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

Creating a Basic Window Family

I am asked often how to go about creating a basic family. I created a 2 part video last year for a colleague who was learning Revit. They wanted to know how to build a basic window family. See below for the method I use when creating this family. Over the next few months, I may expand on this example and slowly build varying complexity into the same family. 

Creating a Basic Window: Part 1 (Geometry)

Creating a Basic Window: Part 2 (Materials)

Video's created by Damien Ferlazzo.

Drawing Technologies

Revit Schedules: Grouping Headers

We can group headers in Revit schedules to create a new header above. It would look something like the image below.

Example 1

To do this, select multiple header cells > Group (from the Titles & Headers panel). This will create an empty cell above the selected cells that will allow you to type any text. Some examples can be seen below.

Group Headers

Example 2

Example 3

To remove the group header, select the cell > Ungroup (from the Titles & Headers panel). 

Revit, A Step by Step Guide

If you are starting out on Revit, there is something I try and teach all my students, clients and colleagues and that is to take it slow. It sounds obvious, but it is something you really need to remind yourself of each time you use Revit because trying to use the software quickly and skipping vital steps will only lead to problems & frustrations.

Revit requires a step by step approach. Sometimes you need to do things in a certain order for it to work properly. When starting out, read all the warning messages and strange dialog boxes, and make your way through menu's top to bottom to understand all your options available to you, don't just rush to the 'APPLY' button. 

The speed will come, but your understanding of the software needs to come first. Give it 3 months, you will wonder how you ever got by on 2D CAD software. 

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.