Friday, March 29, 2019

Revit Content Cut Plane Study

Today's post comes compliments of industry expert Pieter Schiettecatte from A+I in New York City.

Pieter shares a study he did on how Revit content in cut, or not, in the project environment based on a few variables. He even provided a really nice diagram (snippet shown here in the intro).


Continue reading to learn more...

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Sharing Revit Shared Project Parameters

This post is a continuation / follow up to the post I wrote earlier this week on creating a sheet index that tracks multiple bid packs; click here to read that. When using something like this, or any shared parameters, you sometimes need to share that information with other firms, or in-house disciplines, you are working with. This post will share an easy way to achieve this.


Read on to learn more...

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

My New AutoCAD 2020 Book

Autodesk's AutoCAD 2020 is officially out today... and, not only is my AutoCAD book updated it is already printed and in-hand! Photos below:) This book has been updated every year since AutoCAD 2005... many schools teach AutoCAD, as many firms still use it, so it remains widely used each year.

The best thing about annually updating the book is I am able to catch errors and make the book match the current software for the best possible student experience. This year I even made four pages of instructor-requested changes AFTER I sent the final manuscript to the publisher!

Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2020
Published March 27, 2019
450 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-63057-258-7


Additionally...

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Revit Sheet Index with Multiple Bid Packs

Here is a way to create a sheet index using shared parameter to track multiple bid packs (BP), where a single sheet can have various significance in each BP.

Read on to learn more...

Friday, March 22, 2019

Midwest University 2019 Recap

Another conference has come and gone... Midwest University 2019 at Mystic Lake Casino and Convention Center in Minnesota. During the keynote, the president of ATG described it as the largest AEC conference in the USA. I had to stop and think about that, but its probably true. Autodesk University has about 10k person but is not just an AEC conference, and with MU having around 700 attendees it is larger than BILT. But, where BILT is focused mainly on buildings, MU also caters to civil engineers using AutoCAD Civil 3D and InfraWorks - which is part of AEC.


The conference had some amazing presenters and attendees... I talked to multiple people from Gensler, Perkins + Will and more. Just to name a few of the presenters... Paul Aubin, Brian Mackey, Michael Kilkelly (ArchSmarter) and Steven Shell. Interestingly, the first three that came to mind are independent consultants, and then Steven is a sole proprietor of his own architecture firm. There where many other great firms and presenters at MU this year.

The North American Committee Chair for BILT, Robert Bell, also presented. I wish I could mention more people but my lunch break is almost over:)

Additionally...

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

LHB SPOTLIGHT: DAN STINE, BIM ADMINISTRATOR

I was featured on the LHB blog this week... sharing a link to that here.

LHB blog: https://lhbblog.com/2019/03/18/lhb-spotlight-dan-stine-bim-administrator/


I hope you like it.


For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn

I also write blog posts for Enscape - a new paradigm in rendering, animation and VR for AEC.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Microsoft HoloLens on LHB Urban Street and Utilities Reconstruction Project

I wanted to share an example of how the Microsoft HoloLens can be used on Public Works projects. With the impending release of the next generation HoloLens 2, the use of holograms in design and constriction is only going to become more prevalent... so check out this post to get up to speed!

This post features an LHB urban street and utilities reconstruction project.


Keep reading to learn more...

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Don’t Make New Types While in a Design Option

Today's post comes compliments of industry expert Pieter Schiettecatte from A+I in New York City.

There is a bug in Revit 2019 that you might want to be aware of if you work with design options a lot.

If you create a new family type (wall type, floor type, furniture type, …) while working in a primary design option, something weird happens: if you now try to change the Primary, you will get a message saying: “No element in a secondary Option can be referenced by an element outside that Option.” Your only option will be to cancel (the OK button is grayed out).


Additionally...

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Thermal Zoning in Early Energy Analysis

Does thermal zoning matter in early energy analysis? The answer is always, yes. But how it is implemented is open for debate depending on who you ask. Is 'one zone per floor' adequate or should it be 'perimeter & core' based? This post will highlight some of the things I have learned about this interesting topic in the context of early energy modeling for architects.


We will start by looking at an industry standard that prescribes thermal zoning, a research paper on the topic, and then my own limited testing. I used Autodesk Revit + Insight which can do both, but some of its competitors only do the later (i.e. per floor) from what I understand.

Read on to learn more...

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Plumbing Visibility in the MEPPP - ATG Webinar

If you do MEP design in Revit be sure to check out this great webinar presented by Don Rasmusson at ATG. Don highlights some of the great features we have integrated into the MEP Productivity Pack (MEPPP).

The video highlights how filters and System Classification/Types can be used to facilitate design and visualization of pipe within Revit. Taking a side step, for a moment, Don talks about the filters I setup in the 'working views' to indicate when an electrical device is not circuited (red), circuited but on assigned to a panel (magenta) and is circuited and assigned to a panel (green). Real-time design validation!


Link to webinar on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/322896057

Additionally...

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Dashed Lines Print Solid in Revit

A quick note about an issue with some dashed lines printing solid, or continuous, in Revit. Nothing you can do about it, but knowing that is helpful...

Below I have added two lines, which use predefined Line Pattern Triple Dash 5/8". Then I placed three of the desk families, found in the OOTB Revit template, on top of one of the lines.

Looks fine on the screen...



But, it does not print fine...


Additionally...

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

ASHRAE 90.1 Baseline - Revit + Insight

When performing early stage energy analysis it is helpful to compare your results against a baseline, such as ASHRAE 90.1 and Architecture 2030. In this post I will show how this is done in the Autodesk Revit and Insight workflow... and in just minutes.



What is ASHRAE 90.1?

The acronym stands for American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

From the ASHRAE 90.1 web-page:
"Standard 90.1 has been a benchmark for commercial building energy codes in the United States and a key basis for codes and standards around the world for more than 35 years."
Autodesk Insight is hardwired to use the ASHRAE 90.1 2010 standard. Below is a map showing which version of this standard is adopted by state, here in the USA: Commercial Energy Code Adoption by State.

Keep reading to learn more...

Monday, March 4, 2019

BILT-Eur 2019 Session Accepted!

I am happy to report one of my proposed sessions was selected for the 2019 European BILT conference in Edinburgh, Scotland this October.


My selected session...

Friday, March 1, 2019

Last Day to Save $100 on my ArchSmarter Revit MEP Course

Today is the last day to save $100 on my ArchSmarter course; Revit MEP Remodels and Alternates.


Tomorrow the price goes up to $299.00 USD. For more information...


 Table of Contents...
Narrated videos...

eBook (PDF)...
 
Stay ahead of the curve with this great professional development opportunity!


For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn