Product Review: MSI WT75 8SM Laptop with Intel Xeon E-2176G 3.7GHz Desktop Processor

While at NVIDIA GTC earlier this year, where I presented on Virtual Reality (VR) in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) market, I had the opportunity to talk with Maggie Chen at the MSI booth in the exhibit hall. Through this lengthy discussion and follow up emails I was able to test one of their super new workstation-grade laptops for two weeks. This laptop has one thing in particular that is pretty amazing and could not even be mentioned publicly until today!

This laptop has an Intel Xeon E-2176G 3.70GHz Desktop Processor in it!

Wait, what? Not only is this a new processor, it is a desktop processor in a laptop.

Additionally...

Autodesk Insight webinar series

I was just reading Dmitry Chubrik's weekly blog reviews (translated to English) on his website BIM2B.ru and realized I had not posted about the great new Autodesk series on Insight; their cloud-based energy analysis tool.

Learn everything about building performance analysis: Autodesk Insight webinar series

There are three episodes so far (listed below):

Revit Basics - View Range plus Discipline

Sometimes restating something again, and a little differently, can help a person understand a topic more clearly. Perhaps this post on Revit's View Range will connect a few more dots for those having trouble fully grasping the concept. Plus, this post ties in the plan view's Discipline setting and the Beyond linetype...

First, notice that the View Range dialog can be expanded and has a helpful graphic as shown here. Revit help also has this detailed description of View Range: About the View Range

Architectural plan view:

• If an item touches the Cut Plane, or is below it, it will appear.
• Wall cabinets will appear above the cut plane
• Actually, casework, windows and generic models appear if at or below the Top Range
• By contrast, you will notice the specialty equipment (SE) item will not appear in plan.

The Bottom & View Depth typical align and we see nothing below this in the model.

DWG Export Offset Issue

Occasionally, when exporting to DWG from Revit, some elements will be shifted in the resultant DWG as shown in the first image below; light fixtures moved out of the ceiling grids). While I do not know the reason for the shift, I have found it happens when exporting a Sheet with views. A workaround is to export the View directly, not from the sheet.

Here is the exported view (next image) with the light fixtures in the correct location...

Revit 'Energy Settings' Tip - Avoid Masses Only Setting

I wrote a post a while back about Autodesk's work with gbXML.org on Level 3 Certification and Validation. That post talks about Revit's ability to create a more accurate energy model automatically. This new workflow supplants the previous method which resulted in special mass elements, in some cases, required rooms/spaces to be created. This post highlights the fact that the old  way is still in Revit for legacy reasons, but should be avoided to leverage the latest and greatest features in this area.

First, there is what Revit help says on the topic...

Revit offers 2 methods for exporting to gbXML:

• Use energy settings: This method exports the energy analytical model created by Revit.
  The energy analytical model is composed of analytical spaces and analytical surfaces, which are created based on parameters defined in the Energy Settings dialog. The exported data provides an accurate energy model for analysis. Before using this method, define parameters in the Energy Settings dialog and create an energy analytical model.
• Use room/space volumes: This method uses volumes defined in the building model based on rooms or spaces in the model. These volumes may not be as accurate as those created using energy settings. Before using this method, add rooms or spaces to the model.
  The resulting gbXML file contains energy information for the model according to the gbXML file structure, which is based on a gbXML schema. The gbXML schema was created to help building designers get information about the energy consumption characteristics of their building projects. For more information about the gbXML schema, visit http://www.gbxml.org.

Next, I will quickly show the two methods and the resultant energy model in Revit.

Phase Filters and Linked Model Visibility

This has baffled me for years, that Phase Filters must exist in both the host model and linked models or you can run into visibility issues. A Phase Filter is associated with a specific view, so how can one in a lined model have any impact on the host? Well, it does and has been an issue for years.

Here is a recent example I ran into...

Enscape Blog Posts; Water and Videos!

With the new release of Enscape 2.3 I had the opportunity to write a new post and update an old one. The new one is super exciting, and covers the enhanced water and the update covers the already improved video creation features.

I love these two images I created using Enscape 2.3, which shows off the control and quality of water. On the...