Category: Uncategorized

ArchiCAD to Revit and IFC Optimizer

Luke Johnson

You may be unfortunate enough to have to translate a BIM model from ArchiCAD into Revit. I have done this in the past (with limited success) using IFC.

However, I was browsing the AUGI Forums today and came across this post, which recommended the use of Solibri IFC Optimizer. This is a free Java utility that launches from your browser (you do need to register first). You then feed your IFC file into it, and it, well, optimizes the file.

I gave it a go and it reduced an IFC I recently worked on from 21.6 mb to 13.7 mb – so it actually does work.

Check it out if you are using IFC…

"These are a few of my favourite things…"

Luke Johnson

No doubt there are a few utilities that you just can’t do without. Here are a few of my absolute favourites:

  1. CutePDF Writer – just brilliant, and its free!
  2. 7-Zip – best archive utility (in my books), and again, its free!
  3. IrfanView – very fast and very functional image viewing and editing
  4. FolderGuide – if you are still on 32 bit Windows, this is the best way to navigate folders (in my opinion)
  5. CCleaner – great way to clean up after yourself
  6. FileZilla FTP Client – open source FTP client
  7. FREE PDF Tools – these are simply awesome, and yet again, totally free!

That was just a shortlist. I may post some more in future. In the meantime, what are your favourite utilities? Feel free to comment and share them with all of us…

Dimond Architects featured in Belle magazine…

Luke Johnson

I work at Dimond Architects on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

Our practice was recently featured in ‘Belle’ magazine.

Check it out on our company blog at http://www.dimondarchitects.com/2009/08/belle-magazine-publication.htmlOur company website is http://www.dimondarchitects.com/ – have a look at our Project Gallery.

AutoCAD 2010 Update 1

Luke Johnson

Check out the new Maintenance Update for AutoCAD 2010 at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13760520&linkID=9240618

Apparently,
Autodesk has recently released a maintenance update for your product. Errors similar to those you have encountered have been resolved and are part of this update. We recommend that you install this maintenance update to update your product, or contact your system administrator.

Well, I hope this fixes some of our issues with AutoCAD 2010!

Download AutoCAD (R) 2010 Product Update 1 26.215 MB
64 bit version
Readme (Learn more…)

Hotfix – Crash when deleting or modifying walls (REPOST)

Luke Johnson

This has been reposted from http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13778933&linkID=9273944&CMP=OTC-RSSSUP01

Published date: 2009-Aug-21 ID: DL13778933
Applies to:
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010
Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010
Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010

revit_2010_wallmodification_hotfix_x32.zip (zip – 7584Kb)

revit_2010_wallmodification_hotfix_x64.zip (zip – 10224Kb)

revit_2010_hotfix_wall_modifcations_readme.htm (htm – 58Kb)
This hotfix addresses issues related to deleting or modifying walls, a crash may occur.
Make sure to download the correct patch for your operating system (32 or 64 bit).
The Readme contains the latest information regarding the installation and use of this update. It is strongly recommended that you read the entire document before you apply the update to your product. For your reference, you should save the Readme to your hard drive or print a copy.

Stop Bashing AutoCAD!!!

Luke Johnson

Seriously, what is the point in accusing AutoCAD of all the world’s ills? Please, educate me…

We KNOW AutoCAD isn’t a BIM tool. We KNOW it can’t compete with Revit when it comes to holistic building documentation.

But then, Revit can’t compete with AutoCAD when it comes to many CAD tasks!

Bashing AutoCAD is like telling your grandpa he is no longer needed because you have a brother now. It’s just pointless (that is, unless you are trying to sell Revit to AutoCAD users…)

You wouldn’t be here without your grandpa, would you?

Clean uninstall of Revit 2010 products (repost)

Luke Johnson

How do you get rid of all the remnants of Revit 2010?

Check out this page at Autodesk Revit Architecture Services & Support.

It’s interesting to see where Revit stores it’s stuff in the Registry.

However, I’m not too sure on the recommendation to ‘Use the End Task feature to end any anti-virus programs’ before reinstalling Revit. Anyone see any complications with this?

Click-Move-Drag Error Revit FIX

Luke Johnson

EDIT May 2012

I recently had this issue after reinstalling graphics drivers and using Revit 2013.  I followed the tip on this Autodesk page to run Revit on the primary Windows monitor – this fixed the problem for me.  You can then drag the Windows 7 toolbar to the secondary monitor if you want max screen real estate on your Primary…

EDIT 3/2011
This issue is still annoying some users.  There is a very comprehensive set of comments over at:
http://do-u-revit.blogspot.com/2009/10/whos-dragging-my-stuff.html

A few different solutions are mentioned at that page.

One of our users experienced a very unusual error today. It seemed to appear randomly (no known cause). But it had happened to him before…

Basically, when any object was selected in Revit, Revit would interpret this as a ‘drag’ command, and the object would be moved upward by a certain amount (about 5% of the screen).
We ruled out Direct3D and mouse problems.

However, when logging in as a different user, the problem wasn’t there! So, we reasoned, it must be a user specific setting.

I deleted the UIState.dat file, as Autodesk Support had told me to try this for a different problem. How do you do it? See below quote from Autodesk Support:
To fix the issue, the UI state can be reset to default settings by removing the UIState.dat file by browsing to the appropriate product folder located in one of the following locations:
· For Windows® XP: %USERPROFILE%Local SettingsApplication DataAutodeskRevit
· For Windows Vista®: %LOCALAPPDATA%AutodeskRevit

However, this DID NOT fix up the click-drag problem.

I then went to the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodesk
and exported all of the Revit subtree (for backup purposes).

Following this, I deleted [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskRevit] and all the sub-components.

Amazingly, THIS FIXED the issue!!

I am obviously quite happy with this result. Please use this fix at your own risk.

Speed up Navigation! Vista 'Links' in all their glory…

Luke Johnson

Have you mastered file and folder navigation in Windows Vista yet? If you haven’t, here are a few simple tips, guaranteed to increase your productivity (well, hopefully 😉

  1. Use Vista ‘Links’.
    What is it? It is a special list of shorcuts to your favourite locations. When you open Windows Explorer, these show up as ‘Favourite Links’ in the top-left area of the window. To add items to the list, simply drag and drop from the ‘Folders’ list into the ‘Favourite Links’ area (be careful not to drop items ‘on top’ of each other!) Once you have a good list of your favourite locations, its time to put them to good use, so…
  2. Add your ‘Links’ to your Taskbar.
    In Vista, simply right-click on your Taskbar, go to ‘Toolbars’ and click on ‘New Toolbar…’ In the resulting dialog, click on your ‘Links’ folder (you can get to it by going to your main ‘username’ folder, then you will see the ‘Links’ folder) and then click ‘Select Folder’.
  3. Make your ‘Links’ visible in the Start Menu.
    Click on the Start button, then right-click in a blank area and go to ‘Properties’. Click the ‘Customize…’ button, scroll down to ‘Personal folder’ and click on the ‘Display as a menu’ radio button. Click OK twice, and now your Personal Folder can expand to show your ‘Links’ directly from the Start Menu!
  4. Use your Links in Revit.
    You can add the ‘Links’ list to your Revit Places. Simply go to an ‘Open’ dialog in Revit, browse to your ‘Personal folder’ (this is the one that is usually your name), then drag the ‘Links’ across to the Places area in Revit. I then drag this to the top of the Places so I can quickly access the ‘Links’.

I’m sure there are other ways to use this ‘Links’ list. What are your Vista navigation tricks and methods? Feel free to comment. I hope this has been of some help to you all. Happy Reviting!