Ben Sherman - Class of 2019 - Thesis Project

A quick plug for Ben Sherman, a fresh architecture grad from Dunwoody in Minneapolis, MN. Ben was an intern working for me and now is working in our housing group. I wrote about a previous Dunwoody thesis review I was involved in here: Dunwoody Architecture - Thesis Final Part 1.

Ben agreed to let me share his final thesis project... which includes some nice Enscape renderings as well:)

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Move BIM 360 Cache Files to Another Drive

I have been looking into how to deal with a too-small hard drive (C drive) on my new laptop. As I mentioned in a recent post, the BIM 360 local files take up a lot of space... but they technically cannot be moved.

This post covers a workaround not technically supported by Autodesk, although offered by them via an employee post on an Autodesk forum. Please vote for the Revit Idea linked at the end of this post.

There are challenges deploying something like this to the masses, as noted recently by Aaron Maller in this thread on Twitter.

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Space Program Development Directly in Revit

My recent post, Cost Estimating Directly in Revit, has been very popular so I thought I would share another similar post on developing a space program, or brief, directly in Revit. This post is also based on material I presented in a session titled Interior Design Workflows at RTC-Asia 2015 in Singapore (now known as BILT and DBEI.) FYI: I touched on this topic in this post: Program Development within Revit - Last Week at NDSU

A Space Program schedule can be created in Revit prior to any modelling—eliminating the need for Microsoft Excel.

The example schedule below has three basic Revit parameters and two custom parameters:

·           Revit Parameters:

o   Name

o   Area (heading changed to Actual)

o   Comments

·           Custom Parameters:

o   Program Area (heading changed to Program)

o   Area Difference (heading changed to Diff)

Room elements can be created prior to placement in the model

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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Tagging Material Information within Revit

Earlier this week, a question was tweeted by Carina Clark, from HED, about the possibility of combining a Material's Mark and Keynote value in a single tag. While this cannot be done (workaround noted below) I was reminded of some realted material in a conference handout I prepared for RTC-Asia back in 2015.

We often want to identify a material in the model with smart "text" - or rather, a tag. In this case, we are talking about a Revit material defined within a System Family (e.g. Wall, Ceiling, Floor), a Loadable Family (e.g. Furniture, Casework, Doors, etc.) or Painted on a surface (which overrides the material defined in the Family).

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Managing Light Level Design Intent in Revit - Average Illuminance; MEPPP New Feature

As I mentioned in this post, Introducing the MEPPP Universal Lighting Fixture Family for Revit, we recently rolled out an updated version of CTC Software's MEP Productivity Pack (MEPPP). One significant development on the electrical side is around lighting fixtures. In this post I want to share another new feature/workflow added related to managing light level design intent and visualizing preliminary results using analytical views.

Most of the following information is from the MEPPP User Guide, which can be downloaded for free via a link in this post: Promoting Industry Standards for Revit MEP plus Free User Guide, Shared Parameters & More.

Preliminary Illuminance Calculations

Target Illuminance levels can be selected for each room using the Schedule Key shown below. This schedule can be manually edited for a firm’s own standard. Additional rows may be added by clicking the Insert Data Row command.

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