The Big Update - A List of Updates from Revit 2016 to Revit 2019

Are you using an older version of Revit? Perhaps you are using a version going all the way back to Revit 2015 or Revit 2016? The question I have been asked numerous times over the last month is, why should we upgrade?
The release of Revit 2019 last month is well worth consideration and the argument to upgrade from older versions of Revit, in my opinion, just got a lot stronger. 

This decision also needs to be weighed against signing up for a subscription licence. Autodesk hasn't been doing so well introducing subscription to it's business model. There are endless discussions in the forums and unhappy customers. The ever increasing cost of licences has made it a hard (& bitter) pill to swallow. That together with the long and well documented history of Autodesk's fairly slow development in general, has left many people happy to settle on there final perpetual licences of 2016 / 2017. (The new "Collections" don't help either).

There has been some improvement though, more transparency from the development team and since the Revit Ideas kicked off, more interaction with customers about what we want in the software. The Revit Blog also posts a roadmap, to let you know where development is heading.
So I think, for many offices, Revit 2019 may be worth a closer look in considering a possible upgrade as I believe the list of enhancements and day to day productivity gains since Revit 2016 to the now current Revit 2019, is too many to be ignored.

I have had to go back to using Revit 2016 for a number of months now in one of my jobs. I still use Revit 2018/19 regularly so going backwards so many versions has really made it obvious to me some of the updates and performance improvements I have taken for granted.

Out of interest, I decided to compile a list of all the note worthy Architectural & multi-discipline updates & enhancements to Revit since the 2016 "Release 2" update that was only available to subscription customers at the time. 

I enjoyed compiling this list, it was a good refresh and reminded me of a few minor updates that I had forgotten about myself.  

This turned out to be a lengthy post, so in an effort to keep it as concise as possible, I have simply listed the change/enhancement and only in some cases a short explanation. If you need more info on the update as well as a list of all minor, MEP & structural updates, I have provided all the links to the "What's New" articles as well as links to my past posts on new features. 

What's New in Revit 2016 - Release 2 

Detailed explanation of the R2 updates by the Revit Cat

• Global parameters
• Cancel print / export jobs (rather than previously only being able to cancel one sheet at a time)
• Family editor - Visibility preview
• Family editor - Filter voids & solids
• Revit Links - Unload 'for me' option allows you to unload a link without effecting others when syncing
• Worksharing - When detaching models, "_detached" is now appended to the file name instead of just a blank file name
• Underlay - New properties and terminology has been created in the properties to make it more clear of the underlay conditions
• Filters Dialog - Now listed alphabetically and sorted in a tree structure for rule-based and selection-based filters
• Reference plane names can now be added directly in the model area
• Perspective views - More tools becoming accessible while in perspective views
• Wall joins can be nominated in the options bar prior to placing walls
• Railings "preview" option added
• Rendering - Autodesk introduces "Raytracer" a faster rendering method than the old Mental Ray. This now moves towards CPU rendering instead of previous GPU rendering. 
• Energy Analysis tools improved & expanded
• PDF Links - When you create a combined PDF in Revit, the references in PDF's create live links to the corresponding sheets

Noted Performance Improvements:

• Occlusion culling / Draw visible elements only - Best in 3D views
• Colour fills now completed as background process

What's New in Revit 2017 

Important Upgrade Information

My previous post on the Revit 2017 release.

My previous post on the Revit 2017 text issues.

Detailed post by Revit OpEd 

• Text editor & Text measurement - This was a big update. I wrote several posts following the 2017 release and they are well worth a read as there were many issues at the time relating to text measurement in particular.  
• Depth Cueing - New graphic display option for elevations & sections
• Rendering - Raytracer becomes the only method of rendering
• Schedules - Combined parameters & full view templates for schedules
• Family editor - Calculated values in annotation tags
• Family editor - Sub categories for reference planes
• Reference plane category for filters added
• Keynote Legends - Only shows keynotes visible in the view
• Global parameters - Further enhancements after the 2016 R2 release.
• Hosted railings on components - Ability to host railings on faces of floors, slab edges, walls or roofs
• Dynamo - Now included as part of the Revit application install
• Worksharing - With the new inclusion of *'Collaboration for Revit' (C4R) the method to enable worksharing has changed. You now need to click the 'Collaborate' button on the collaborate ribbon. More info here. 

Noted Performance Improvements:

• Display of walls - Revit now regenerates walls only for those visible in the drawing area. If a wall is very small, it displays as simplified lines allowing for faster navigation. 

*Note: As of Revit 2019, C4R is now replaced with BIM 360 Design

What's New in Revit 2017.1

• Dynamo Player - Run dynamo scripts from the dialog in lieu of opening the application
• Model in perspective views - More Modify commands available
• Repair Central Model - New tools to attempt to fix corrupt central models

Noted Performance Improvements:

• Support for 4K monitors
• Model in perspective views

What's New in Revit 2017.2

Minor fixes, nothing major in my opinion. See the 2017 article. 

What's New in Revit 2018

My previous post on the Revit 2018 release.

• New File tab - This replaces the application menu button (a.k.a "the big R")
• Railings host to topographic surface (fantastic feature)
• Multi storey stairs - Multistory stairs automatically adjust if level heights change (Stairs by sketch no longer available)
• Schedule model groups & RVT links
• Add parameters to model groups, RVT links and schedules - You can now create custom project parameters for these new categories. 
• Coordination Models - Ability to link Navisworks models into Revit for coordination as an underlay
• Railings & Type Properties - Dialog improved to allow access directly to top rail and handrail properties
• Worksharing Monitor & Transmit a Model addins now installed with Revit 2018
• Project Sub-categories for reference planes
• Parameter tooltips expanded throughout the interface
• Symbols in text notes now available
• Print command added to the quick access toolbar
• Labels now use rich text formatting, consistent with text notes 
• FormIt Converter - Improvements in the FormIt converter all transfer of materials into Revit

Revit 2018.1

• Browser organisation for schedules - Ability to sort the schedules list in the project browser, similar to views and sheets. (Still can't do this for legends)
• Dynamo Player Upgrade - Dynamo player now supports running scripts with inputs. 
• Railings re-hosted - The sketch of Re-hosted railings will now appear on the new host

Noted Performance Improvements:

• Updated graphics & hardware options - This includes a new Hardware tab.

Revit 2018.2

• Expand/Collapse Project Browser via new right-click commands
• Fill Patterns dialog - The dialog has been improved including a new search feature and ability re-scale imported patterns. 
• Section Box shape controls - Functionality has been improved to make selection of shape handles more reliable, resulting in less miss-clicks (of geometry behind)
• Family loading - Revit remembers the last folder from which you loaded families during the current session. 
• Family editor - Column widths in the family types dialog are now maintained in the current session. 

Revit 2018.3

• Mainly fixes of reported issues and the introduction of Revit Cloud Worksharing (formerly Collaboration for Revit)

What's New in Revit 2019

My previous post on the Revit 2019 release.

• Tabbed views - Faster and easier navigation of multiple windows over single and dual file use
• Multi-monitor support - Many offices run dual monitors, now the primary software in your office can maximise this investment.
• Levels in 3D views (grids still not available in 3D views unfortunately)
• OR in filters - More complex and flexible filtering rules can now be created
• Uncropped perspective view - Allows you to work in full screen perspective views
• Scope boxes can be applied in 3D views
• Double fill patterns - You can now combine drafting and model hatch patterns. This change has been pushed through-out the Revit interface including the materials browser. 
• Renaming level for corresponding views - This dialog box can now be turned off (Finally!!!)
• Delete level warning dialog - If you attempted it, deleting levels was very time consuming. This simple dialog makes life much easier and deleting levels can now be done a little more confidently with a full list of effected elements. 
• Slow double click to rename views available
• Railings can be split outside of sketch mode
• Software version of files now visible in Open dialog
• Dimensions for curved objects in section views (perpendicular) now available
• Materials & Physical assets - The improvement to the physcial assets in Revit will see your render quality get an upgrade courtesy of the factory. Enscape have also been quick to update their software to take advantage of these new materials. 

It's a long list isn't it!? Sadly, many would still not be impressed. This is always going to come down to how everyone uses Revit differently. 
One item of development that is typically overlooked though is performance. Whilst there are key performance updates that are noted above, it is the performance updates "under the hood", that have also had an impact in ensuring models remain speedy as the software improves (and hardware) improves. 

As I always say though, participate in the Revit Ideas forum and Autodesk Feedback Community if you want to have a say!

Revit 2018.3 - Known Installation Issues

Revit 2018.3 was released recently. I was about to install, but I always check the forums first and I am now holding off until a few problems get sorted.
There is a forum thread at the moment over at Autodesk about a number of people reporting errors after installation. Might be worth a read if you are having similar problems.

Also, whilst many have made comment about 2018.3 only being a bug fix update, (full list can be found here) but the key component of the 2018.3 release is part of the new BIM 360 Design which Autodesk is calling the 'next generation of C4R'. 

Release 2018.3 makes Revit 2018 compatible with BIM 360 Design as prior versions of 2018 doesn't have the code to communicate with the suite.

So if you're not in a position to update to 2019 yet, then it may be something you are interested in beyond the bug fixes. Although, do your reading first as existing C4R projects need to be converted, they aren't automatically readable with the new BIM 360 Design. 

Fancy colourful image courtesy of Autodesk

Happy Holidays - See you in 2018!!!

Wow, 2017 has gone fast! I can barely remember what I was doing in the first half of the year! The second half has been so busy I haven't posted as often as I would have liked, but the good news is, if all goes to plan that should change in 2018 and be back to my regular postings, with maybe even a little something on YouTube!! 

It is that time of year though for my annual review of popular posts on Revit Link, but first, a gift! I found this recently and have decided to use it for my students. It is aimed at the newbies who might be reading, but even experienced users may find it useful! Enjoy! 

Click the Image to see what's inside!!!

So, here it is, a look back at Revit Link in 2017, with a new category too...

Most Viewed Blog Post: Revit Schedules - How to Format Headers, close behind was Why is Revit Not Backwards Compatible

My Favourite Post: Revit User Interface - Filters Dialog Box
Best Revit Dynamo Tip for 2017: Everyday Dynamo - Esc Key
Something New: Autodesk University 2017 - Creating Intelligent Details
Finally Fixed: Browser Sorting, View Templates, and Dependent Views - Resolved
What I want for Christmas: The DJI Osmo Mobile hand held stabiliser (I got my drone a few months ago!) 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday!

Hide Categories in View Using a Shortcut

Quick tip: Do you always turn off categories in views via the Visibility Graphics? Why not use a shortcut instead?

When we select a component in Revit, we can right click for 'Hide in View' with 3 options available: Elements, Category & Filter. 

Now, most seasoned users will tell you, 'Hide in View > Element' is full of problems (which I agree with), so if you are using this method a lot, I would recommend learning some better methods. For me, the main problem with this method of hiding is you can't add it to a View Template. 

The next option however is more useful. This is Hide in View > Category. Using this method, is actually the same as going into your Visibility Graphics and un-ticking the box. 

This is why, when a view template is active on a view, this method of hiding is greyed out. 

There is a shortcut assigned to this right click menu combination too! VH = Hide in View>Hide Category. I find this most handy for 3D views, which don't always have view templates assigned. Simply select multiple components on various categories, hit [VH] on your keyboard, and your done! 

If you want the reverse, activate your 'Reveal Hidden Elements' window, select your components and hit [VU] for Unhide Category. 

Column 'Construction' Properties

One of the reasons I enjoy training so much is because I have the opportunity to always be learning on the job. Take for example my most recent training session, where one of my group members came across this great little nugget on column properties. 

Below, we have an architectural column with an unconnected height set to just below the roof. If we take a look at the column instance properties, you will notice aside from a few constraint options, there isn't much else to work with...

...but, something I never noticed is that the properties actually change once columns are attached to components! Notice anything different about the properties after I attach this architectural column to the roof above it?

The Construction heading give us two new parameters when the column is attached to a surface: 'Attachment Justification At Top', with 3 drop down choices that sets the top justification condition: Minimum Intersection, Maximum Intersection & Intersect Column Midline. 

The other parameter is 'Offset From Attachment At Top'. This offset is best seen when the attachment justification is set to 'Intersect Column Midline'. 

Oh, and if your thinking does this also apply to Structural Columns, the answer is yes.

I did ask myself how I never came across this setting before, but I don't use architectural columns as much as I probably could (often using walls instead) and not a whole lot of the structural framing modelling I do comes down to that sort of detail. That being said, it's certainly a nice little concealed couple of parameters to know about!

Credit for this post goes to Bonnie who found these helpful parameters for the class, despite moments earlier hearing me say "I don't think you can do that"

Looks like I was wrong! Never stop learning! 

Autodesk University 2017 - Creating Intelligent Details in Revit

The 2017 year is wrapping up fast. It has been a very busy last few months for myself as you may have noticed with my lack of blog posting recently. The good news is, I have been working on a series of posts that I hope to finish soon, but in the meantime I wanted to post some of my favourite Autodesk University presentations. 

If you didn't know, Autodesk University was held in Las Vegas not too long ago (about a week ago) and many of the presentations are posted online as part of the AU website. This site is ridiculous (in a good way), as there are hundreds of videos & presentation handouts from past events available for viewing and download, completely FREE. If you are keen on learning about Revit from the best, then this learning portal is a no brainer. 

Today I wanted to recommend a presentation "Creating Intelligent Details in Revit" by Brian Mackey. It is an excellent presentation on some tricks and ideas to getting the most out of detail components in Revit and how you might go about putting your details together in Revit. 

Enjoy!

AS122882 Creating Intelligent Detail in Revit By Brian Mackey

Description from the AU website:
"Everyone knows that Revit software is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) program, and that it has intelligence when modeling. However, this intelligence is sometimes lost when creating details. In this session, we'll show how to create intelligent details using detail components and nested detail components. In doing this, we'll be able to keynote these elements to maintain a consistent noting procedure, and be able to send this information out to our spec writer so even the detailed items aren't missed in the specs. If keynoting isn't your choice, we'll also cover how to tag these elements so that there's consistent notation of the details on every project".

More Revit Ideas...

I recently updated 'My Revit Ideas' with a couple of ideas that have bugged me about Revit for a while now. I was surprised I couldn't find any similar ideas, so I posted them. 

Two in particular have had steady voting since I posted them, so I thought it might be worth mentioning them here and perhaps give them an extra boost! 

'Create Similar' for Symbolic & Model Lines (in families)
Make 'Create Similar' functionality available in families for Symbolic & Model Lines. 

View Name Bold under Sheet Names (when activated)
View Names (when activated) should be bold text under sheets as well. 

Other ideas... 

Area Scheme displayed in Area Schedules
To be able to easily identify which Area Scheme an Area Schedule belongs to.

'Place an Image' Button (for previously loaded images)
We need a 'Place Image' button somewhere within the UI. We currently cannot place an image previously loaded into the project unless we find the image first and copy.  

New Parameter Category: Schedules

When Revit 2018 was released, Autodesk highlighted three new categories available to us for the purpose of scheduling & creating parameters; Revit links, Model groups & Schedules.

We can now create a project parameter for schedules, the same way we can for views and sheets. I am still thinking of what I could potentially use this for, but the first idea that came to mind was the ability to sort schedules in the project browser, unfortunately, we still can't do this though. 
Can you think of another useful purpose for it? Leave your idea in the comments. 

Why is Revit Not Backwards Compatible?

Ahh, the million dollar question. The question most often answered with a cynical response "Autodesk do it, so we are forced to upgrade".

Obviously, after enjoying the days of AutoCAD, (that could be rolled back 10 versions) moving to Revit with NO backwards compatibility what-so-ever, can be a shock to the system for first time users. Even seasoned users express frustration with the complications that come with making sure everyone (including consultants) are on the same version. 

So it was no surprise then when it was posted on the Revit Ideas Forum by a user titled "Save as Previous Version". The idea gathered 260 votes and by the forums standards, that is very high. As you can imagine, it got a healthy discussion going, some comments less helpful than others. 

It has since been Archived. 


So, here it is, why Revit is not, and will not, become backwards compatible...
The following is a post by Sasha Crotty. Sasha is one of Autodesks core product managers for Revit. She responded to the idea explaining why the development team decided to archive the idea. It is the most detailed explanation I have seen so far from Autodesk responding to this request. I would also recommend listening to Episode 87 of BIM Thoughts, where Sasha is a guest and they briefly touch on the subject of compatibility. 

"With regrets, as I am sure there are going to be a lot of people here who will be disappointed, I am archiving this idea. While we fully understand why this request is important and would be of great value to you, it is not feasible for us to add it to the Revit roadmap. Before you share your thoughts, I do ask that you please read my full response here as I will do my best to explain the reasons behind the decision.

First off, let me say that this is not a decision that we take lightly. Further, there is no motive that is not expressed in this post. Despite what a few posts here suggest, this decision has nothing to do with how we sell our products, nor is it a strategic move on our part. It is quite simply an exceptionally difficult (impossible?) technical challenge, which, were we to embark on fixing it, is unlikely to fully deliver on the expectations and experience that you deserve (more on this later). If backwards compatibility was an easy thing for us to do, we would do it in a heartbeat because we understand that this would enable workflows that are a true challenge today.

There are two ways we could approach the problem: freeze the file format or add converters that transform new data to old data to recreate the old file format. Let me address each one in turn.

To be quite frank, freezing the file format would significantly hamper the speed of Revit development as the majority of Revit features require changes to the file format. I took a quick look and by my estimation at least 14 of the top 20 ideas on this forum would require changes to the file format. Comparing our development build to the 2017 file, there are about 3,000 changes to the format. So, on average, there are over 10 format changes per development day. This also doesn't account for the fact that one change can have a huge impact. For example, the ability to have OR in filters could arguably be reflected as one format change, but that change could impact hundreds of views and sheets.

If we had to wait 3 years to get significant enhancements you, it would also mean we would it would be another 3 years before we could make further improvements/corrections to features. We often hear feedback that we don't improve the product fast enough; unfortunately this would aggravate, not alleviate the problem.

I also want to point out that we already make an effort to identify and work on improvements that don't require a format change. These changes are shipped as part of our point (previously R2) releases. We're excited that we are able to get these new features to you as soon as they are completed. That's why we’re all here on Revit ideas right? So that we can get you the improvements you need. I, for one, don't want to wait three years to make that happen.

So, approaching this from the other angle, why not save back to older versions? I'm going to give you three examples of why this is an exceedingly difficult technical challenge, and why, if attempted, it would not result in the behaviour you would expect.

1. Imagine for their birthday someone gives your kid a gift of alphabet blocks in a fancy gift box that is just big enough to house the blocks. The next year, someone else gives them a set of nicer blocks, but the blocks are 5% bigger in size. You want to keep the new set, but store them in the old box, but no matter how you try they just won't fit. In fact, if the box housed 36 (3x4x3) original blocks, the box will only house 12 (2x3x2) new blocks! You could start sawing the blocks I suppose, but I think that defeats the purpose of alphabet blocks. File formats work in a similar way, a small change in the definition can have a huge cascading effect on the look and behaviour of the file.
2. So why is the impact so big? Let's take our OR in Filters example again. In a greatly simplified solution, the change from AND to OR could be stored in one new true/false property of filters (true = AND, false = OR) in Revit X+1. Of course, Revit X has no idea about this property, so as far as Revit X is concerned all filters are AND. Now imagine saving back a file from Revit X+1 to Revit X where you've used OR filters in 10, 20, 100? views. If we literally copied the filter conditions back to the Revit X format, suddenly your filter would be an AND filter. What happens to those views? Elements change color. Or worse, elements appear/disappear. Schedules change. I could go on. Ok, so that's not a valid solution. Can we have developers write code that converts OR filters into AND filters and saves them that way? I'm a CompSci major and let me tell you - this is not straightforward code to write. And in some more complex cases I'm not sure it's possible to write it in a way Revit X would understand. This is why OR filters are being requested in the first place, right? Now imagine doing this for every one of the 3,000 changes…
3. If that hasn't convinced you, here's a simplified element-based example. Friendly reminder: in Revit geometry is derived, not primary, data, so it's not necessarily even stored in the file. In a world where Revit X only knows how to create linear walls and Revit X+1 introduces arc walls, what would happen if you took a Revit X+1 arc wall and saved it to Revit X? Because Revit X code has no idea how to use the extra data, your arc wall would show up in Revit X as a linear wall!

So at least for model objects, if we can’t write back to data, can we somehow save the exact geometry? Maybe (assuming the geometry kernel hasn’t changed), however this would mean that all of the intelligent behavior that you expect with Revit would be gone. So the arc wall would show up as an arc, but you wouldn’t be able to change it and Revit wouldn’t know how to make it act like a wall (e.g. clean up wall joins, etc). It would be a geometry that does not understand that it is a wall, so at that point what we have is un-editable CAD, not BIM. Exporting to IFC and importing it in the earlier version will give you at least the same, and likely much better, geometry consistency.

All this is to say that if we were to save backwards without freezing the file format, we would be unable to guarantee consistency of view settings or contents and it will result in the loss of intelligent behaviour for elements. In other words, views would look different and elements would be frozen. The amount of work to achieve this “broken” state would also be huge. Giving you an unpredictable backwards save would not really help you with collaboration problems, in fact, it would quite likely cause errors in your deliverables. We don’t consider this an acceptable solution from a customer experience perspective, which is why we have chosen not to pursue it.

So that brings us back to freezing the file format as the only option we can consider. I mentioned earlier that this would slow down our development process because it makes it harder for teams to fix bugs (yes bug fixes often require format changes) and hinder our ability to give you the improvements being requested right here in Revit Ideas. In truth, we are looking to change the process in the other direction. We want to give you the latest and greatest as soon as it is available. We realise that that means reworking our install infrastructure and experience so that it is easier for you to get the latest version and increasing the reliability of upgrades so that you are able to trust the quality of the upgrade. We have not done a fantastic job of this to date, so there is a lot of space for us to improve. The ideal state is the Google Chrome experience. How many of you know which version of Chrome you’re running? We realise that there is a lot more complexity to installing and updating our software than Chrome, so I am not implying that this is the right solution, but that kind of simplicity of experience is the direction we want to pursue. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to care about Revit versions in the first place? We think so and that’s why we’re archiving this issue. We understand that there is a problem, but we believe there is actually a better solution than backward compatibility."

So, there it is. I for one, have few thoughts on the matter. Do I at least wish families could be backwards compatible? Sure, but I know how Revit works, I have systems in place to work with it, so I don't worry about it. To be honest, I rather the effort by the development team be put into the future tools I need as a designer. The idea that in the future, I may not even have to worry about what version I am in, sounds VERY appealing. 

Thanks to Sasha for taking the time to respond to customers in such a detailed manner. 

Again, the original source can be found here with all the subsequent comments. 

My Revit Ideas

*Updated 8th October, 2017
In my last post I spoke about the black hole that is becoming of the Revit Ideas Forum. Whilst I was a bit critical of things, I do think it is a great way for users to have a say and also to learn about what others think is important. 

I have posted a few ideas myself, some popular, others less so. I was starting to lose track of them, so I decided to keep a live list of my own ideas here in this post together with there status. I will update the list when/if I post new ideas. I encourage you to vote for ideas in the forum (as well as my own of course), if you think they are something you would like to see implemented in the future. You can even leave a comment if you having something to add or post your own idea! (Just do a good search before posting!)


In no particular order, my ideas so far...
Red = Under Review (Fingers crossed!)
Magenta = Implemented (Woo! See latest release)
Green = Accepted (It's coming...eventually, see the *latest Autodesk Roadmap)
Blue = Future Consideration (In other words, don't hold your breath)
Grey = Archived (Your idea was either a: unpopular and few people though it was a priority at this time or b: Lost in the black hole of 3000+ other ideas and hence, not voted for c: Autodesk have reviewed the idea and decided it is not worth marking as a future consideration)

• Measure in 3D Tool (Similar to SketchUp or FormIt)
• Schedule Material 'Mark' Parameter in Lieu of Material Name
• Doors to Report Walls They Are In
• Temporary Unisolate / Unhide
• 'Edit' Symbol for Material Editor (in lieu of hidden 3 dots)
• Selection Toggle for Design Options (To Replace 'Exclude Options' Tick Box)
• Sun Path Diagram Automatically Update When Changing Orientation
• Clean Up the Revit Ideas Forum
• Insight 360 Web Interface - Show Compass on the View Cube
• Insight 360 Web Interface - Heating & Cooling Loads Visualization Sticky
• Insight 360 Web Interface - GBS Interface Stop Scrolling Back Up
• Dimension Walls When 'Wrapping at ends' is Active (Limitation)
• *Filled Regions - Instance Parameters for Opaque/Transparent Setting
• *'Recent List' for Linestyles (Similar to walls)
• 'Search' Function for View Reference Tool
• Include Underlay Settings in 'Temporary View Properties' Mode
• *New Project Parameters Not Included in View Templates
• Families - Cuttable vs Non-Cuttable
• View Range for Ceilings
• Warnings Dialog Box Overhaul
• 'Create Similar' for Symbolic & Model Lines (in families)
• View Name Bold Under Sheet Names (when activated)
• Area Scheme displayed in Area Schedules
• 'Place an Image' Button (for previously loaded images)

Revit Ideas Forum - 12 Months Later...

In May of last year Autodesk announced at the then Revit Technology Conference (now known as BiLT) the new Revit Ideas Station. A short time later I mentioned and collated some of the top ideas at the time.

So, 12 months later, how is it all going? Well, ideas have been coming in thick and fast. In fact, there have been so many ideas, Autodesk seem to be struggling to maintain the forum. I started getting so annoyed by repetitive ideas myself, I even wrote an idea about the idea forum! You can see it here. Repetitive ideas due to the lack of searching before posting & the lack of filtering tools are some of my biggest gripes. Then there are the ideas that are actually just complaints. Many users shared my feelings, with the "idea" gathering over a 100 votes in less than 2 months plus a healthy discussion on what can be done to try and improve it. (I realise that some of these problems are out of Autodesks control such as users posting repeat ideas but providing a tool set to manage them IS in their control). 

One positive I have seen come out of the idea and subsequent discussion is a significant jump in the number of ideas being marked 'archived' and repeat ideas being combined. (Autodesk have told us the 'report' icon under the idea, can be used to help them with this and to provide a link to duplicate ideas when reporting). 

One of the other problems with the forum is ideas simply getting lost. I blame the extremely vague filter category of "Gathering Support" for this one. How do I know they are lost and not just a bad idea? Repeat ideas. You see what happens is, an idea pops up, it get's 20+ votes in a few weeks, yet search for the duplicate idea written months earlier and it only has half a dozen votes. The problem is now, they have been relegated to somewhere between page 5 and page 144. What's that saying about the second page of a google search result??

At the time of writing, there were 162 pages or almost 3000+ ideas. That's about 250+ ideas per month!! How are you supposed to see this many ideas, let alone vote for them without good filtering tools? Well you can't and considering this isn't Autodesk's first ideas forum for one of their software applications, I am surprised they didn't come up with something better. Although, admittedly, the number of ideas in the other forums is, in most cases, less than 500. So maybe the popularity of the station was underestimated?

My latest thoughts on improving the idea station is to have the ability to filter or categorise ideas by tool, instead of the vague tagging categories of 'User Interface' or 'Multi-discipline'. 
For example, let's say you had an idea about design options. You would go to the forum and select or search from a list of tools in Revit. You would find and see only the ideas relating to 'Design Options'. Furthermore, they could be filtered by discipline, vote count, status, date, author, etc. If you can't find what you are looking for, write an idea and categorise it accordingly. This may even help Autodesk see what the discussion is around a particular tool set. 

"There are a lot of tools in Revit" I hear you say? Yes there are, but here is some food for thought... In another 12 months, assuming some slow down of ideas pouring in, there will be well over 5000+ ideas. Good luck sifting through all of them...

What's New in FormIt - v16.0

Autodesk FormIt v16.0 was released last month. The update is a big one with some significant updates to the material editor & performance improvements. You can now import DWG files too. 

Visit https://formit.autodesk.com/ to get the latest update and read more about new features. 

I would also recommend watching episode 24 of FormIt Friday which covers some of these new features. One thing to also note is when you create a formIt file, instead of an RVT file being created in 2015 format (within your A360 account), it will now be created in 2018 format. Don't worry though, because you can still use the FormIt conversion tools if you need a previous version of your FormIt model. 

Oh yes, and you may notice, they have removed the '360' name, so now it is just FormIt. I believe we may see a similar change to the Insight plugin in the future too.