RFO Co-founder iru69 recently (14 October) updated his very detailed post on video cards and Revit at:

Revit Hardware : Video Graphic Cards

I recommend that you read this prior to investing in a new graphics card for use with Revit.

The post even includes an FAQ section – here is a little sample:

“Autodesk/my reseller/unnamed CAD expert says I should only use “Professional” (workstation/CAD) cards with Revit. But then I read here that lots of people use and recommend “Gaming” cards for Revit. Who is right?”
Despite what you may have been told, consumer (gaming) video cards can work just as well with Revit as professional video cards.

“Someone told me that SLI or CrossFire will double the speed!”
SLI and CrossFire are great for the latest video games, but it’s of no use at all for Revit. At least it’s never been demonstrated. If you want to give it a try, be my guest. 😉

Don’t forget about Autodesk’s recommended hardware list page:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?id=18844534&siteID=123112

EDIT: Updated Links

Note – the Enhancements List shows a lot of improvements to stability, so this Update comes highly recommended.

Revit OneBox / RVT (for Suites) Update 2

Revit 2013 UR2 (32-bit) (exe – 59699Kb)
Revit 2013 UR2 (64-bit) (exe – 83079Kb)
Readme (select language version):

English (htm – 32Kb)

Enhancements Documentation (select language version):

English (pdf – 206Kb)

via
Autodesk – Design & Creation Suites Support – Revit 2013 Update Release 2

Revit Architecture 2013 Update 2

Revit Architecture 2013 UR2 (32-bit) (exe – 59699Kb)
Revit Architecture 2013 UR2 (64-bit) (exe – 83079Kb)
Readme (select language version):

English (htm – 32Kb)

Enhancements Documentation (select language version):

English (pdf – 202Kb)

via
Autodesk – Autodesk Revit Architecture Services & Support – Revit Architecture 2013 Update Release 2

Revit Structure 2013 Update 2

Revit Structure 2013 UR2 (32-bit) (exe – 59699Kb)
Revit Structure 2013 UR2 (64-bit) (exe – 83079Kb)
Readme (select language version):

English (htm – 34Kb)

Enhancements Documentation (select language version):

English (pdf – 203Kb)

via
Autodesk – Design & Creation Suites Support – Revit Structure 2013 Update Release 2

Revit MEP 2013 Update 2

Revit MEP 2013 UR2 (32-bit) (exe – 59699Kb)
Revit MEP 2013 UR2 (64-bit) (exe – 83079Kb)
Readme (select language version):

English (htm – 32Kb)

Enhancements Documentation (select language version):

English (pdf – 203Kb)

via
Autodesk – Autodesk Revit MEP Services & Support – Revit MEP 2013 Update Release 2

Older post:
It doesn’t seem to be ‘official’ yet, but the Update 2 download links are live at:

Revit Architecture 2013 Update 2
http://updatesdl.autodesk.com/updates/files/rac2013ur2.exe

Revit Structure 2013 Update 2
http://updatesdl.autodesk.com/updates/files/rst2013ur2.exe

Revit MEP 2013 Update 2
http://updatesdl.autodesk.com/updates/files/rme2013ur2.exe

Revit OneBox / RVT (for Suites) Update 2
http://updatesdl.autodesk.com/updates/files/rvt2013ur2.exe

For Revit OneBox (Building Design Suite version), the link should also eventually appear at:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/index?siteID=123112&id=2334435&linkID=16831210#section21
when it is available (I will also update this post when there is an official suite version Update 2 link)

Heads-up via:
Revit OpEd: Watch for Web Update 2

Do you want to join the Revit User Experience team and you have very specific experience in construction modeling?  Autodesk asked me to post the message below the bar:
You are an expert in modeling for construction. You pursued this career path because you are energized by complex problems, passionate about getting the details right, and convinced that technology can shape our environment. You are a designer at heart. You are able to lead and also follow. You want to work collaboratively with a team of equally committed, talented, and driven professionals.

If this is you, we’d like you to consider joining our team as a user experience designer for Revit, focused on modeling for construction. Don’t worry if you’ve never written a line of code or designed a software application, if you are the right candidate, we can teach you what you need to know user experience design.

Are you excited by this opportunity? If so, you can review the full position posting here. Please send a statement of interest and resume to chris.yanchar@autodesk.com. Want to wow us? Send us a link to some work of which you are really proud and tell us about your role in making it real.

I previously posted a way to generate PAT files from an exported DWG file.  One of the comments to that post gives a great alternative method – so unique it actually made me smile.

You may have noticed that when you export a DWG file, Revit temporarily creates PAT files in the export folder, and then it deletes them, just leaving DWG and PCP files.

To recover the deleted PAT files, you can simply use the program Recuva!

I’m not sure how well this works for network shares or NAS devices, but it should definitely work if you export the DWG to a local drive and immediately recover the PAT files (before doing anything else).

Pretty tricky huh?

Image from http://ricardocc.com/

via
Recuperar os ficheiros *.PAT gerados pelo Revit | Truques e Dicas | Revit | Blog

This post was prompted by this from Darren Snook.

Firstly, let’s see actual pi to a decent level of precision:
3.1415926535897932384626433

Can Revit handle high precision pi calculations?

As a test, let’s use a circle with a diameter of 2000mm (radius of 1m).  Using the above precision, the area should be equal to pi in m².

Make a new project in Revit, no template, Metric.  Draw a Filled Region with radius of 1000mm.  The Properties Palette reports the area as:

3.142m²

Ok, obviously we need to increase the precision of Area in our Revit project.  Into:

  • Manage – Project Units – Area.  
  • Set Units to square millimetres, Rounding – Custom, Rounding increment:
    0.000000000001 (I couldn’t get Revit to accept any higher – it would just say ‘Invalid Input’, which I take to mean “what you’re asking for is a bit ridiculous”.)

Properties box for the filled region NOW reports:
3141592.854703690900 mm²
3141592.653589793238 (same amount of digits from the definition of pi)

The percentage of inaccuracy between the two?
0.0000000640165425247805 % (the Revit value is slightly larger)

This was a value difference of 0.201113897662 mm²

However, I am prepared to accept the above level of precision, at least in 99.999994% of my projects 🙂

The lesson?  If you are going to use Filled Regions for areas AND you want good precision, make sure you adjust your Project Units accordingly.

In response to:
Revit @ Waterman: Revit Needs to Go Back to School


Sometimes, you may want to make your Revit drawings look more like hand sketches – either to make your design look somewhat less concrete than it may already be, or simply for presentation purposes.

I have previously posted about moving data from Revit into Autodesk Impression.  But to be honest, I find Impression 3 to be a bit crashy, and I also find it a bit of a pain to be super-disciplined with scale and layers.  In any case, I wanted an easier way to make my Revit drawings look sketchy.

Enter Photoshop.  The idea is simple – export an image from Revit, apply some sketchy filters, then print or export to PDF.  But we also want to make it easy to update the drawings if necessary.  So, we use Smart Objects.

By turning a layer into a Smart Object, we can apply Filters on a ‘live’ basis.  Then, when we replace the contents of the original source layer, the Filters automatically re-apply themselves.

Here is quick step by step:

  1. Export image from Revit.  I use PNG, 100%, 300dpi.
  2. Open image in Photoshop.  Save as PSD.
  3. Right click layer and Convert to Smart Object.
  4. Go to Filter – Filter Gallery…
  5. Choose Smudge Stick.  My settings are shown in the image below.  Other filters that (I think) look interesting are: Fresco, Cutout, Conte Crayon and Rough Pastels.  You may need to set your Foreground / Background colours to make these work properly.
  6. I also used Image – Adjustments – Variations to tweak the colours a bit.
  7. Save as PDF – done!

Now, to update the image after altering your Revit model, just:

  1. Re-export the PNG (same settings)
  2. In Photoshop, right click the layer and Replace Contents…
  3. Done!

Tip – choosing a font that looks handwritten can also go a long way…


Some links that you may find helpful:
Turn Revit into a hand sketch drawing

RevitCity.com | Hand-drawn effect

How to Render AutoCAD drawings for Presentations 

The Fridays with Vico webinars are a free, educational series geared towards general contractors and owners… topics range from BIM trends, to case studies and best practices, to new concepts for the industry.

For example, the BIM Master Class SeriesThe series grows progressively more difficult with complex theory, methodologies, and best practices.  The goal of the BIM Master Class series is simple: instruct as many construction professionals as possible about the many facets of BIM.  

Unfortunately, you do need to fill out a registration form to view the recorded webinars, but you don’t have to provide credit card details or pay for anything.  After entering registration details, you will receive a link to a streaming ASX file, which in turn links to a WMV via the MMS protocol.

If you want to store an offline copy (ie. download the WMV), use SDP Downloader from:
The SDP Multimedia website for ASF download and MMS protocol specification
(you will probably need to set protocol to HTTP in Setup)

Here are the links to the Master Class Series:
BIM 101: this course examines the progression from 2D drawings to the 3D model to the 4D schedule and the 5D estimate.  We also look at layouting solutions from Trimble and highlight how to use the preconstruction work as production control on the jobsite.
BIM 201: in this course we examined the subject of coordination.  Instead of concentrate on 3D clash detection, we introduced the idea of coordination in time and place.  This nuance is a very important distinction which helps tremendously with coordination priorities.
BIM 301: BIM contracts are starting to work their way into the legal lexicon and this primer on the ConsensusDOCs and AIA 202 is essential. Contracts play a central role in defining deliverables, interactions with project stakeholders, and risk obligations for commercial building projects.  Special guest speaker, Richard Lowe, Partner from Duane Morris LLP and chair of the AGC BIMForum Legal Subforum, delivers the course content.
BIM 401:  focused on the theme of model-based scheduling, this course highlighted flowline theory, a visualization of the crews by location by date.  We addressed major themes for Schedulers: location breakdown structures; task lists and logic; quantities in locations; task criticality and prioritization; risks; production control measures; contractor meeting procedures; and resource and production rate commitments.
BIM 501: model-based estimating starts with a robust construction quantity takeoff.  With these construction-caliber quantities, GCs can drive precise estimates and schedules.  And with the easy visualization the model affords, estimators can quickly see which elements have been costed already and which elements still need attention.  And it also allows Owners to see which/how areas of the building are contributing to the total cost of the building. 
BIM 502: even if the bid is due in two weeks, a massing model can still provide a great basis for the Conceptual Estimate.  This conceptual estimate can then be linked to the model progression specification.  Now the estimate can evolve alongside the design.  The “marketing bid” now becomes cost plan version one and numerous alternate cost plans can be quickly created to offer the Owner insight to the design iterations.  This data-driven decision making replaces 2D spreadsheet estimating.
BIM for Executives: the series concludes with a session specifically for senior managers. This course puts the dollars and cents around the technology, methodology, and personnel.  As company’s embrace BIM and train their staff to use these new tools they find out, often too late, that there is a new language they need to learn and that they need to be prepared to translate for their clients. Senior managers, though they may never use the software or delve into the services, need to know what BIM does, how BIM works, and most importantly – how to sell it to clients and colleagues.

See the rest of the free webinars at:
Fridays with Vico | BIM Webinars | Vico Software

Also on Youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FridaysWithVico/videos?flow=grid&view=1

Product Tutorials

Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2011 Video Tutorials
BIM Curriculum for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Management tutorials

Autodesk and Yale University BIM Symposium

As BIM adoption accelerates throughout the building industry, so does the need for BIM integration into the education curricula of AEC disciplines. This change in the academic environment is quickly becoming a reality. In April of 2010, at Yale University, Phil Bernstein, vice president of industry strategy and relations at Autodesk and lecturer at Yale School of Architecture, along with Yale Professor Peggy Deamer developed and moderated the Yale BIM Symposium: Implications for Architectural Pedagogy. The following videos and proceedings represent some of the several presenters from this informative event.
Phil Bernstein—Welcome and Introduction to BIM DiscussionPhil Bernstein—Implications of BIMPeggy Deamer—BIM’s Pedagogical Placement in AcademiaJohn Messner—Leveraging BIM to Enable the Development of Collaborative KnowledgeJosh Emig—BIM in Integrated Design and Construction EducationDavid Fano—Engaging the Tools: Digital Fabrication

Inspirational Videos

US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Autodesk Builds LEED CI Platinum Certified Headquarters Video
Phil Bernstein at AIAS Grassroots Leadership Conference 2009
Change Your World: BIM
Change Your World: Generation Next
Change Your World: Education Community

via
BIM Videos | BIM Workshop

If you have problems with your Revit Filled Region hatch patterns displaying grayscale when they should be black, its probably because Revit thinks that the lines are too close together for the scale of view that you are using.

What Revit wants is for you to increase the scale or spacing between the individual lines of the Filled Region pattern – then it will switch back to black, as it should be.

Using a Model pattern, I was able to observe the pattern go from light gray to black as I changed the scale (spacing) between the lines.

Interestingly, using a Drafting pattern allowed me to put the lines in the Filled Region much closer together…

Some more info at:
RevitCity.com | filled region pattern color changes when drawing scale changes

Many of us were quite disturbed by the 2013 Revit Materials Editor.  Aside from its usability (or lack thereof), it seems to be much slower than the 2012 Materials dialog.  Until Revit 2014 comes around, what can you do to speed up the Materials Editor?

A recent and highly informative post from Aaron Maller (focused particularly on Revit deployment), gives us a few clues:
Switch all the mat lists to text style, no rendered preview, open the Mat Editor and place it next to the Mat selector, then close it. 
Read the whole post here

Have a look at the images below for some ‘hidden’ options:

Appears to be no way to adjust the rendered swatch?
After switching to Appearance aspect, a tiny arrow appears…

We can now adjust this to speed up the Materials Editor.  The above settings seemed to be the fastest
(Pool of liquid / Draft Quality)

We can also completely remove the rendered preview image by dragging the splitter just below it:

Aaron made similar comments in this post on RFO.

In my case (Building Design Suite 2013 / Revit OneBox), the currently in use MaterialUIconfig was at
“C:UsersLukeAppDataRoamingAutodeskRevitAutodesk Revit 2013MaterialUIConfig.xml” 

Upon opening the MaterialUIConfig.xml, you will notice a few settings like:

MaterialBrowser inSceneMaterialViewHeight=”502″ navigationPaneWidth=”241″ isInSceneMaterialPreviewEnabled=”0″ isNavigationPaneVisible=”1″

and

MaterialEditor SplitterPosition=”0″ OGSRenderQuality=”0″ PreviewRenderQuality=”0″ PreviewRenderType=”2″

I would like to see some documentation from Autodesk to clarify what all of these actually do, but you can see the settings I am using.  If you use Notepad++, you can also open MaterialUIConfig.xml, make some changes in Revit, and then when you switch back to Notepad++ it will prompt you to reload the xml – you can then easily see what each change you make in the Materials Browser / Editor actually does.