New Contract Documents for 'Interiors Projects' by the American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released six new contracts to accommodate the "unique aspects of interiors projects." They will also be offering a webinar in June to highlight these documents and workflows.

Read on to learn  more...

BIM 360 Design - Working with External Consultants not using BIM 360 Design

When working in Autodesk's BIM 360 Design, it is great to work with external consultants live in the cloud. But, what if a consultant does not have a BIM 360 Design entitlement from Autodesk (they are not free)? Many projects do not necessarily justify or require this workflow, so it cannot just be expensed to the project/client.

This post will show a quick way to link these files without even opening them (in Revit). You may also walk away with a better understanding of what Desktop Connector is doing under the hood.

Continue reading to learn more...

Cost Estimating Directly in Revit

Revit can be used to develop a detailed construction cost estimate which includes soft costs, e.g. Labor Rate, Labor Hours, Overhead and Profit. We can even account for non-modeled items, such as rock removal and tower cranes. This post is based on material I presented in a session titled Interior Design Workflows at RTC-Asia 2015 in Singapore (now known as BILT and DBEI).

Be sure to scroll to the bottom and see images showing the RS Means estimating module built-in to Revit many years ago.

In preparation, we need to create parameters and the schedule with calculated values.

Keep reading to learn more...

Autodesk Unveils Cost Management add-on for BIM 360 Build

Last week Autodesk unveiled a new Cost Management tool that works within BIM 360 Build.

Keep reading to learn more...

Enscape Blog Post: CUSTOM SKYBOX IN ENSCAPE

My latest Enscape blog post is out... and it is on how to create a project-specific custom skybox for use in Enscape!

The baked-in backgrounds available in Enscape are great for a preliminary presentations, but quickly you (and your client) will want to feel the true context of the site. Be sure to check out the post for all the details, including the use of a 360 photo-sphere camera and Photoshop to improve the image.

Below I also share a couple of the images and a little more on the GoPro Fusion for 360 video - which has nothing to do with Enscape... this is just for fun.

Continue reading to learn more...

UpCodes for Revit - Real-time Code Checking with AI

One of the coolest new things I have seen recently is UpCodes, which is an add-in for Revit. In their own word, this tool...

"is a design aid for architects and engineers. View code errors in real-time directly in Revit with a “spell check” for compliance."

I think of this tool more as a "Turbo Tax" for building codes, rather than a "spell check" as it is so sophisticated and updated every two weeks. And now... version 1.0.3 includes AI.

The most amazing thing is it just works, right out of the box on any Revit model with any Revit content... at least so far, based on my initial testing.

Keep reading to learn more...

BIM 360 Design Local Files and More

Revit creates a lot of files in your Windows User folder on your local drive. It is helpful to be aware of this, especially if you are having troubles with free disk space or accessing a BIM 360 Design project. I tend to keep these folders clean due to the number of Revit versions/projects I support, and yet mine are still pretty large, in terms of total space used.

BIM 360 Design local files:

• C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2019\CollaborationCache
• This is where the "Local" file is saved for a BIM 360 Design project
• My folder currently has over 13 GB of data in it
• Related AKN post:
• How to find the local copies of Revit Cloud Workshared files
• Error: "This Local File has been saved by user....Please change your user name or stop working on this file" when opening a cloud model in Revit

Continue reading to learn more...