up-front time spent adding and positioning the fixed connections in the Family Editor and the flexibility of moving your conduit on the surfaces of your equipment for faster, simpler connection times when modeling.

With individual conduit connectors we can predefine the radius of the connector. However, we can change the size of the conduit attached to either the surface or individual connectors in Properties as shown below.

To connect to an individual connection, select the panel (or other equipment) and right-click on the connector you wish to use, just as you would to connect ducts or pipes, and choose Draw Conduit as shown below.

A Couple of Last Comments on Conduit Connectors

It is great that Autodesk has provided two different types of conduit connectors. Each has their advantages and disadvantages to consider when creating and customing Revit MEP 2011 content. Following are two last bits of information I can pass on regarding connecting conduit to equipment.

When a conduit segment attached to a surface connector is deleted, the surface connector is deleted as well as shown below in the area circled in green on the top, left side of the panel. The only exception is at the center of a surface where the connector is automatically replaced as noted above. Individual unnconnected conduit connectors as described above are of course, always available.

I did not find any documentation that specifically stated we could or could not draw conduit off of a surface connector in a 3D view. However, my experience has been that I could draw conduit out of connectors on the vertical faces of equipment while in a 3D view. However, when trying to draw conduit from a connection on a horizontal face, such as the top surface of a panel I received an auto-route error as shown below.

Links to Related Posts

This post is Part 3 of a 3 Part Series Entitled: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

Part 1: Connecting Conduit to a Surface in Revit MEP 2011: http://tinyurl.com/yyfouxo

Part 2: Moving Conduit Connected to a Surface Panel in Revit MEP 2011: http://tinyurl.com/y6tlcz8

Moving Conduit Connected to a Panel with a Surface Connector in Revit MEP 2011

2010-04-20T09:38:00.024-05:00

Part 2 of a 3 Part Series: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

Once a conduit is connected to a surface connector in Revit MEP 2011, the surface connector and therefore the end of the conduit attached to the surface connector cannot move. Following are options for editing the position of your conduit surface connectors and conduit that is to be attached to your panels.

Editing the Position of Conduit that is Surface Connected to a Panel

1. Disconnect the conduit from the surface connector.

Click to select the segment of conduit that connects to a surface connector that needs to be moved. You have two options for disconnecting the conduit from the surface connector.

Option A: Delete the selected conduit segment.

Option B: Click on the selected conduit segment’s conduit connector that is attached to the surface connector and drag the conduit connector back some distance away from the surface connector.

2. Get back into the Surface Connection mode. You also have two options for re-entering the Surface Connection mode.

Option A: Click the Conduit tool on the ribbon's Home tab, verify that the correct conduit type is displayed in the Type Selector. Highlight the surface of a panel where the surface connector that you wish to move is located and click to select the surface. See the previous post at http://tinyurl.com/yyfouxo for a more detailed description of this process.

Option B: Click to select the panel that needs a relocated surface connector. The connectors are displayed. Right-click the connector that needs to be moved and select Draw Conduit from Face.

3. Move the surface connector to its new position either by dragging or using the temporary dimensions.

4. Click Finish Connection on the ribbon. A new piece of conduit will be attached to your edited surface connector.

5. Draw a conduit segment to replace your deleted conduit segment, or draw a short stub of conduit and then edit your existing conduit segments to connect to the new stub and thereby the panel.

TIP! Do not cancel out before completing a new segment of conduit no matter which option you chose above, or you will find that you have to start all over again. You will have to re-enter the Surface Connection mode and if you moved the surface connector away from the centroid of the surface you will have to move it once again to the new location you require.

Links to Related Posts

This post is Part 2 of a 3 Part Series Entitled: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

Part 1 of the Series: Connecting Conduit to a Surface in Revit MEP 2011: http://tinyurl.com/yyfouxo

Part 3 of the Series: Creating Multiple Conduit Connectors on a Panel Surface http://tinyurl.com/2a9g36z

Connecting Conduit to a Surface in Revit MEP 2011

2010-04-20T06:59:00.057-05:00

Part 1 of a 3 Part Series: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

A much anticipated new feature of Revit MEP 2011 is the ability to create conduit and attach it anywhere on the surface of a panel. However, connecting to a panel isn’t quite as simple as showing up at the face of a panel dragging the end of a piece of conduit and connecting. By default, each face of the out-of-the box panels have just one surface connector located at the centroid of the surface as shown circled in green in the image below.

To Connect Conduit to a Surface Connector on a Panel

1. On the Ribbon’s Home tab click > Electrical panel > Conduit.

2. From the Type Selector, select the conduit type that you wish to use.

3. Use the Options Bar, to specify the diameter you require.

It seems from my limited experience with the new software that it is easiest to connect to the panel and draw conduit out from the panel rather than draw conduit into the panel.

We can successfully draw conduit from a panel surface connector in plan, section, or elevation or 3D views. Being in a section view or 3D view seems to work well if connecting to the side of a panel, a plan voew works well when connecting to the top of a panel. I received an error message when attempting to draw conduit out from the top of a panel in a 3D view.

I'd recommend tiling multiple windows of different types of views of the area surrounding the panel(s) you are going to connect conduit to so you can clearly see what is happening.

4. Move your cursor over the surface of the panel you wish to connect to and left-click when the correct surface highlights.

Revit MEP 2011 automatically places you in Surface Connection mode where you can complete the connection centered on the surface as is, move the position of the connector on the surface by dragging the connector or enter temporary dimension values to specify a surface connector location.

Check out how the Surface Connection mode creates an orthographic view of the surface you selected to add conduit to. Below is a screen capture of my what displays in the Surface Connection mode after I begin the Conduit tool and select the right side of a panel as the surface I would like to connect to.

5. When satisfied with the position of the Surface Connector, click Finish Connector on the ribbon. You will exit the Surface Connection mode and will have the starting point of a segment of conduit attached to the surface connector on your panel.

Links to Related Posts
This post is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series Entitled: Revit MEP 2011 Conduit to Panel Connections

Part 2: Moving Conduit Connected to a Surface Panel in Revit MEP 2011: http://tinyurl.com/y6tlcz8

Part 3: Creating Multiple Conduit Connectors on a Panel Surface: http://tinyurl.com/2a9g36z

Who Knew? Adding Oval Duct, Cable Trays and Conduit to a Revit MEP 2010 Project Upgraded to Revit MEP 2011

2010-04-19T11:12:00.004-05:00

There are some good tips and very useful information you will want to know regarding new features that will save you time and frustration in the Feature Limitations and Notes section of the Readme.chm file that gets installed with your Revit MEP 2011. I did not find the information duplicated in a search of the User Assistance accessed from within Revit MEP 2011.

If you do not have the opportunity to view the file immediately upon completion of installation, you may find it at the default installation location at: C:\Autodesk\Autodesk_Revit_MEP-B_2011_English_Win_32-64bit\RevitSetup\Revit MEP or do a search for the file.

The tip for adding oval ducts, cable trays, and conduit to a Revit MEP 2010 project updated to Revit MEP 2011? Simply use the Transfer Project Standards tool found on the Manage tab of the ribbon to copy new objects types from a Revit MEP 2011 template into a project that originated in Revit MEP 2010.

I discovered that Martin Schmid of Autodesk has created a great post on the subject of using the Transfer Project Standards tool to add oval duct functionality to a Revit MEP project upgraded to Revit MEP 2011 on the Inside the System blog. Follow this link to read Martin's post: http://tinyurl.com/yyl53o8.

Is your Computer Ready? Revit MEP 2011 Hardware Requirements

2010-03-26T00:43:00.003-05:00

The Internet is a buzz with new features lists for various new Autodesk 2011 products. For example, Revit MEP 2011 has real-world conduit and cable tray, schedule types that report the overall length of cable tray and conduit runs, panel schedules, sloped piping improvements, more content, oval ducts. YES! OVAL DUCTS! Sun Path Analysis! Great news! But, is your hardware ready for the new tools?

Take a look at Autodesk's suggested and recommended hardware specifications for Revit MEP 2011.

For 32-bit Autodesk Revit MEP

Microsoft® Windows® 7 32-bit Enterprise, Professional, Ultimate, or Home Premium edition, or Microsoft® Windows Vista® 32 bit (SP2 or later) Enterprise, Business, Home Premium, or Ultimate edition, or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional or Home edition (SP2 or later)
Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ dual core, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology for Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (or later), or Intel Pentium 4, or AMD Athlon dual core, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology for Microsoft Windows Vista 32 bit SP2 (or later) or Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit
3 GB RAM
5 GB free disk space
1,280 x 1,024 monitor and display adapter with true color
Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 (or later)
Microsoft Mouse-compliant pointing device
Download or installation from DVD

For 64-bit Autodesk Revit MEP

Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Home, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition, or Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit (SP2 or later) Business, Home Premium, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition, or Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (SP2 or later)
Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon Dual Core, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology for Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2 (or later), or Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon Dual Core, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology for Microsoft Windows Vista 64 bit SP2 (or later), or Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
3 GB RAM
5 GB free disk space
1,280 x 1,024 monitor and display adapter with true color
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 (or later)
Microsoft Mouse-compliant pointing device
Download or installation from DVD

Performance Recommendations for 64-bit Autodesk Revit MEP

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2 (or later), Business, Home Premium, Ultimate, or Enterprise Edition
Quad Core Intel® Xeon® W3570 3.20GHz, 8M L3, 6.4GT/s Turbo or equivalent AMD processor.
8 GB RAM
256 MB DirectX® 9 capable graphics card with Shader Model 3

Who Knew? Revit Tip for Fast and Accurate Creation of 3D Level Views

2010-03-24T00:35:00.016-05:00

Indeed, who knew? Not me, and perhaps not some other experienced Revit users who haven't experimented with the features found on the View Cube right-click menu.

I did a post back in December, 2009 where I showed a method for making 3D views of individual Revit levels a bit easier, but it lacked the speed and accuracy I was looking for. I became inspired this week by a video I came across on designreform.net posted by David Fano on November 2, 2009 entitled “Revit-View and Orient to View (3D to 2D)” at http://tinyurl.com/yav7h7z. David spent just a few seconds on how the Revit Orient to View tool can be used. I thought Orient to View just might be the tool I've been looking for to quickly create precisely cropped 3D views of levels. Not bad! Try out the following process:

Create a 3D Level View Cropped to your View Range

1. Create a floor plan view and apply your typical view template that specifies the view range you require to control the top and bottom boundaries of your plan.

2. Check to see if you have a default 3D view named “3D” in the Project Browser that you need to keep. If you do, right-click the 3D view name in the Project Browser and choose Rename to prevent it from being written over by the following process.

3. Click on the 3D View (the house) tool on the Quick Access toolbar or click on the ribbon’s View tab > Create panel > Default 3D View (the house) tool.

By default, the View Cube will appear in the upper right hand corner of your View Window whenever you are in a 3D view. If not does not appear, go to the ribbon’s View tab > Windows panel > User Interface pull-down to toggle it on.

Adjust View Cube characteristics such as View Window position, size, etc. on the Options dialog > View Cube tab which can be found at the bottom of the Application Menu (click the big purple “R” in the upper left hand corner of your Revit window).

4. Right-click the View Cube and click Orient to View > Floor Plans. Select one of the floor plans that you wish to create a 3D level view of as shown below, from left to right. The current 3D view will be replaced with the plan view you selected.

5. Click on one of the top corner hotspots on the View Cube or the house icon located above the View Cube as shown in the image to the right to quickly flip this new plan up to a 3D view.

You should now have a 3D level view of the plan view you selected with a Section Box cropped precisely to the top and bottom values of your plan’s view range (as well as the four vertical crop boundaries). No need to eyeball the size (and resize) the Section Box’s top and bottom to get the 3D view you need.

6. If you are satisfied with the Section Box cropping and no longer wish to see it in this view, uncheck its listing on the Visibility/Graphics dialog > Annotation tab. If you turn off the display of the Section Box in the View Properties dialog you will disable its ability to crop your view and your entire 3D model will be displayed in your view.

7. Don’t forget to rename this new 3D level view as in step #1 above so that it is not overwritten if you repeat the process to create another 3D level view.

Who Knew? Revit MEP Pipe Elevation Tag Tips

2010-03-16T17:35:00.005-05:00

A question that pops up just about everytime I do onsite Revit MEP implementation training/consulting is: “How can we get the Invert Elevation command to measure pipe locations from the current level rather than from than from the project’s 0’-0”?

The standard definition of an invert elevation measurement is the dimension from a reference level to the inside bottom of a pipe. If you select a pipe and go to Element Properties you will find that Pipe Types actually have read-only Instance Properties for Outer and Inner Diameters. You will find that these diameter values automatically change when you change the type property for the Material for a pipe type. These pipe diameters are just a few of the pipe characteristics that can be defined and modified in Revit MEP’s Mechanical Settings which may be found on the ribbon on the Manage tab > Project Settings > MEP Settings > Pipe Settings > Sizes.

However, the Invert Elevation tag ignores the Inner and Outer Diameter parameters. The Invert Elevation tag displays the value of a read-only parameter, Invert Elevation that appears to report the distance from the project’s 0’-0” to a Pipe’s Reference Level plus/minus the Pipe Offset (from the Reference Level) minus the pipe’s radius calculated from Size/Diameter (nominal parameters) to provide an elevation value from a project’s 0’-0” to the bottom of a pipe.

With this calculation method, the Invert Elevation tag does not satisfy a need for a tag which provides a pipe offset elevation from the current level (other than 0’-0”) or provide accurate information when labeling a sloped pipe as shown in the image to the right. The same elevation is supplied at both ends of a sloped pipe. Also, Invert Elevation tags cannot be applied in a 3D view.

Use the Spot Elevation Tag

The most flexible solution currently available for labeling pipe elevations appears to be the Spot Elevation tool located on the ribbon’s Annotate tab > Dimension panel. You will find several pre-defined spot elevation tag types in the Revit default templates. You can also create and use custom spot elevation tags that might include ELEV:, or I.E.= or something similar as a prefix, choose different arrowheads, text size and font, etc.

Sect a Spot Elevation tag type that suits your need
Most likely you will want to try out a tag with a (Relative) suffix. Use this type of tag to choose which level you would like to measure an elevation from on the Options Bar. If you choose a tag type with (Project) listed as a suffix the Relative Base pulldown on the Options Bar will be unavailable.

Specify the type of elevation that the tag is to display

Use the Display Elevations pulldown on the Options Bar to specify the type of elevation you wish to display.

Notice that there is no centerline option. This tool is not specifically designed for pipes or determining the centerlines of objects. Rather it is designed to dimension to the top and/or bottom of any Revit object in plan, section, or 3D.

TIP! Measuring to the Centerline of a Pipe with the Spot Elevations Tool

In a section or elevation view select a relative spot elevation tag and choose the level you wish to measure from. Make sure your Display Elevations setting on the Option bar is set to Actual (Selected) Elevation. As you move your cursor over a pipe the centerline temporarily displays and you will find that it easy to place the centerline elevations you require as shown in the image below.

If you adjust the Spot Elevation tool settings as for a section/elevation view referencing a specific level and set the display elevation setting on the Options bar to Actual (Selected) Elevation as described above and then drag your cursor over the centerline of a pipe in plan view you will be disappointed to find that the real-time spot elevation read-out is displaying the top of pipe elevations directly beneath your moving cursor (even if you set your Model Graphics Style to Wireframe or change the visibility of your pipes to Transparent). Interestingly though, the software finds an elevation at the bottom and top edges of along the pipe length in plan view, corresponding to the 9:00 and 3:00 o’clock locations on a pipe cross-section… which happens to be the same elevation as the centerline. Run your cursor over the top or bottom edge of a pipe in plan view, and you will find it is reading the centerline elevation as shown on the pipe below that has a 9’-0” centerline elevation on the left end and a 9’-10” centerline elevation on the right.

Who Knew? Yet One more Tip for Using Revit MEP Filters

2010-03-08T23:53:00.009-06:00

My husband likes to do Sudoku puzzles to challenge his brain. When I have some spare time I may check out what is happening on the Forums to see what issues people are bumping into when working with Revit MEP, AutoCAD MEP and NavisWorks. I like to figure out how to manipulate the software to get the solution that people are looking for, then see what solutions have been offered by others. If I have something useful to offer I make a suggestion if none have yet been offered.

I answered a question on the Revit City forum recently that I thought might serve as a good follow-up to last week’s Revit MEP piping filters post. A person had created filters to differentiate duct insulation thicknesses by hatch pattern. He would have created a filter similar to the following image in the Revit MEP, Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialog to define his filters by insulation thickness.

For more detailed step-by-step documentation of the process for creating a filter and other examples of their use please check out these previous BIM Bulletin posts:

Who Knew? Setting Electrical Wire Appearances in Revit MEP 2010: http://tinyurl.com/ygg26os
Display Control of Revit MEP Pipes in a Plumbing Plan: http://tinyurl.com/yazuvbl
Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 1 of 2: http://tinyurl.com/yejmh7g
Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 2 of 2: http://tinyurl.com/yehcjyx

The Revit City user ran into a roadblock when he attempted to increase the line weight of the perimeter of the insulated ducts to match the line weights of his non-insulated ducts.

If you were to increase the line weight of an individual duct to which insulation had been applied you would see something similar to the image below when the duct was selected with Thin/Thick Lines toggled on.

The increase in duct line weight affects only the duct edges which, would be hidden by the insulation on the outside of the duct with the Model Graphics Style set to Hidden Line as shown on the horizontal duct with the magenta hatching in the image below.

Option A - Use a filter to control the display of the outer edge of the duct insulation in individual views

To adjust the line weight of the edges of the insulation with a filter click in the Projection/Surface > Lines column in the Visibility/Graphics Overrides to the right of an insulation filter as shown in the image above to specify the line weight for the filter lines. The result is shown on the vertical pipe with the purple hatching. Notice the vertical duct’s edges have a thicker line weight than the horizontal duct that matches the line weight of the elbow fitting. The default line weight for duct edges and fittings is 5.

Option B – Use object styles to control the display of the outer edge of the duct insulation in all views

If your goal was to increase the line weight of the outer edges of duct insulation in all views where it appears with or without hatching, you might take a look at Manage > Settings > Object Styles > Ducts > Insulation. As shown below, the default line weight value for Duct Insulation is 3. This value works pretty well if a dashed line is used to indicate duct insulation edges. However, if you were to set this value to 5, your duct insulation edges would match the default line weights of Revit MEP’s duct fittings and non-insulated ducts throughout a project unless of course, if they were overridden by a filter.

Filter Tips

The parameters you are offered under the Filter Rules on the right-hand side of the Visibility/Graphics > Filters tab are limited to those parameters that are shared by all of the categories you select from the Categories list in the middle of the dialog… and it appears, object subcategories.

For example, if you attempt to create a filter with Categories set to Duct and Duct Fittings and then open the Filter by: pull down on the right side of the dialog you will not find insulation thickness on the list of parameters to choose from. However, if you uncheck Duct Fittings and go back to the Filter by pull down, you will find that insulation thickness is now an available selection choice. If you select an out-of-the box duct (or pipe) fitting and check out its Instance Parameters you will find no insulation thickness parameter.

However, you might assume that since ducts and pipes both have instance parameters for insulation thickness that you would be able to check on both ducts and pipes as filter categories and then choose insulation thickness from the Filter by list to create a single filter for both ducts and pipes by insulation thickness. But, it is not to be. Even though they have the same parameter name of insulation thickness they cannot be specified with a single filter because they are each subcategories of their respective categories (duct and pipe) as illustrated in the Object Styles dialog.

Who Knew? Setting Electrical Wire Appearances in Revit MEP 2010

2010-03-02T21:41:00.146-06:00

I have a friend whose company’s evaluation of Revit MEP includes whether they can replicate their existing company standards in Revit construction documents. A question he passed on to me was whether it was possible to show wires with solid line styles connecting light fixtures in two separate rooms on the same circuit yet display the single wire that connects the fixtures from each room with a hidden linetype. I responded that the answer was yes, in fact, his company would have two options!

Option 1:
Quick Solution-Override Graphics in View by Element

Each time the different wire appearance is required, users could select the wire that connects the fixtures in the two separate rooms, right-click, choose Override Graphics in View by Element..., and in the resulting dialog choose a line pattern of Hidden 1/6" (or any other pattern, color, or line weight as shown below.

The disadvantages to this method are that it takes several clicks to accomplish and that the process requires that users know specifically what Revit line pattern to select for the room-to-room wire to meet their company's standards for wire display.

Option 2:
Create New Wire Type(s) and a Visibility/Graphics Filter to Standardize Room-to-Room Wire Display

This option takes a bit more effort to set up. However, once the required wire types and filter are available in a project, a single click will allow users to replace solid line wires with a room-to-room wire type that will automatically meet their company standards for wire display.

You will find that that you can change many of a wire's parameters such as tick mark display, material assignment, etc. in the Element Properties dialog, but not a wire's line style. However, you can create new wire types and use them to define a new V/G filter that can be used to uniquely control the appearance of wires connecting fixtures in multiple rooms while carrying the same electrical data as the other wires on the same circuit as described below.

Create a New Wire Type

Select any wire in the current project and navigate to the Modify Wires tab > Element Properties panel > Type Properties, or, right-click, select Element Properties and then click the Edit Type… button.

Evaluate the wire types you currently have defined. Create as many corresponding new room-to-room wire types as needed. For example, since I am using THWN wire for my lighting circuits, I will make a new “THWN Room-to-Room” wire type.

Click the Duplicate button to create a copy of an existing wire type used for wiring lighting circuits (THWN in my example). Name the new wire type so that users will easily recognize its purpose by name when listed in the Type Selector. In our example, the new wire type will be named THWN Room-to-Room and click OK.

Create a New Filter

With your cursor in the Revit drawing area, type in VG to open the Visibility/Graphics dialog and click the Filters tab.

Click on the Edit/New… button at the bottom of the Filters tab dialog.

Working from left-to-right across the dialog, click on the New filters button to create a new filter named Room-to-Room Wire.

Check on Wires in the Categories column in the middle of the dialog to specify what category of objects are to be affected by this new filter.

On the right side of the dialog under Filter Rules set Filter by: to Type Name > contains > Room-to-Room and click OK. This will assure that any wire types names created by your users containing Room-to-Room will automatically be set to display as you specify on the Visibility/Graphics Filter tab.

Back on the Visibility/Graphics Filters tab click the Add button to open the Add Filters dialog.

Click the Room-to-Room Wire filter from the list of filters available in the project that have not yet been added to the Visibility/Graphics filters for the current view and click OK.

Click in the Projection/Surface Lines column to the right of the newly created Room-to-Room Wire filter.

Click on the Override… button which appears in the cell. In the resulting Line Graphics dialog click on the Pattern pull-down and select the linetype you wish to assign to the Room-to-Room Wire filter. I chose Hidden 1/16” for my 1/8” scale plan.

Any wires in the current view that contain Room-to-Room in their Type Name will now automatically be displayed with the hidden 1/16” line pattern.

Users will also be able to select a solid line wire in the current view and click on a Room-to-Room wire type in the Type Selector on the Modify Wire ribbon tab to easily apply the company standard for room-to-room wire appearance in the current view.

Once you are satisfied with the display of objects in the current lighting plan, save the settings so they can be duplicated in other lighting plan views in the current and future projects as described below.

Reuse Lighting Plan Display Settings in the Current Project

Create or update a view template

In the Project Browser, right-click on the name of the view with the ideal display settings and click Create New View Template from View… You will then be prompted to provide a view template name.

If you type in the name of an existing view template you will be alerted that the view template already exists and have the opportunity to replace it or to provide a different view template name.

Apply the view template to to similar views within the current project

In the Project Browser, right-click on the name of the view that you wish to apply the view template settings to and click Apply View Template to View…

In the resulting dialog, select the name of the view template you wish to apply to the current view and click OK.

Reuse Lighting Plan Display Settings in Future Projects

If you are responsible for maintaining and improving your company’s Revit MEP project start-up templates use the Transfer Project Standards tool to copy the settings we have created into one or more of your company’s project templates.

Leave the project open that has settings you wish to copy from into a company project template.

Open your company project template and set it to be the current project. You start the Transfer Project Standards tool in the project that requires additional settings.

Navigate to the Manage tab > Project Settings panel > Transfer Project Standards.

In the resulting dialog confirm that the project you wish to copy your project settings from appears in the Copy from: slot at the top of the dialog. If not, use the pull-down arrow in the slot to select the correct project. Only those projects that are currently open will be available for selection.

In the Transfer Project Standards dialog click the Check None button to uncheck all the possible settings that could be copied over.

For this example, we need to click to check on: Filter, View Templates, and Wire Types to transfer these three setting categories into your company project template.

Tip! You are selecting categories of settings to copy from one project to another in the Transfer Project Standards dialog. You do not get to pick and choose which specific filters, view templates, or wire types you wish to copy from one project to another. So, you might do some housekeeping, by deleting outdated filters, view templates or wire types in the file from which you are going to copy settings or be prepared to do so in the project to which they are copied.

If you already have filters, view templates or wire types of the same name in the project you are transferring settings to, you will be provided options to override or rename the transferred settings.

Links to other BIM Bulletin Revit MEP filter related posts: http://tinyurl.com/yazuvbl, http://tinyurl.com/yejmh7g and http://tinyurl.com/yehcjyx.

Who Knew? Easily Add Shapes to Solids for AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content Creation

2010-02-12T15:43:00.017-06:00

Part 3: Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content

Give the Dynamic User Coordinate System tool a try to add shapes to the surfaces of solids

Creating components such as the smaller box and cylinder on the larger box shown below used to be quite a tedious process. Using a Dynamic User Coordinate System can speed up and simplify the process. This tool has been around for some time but I often run into people in my training classes who are coming from 2D AutoCAD to AutoCAD MEP 2010 that are very happy to learn of this great tool.

Toggle on the DUCS button or the icon button displaying a lightning bolt on the left-hand side of the Application Status bar at the bottom of your screen. By default, either button will display an Allow/Disallow Dynamic UCS tooltip.

Tip within a Tip! By default, buttons on the left side of the Application Status bar at the bottom of the screen display icons rather than text. Would you prefer to see the text titles on the buttons as shown above rather than the icons? How to control the display of the buttons is a common question in my training classes. To toggle back or forth between showing text on the button tops or an icon, right-click any of the Application Status bar buttons. If the Use Icons listing is checked, you will see the icons. If you prefer the text buttons, click on Use Icons to uncheck the listing and revert to text button display.

Create a 3D Solid such as the larger box shown in the image below (See the link below for Part 1 of this series to locate the solids creation and editing commands in AutoCAD MEP 2010).

To add shapes such as a small cylinder and box to the side of a larger shape, select a solid tool such as Cylinder and move your cursor over the surface you would like to use as the base for the new shape until it highlights as shown on the left in the image below. The software is dynamically identifying a surface to use as a temporary UCS (User Coordinate System).

Once the solid’s surface highlights follow the prompts on the command line to complete the creation of your new solid shape on the selected surface.

Once you have completed creating a component using the dynamic UCS it is automatically discarded and you are free to start the creation of another shape on another surface of the same or another solid object. Not having to define multiple UCS’s as a separate step prior to creating solid shapes on surfaces makes the process of creating complex parts faster and simpler.

Another Tip within a Tip! If you have Dynamic Input toggled on (the button directly to the right of the DYN button) you can visually see the dimensions that AutoCAD MEP is prompting for in the Drawing Editor and can type in values such as the radius for the cylinder as shown on the right side of the image below.

Links to Part 1 and 2 of the Series, Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content:

Link to Part 1 of the Series: Who Knew? Where to find the AutoCAD Solids Creation and Editing Commands in AutoCAD MEP 2010 http://tinyurl.com/ybhbla2

Link to Part 2 of the Series: Who Knew? Multiple Model Space Viewports Make Viewing Easy when Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content: http://tinyurl.com/yzp4bs2

Who Knew? Multiple Model Space Viewports Make Viewing Easy when Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content

2010-02-09T16:53:00.055-06:00

Part 2: Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content

Most 2D AutoCAD users are familiar with the process of using paper space viewports for laying out their construction document sheets. I often find that users are not aware that they can divide their model space into multiple viewports as well. It can be very handy to have two vertical viewports whether you’re creating a 3D solid for parts or laying out ducts and pipes.

AutoCAD MEP 2010 offers a nice, quick access to the tools necessary for setting up multiple model space viewports. Go to the Ribbon > View tab > Viewports Panel and click on the Viewports Configurations List. Make your viewport configuration selection from the flyout menu. Instant viewports!

You can leave one viewport in plan view and set the other to a 3D view of your choice by navigating to the ribbon’s View tab > Appearance panel > View Presets scroll-down menu.

Return to the Ribbon > View tab > Viewports Panel, click on the Viewports Configurations List and choose Single to return to a single model space viewport when two or more viewports are no longer required.

Links to Part 1 and 3 of the Series, Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content:

Link to Part 1 of the Series: Who Knew? Where to find the AutoCAD Solids Creation and Editing Commands in AutoCAD MEP 2010 http://tinyurl.com/ybhbla2

Link to Part 3 of the Series: Who Knew? Easily Add Shapes to Solids for AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content Creation: http://tinyurl.com/yg5ooor

Who Knew? Where to find the AutoCAD Solids Creation and Editing Commands in AutoCAD MEP 2010

2010-02-04T08:13:00.045-06:00

Part 1: Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content

AutoCAD MEP 2010 users frequently create block-based MvParts from AutoCAD 3D solids. However, there are no toolbars or pulldown menus to access the solids commands and no solids ribbon tab available in the out-of-the-box AutoCAD MEP 2010 workspaces which makes it difficult to find the solids tools you need. Following is the simple process for adding a Solids tab to the Ribbon of the current workspace.

1. Use the Workspace Switching flyout on the Status bar at the bottom-right of your screen to set a workspace to be current where you wish to add a Solids tab to the Ribbon.

2. Right-click any ribbon tab or right-click within any ribbon panel. On the resulting menu click Show Tabs > Solids.

A Solids tab will appear on the Ribbon that provides both tools to create and edit 3D solids.

Tip within a tip! Keep in mind that unless you have your Workspace Switching (on the Application Status bar at the bottom of the screen) > Workspace Settings set to automatically save changes to your workspace as you switch from one to another, or that you perform a Save Current as… also found on the Workspace Switching flyout to update your current workspace or create a new workspace, the display of the Solids tab in your current workspace will not be saved when you switch to another workspace or close out of AutoCAD MEP.

Links to Part 2 and 3 of the Series, Simple Setup Tips for Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content:

Link to Part 2 of the Series: Who Knew? Multiple Model Space Viewports Make Viewing Easy when Creating AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content: http://tinyurl.com/yzp4bs2

Link to Part 3 of the Series: Who Knew? Easily Add Shapes to Solids for AutoCAD MEP 2010 Content Creation: http://tinyurl.com/yg5ooor

Who Knew? Resetting the Revit 2010 Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar

2010-01-24T17:32:00.024-06:00

Ever have the people you work with (or confess, perhaps even you, yourself) soooooo modify the Revit ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar that they/you don't know what the default display layout is anymore but would very much like to return to it? This is for you!

Resetting the Revit 2010 Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar

Close Revit
Navigate to one of the following locations depending upon your operating system:

          For Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Network Login Name>\Local Settings\ApplicationData\Autodesk\Revit\

          For Windows Vista:
C:\Users\<Your Network Login Name>\Autodesk\Revit

     3.  Once down in the ...\Revit folder, double-click on the Revit product folder (if you have more than one installed on your system) for which you wish to reset the ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar.
      4.  Delete the file named UIState.dat.

The next time you open Revit a new UIState.dat file will be created in the same folder with the default settings for the ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar.

Can't see the folder paths described above? Your company may store your user files in a non-standard location, or your user files may be hidden. Contact your IT/BIM/CAD Administrator for assistance in locating and removing the UIState.dat file.

Multiple Opportunities for Donation to Haitian Rescue and Recovery Efforts

2010-01-17T13:34:00.029-06:00

The Red Cross - Text Haiti to 90999

I am pretty sure you have already heard of the very successful cell phone text messaging option for donating to the Red Cross relief and recovery efforts. Just in case you need the particulars, with participating cell phone carriers you can automatically donate $10.00 to Haitian rescue and recovery efforts with 100% of your donation will go to the Red Cross relief efforts by texting Haiti to 90999. The $10.00 will be added to your monthly bill.
Follow the Red Cross on Twitter https://twitter.com/redcross to get updates on how your donations are being used to provide relief and recovery to the people of Haiti.

I have received emails several companies offering additional opportunities for donating to the Red Cross. Check out the companies you do business with to see if they have developed corporate donation programs that you can use to donate.

American Airlines

American Airlines has created a Customer Giving Campaign to support the American Red Cross assistance program in Haiti. By making a donation, American will reward your generosity with an AAdvantage bonus mile offer. Through February 28, 2010, AAdvantage members can earn a one-time award of 250 bonus miles for a minimum of $50 donation, or 500 bonus miles for a donation of $100 or more. For more information please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/yknz7tk.

United Airlines

Frequent-flier members can donate Mileage Plus miles to the American Red Cross through United's Charity Miles program. For more information follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/yb6he5x.

Midwest Airlines

Donate Midwest Miles at: http://tinyurl.com/ycsfjsn

Priority Club

Donate those Priority Club hotel points you've racked up to help earthquake victims in Haiti. For more information please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/y8fowkz.

Hilton HHonors

For every 10,000 Hhonors points you donate, Hilton will send US$25 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. For more information please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/ybamco6.

Kimpton Hotels

Kimpton InTouch Loyalty Members who donate $50.00 or more to Doctors without Boarders at: http://tinyurl.com/y9ftscw will receive a bonus credit towards their next free night in 2010. Go to http://tinyurl.com/y8rd643 for more information.

The International Relief Committee

Another great option is to provide donations to the International Relief Committee at http://www.theirc.org/.

Revit MEP Quick Panel Schedule Tip: How to Add Empty Rows for Future Breakers

2010-01-10T18:09:00.027-06:00

During an online web training session I had someone ask how they might modify their panel schedules so they might contain empty rows for additional breakers that might be added in the future. Follow these steps to increase the number of slots.

Select a panel in the current view.
Right-click, and click Element Properties.
Increase the number of Max #1 Pole Breakers. Enter a value for the total number of slots you wish to see displayed on both sides of the panel schedule.
Click OK.

Additional empty slots will appear in the Panel Report and the Panel Schedule as shown below.

Display Control of Revit MEP Pipes in a Plumbing Plan

2010-01-04T13:57:00.005-06:00

I received a follow-up question to my two-part post regarding using Visibility/Graphics filters to control Revit MEP pipe display (http://tinyurl.com/yejmh7g and http://tinyurl.com/yehcjyx). The person needed to show the cold and hot water pipe located above the first floor but not the sanitary pipe located below the second floor in a First Floor Plumbing Plan.

A good place to start when looking at controlling the display of the same kind of objects (such as pipe) is to identify what property or properties make them unique from each other. Since the person In this case needs to display some piping system types (cold and hot water) and but not another (sanitary), a logical solution would be to create a Visibility/Graphics filter based upon the Sanitary system type, since it is the display of this type of pipe that needs to be controlled.

Create a Visibility/Graphics Sanitary System Type Filter

    1. Type VG to open the Visibility/Graphics dialog.

    2. Click on the Filters tab.

    3. Click the Edit/New... button.

If you find an existing Sanitary filter on the Visibility/Graphics Filters tab, you might also click on the Edit/New… button as specified in Step #3 to verify that your Sanitary filter settings match those displayed in this tutorial.

Did you discover an existing Sanitary filter in the left column of the Filter dialog shown below? If so, a Sanitary filter was already created in your project (or copied into your project from a project start-up template) and just needs to be added to the current view’s Visibility/Graphics filters list. Verify that the Categories of objects and Filter settings match those specified in steps #5 and #6 and continue on at step #7.

    4. Click the New button on the top-left side of the dialog to create a new filter and name it Sanitary (Step #4 in the image below).

    5. Specify the Categories of objects to be controlled by the filter (Step #5 in the image below).

    6. Adjust the Filter by: settings on the upper-right side of the Filters dialog as shown in the image below. We are filtering by a System Type that contains the word Sanitary (Step #6 in the image below).

    7. Click OK to return to the Visibility/Graphics Filters tab (Step #7 in the image below).

Our filter has now been defined in the project and can be applied to any view in the project. To apply the Sanitary filter to the current view, continue on to step #8.

Add a Sanitary Visibility/Graphics Filter to the List of Filters that may be Applied to the Current View

8. Click the Add button near the bottom-left of the Visibility/Graphics Filters tab.

9. On the Add Filters dialog click Sanitary.

10. Click OK to return to the Visiblity/Graphics > Filters tab.

A Sanitary filter is now added to the list of Filters that may be applied to your current view.

Using a Visibility/Graphics System Type Filter to Control System Display in the Current View

By default, you will find that the Sanitary filter you just created has Visibility checked on, which means that all components that meet the Sanitary filter specifications will be visible in the current view.

11. Click on the Visibility box for the Sanitary filter to uncheck, and thereby turn off the display of all components in the current view that meet the Sanitary filter specifications. All pipes that do not meet the Sanitary filter specifications (like the pipes that belong to cold and hot water systems) will not be affected.

12. Click OK to exit the dialog and inspect your current plan view. The sanitary pipes of the level above should not be visible.

TIP! Once you are satisfied with the appearance of a plumbing plan, you might right-click on the view name of the plumbing plan in the Project Browser and click “Create View Template From View” to create a new view template that could be assigned to other plumbing plans in this and future projects with the same display settings.

For more information about creating view templates and using them in multiple projects you might refer to a former BIM Bulletin post, "Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display - Part 2" at http://tinyurl.com/yehcjyx.

Revit Tip for Making 3D Views of Individual Levels

2009-12-20T22:48:00.005-06:00

When I work with a firm to develop a custom training plan for users that have some experience with Revit I frequently receive a request for help creating 3D views of individual building levels.

The process requires manipulating a Section Box to restrict your view of the portion of the building you wish to display. However, you may have found yourself burning up a goodly amount of time estimating (eye-balling) and re-estimating what heights the top and bottom of the Section Box should be set to as listening dimensions are not available. You may find the following steps offer a faster and more accurate solution.

Making 3D Views of Individual Revit Levels

Navigate to an appropriate 3D view of your entire building.
Right-click in the view and select View Properties.
In the resulting Element Properties dialog > Instance Parameters > Extents > Click in the box in the Value column to the right of the of the Section Box parameter.
Click OK. A black Section Box should display that encloses the entire building. If the Section Box does not appear, go to the Visibility Graphics > Annotation Categories and confirm that Section Box is checked on.

Click on the Section Box to select it. The Section Box should be highlighted in red and display blue arrow grips as shown below.

Navigate to an elevation view. The tip here is that if you have the Section Box selected when you switch from a 3D to an elevation view, it will be visible for editing. If you accidentally deselect the Section Box, it will not be visible in the elevation view. You will need to navigate back to a 3D view and reselect the Section Box.
In the elevation view, with the Section Box selected you are able to pick and drag the blue arrow grips using the level datum lines as references to more accurately crop your 3D view to the elevations you require as shown below.

Return to your 3D view and check your work. Tweak the blue arrow grip locations in the 3D view or return to the elevation view to make minor adjustments if necessary.

When satisfied with the cropping of your 3D view, type in VG to go to the Visibility Graphics dialog > Annotation Categories tab to uncheck the display of Section Box to turn off the display of the Section Box in the view. You should now have a view that permits you to look down into the view much like looking into a shoe box as shown below.

WARNING! Returning to the View Properties dialog and unchecking the Section Box would also turn off its display. However, your building would also no longer be cropped to the Section Box boundaries in the 3D view. Your entire building would again be visible.

TIP! Many Revit MEP users will create 3D views of each level and then work with two views side-by-side; a plan view of a level and a 3D view cropped by a Section Box as created above. In this manner, they can work in either view and observe the results in the other.

TIP! The method used here to select objects in one view and taking advantage of their selection in another view is also a great way to examine interferences. I will do a follow-up example in my next post.

US Content Extension Now Available for AutoCAD MEP 2010

2009-12-01T19:15:00.000-06:00

A US Content Extension for AutoCAD MEP 2010 was released today, December 1, 2009 on the Autodesk Subscription website.

The extension provides over 300 new pipe fittings for the creation of pipe design models and drawings for projects in the United States. The content is currently available in English only.

The following types of pipe fittings are included in the extension:

Cast Iron (Bell and Spigot, Hubless)
Ductile Iron (Flanged, Mechanical Joint, Push On)
HDPE (Fusion)
Plastic (Hub)
Steel (Grooved)

Recycling Revit 2010 Drafting View Details

2009-11-17T18:54:00.015-06:00

Today in our Revit MEP training we spent a significant part of the morning working through the three options we have for creating details in Revit MEP.

Creating a Callout View so that a live portion of your Revit model can serve as a back-drop for your detail
Importing or linking an existing AutoCAD detail into a Revit Drafting View
Creating a new Revit detail from scratch in a Drafting View

What Next? How to Recycle Detail Views in Revit

We wouldn't recycle details created from Callout Views because they are dependent upon the specific portion of the current model that is used as a background. However, we can certainly reuse details created in Drafting Views from imported AutoCAD objects and Revit objects.

How to Recycle Details Stored in other Projects:

Set the project current where you would like to add an existing detail from another project.
Navigate to the Ribbon’s Insert tab > Insert from File > Insert Views from File.
Browse to and select the Revit file that holds the Drafting View(s) you wish to import into the current project.
Pick the Open button at the bottom-right of the dialog.
In the resulting dialog, pick a Drafting View off the list in the left pane to preview it in the right pane (provided the Preview selection option is checked in the bottom left-hand corner of the dialog).
Pick the OK button to complete the process.

TIP! You might consider organizing some Revit MEP project files on your company's server into a Revit Detail Library.The individual project files might contain details of a specific type. For example, a project that contains multiple standard HVAC details, another project that contains your company’s Electrical details, etc.

Follow-Up Notes:

If a DWG file is linked into a selected Drafting View, Revit will break the link and treat it as an imported CAD symbol when inserting a Drafting View from another Revit project.

Drafting View(s) copied into the current file will have the same Discipline and Sub-Discipline assignments as defined in the original project. So by default, the Drafting Views copied into the current project will be copied into the same location in the current project as they were located in the source project. In the example below, the properties of the view illustrate that it will be located under the Discipline of Mechanical and the Sub-discipline of HVAC in the Project Browser.

Revit 2010 and Navisworks 2010 Products Not Yet Supported on Windows 7

2009-10-25T23:46:00.006-05:00

According to the Autodesk technical document named Windows 7 Support for Autodesk Products published on October 22, 2009 the following products are supported on Microsoft Windows 7:

AutoCAD 2010
AutoCAD LT 2010
AutoCAD Architecture 2010
Autodesk Inventor 2010
Autodesk Inventor LT 2010
AutoCAD Electrical 2010
AutoCAD Mechanical 2010
AutoCAD MEP 2010
Autodesk Algor Simulation 2010

Note that there are no Revit 2010 or Navisworks 2010 products on the current list of Windows 7 supported products.

Autodesk states Windows 7 support will be available for most of its other products as updated versions of Autodesk products are released.

Autodesk warns that you may find that you are able to use Windows 7 with an Autodesk product that is not listed above, however, Autodesk may not be able to resolve every issue you may encounter at this time.

Another Autodesk technical document; Known Limitations with Windows 7 for AutoCAD and AutoCAD-based Products which was also published on October 22 lists a number of known issues of varying impact that Autodesk expects to resolve in future releases.

Let's be careful out there!

Who Knew? How to Find those Revit 2010 Cameras You Placed

2009-10-25T22:08:00.002-05:00

The question of how to redisplay a Revit camera after a 3D perspective view is created comes up over and over when I visit companies to do consulting.

The Revit users I meet know that once they place a camera in a plan view, a new 3D perspective camera view is automatically created. They also are aware that they can tweak the camera view by using their View Cube, their middle-mouse button, or the Shift button and middle-mouse button combination to obtain a more satisfactory perspective.

However, when users navigate back to their plan view to reposition or adjust the properties of their camera, target, or field-of-view they are disappointed to find the objects used to create their 3D perspective camera view are no longer visible.

The solution is a bit obscure, but quick and easy:

In the Project Browser, right-click your 3D perspective camera view name.
Click “Show Camera.”

Not only are the camera, target, and field-of-view objects now visible and selected for editing in the plan view where they were originally placed, they are also visible and selected in any other views where the camera objects are visible such as elevations, sections or 3D views.

Frustration Reduction Suggestion: Just like any other selection, the selected camera objects are automatically deselected if you left-click in any view. Deselect the camera objects and they will disappear once again. But now at least you know how to get them back.

Hello World!

2009-10-22T09:43:00.003-05:00

The Internet is truly a remarkable thing. As of today, I’ve had the site analytics for my blog turned on for a month. It has been great to check in and see how many people have visited the site and what topics were of interest. But, what has amazed me is where visitors are coming from. In just one month the BIM Bulletin has had visitors from 74 countries! That people from all over the world have found their way to the blog is truly amazing. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find your visits worthwhile.

Who Knew? Revit 2010 - Where is My Command Tool

2009-10-19T12:15:00.004-05:00

Okay Revit 2009 users, how long did you work in Revit 2010 before you found the Where is My Command tool ? I am finding that it is a surprise to a number of experienced Revit MEP 2009 - now 2010 users for whom I have provided advanced, custom training. Check out the Where is My Command tool by clicking the little black triangular flyout next to the Help (?) tool on the InfoCenter toolbar in the upper-right corner of the Revit 2010 interface.

I must admit that I didn't immediately find the Where is My Command tool when Revit MEP 2010 came out last spring. At first, I kept the terrific, interactive tool made by Nicholas Iyadurai and friends for Revit Architecture 2010 open behind my Revit MEP 2010 window and toggled to it whenever I found myself struggling to find the new location of a non MEP-specific command. His tool first presents the familiar Revit Architecture 2009 interface. Click on a 2009 command there and you receive a display of its location in 2010 and perhaps some additional information as shown below. Nicholas' tool locates commands found on the Revit Architecture 2009 Design Bar, Tool Bars, and Menus in 2010.

Find Nicholas’ blog; Revitize at: http://revitize.blogspot.com/
Go directly to his web-based Revit Architecture 2010 User-Interface Update Tool at: http://tinyurl.com/q7z498
Read Nicholas’ post from April 23rd, 2009 regarding the interactive tool and download the zip file version of his Revit Architecture 2010 User-Interface Update Tool at: http://tinyurl.com/yl4kuzq

Connecting Electrical Panels through a Transformer in Revit MEP 2010

2009-10-16T12:43:00.003-05:00

This week, Martin Schmid offers a nice demonstration of how to feed a low voltage panel through a transformer to a high voltage panel using Revit MEP 2010: "Interconnecting Panels and Transformers" on the blog "Inside the System" at http://tinyurl.com/yjuqlep.

Who Knew? Revit 2010 – Text and Tag Leader Customization

2009-10-08T20:44:00.017-05:00

It is easy to customize a number of Revit text or tag leader features, but, you may need a bit of help finding the settings you need to adjust. If you do not see your company standard leaders appearing by default in Revit, check out the following:

Step 1 – Set or Create Arrowhead System Family Types

First of all, take a look at the Manage tab > Settings panel > Arrowheads. This is where you can create new arrowhead types that can be assigned to text or tag types with the size, fill, etc. that you need. We can select from a number of predefined Arrowhead Styles to select a shape for a custom arrowhead but we cannot add a new, custom shape.

Tip for Lasso Leader Lovers
If your construction document standards call for lasso leaders for pipe size tags you might try duplicating the arrowhead type of Open Dot 1/16.” Name the new arrowhead type appropriately and tweak it to suit your needs. The Open Dot 1/16” arrowhead type uses the Dot arrowhead style, with the Fill Tick option not checked to get the open dot leader. Adjust the Tick Size in your duplicate type to specify the overall size of your arrowhead dot so that it is large enough to simulate your lasso. I know it isn’t as handsome as a lasso, but it is the best solution I have found so far. Check out the example at the end of this post.

Be advised that just like your text, your arrowhead will automatically scale up and down in size along with the view scale so you may need to create a couple of open dot arrowhead sizes.

Step 2 – Create or Adjust a Text Type or Tag Type Family

Once you have an arrowhead type designed to your satisfaction, navigate to a text or tag type properties dialog . The leader arrowhead is a text or tag type property parameter.

There are several options for navigating to a text or tag type property dialog:

Click to select a text or tag object: Right-click, click on Element Properties and then click the Edit Type… button in the Element Properties dialog.
Access from the Ribbon: In the current view, click to select a text or tag object, go to the Element Panel on the Ribbon and use the little, black triangular fly-out icon to select Type Properties.
Access from the Project Browser: Existing tag type properties can also be accessed from the Project Browser, under Families > Annotation Symbols > (the tag family) for example Pipe Tag > Pipe Size tag. Right-click an existing tag type and choose Properties.

In the Text or Tag Type Properties dialog, edit an existing type or click the Duplicate button to create a new text or tag type and give it an appropriate name.

Click the pulldown to the right of the Leader Arrowhead parameter to select from a list of Arrowhead styles available in the current project including those you may have created in the Manage > Settings > Arrowhead dialog. In our example, of the pipe size tag we might choose the Open Dot arrowhead style we created in Step 1.

Test out the new text or tag type that you have created in the current project.

Copying New Text or Tag Types to other Projects

Once you create new text or tag types you may wish to copy the types to other projects, particuarly project start-up template(s) so that the new types are readily available in future projects.

Use the Transfer Project Standards tool to copy new text types to other projects.

Interestingly enough, various MEP object tags like pipe size tags, wire tags, etc. are not able to be copied using the the Transfer Objects Standards tool. Short of recreating the tags in one or more project templates there are several options for duplicating custom MEP tag definitions in other projects. The examples below continue with our pipe tag as an example.

Copy to clipboard and paste: Select a pipe tag type in the Project Browser > Families > Annotation Symbols > Pipe Tags > right-click a pipe tag type of your choice and choose Copy to Clipboard. Make a second project current and go to the Modify tab > Clipboard panel > and click Paste to paste a new definition into another file.
Save a new pipe tag family file or edit an existing family file from the Project Browser: Right-click the tag family name (not the type name) in the Project Browser and choose Save. You will have the opportunity to create a new family file (.rfa) or write over an existing family. You can then load your new tag family into any project at any time.

Best Practice Tip! Keep a copy of the original families provided with the software intact just in case you need to refer to them in the future. Also, keep your custom, company-specific content in a separate folder or folders alongside the out-of-the-box content on a company server. Separating your content from the out-of-the-box content makes it much safer and easier for you to take advantage of new or updated content as it becomes available and eliminates the possible danger of overwriting your content customizations.

Clean Uninstall of Revit 2010 Products

2009-10-07T08:20:00.001-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to come across this Autodesk tech doc last weekend, "Clean Uninstall of Revit 2010 Products." Its not a bad idea to download and save a product's uninstall documentation such as this for insurance - just in case the day comes when you determine that a fresh reinstall would be your best solution to software issues. http://tinyurl.com/ykrznpe

AutoCAD Architecture 2010 and AutoCAD MEP 2010 Object Enablers Now Available

2009-10-02T13:04:00.001-05:00

Object Enablers are now available for AutoCAD Architecture 2010 and AutoCAD MEP 2010 at: http://tinyurl.com/yacygae.

Update 2 Now Available for Revit MEP 2010 - English

2009-10-01T17:59:00.016-05:00

The Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 - English Update 2, build (20090917_1515) is now available on the Autodesk website at: http://tinyurl.com/ydy4hgc.

The new Update 2 installs using a Service Pack technology on top of your existing installation of the First Customer Build that began shipping in April, 2009.

Update 2 includes all of the improvements found in Update 1.
Both a 32-bit and a 64-bit download of Update 2 are available.

Update 2 MEP-Specific Improvements:

Wire length in the Circuit Properties dialog will now display “Not Computed” for the wire length when a panel has not yet been assigned to a circuit.
The calculation of complex space volumes for heating and cooling loads has been improved.
Panel and circuit information can now be displayed in a mechanical equipment schedule.
Improved the ability to swap one type of pipe or duct accessory for another type of pipe or duct accessory.
When use of the Split tool on a duct segment creates a union, the union is no longer automatically deleted when a new duct is connected to the union.
Improvement of a duct segment centerline alignment when rotated in an elevation view.
Windows and doors set as demolished will no longer appear in a gbXml export.
Improved stability when copying elements from one family to another in the Family Editor.
When the Create Similar tool is used for a sloped pipe, the slope is now properly maintained for the new pipe.

Revit platform improvements are also found in Update 2, many of which increase the stability of processes.

For a complete list of improvements, download the Update Enhancement List from the download site.

Prevent installation surprises by downloading and reading the Service Pack Readme from the download site.

Revit Update 2 also Available for Revit Architecture and Revit Structure

Download the Revit Architecture 2010 Update 2 at: http://tinyurl.com/dzxoka.
Download the Revit Structure 2010 Update 2 at: http://tinyurl.com/ydoj7q6.

Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display - Part 2

2009-09-30T20:42:00.003-05:00

Applying Filters to Multiple Views
The Visibility/Graphics Override Filter that we created in the previous post; Using Filters to Control Pipe Display Part 1 to control the display of vent pipe will only provide a graphic override for the view it was created in. However, there are several options for adding the Vent Pipe filter to other views as listed below.

Add the Filter to another View in the Current Project
To add the Vent Pipe filter to another view in the current project, make the different view current then navigate to the Visibility/Graphics dialog and repeat the steps #15 through #20 listed in Using Filters to Control Pipe Display - Part 1. Unfortunately, you can only add the filter one view at a time using this method.

Better Practice: Add the New Filter to One or More Views in the Current Project with View Templates

Use view templates to standardize the vent pipe appearance across multiple similar views within the current project. Applying changes to a view template will automatically update the appearance of all existing and new views to which that template is assigned.

Adding the Vent Pipe filter to view templates:

Right-click one or more views (CTRL+Click to select multiple views) that have similar view display requirements such as all the plumbing 3D views in the Project Browser and click “Apply View Template.”
In the Apply View Template dialog > Names section, select an existing view template to modify or use Duplicate to create a new view template to display dashed vent pipes automatically.
On the right-side of the dialog, click the Edit button to the right of V/G Overrides Filters, and perform steps #15 through 20 in Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 1 to add the new Vent Pipe filter to each view template as you require.
Click Apply at the bottom of the dialog after modifying each of the view template you change.
Click OK to exit the dialog once all your view templates have been modified to your satisfaction.

Verify your view template display settings:

Existing views that were using view templates that you modified should now automatically display your view template changes.

To apply a view template to a view, select the view (or CTRL+Click) multiple views in the Project Browser, right-click, and click Apply View Template. Click the name of a view template you wish to assign from the Names section of the Apply View Template dialog and click OK.

Warning!
Keep in mind that when you apply a view template to an existing view you are applying ALL of the settings defined on the right side of the Apply View Template dialog. Not just the Vent Pipe display filter setting that has been discussed..

Best Practice: Transfer View Templates Settings to a Project Template
To implement dashed vent pipes as a company standard open at least one new or existing project template file (.rte extension) and use Manage tab > Project Settings panel > Transfer Project Standards to copy the newly updated view template(s) to one or more project templates that will be used to create new Revit MEP projects at your firm.

Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 1 of 2

2009-09-27T14:11:00.008-05:00

In working through implementation topics during a custom Revit MEP training last week the issue of how to control Revit MEP linetypes for plumbing vent piping came up.

Out-of-the-box, Revit MEP provides two project templates that include several filters that can be used to control the display of objects based upon their system type. Since the system that Revit MEP pipes belong to is determined by the fixture/equipment connections they are attached to, both waste pipe and vent piping are automatically assigned a sanitary system type. My students could change the color and linetype of all the sanitary pipe, but needed more control to meet their company standard which displays waste pipe as continuous lines and vent pipes as dashed.

I suggested a new Revit filter as the solution to automatically control the display of their vent pipes in both single-line and double-line displays. Revit filters are an extremely powerful, customizable method for controlling the display of objects that can be related by one or more parameters.

Following are the steps we took to modify the display of existing vent pipes in a 3D view to display in a dashed linetype and a unique color. To follow along, first plunk in a toilet, connect some sanitary pipe and a vertical pipe to serve as a vent.

Creating a Vent Pipe Filter Type

Click one of your existing Pipes.
Go to the Element tab > Element Properties flyout > Type Properties.
Use the Type pulldown at the top of the dialog to set the current pipe type to that which most closely resembles the settings that will be required for the new pipe type (PVC in this case).
Click the Duplicate button to create a new Pipe Type – we named ours Vent Pipe and click OK.
Change your new pipe type settings as you feel necessary and click OK.
In the view window select your existing vertical vent pipe and go to the Modify Pipes tab > Element panel > Pipe Types > Change Element Type pulldown to change the pipe's type to Vent Pipe.
Go to the Visibility/Graphics dialog by typing in VV or VG, or by going to the View tab > Graphics panel > Visibility/Graphics Override.
Click the Filter tab.
Click the Edit/New button at the bottom of the dialog.
Click the New Filter button in the top-left of the resulting Filter dialog.
Give your filter a new name like Vent Pipe. Your new filter will be added to the list on the left side of the dialog.
In the center of the Filter dialog, click the category of Pipe (ONLY Pipe nothing else) to specify what type of objects are to be affected by this filter.

On the right side of the dialog create a Filter Rule as shown below: Filter by Type Name equals Vent Pipe (or whatever else you named your new pipe type.
Click the OK button.
Back on the Filters tab of the Visibility/Graphics dialog; click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog to add your new filter to the existing list.
Click to select your new filter name (Vent Pipe in this example) from the Add Filter dialog and click OK.
You should now see your Vent Pipe filter name displayed on the filter list on the left side of the dialog, as shown below.
Click on the Override button in the Lines column for your Vent Pipe filter (enclosed in the red rectangle below).
In the resulting Line Graphics dialog, specify a Weight, Color, and Pattern for your vent pipe. In this example, a magenta color and Dashed 3/32" pattern were used.

Click OK twice to exit out of both dialogs and view the result.

Our Vent Pipe type is now dashed as we specified. However, the color of the vent pipes connected to sanitary pipes is not yet magenta. Note however, that any stand-alone pipe created with the Vent Pipe type, but not connected to a sanitary system does display as magenta.

Filter List Order Makes a Difference
The order that filters are listed on the Visibility/Graphics Override, Filters tab provides an additional display control. Filters are ranked by the order they appear on the list. Filters higher on the list have display priority over all filters listed below them.

To display our magenta color on our sanitary system vent pipes we need to move the Vent Pipe filter above the Sanitary filter on the list as described below to have the Vent Pipe filter take precendence over the Sanitary system.

Type in VV or VG to go back to the Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialog and Click the Filter tab.
Click the Vent Pipe filter.
Click the Up button near the bottom of the dialog to move the Vent Pipe filter listing above the Sanitary filter listing.
Click OK to exit the Visibility/Graphics dialog.

Your pipes assigned to the Vent Pipe, pipe type should now have dashed lines of the pattern and color you specified in step #19, as shown in the example below.

What Next?

Keep in mind that the steps above created a graphic override for the current view only.

There are several options for adding the Vent Pipe filter to other views that will be discussed in my next post: Using Filters to Control Revit ME 2010 Pipe Display-Part 2.

CAD Digest Pick-Up of BIM Bulletin Post on Revit Word-Wrapping

2009-09-24T15:41:00.003-05:00

Thanks to CAD Digest Weekly for picking up and publishing a link in their Autodesk Revit Tutorials section to this week's BIM Bulletin post on Revit word-wrapping in notes and view titles: http://tinyurl.com/yakpgz6!

Autodesk Webcast: BIM Implementation Strategies for Revit MEP

2009-09-23T17:18:00.002-05:00

Sign-up for an Autodesk webcast entitled: BIM Implementation Strategies for Revit MEP at: http://tinyurl.com/nu3est. The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30th 10:00 to 11:00 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Get Control of Revit Word-Wrapping in Notes and View Titles

2009-09-19T19:37:00.015-05:00

This topic came up during the Revit MEP consulting I did last week in Madison, Wisconsin. Revit users usually control the width of text notes by clicking, dragging and releasing to specify the boundaries they need to constrain their new text within. Most of the time this works fine as we can modify the width of the text boundaries after our text entry is complete as shown in the first two examples below. Sometimes, however, editing the text box boundary does not suffice. What you need, is the ability to specify a line-break between the individual words that make up your note.

To insert a line break while creating or editing a Revit Text Note simply hold your CTRL key down and click the ENTER button (CTRL+ENTER) at the desired break location as shown in the third example above.

Tip & Trick: Create View Title Line-Breaks

Using CTRL+ENTER is also a great way to get two lines of text displayed in View Titles on your Sheets. There is a trick to making this work, however!

You cannot use the Rename function on your existing View Name to add CTRL+ENTER where you wish to force a line-break. You will receive the error message shown below. Such non-printable characters are not allowed in a View Name.

Follow these steps to add a line-break to a View Title on a Sheet:

1. Right-click the View that needs the View Title line-break in the Project Browser and select Properties, or, right-click in the Drawing Area and select View Properties. Either way you will end up in the Instance Properties dialog for the View.

2. In the Identity Data Group of the dialog, highlight the text in the View Name slot and Copy (CTRL+C).Move down to the Title on Sheet slot as shown below and Paste (CTRL+V) the copied name.

3. Now, insert CTRL+Enter in your new Title on Sheet name wherever the line-break needs to take place. The Title on Sheet parameter does accept non-printable characters.

4. Click OK.

5. Go to your sheet view and verify that the View Title displays to your satisfaction, similar to the example shown.

Layer Properties Settings - Palette or Dialog? AutoCAD-Based 2009-2010 Products

2009-09-11T12:18:00.001-05:00

I answered this question in the LinkedIn Autodesk User Group International (AUGI), Group's Discussions and thought perhaps someone else might appreciate the same information. A user was frustrated because most of his AutoCAD-based 2010 installations displayed the Layer Properties Manager as a Tool Palette, however one of his systems could only display it as a dialog. Those who frequently adjust their layer properties settings often prefer to use a docked palette for convenience and speed as opposed to navigating to the Layer Properties tool and loading the dialog.

The display of a palette vs. the layer dialog is controlled by a system variable called layerdlgmode. Changes made to this variable will hold from drawing session to drawing session.

To Display the Layer Properties Manager as a Palette:

At the command line, type layerdlgmode and press Enter. When prompted to enter a value for layerdlgmode, type in a value of one (1) and press Enter.

To Display the Layer Properties Manager as a Dialog:

At the command line, type layerdlgmode and press Enter. When prompted to enter a value for layerdlgmode, type in a value of zero (0) and press Enter.

By default, the 2009 and 2010 versions of AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Architecture display the layer properties settings in a dialog. However, by default, AutoCAD 2009 and 2010 display the layer properties settings on a palette.

Obtaining Previous Versions through the Autodesk Subscription Program

2009-09-07T15:24:00.023-05:00

After years of using Autodesk Reseller’s software, I am now the proud owner of my own license of the AutoCAD® Revit MEP® 2010 Suite. The Suite may only be purchased with Autodesk Subscription, which was perfect for me because one of the benefits of being a Subscription customer for most Autodesk products is that you can legally use previous versions of the products as well. I am able to work and save in the 2010, 2009, and 2008 versions of all the products included in the AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite.

Once I received my new, 2010 product serial number I incorrectly assumed I could immediately download the 2010, 2009 and 2008 products from the public Autodesk website and use that one, serial number to activate all the product versions. That is not the case. Follow these quick steps for obtaining previous version licensing through Autodesk Subscription.

1. Navigate to the Autodesk Subscription website at: https://subscription.autodesk.com/ and log in.

If you are a new subscriber I’d strongly recommend downloading the Program Information docs found on the login page. They provide detailed Subscription program information and including more detailed information on Previous Version licensing.

2. Click Contact Administration on the left-side menu.

3. Click Previous Versions at the bottom of the page.

4. On the Previous Version: Getting Started page click your appropriate license deployment (stand-alone or network) and click the Continue button.

You might also take advantage of the links found on this page to obtain more detailed information, particularly the Previous Version FAQ.

5. Depending upon your license deployment type, you will receive one of the pages at the right. Click the option you need and click the Continue button.

6. Complete the Previous Version Request Form.

Verify that the contact information listed is correct so that you can obtain the serial number information you require.
Provide your contract number, current, 2010 serial number, previous product name and release of the license(s) for which you are requesting previous versions.
Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

You will receive an email from Autodesk Business Services with the serial number(s) you require. I was surprised to find that the same serial number was provided for both the 2009 and 2008 versions of the AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite. That makes bookkeeping simpler for everyone.

Keep in mind that the Previous Version must be installed on the same computer as the current version and may not be transferred to another computer unless all licenses of both the Previous Version and the current version are transferred to the new computer.

Autodesk Assistance Program Rocks!

2009-09-07T12:52:00.004-05:00

I have just a quick shout-out and thanks to the Autodesk Assistance program which made the purchase of my new AutoCAD^® Revit MEP^® Suite economically possible. The program provides software discounts to program members who qualify, as well as, to employers who hire them. See http://tinyurl.com/lvfjhx for information about this and the many other benefits of this program designed to support Autodesk product users during these tough economic times. Also, special thanks to Tammy Sullivan at IMAGINiT, my Autodesk Reseller Account Manager who processed my order through the Autodesk Assistance program.

Troubleshooting Revit Network License Issue

2009-09-01T09:14:00.003-05:00

Autodesk has published a new Autodesk tech doc and linked references for resolving Revit network licensing issues on that one pesky workstation that cannot successfully pull a license.

The docs would be helpful references for the occasional networking troubleshooter. The doc can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/nmtwsl.

It's a Drag! Simple Fix for Annoying Dialog Drag in Revit

2009-08-19T20:39:00.010-05:00

I was reminded once again today during an onsite consulting session how frequently I bump into people who find that repositioning a dialog box in Revit leaves behind an annoying trail such as that shown in the following screen capture. Since they are happy to learn the fix is quick and simple I thought it might be worth sharing even though it has been around for a long time

The display of the dialog trail is controlled by your operating system not by Revit. Modifying the following setting will turn off the dialog trail in all softwares using this setting on your system. I made this change several years ago and have had no issues in any typical BIM, CAD, or Microsoft products.

Follow these steps to eliminate the dialog's dragging trail.

Right-click in a blank area on your desktop.
Click Properties.
Click on the Appearance tab of the Display Properties dialog.
Click on the Effects button.
Clear the check-box in front of "Show window contents while dragging."
Click OK.
Click OK again to exit the Display Properties dialog.

Test it out in Revit. You should be drag-free.

Pushing the Revit MEP Space Naming Utility into Revit MEP 2010

2009-08-16T14:49:00.014-05:00

The Revit MEP Space Naming Utility first available for use in Revit MEP 2009 also works in Revit MEP 2010. It is a much-needed tool that allows you to automatically assign the names and numbers from the Room objects found in linked architectural models to Revit MEP Spaces in your current Revit MEP project. Using the Space Naming Utility in Revit MEP you can greatly reduce the time required to coordinate MEP spaces and architectural rooms and reduce the potential for errors.

If you have been using the utility in Revit MEP 2009 and you have not changed from a 32-bit to a 64-bit operating system, you can quickly install the same utility into Revit MEP 2010 on the same machine. Here are the steps:

Close any open sessions of Revit MEP.
Double-click on your original subscription download file (for example: autodesk_rme_snu_32_installer-20090209-1808.msi for 32-bit machines).
Click Next.
Click the Remove the Autodesk Revit MEP Space Naming Utility option in the Space Naming Utility Setup Wizard.
Click Finish.
Click Close.

You must temporarily uninstall the utility and reinstall so that the installation software can find all your system's existing Revit MEP installations. When reinstalled as described below, the utility will be automatically be installed into both Revit MEP 2009 and 2010 if they are found on the same system.

Once successfully uninstalled, again double-click on your original subscription download file (same file as in step #1).
Click Next.
Read the License Agreement and Click Accept.
Click Next.
Specify the location where you wish to reinstall the Space Naming Utility.
Click Next.
Click Next again to continue.
Click Close.

After installation, the Space Naming Utility in Revit MEP 2009 will be found on the Tools pulldown > External Tools > Space Naming Utility.

After installation in Revit MEP 2010 the Space Naming Utility will be found on the ribbon's Add-ins tab > External Tools panel > the External Tools panel pulldown menu > Space Naming Utility.

IMPORTANT TIP! Rerun the Space Naming Utility after replacing a linked architectural model with a newer version to ensure that your MEP project space naming and numbering is updated to match any changes made to the room names and numbers by the architect. Revit MEP is not capable of automatically coordinating these changes.

Autodesk Official Training Guide for Revit MEP 2010 Now Shipping

2009-08-10T15:03:00.005-05:00

I started going through the brand-new Autodesk Revit MEP training guide entitled, "Learning Autodesk Revit MEP 2010" this weekend. This year's version comes in a two-volume set which, I expect will make the new guide more durable than the previous version. My large, single-volume Revit MEP 2009 training guide lost its cover months ago and its Table of Contents is stapled to the Introduction page.

The new training guide has been updated to assist you in navigating the new ribbon-based, 2010 User Interface. I also noticed the awkward plumbing exercise which used residential bathrooms has been replaced with a commercial design of sanitary and grey-water systems, and a chapter on the Family Editor has been added amongst other improvements.

Control your Revit Project Browser Display with Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-08-04T19:53:00.008-05:00

Use standard Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts to control the tree display of views in the Revit Project Browser.

Windows XP Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

END - Display the bottom of the active window
HOME - Display the top of the active window
NUM LOCK+Asterisk (*) - Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder
NUM LOCK+Plus (+) - Display the contents of the selected folder
NUM LOCK+Minus (-) - Collapse the selected folder
LEFT ARROW - Collapse the current select if it is expanded or select the parent folder
RIGHT ARROW - Display the current selection if it is collapsed or select the first subfolder

Or, simply use the *, +, and - keys on your Numeric Keypad if you have one

Asterisk (*) Expands everything under the current selection
Plus (+) Expands the current selection
Minus (-) Collapses the current selection

Windows Vista Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
Theoretically, the following should work as well, but I don't have Vista to verify their functions. Perhaps someone could comment?

RIGHT ARROW - Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first subfolder
LEFT ARROW - Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent folder

Numeric keypad functions for *, +, and - should be the same in Vista as Windows XP.