Download at:
http://www.autodesk.com/revitsundial

Autodesk tweeted across their Twitter ecosystem that you can “See what we are working on…” with this Sundial Release. I don’t think it is a leap of logic to assume that you are actually seeing a preview of features that will be included in Revit 2016. The final feature set will not be set in stone yet, but it gives you a fair idea on where most of the big improvements will be.

Additionally, I’ve been thinking about this equation:

Revit Sundial (cloud hosted, latest release) + Revit Skyscraper (Revit Server for distributed teams)
=
The answer to cloud collaboration on Revit for distributed geographic teams?

A few things that Revit Sundial has that Revit 2015 doesn’t (shortlist):

  • Reveal Constraints mode
  • Load into Project and Close button in Family Editor (see video below)
  • Search the Type Selector 
  • Select Background Colour
  • Linking Revit model or a CAD file, the default positioning is now Auto – Origin to Origin (via this)
  • PDF Export enhancements, Hyperlinks will work in printed PDF sets (via this tweet)
  • Disallow multiple wall joins at once
  • more things… comment if you find them

Here is the long list of Revit Sundial New Features (lets call it Revit 2016 open beta in the cloud?):
Architectural Enhancements

  • Solon Integration: Personalize the building performance analysis experience in Revit by defining a dashboard with charts and results that are important to you. The central web-based Solon management environment allows you to create charts and configure dashboards for all of your company Revit users from a central collaboration environment in Green Building Studio.
  • Energy analysis: To better support the analysis of large models, several methods have been implemented to reduce memory usage.
  • Wall joins: To simplify the control of wall joins in a plan view, you can now select multiple intersected wall joins with a single click, and choose to allow or disallow joins on all the selected walls with a single click. If you choose to allow joins, you can then specify a Display option (Clean Join, Don’t Clean Join, Use View Setting). See Specify Wall Join Cleanup Options.
  • IFC references and phases: Use existing geometry in a linked IFC model as references for dimensions, alignment, snapping, and hosting of some face-based families in the Revit model. When you link an IFC file, its elements are assigned to a default phase. Before using IFC Import, Link, or Export, go to Autodesk Exchange Apps for Autodesk Revit and download the latest edition of IFC for Autodesk® Revit® to take advantage of up-to-date improvements.
  • Shaft openings: To streamline the creation of a shaft opening, the Base Constraint value now defaults to the level of the current activated plan view. (See Cut a Shaft Opening.) The instance properties have also been reordered to be consistent with families with similar properties: Base Constraint, Base Offset, Top Constraint, Unconnected Height, and Top Offset.
  • Adaptive point orientation: To improve clarity, the adaptive point instance parameter Orientation is now Orients to, and the selectable orientations have been renamed. No functionality has changed, only the names. See Adaptive Point Orientation.
  • Site design: Performance enhancements result in improved edit and regeneration times for complex toposurfaces, subregions, and building pads.
  • Perspective views: Certain modeling capabilities are now available in perspective views: (See Work in a Perspective View.)
    • Editing tools: Move, Align, Pin, Unpin.
    • Reset Target tool: Restores the position of the camera target to the center of the field of view.
    • Toggle between the perspective and parallel representations of the 3D view.
  • Reference other view: To search the list of available views for reference, enter keywords to locate the desired view. This feature is available when you are creating views for callouts, sections, elevations, and details, and you select the Reference Other View option (or modify a reference view). Also note that the Reference Other View option now displays on the Reference panel of the ribbon instead of the Options Bar. See Reference a Drafting View and Search.
  • Reveal constraints: To see all dimension constraints and alignment constraints in a view, use the Reveal Constraints mode, available on the View Control Bar. See Reveal Constraints.
  • View updates: Performance enhancements result in faster updates to views that contain multiple instances of families.
  • Revit links: Further enhancements result in improved performance for cases where Revit link instances are loaded but not visible in the view (such as when they are outside the crop region).
  • PDF Export enhancements:
    • Share your designs as electronic PDF files with automatically linked views and sheets. Each view tag in the PDF file is a hyperlink. Click a hyperlink to jump to that view or sheet in the PDF file. See About Printing to PDF.
    • Avoid lengthy or unintended print jobs. If you choose to print multiple views and sheets to individual PDF files, you cannot cancel the print job once it starts. A new message warns you of this issue and allows you to cancel the print job before it starts. Instead, consider printing the views and sheets to a single PDF file. See Troubleshooting: Printing Views and Sheets.
  • Schedules: To easily add a data row to a schedule, use the Insert Data Row tool, which is available directly on the Rows panel instead of within the Insert drop-down. The new position of this tool makes it easier to add a data row to a room schedule, area schedule, key schedule, space schedule, or sheet list. See About Modifying Schedules.
  • Select host for tags: To specify the host element for a tag, select the tag and use the Select Host tool. See Select the Host for a Tag.
  • Annotate stair treads and risers: To streamline the process of adding number annotations to treads or risers in a component stair run, specify default properties before placing the annotation. These default property values persist for tread/riser annotations added to the model. See Number Stair Treads and Risers.
  • Thin lines: To improve consistency between Revit sessions, when you use the Thin Lines tool, the setting is stored in the Revit.ini file. When you launch Revit, the stored Thin Lines setting is used as the default. See Graphics Settings in Revit.ini.
  • Export Models with Lines that Coincide: When exporting a Revit model to a CAD format, you can decide whether to maintain model lines that coincide with other lines in the same space. See About Exporting Models with Lines that Coincide.

Structural Enhancements

MEP Enhancements
  • Sequence for power circuits: To specify the sequence in which power circuits are created, use the Electrical Settings dialog. See Electrical Settings.
  • Most recently used panel circuiting: When you create a circuit, Autodesk® Revit® automatically connects to the most recently used panel for the current session. In addition, you can now search the Panel drop-down list. See Select a Panel or Transformer for the Power Circuit.
  • Move circuits: To move a circuit directly to a target slot without disrupting other circuits, use the Move To tool. See Move circuits on panel schedules.
  • ASHRAE table information: To identify the table that is applicable for the current condition, the ASHRAE Table Settings dialog displays the graphical representations associated with the duct fitting tables. This enhancement is helpful when you specify Coefficient from ASHRAE Table as the loss method for duct fittings. See Specify a Pressure Loss Method for Fittings and Accessories for Duct and Pipe.

Multi-Disciplinary Enhancements
  • Search: To quickly find the content you need, use the new search feature in the Type Selector or in drop-down lists. Click the Type Selector or a value field in the Properties palette or a dialog table, and enter keywords to search for. See Search.
  • File upgrades: To help you understand the consequences of file upgrades, new dialogs indicate the release of a file and the release to which it will be upgraded. In many cases, you have the opportunity to cancel the upgrade before it completes. See About Opening Models that Require an Upgrade.
  • Edit/load a family: To close the family automatically after it is loaded into a project, use the Load into Project and Close tool in the Family Editor. See Load the Current Family into a Project.
  • Properties palette: Keep your context in the Properties palette when you scroll, select a property, and then click outside the palette. This behavior can be helpful, for example, if you are selecting different family instances in the model to compare their properties.
  • Pin/Unpin icons: To determine whether an element has a relationship with a host system, select the element to see its Pin/Unpin tool icon. A different set of pin/unpin images () is used in the drawing area to indicate a relationship with a host, such as a curtain wall panel or a beam in a beam system. The behavior of the pin has not changed (clicking it still allows you to override the properties for the element), but the subtle difference (small link in the image) adds a visual indicator that this pin is different than the standard pin that locks an element in position. The Pin/Unpin tool icons on the ribbon have not changed. See Unpin Elements.
  • Import/link position: To streamline the process of inserting a Revit model or a CAD file, the default positioning is now Auto – Origin to Origin. If you change the default, the option you select for Positioning becomes the default for the current Revit session. The software remembers one default option for Revit models and another default option for CAD files. See Import and Link Options.
  • Revit link in a closed workset: To understand why a Revit link is not visible in model views, check its status in the Manage Links dialog. The status In Closed Workset now displays for a Revit link that is in a closed workset. See Manage Links Dialog.

Configuration Changes

In the Revit.ini file, the following settings are new or changed in this release:

  • Colors section: The new BackgroundColor setting replaces the InvertBackground setting in the Graphics section.
  • Graphics section: The ThinLinesEnabled setting is now supported. The InvertBackground setting has been deprecated and is no longer supported.

via
New in Revit 2015 Subscription Advantage

Reveal constraints mode:

Search the Type Selector (via this tweet):

Select background colour (via this tweet):

Disallow multiple wall joins at once (via this tweet):

NDA?

Loading screen:

Video showing the Reveal Constraints mode and general use of Revit Sundial:

Read more:
http://insidethefactory.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/08/revitalizing-inside-the-factory.html

Heads-up:
@Steve_Stafford and
https://twitter.com/kirklyncox/status/497111614705762304

Here it is – my little collection of AU2012 goodies.  Images, videos, cool quotes (and don’t forget the tweets!) – everything from the last couple of weeks that I thought was worth posting is here.  Enjoy!

Labs
To open up to as large an audience as possible, there’s no NDA – Autodesk Labs is wide-open to the public
via
#AU2012 Why Autodesk has a Labs – It is Alive in the Lab

AU Virtual 2012
Most of my experience with AU2012 was either through Virtual or Twitter.  Having viewed a few sessions, here are some things I found interesting:
The Reality of the Cloud – “you can’t protect what you don’t have line of sight” to

Class catalog preview at:
http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=au_virtual_class_catalog_preview

And if you want to try downloading some videos from AU Virtual (scroll down to EDIT2):
How to download videos from AU2012 and AUTV without a download link ( RTMP FLV from ooyala )

Everyone is a designer

Revit Multi-touch

Class Ratings by #ukbimcrew
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Al7ldXLDcyOadFZlM3hpazZHQXVJV0JXSmE4VGZqTGc&pli=1

Revit 2014 features discussed
I also attended the AEC Futures session today to give us a preview of what’s coming in Revit 2014. Unfortunately we are under NDA for that, so I’ll not be giving anything away. I eagerly await the forthcoming release.
via
AU Wrap Up

Fusion 360
Looks interesting… some more info at:
BIMopedia Online – Benjamin Malone
Models can be uploaded from Revit, Rhino, ArchiCAD you name it – with synchornised results far more accurate than what we are acheiving at the moment. We have been promised a fully interoperable and extremely accurate product to product exchange. Sounds very exciting, and about time too. This promises to be the first truly open BIM platform…

Riverbed bug
Well to my surprise I get a email from one of my Revit users asking why objects are not showing up!
Didn’t think this would happen with Revit! (how naive!).
So we will now evaluate a new pdf driver!
Anyone else ever had this issue with pdf’s?

We are testing a couple projects using Revit Server and have had a couple error messages stating that “This Operation could not be Completed”, after asking around at AU I found out that there appears to be a known issue between Riverbed and Revit Server (wish I had known about it earlier…). anyway apparently the guys at Riverbed are working on a solution, in the mean time I have to look for a work around!
The Revit Jedi: AU and Known and Unknow Issues.

Autodesk Expert Elite program launched at AU
AutodeskCare, Many are called, but few are chosen. Have you met…

Autodesk – Autodesk Expert Elite

Autodesk Expert Elite Terms of Service

Tweets: 

Aaron Maller @Twiceroadsfool
@lukeyjohnson @62TV175 @BigBadBIM @RobertYori @lonniecumpton
I have a 1.2GB file, runs on 8GB. Have a 200mb file that requires 12GB.

Jason Rostar @jrostar
Note: Students are dirt cheap existing condition modelers via @BrianSkripac

aaronmaller.com/BeckFiles/AU20…CM-2593, going Mobile with Revit Server- Handout
 Retweeted by Luke Johnson

Details

3d

aaronmaller.com/BeckFiles/AU20…FM2589 Handout (tomorrow, 130, Point Cloud to FM class)
 Retweeted by Luke Johnson

Problem

The Autodesk Sync component does not upgrade properly under the following conditions:

  • You installed AutoCAD Beta 2013 (or Showcase Beta 2013) and subsequently install Inventor 2013.
  • You installed Inventor Beta 2013 and subsequently install AutoCAD 2013 (or Showcase 2013 )

A couple of problems arise with this combination of products.
Problem 1: Autodesk Sync from the Beta Product cannot be uninstalled
Problem 2: You will receive a warning message that the Autodesk Sync component cannot be uninstalled during the installation process of the officially released product. You will need to dismiss this dialog and proceed with the installation.
Problem 3: After the installation of the release product is completed, you will find two entries of the Autodesk Sync component listed in Add/Remove Programs.  If you decide to do nothing about this problem, the Beta Product and the release product will continue to work as expected. However, if you decide to remove the two entries of the Autodesk Sync component, you will need to follow the instructions described in the Solution section.  It is not recommended that you uninstall either of the duplicate entries of the Autodesk Sync component, as this action may break the sync functionality.

Solution

To replace the two entries of Autodesk Sync by the appropriate single entry of the Autodesk Sync component, follow these instructions:

  1. Download and run preInstall.exe
  2. Uninstall the two Autodesk Sync entries in Add/Remove Programs
  3. Install Autodesk Sync using the standalone installer that comes with the software
  4. Download and run postInstall.exe
preinstall.exe (exe – 23Kb)
postinstall.exe (exe – 23Kb)

via
Autodesk – AutoCAD Services & Support – Autodesk Sync issues when installing a 2013 release product after installing a 2013 beta product