Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2018

A new structural feature in Revit 2018.1 is the Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2018. Available in English, French and German languages at the moment.

This feature/extension leverages Revit's Parts functionality and currently supports the design of solid walls, solid slabs and hollow core slabs (precast plank). I just said "design" but the new tool is also developed to automatically create shop drawings and export CAM files (Unitechnik and PXML) for fabrication.

Check out the detailed BIM and Beam blog post here; click here.

Changing the Revit 2018 Icon

Architect and Revit guru Brian Payne recently had a clever idea and created a custom Revit 2018 icon; here is the Twitter link. He did this because the icon is the same as the Revit 2017 icon, making it more difficult to quickly discern between the two on the desktop or task bar. Using the ICO file Brian provides in the link above and following the steps below you can swap out your icon as well.

As a side note on this topic, as an author I am happy when something superficial like an icon or the UI does not change. It makes updating my books easier. However, as a user, I like Brian's idea and have applied it to my computer.

Revit 2018.1 Deployment Update

To be honest, I did not think we could update a deployment to include service packs and "dot" updates after the "merge" and "append" options were removed from the deployment wizard. I thought we could only update via the Autodesk Desktop App (which looks just like the Google Drive app in the system tray by the way) or with a script.

Turns out we can indeed update a deployment to includes service packs and updates. Once the deployment is done, simply click the Add Updates button shown in the image below. I originally thought this just opened the load Autodesk Desktop App (ADA) tool... silly me.

Revit 2018.1 Options Dialog Changes

With the Revit 2018.1 update installed, you will notice a change in the Options dialog. Today I will cover this change and a few related items.

First, the Graphics tab no longer has information about the graphics card. This has been moved to a new tab called Hardware.

The iamge below compares the new Graphics tab with the old one. In addition to the "hardware" elements being peeled off, the remaining options have been reorganized and a new feature added. I like the added descriptions of what a specific setting does. The new View Navigation Performance section has a new option called Simply display during view navigation. In addition to what you can read in the dialog,

• Revit Help also says "Improves performance while you navigate a view (using pan, orbit, and zoom) by reducing the amount of detail shown and suspending some graphic effects. When you stop navigating, the details and graphic effects are then displayed."
  
• Update: turns out this is not a new feature, but one that was removed in Revit 2016, and only available since then via the Revit.ini, until added back in 2018.1. It was previously called "Use Optimized View Navigation".

Anything to improve performance in Revit is welcomed, thanks Autodesk!

The new Hardware tab lists the graphics card and hardware acceleration options. The warnings appear to be simplified to the Status line. See below for examples of the original warnings.

Browser Organization for Schedules in Revit 2018.1

Yesterday I published a quick post announcing the release of Revit 2018.1, which offers new features between major releases; these mid-year releases do not change the file format of the Revit model. 

However, everyone working in the same Revit model should have the same build of Revit. Yesterday's post mentions around 200 issues were resolved by this update. So 2018.1 is both a new features and service pack update. You don't want one user continually adding a problem to the model and another user, with a newer build, having to fix the problem.

Today, I will run through the ability to organize schedules in the Project Browser. I have been involved in some Revit project, specifically MEP models, with hundreds of schedules. Until now, they were all just listed alphanumerically. We have resorted to adding a prefix to the schedule name to force the schedules into groups; for example, "M_" and "E_". This, then, required the schedule title to be manually overridden as we don't want that prefix to appear in the schedule on the sheets.

To get started, simply right-click on the Schedules/Quantities header in the Project Browser and select Browser Organization.

Similar to how we have been able to organize views, we can sort and filter schedules. In the image below I created a "By Category" option. Brian Payne Tweeted 'So far I have landed on "By Category"'. This is a nice, straightforward option, for sure.

Another option is by the hard-wired Schedule Type... notice the Schedule/Quantities header is appended to indicate the list has a custom organization applied.

Here is the default list of options we can use to Group the list of schedules.

In addition to the list above, we can create a custom parameter to sort the list. In the image below I create a project parameter called Schedule Group.

Using the custom Schedule Group parameter, I set one schedule to "Dan's Schedules" and the rest appear in the "???" section; the same thing happens when Views are sorted this way.

Keep in mind there is now a new way in which something might not show up in Revit... the schedule list can be Filtered. In the image below, we can filter the schedules, in the Project Browser, to only show ones set to a specific Phase. This may confuse some users who are not aware of a filter being applied (again, just like with Views).

I have not tested this, but I assume the applied organization will be saved in the central file and become the default for anyone creating a new local file... which is how things work now with the Views node. Seeing as most firm's have a best practice of creating a new local file everyday, you might find the organization changes. Because of this, having a personal grouping, like the Dan's Schedules example above, may not make you too popular in the office!

By the way, the addition of this feature is directly tied to this Revit Idea were you can see the number of votes, the "Under Review" and "Accepted" status designations; Click here to see that post!

Please comment below if you have anything to add... keep in mind I have to present a "What's New in Revit 2018" at BILT-NA in Toronto, so I want to know ALL the details:)

The Revit 2018.1 Update is Live

Revit 2018.1, the first round of incremental new features has now hit the streets. In the past this mid-version update what characterized as "for subscription customers only". While that is still technically true, you can't be using Revit 2018 unless you are on subscription... so everyone has access in a sense.

Check out the details on the Revit blog: http://blogs.autodesk.com/revit/2017/07/12/revit-2018-1-update-now-available/ 

Sign up for this webinar to learn more about the new features: https://pages.autodesk.com/Whats-New-in-Revit2018.1-Jul.html

Be sure to check these links out as well:

• RVT Readme
• RVT Enhancement Document
• RLT Readme
• RLT Enhancement Document

I plan on posting some additional examples in the next few days. One of the most exciting is the ability to organize schedules in the Project Browser!!!

Simple out line of new features:

Architecture and Core

1. Dynamo Player Inputs – support for scripts with inputs directly in the player.
2. Schedule organization in the Project browser – one of the top idea site requests.
3. Changes to the Graphics Hardware Certification (Hardware tab) in Options (now two tabs, Graphics and Hardware)
4. New Content – new windows, appliances, and system furniture (cubicles) will be available for download separately on the web. 
5. Materials API – the ability to edit and create materials via the API
6. Quality improvements – about ~200 ish fixes and stability improvements based on customer reports

Structural

1. Freeform Reinforcement – ability to place reinforcement in almost any kind of surface
2. Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit – Automates the Design to Fabrication workflow
3. New content for Flat, Round, Square bars (USA, Canada, Europe, India) for bracings/railings
4. South African Steel content (I-shapes, angles, pipes, channels.
5. SANS 50025/BS EN10025 support

MEP

1. Sloped Pipe in Multipoint Routing
2. Dynamic Holes – automatically layout holes in flat sheets for fabrication
3. Fabrication Reports and Worksheets - can modify new/existing CADmep reports in Revit
4. API for Fabrication Centerline length
5. API for creating a MAJ file

Carol Bartz and Phil Bernstein Signed my First Revit Book

Back in 2003 Autodesk was holding "Executive Briefings" around the United States. The main speakers were Autodesk's CEO Carol Bartz and Vice President Phil Bernstein.

I planned on attending the event held in Minneapolis. The timing was interesting as I had just finished writing my first Revit textbook. I called my publisher, Stephen Schroff at SDC Publications, and asked when the printed books would be ready. I was hoping to bring a couple to the event. Unfortunately the books would not be read in time, however Stephen offered to have three copies printed and bound separately!

I showed up not know what to expect, but found an opportunity to talk to both Carol and Phil about my new book. Anticipating writing this post 14 years later, I asked them both to sign the cover of the book (ok, just kidding) and then also gave them a copy.

Below is a scanned image of my very first, and I mean the very first copy, Revit book signed by Carol Bartz and Phil Bernstein.

As we all know, it is a small world, and as such there are two interesting facts about Carol, Phil and myself...

Like myself, 3M, Best Buy, Target and Caribou Coffee... Carol is originally from Minnesota. I actually just learned this from the Wikipedia page linked above (it must be true, it is on Wikipedia).

• BTW, Carol went on to be the CEO of Yahoo.

Prior to working at Autodesk, Phil Bernstein worked at Cesar Pelli's office. Indirectly, Phil and I worked on the same project. He wrote the contract for the University of Minnesota - Duluth (UMD) Weber Music Hall. I worked on that project, drawing architectural details, wall sections and such, while working for the firm that was the local architect of record (FYI, I worked for SJA, which was acquired by TKDA). Click here to learn a little more about this beautiful project: https://sfa.d.umn.edu/about/departments/department-music/about-music/music-facilities.

• BTW, Phil now a Fellow at Autodesk and a lecturer at Yale.

A fun little walk down memory lane... I hope you enjoyed it!