Virtual Reality for less than $50

I recently came across a link to the dodocase. If you haven't heard about this device, visit their website

http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit

After watching the preview and reading about what these clever cheap cardboard boxes could do I made a purchase for one. I will post again when I have had an opportunity to test them out!  

Split with Gap

Unless you do a lot of work with precast panelling, the 'split with gap' tool doesn't really get much use in the office. It is a worth while tool not to forget about though.

I was recently in the middle of documenting a building with internal masonry walls. We decided to run downpipes in the walls, thereforing requiring the masonry wall to stop and start at each downpipe location. Cue the spit with gap tool. Clicking once on the wall creates an automatic gap in the wall to the desired distance entered in the options bar. In our case 200mm for a 150 dp. Revit allows a maximum gap space of 308mm. While the regular split tool with 'delete inner segment' ticked could do the same thing, its more tedious dealing with a small specified distance as accurately. 

Managing Revit Callouts with Crop Region Breaks

In Revit we can create callouts in most view types. In Architecture, when we create these callouts they may be larger than required. We have the ability to apply crop view breaks by clicking the break symbol on the crop region boundary, breaking the view in two. This keeps the detail smaller and shows only the critical areas. 

However, this creates problems for us when documenting as we wish to see the whole view while detailing and only crop for the sheet. It would be nice if there was a temporary expand on views with breaks. This would save us having to reset the view each time. 

There is an easier way though. The use of dependent views work extremely well in these instances. The main view has the crop break applied and put on a sheet as desired. Crop boundaries are not affected by dependent views, meaning we can have two different crop regions setup. So the dependent view enables us to detail in the whole view while keeping the view (with the crop region break) on the sheet intact. 

Revit Wisdom

“If you keep in mind that there are no shortcuts in Revit, you will work on doing things right at first and not have to "fix" them later”

                                                 … Some dude on the internet.

A colleague of mine came across these words of wisdom in one of the forums years ago, when we first started implementing Revit into our office. We thought it was so true and effective in its message, it found its way onto the cover of our office Revit standards guide. 
I thought I would post it today, as I continue to reference it when trying to help those struggling with the step by step approach often needed when using Revit.  

Solid White Fill Region vs Masking Region

What is the difference between solid white filled regions and masking regions?

That's the question I asked myself a few days ago when I came across a solid white filled region on a project. So with a little trial and error and some forum research I have pulled up the following.

Firstly, filled regions: Usually used for fill or hatch patterns, be it a brick hatch or a simple diagonal line hatch. This is not always the case and sometimes we create solid hatches, greys, black’s and colour if the need arises. (You will notice I didn’t say white! We will come back to that).

Filled regions also allow us to change the colour of the pattern and we have the choice between an ‘opaque’ and ‘transparent’ filled region within the type properties.

When we export our Revit drawings, filled regions are exported as hatch patterns.

*Masking regions are always opaque, we cannot make them transparent and you can’t apply a fill pattern to them.

Most importantly, when exporting out of Revit, masking regions don't create solids. If your masking regions use invisible lines, then they won't even export. Any lines that cross the masking regions will not show, maintaining the graphic appearance of the view. Draw order also comes into play. elements must be sent behind the masking region to be cut. 

In short, I would recommend using these particular tools for their intended purpose to save you hassle later. Masking regions to mask objects & filled regions for patterns / hatches.


*This post was edited August 2015

Revit R2 Update - View Reference Search Missing

The recent Revit R2 update gave us the ability to quickly find the content you need by way of a new search feature in the Type Selector or in drop-down lists. It is also available when using the 'Reference other view' feature for callouts, sections & details. To use it you can click the Type Selector or a value field in the properties palette and enter keywords to search.

Interestingly though, this feature is not available when using the 'View Reference' tool. Another example of an unfinished tool? Fingers crossed its due for completion in coming updates!

Best Practices for Better Revit Performance

July issue of AUGI had an interesting article on Revit performance earlier this year. It recently popped up on Architizer website. Some useful tips, so if your looking to improve your Revit performance, here is the link. 

HP & Case took a look into Revit performance using HP's performance advisor tools & Case through the auditing of BIM models, these were the results. 

Link to AUGI