Revit 'R2' Update

In August I posted about 'Autodesk Revit Sunrise'. It gave us a sneak peak into some of the enhancements Autodesk are working on. 

Well as many of us were hoping for, some of these enhancements have been delivered by the way of an update, 'Release 2'. The update is for subscription customers only and rather than rehash what many have already posted, I have provided a few links on what's new. 

My personal favourites so far would have to be...

• Isolate solid voids with filter tool (finally!)
• Family element visibility setting
• Project browser enhancement (The smallest things are often the best)
• Named reference planes

Global parameters is an interesting one. I will have to play with this one a little more before I give any feedback, but I can certainly see the potential. If in the future you can link it to family parameters, that could be very powerful. 

Links...

• YouTube playlist
• Revit OpEd
• Installing Revit 'R2'

Revit Features under 'Revit Sunrise'

On 'Inside the Factory' recently, we got a preview to what is now available in Autodesk Revit Sunrise. 

You may have heard of Revit Sundial last year that gave us some insight to future improvements in Revit. Some of which turned up in an update shortly after 'R2'. 

Well now we have Revit Sunrise and I have to say, some of these updates got me excited! 

Let's hope some of these updates are made available in the same way they were for Revit 2015 R2...which would mean we may get some very soon, likely to subscription customers again. 

This turned up on Twitter feeds... nice View Range Dialog from Revit Sunrise. 

Ironman Revit

Some days Revit just doesn't work for you. Then you get a reality check and are shown what can be achieved with a whole lot know-how, a LOT of hours and a significant amount of persistence!

This morning, that reality check came in the form of Ironman. You can head over to 'Revit Swat' to see how it was done. Impressive! 

Image: Courtesy Revit Swat Blog

Many of us have seen it before, but we can't talk about complex Revit modelling without referring to Marcello Sgambelluri's Revit Elephant. This thing isn't just a rigid model, oh no, its parametric! 

You can find more information about this crazy elephant at Buildz blog. You will also find a stop motion animation of it moving!

Australasian Revit Technology Conference 2015

I am going! Are you?! The Australasian Revit Technology Conference on May 14 -16. 

I can't wait, very much looking forward to this year, as last year I was only able to attend the one day in Melbourne. This year though, I am up to the Gold Coast for 3 days to absorb as much as I can about what the latest news and techniques are in Revit & Building Information Modelling. 

If you haven't registered yet, its not too late. Registrations close on May 8. The schedule has also been updated as of late last week. Quite a number of changes as a matter of fact and some repeat classes too, probably due to popularity and a lengthy waiting list. 

I'll be sure to give a report when I get back on some of my favourite sessions. 

Latest on Revit 2016

Blogs listing everything new about Revit 2016 has been much slower this year. Not sure why? Maybe because there wasn't many updates reported by Autodesk on release? 

Well, its turning out to be a 'hide and seek' affair. Steve at Revit Oped has been posting a number of blogs lately finding all sorts of hidden items not initially mentioned by Autodesk. So head on over to his blog for some of the latest...

You can find more sources of information at 'What Revit Wants'. There are even some videos here.  

Revit 2016

The release of Revit 2016 this week means information is slowly trickling in about updates, so there doesn't appear to be any comprehensive lists as yet but Autodesk does have a few items on its website here. 

Yesterday, In The Fold posted a few things here as well and Chris Price over at Revit Rants has put together a nice list too with a little more explanation. 
Before you start reading though, don't get too excited. If you upgraded to R2 (subscription only update) last year and kept to date (up to release 7 now), then you have essentially seen most of what Revit 2016 will have to offer, including site designer tools. There are a few new features but from what I have read, most of the updates have been noted as performance gains and fixes. 

On the flip-side, if you have no idea what the 'R2' updates are, then you are in for a treat with Revit 2016. Many of the updates that we saw with R2 have become daily usage tools for myself, so much so, that I don't like when I am having to use non-updated versions or 2014.  

As for the rest of us, we will have to wait and see, I will keep in touch with the usual blogs and post links as more info pops up over the next week or so. 

p.s. Autodesk's website also has a comparison between Revit & LT here.

Blogs; what I am reading.

You can't write about Revit blogs without mentioning Revit Oped by Steve Stafford. Steve's blog is infamous within the Revit community and he is a regular presenter at RTC with 'What's new' in latest releases.

It's updated regularly and the information is always educational and of great quality. If you have read some of my blogs you will have seen a few links in the past to some of his articles.

For something old, see Revit Zone by Ian Nichols. Ian writes some really good easy to read step by step blogs about Revit. I always send beginners to this website for the fundamentals section which has blogs on things like view range, levels and design options.

This brings me to something new. Last year Ian began a new site over at BIMscape where most of his new articles will appear. So if you like Revit Zone, BIMscape will also be worth keeping in touch with.

For something different I have recently started reading The Midnight Lunch by Ceilidh Higgins. It's not always about Revit and captures design in general, however Ceilidh is an interior designer and writes from a different perspective, hence why it peaked my interest.

Practical BIM by Anthony McPhee is another blog I enjoy reading. Anthony's blogs are often about discussion in practically applying BIM in the real world of design offices. His articles have sometimes caused some debate over at LinkedIn, but I think that's the point. Afterall, discussion and debate on relevant topics can breed new ideas and our approach to BIM and its use in the industry.

Other rated blogs I keep in touch with worth mentioning: In no particular order....

What Revit Wants by Luke Johnson

The BIM Jedi (Formally The Revit Jedi) by Scott Chatterton

The Revit Kid by Jeffrey Pinheiro

Revit Add-ons by Tim Grimm

The Revit Geek by Brian Mackey