I got a virtual tap on the shoulder from Brian Nickel over at The Revit Saver today. He said he had been “searching for an answer like this for a year or two, and the guy posted it two days ago overseas! Talk about a neat workflow!

What are we talking about?

Basically, it is an inventive way to use the mesh tools in Memento, which can consume images, make meshes, and export them to Recap. From there, we can easily get that into Revit for quick site context investigations. The actual implications of this workflow are pretty big… hypothetically, it allows you to use any good series of images to automatically make some 3d geometry and bring it into the Revit environment for further modelling.

Funnily enough, this workflow is just a logical extension of the stated aims of Memento, namely images to meshes as a ‘great companion to ReCap’:

Here’s how arnebjelland describes the workflow from Google Maps to Revit (via Photoshop, Memento and Revit), In short:

  • open google maps in full screen and find your building site
  • rotate the view around your site meanwhile you press «print screen» as often as you wish
  • with dropbox installed, the «print screens» should be perfectly downloaded automatically
  • you should crop your photos to get rid of unwanted text/labels. You can do this by making an «action» in Photoshop and then choose «File» – «Scripts» – «Image Processor» to crop every photos in a folder
  • then you make a mesh in Memento with your cropped photos and export it in RCP
  • import it into Revit and enjoy

Screencast (Brian Nickel):

Images (Brian Nickel):

Steps from arnebjelland at:
Combining Google Maps, photogrammetry and pointcloud into Revit | Digital story of an architect

Heads-up from Brian Nickel at:
The Revit Saver: Combining Google Maps, Photogrammetry and Pointcloud Data into Revit 2016

Have you ever wondered if there are API commands for addressing or automating Type Catalog information in Revit? A recent post from Jeremy Tammik covered some of this. In it, he discusses the difference between

  • the embedded MEP lookup tables (which the API can address using FamilySizeTable and FamilySizeTableManager), and
  • the legacy text file lookup tables, which are basically a specially formatted TXT file with the same name as the RFA.

The post is well worth a read, as he also references some useful resources in the Revit help and an AU class

 What about units in Type Catalogues? Quoting directly from The Building Coder:
 “
Question: we’re trying to create type catalogue in txt file for Radiator family. We were trying to define a parameter in watt units, with no success. How to define header for this parameter?
Answer: Look at page 15 of Martin Schmid’s Autodesk University class handout on Creating Revit MEP Content for Engineering Coordination.
Here is a sample Exhaust Fan RFA and TXT file for you to play with.
They don’t use Watts, but should give the idea if you are not already familiar with type catalogues.
Also, the families guide provides a list of the parameter types, namely, for electrical_power: watts, kilowatts, british_thermal_units_per_second, british_thermal_units_per_hour, calories_per_second, kilocalories_per_second, volt_amperes, kilovolt_amperes, horsepower.
 “

From original post at: http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2015/07/type-catalogues.html

Let’s say you have 50 sheets with one viewport on each, and you want to nudge all those viewports around the sheet a little bit. Difficult?

  1. Use a couple of nodes from Bakery to grab the Viewport elements based on a name search (also thanks to Rhythm package creator John Pierson)
  2. Now you have the element IDs in the clipboard, go back to Revit and Select by ID. Paste.
  3. You now have all of those viewports selected, and can move them all at once!

Check out this page for more on Facility Management and BIM from AUGI:
BIM and FM | AUGI

via
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?161532-Looking-for-info-on-learning-Revit-and-BIM-solutions-for-FM-company

Links copied below:

BIM Kickoff Meeting FAQ
This document was posted by Robert Bell to the Revit MEP forum, as a good checklist for discussion between contractors.
Revit Maximo Integration Plugin
This application has been retired/graduated from the Autodesk Labs site, but, please check out the documentation for the intended functionality and contact Autodesk to display your interest in this capability.
Revit Archibus Overlay
Archibus Overlay has long worked with AutoCAD, and you can purchase it for Revit, too, allowing for reporting and querying across multiple models.
Linking Data Spreadsheet to Navisworks for Facility Management
This is more of a debate with mulitiple options than an iron-clad framework, but, the idea is worth reviewing.
The GSA on BIM for FM
The General Services Administration has been a forerunner in utilitzing BIM post-construction and thoroughly documenting their standards. Check out the links on the left of the page to access press releases, videos and the BIM Library.
AECbytes: BIM for Facilities Management
AECbytes does a roundup of FM products that can make use of BIM (this is an older article, if there’s a newer version, please let me know and I will update the link). A good read by Lachmi Khemlani, as usual.
BIM for FM on a University Campus
Case study on the business case for building information modeling at Northumbria University’s city campus, presented at ECObuild 2013.
How to Approach BIM for Renovations
A link to a detailed methodology and a real world report of how one hospital stepped through the process.
What does an Owner Want with BIM?
This article says that most companies are doing a disservice with this question, when they should really be asking ‘Who is the Owner?’ A rundown of the stakeholders using the data and Revit models turned over to the facilities and engineering staff post-occupancy.
Moving from AutoCAD to BIM for Building Floor Plans
The Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University’s BIM Implementation Project.
Setup with Clients and Owners
Discussion on how to work with clients on delivery and standards formation.
Circular Linking of Models and Campus Buildings
Discussion on some issues with working across a large multi-building campus.
Coordinating Projects Using Shared Coordinates
Class handout and video link to an in-depth Revit class by Steve Stafford.
Revit Standards: Getting Started Guides
BIM Standards and Guidelines

If you have done a clean install of Autodesk products, you may find that the older versions of Application Manager are a bit slow to get going. Just install version 5 straight up to get things updating nicely.

Direct link: http://download.autodesk.com/SWDLDDLM/Updates/AppManager/5_0_142_0/AdApplicationManager-installer.exe

Via
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/installation-licensing/application-manager-5-0-updates-general-update-management-query/td-p/5720390

This Labs project was distributed a while back, but it timed out and the addin won’t usually run anymore. Its purpose was basically to import a .RIF file from cadMEP back into Revit with some intelligent mapping.

I had someone ask me how to get this working now that the Labs period is up, and I made the suggestion to set the computer time back to before the addin expired… And it works 🙂 So if you really want to play with the FAB to RME Labs addin from about 2 years ago, this might be an option for you.