Quickly add Google Earth site context to your Revit model – using free CADtoEarth

Luke Johnson

One of the greatest things about Revit, and BIM in general, is that we usually design ‘in context’ – that is, with as much site information as we can get our hands on…

Vasari has that handy little option to import a Google Earth image into your model – well now, Revit has an add-in that does a bit more, including:

  • import surface from Google Earth
  • upload building to Google Earth

It is called:
CADtoEarth | Autodesk Revit | Autodesk Exchange Apps

Here is a quick guide on importing topography from Google Earth:

  1. Close Revit
  2. Install the tool from above link
  3. Start Revit
  4. Click the CADtoEarth Pane button
  5. Use the search box at top of the dialog to find your site
  6. Zoom in until the ‘can’t save’ message disappears
  7. Click the Surface tab in the dialog and click  Save Earth’s Surface
  8. Leave the dialog open, and click the Get Surface button on the Revit add-ins Ribbon panel
  9. Your surface has now been added to the Revit file as a Import Symbol.
  10. Use the Topography tool if you want to create a proper Revit topo from the imported data

Heads-up:
http://revitaddons.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/cadtoearth.html

From their website:

CADtoEarth is a family of innovative add-in applications for the most popular CAD packages that link modeling environment with Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth.
CADtoEarth offers some very exciting capabilities. Here is the partial list of what you can expect from the tool:
  • Upload a model directly from modeling session onto Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth
  • Import a section of the surface of the Earth directly from Google Earth into modeling session
  • Position your 3D structure on the imported surface within modeling session and then upload it back to Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth
  • Perform the same operations on 2D objects in modeling environment and Google Maps
At the moment you can download CADtoEarth for the following platforms: SolidWorks, Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Inventor.
Please, take a look at the video demonstrations of CADtoEarth below. Those will give you a good idea about what this tool can do for you today and what you may want to see changed or added to fit your specific needs. So, if you would like to customize or enhance this generic tool to better fit you company guidelines then we’ll be more than happy to discuss the requirements with you.

CADtoEarth | amcbridge.com/

(embedded JWPlayer)

Getting the Inventory Advisor working

Luke Johnson

I had some problems with the Autodesk Inventory Advisor.  Basically, I couldn’t get it to access all of the PCs in my domain network.

Evidently, the main issue was DCOM / WMI access.  I tried using Group Policy on the server and I even installed a free Group Policy update utility to push the update through to Client PCs.  However, the server side GP method wasn’t really working for me.

The key thing that seemed to work was using this command on each PC individually:
netsh firewall set service type = remoteadmin mode = enable
(from Enable or Disable the Remote Administration Firewall Rule: Windows Firewall (WF) and Help: Enable or disable the remote administration exception: Windows Firewall (WF) )

In Windows 7, the above command will probably still work, but the proper one is:
netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Windows Remote Management” new enable=yes 
here
and
Windows 7 Remote Administration Firewall group

After the above command was run on a PC, the Inventory Advisor could access it.

It is a pretty cool utility, because you can access hardware information from all PCs in the network (as well as the Autodesk related info).

Download the Autodesk Inventory Advisor.

For detailed instructions, refer to the Autodesk Inventory Advisor tool guide.


Autodesk Inventory Advisor Tool Guide (pdf – 1369Kb)

Note: Some products may not be located by the Autodesk Inventory Advisor.

via
Autodesk – License Compliance – Autodesk Inventory Advisor

Another blog post about this utility:
Adventures in the World of BIM: Complacent or Compliant? You Decide!

Another one of those rarely used tools – Show Hidden Lines

Luke Johnson

I have been using Revit for over 5 years now, and I don’t think I have ever used the Show Hidden Lines tool.  Am I the only one?  Basically, its a two pick tool, first pick for the ‘front’ element, second pick for the ‘back’ one – then, then lines from the back element will show through as Hidden Lines.

This tool is hiding on the View ribbon panel:

From the Wiki:
After you put detail components in the correct graphic draw order, you can use the Show Hidden Lines tool to obscure the lines behind a detail component.
via
Show Hidden Lines – WikiHelp

Revit Subscription Goodies – Roof Framing and Structure Generator

Luke Johnson

Greg beat me to these ones … new Subscription enhancements:

Download software enhancements and Autodesk 360 desktop clients.

Title Type Release Date
AWWA Pipe Content for Autodesk Revit MEP 2012 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2013 Extension 2012-07-31
Suite Workflows 2013 Extension 2012-07-30
Structure Generator Extension for Autodesk Revit 2013, Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 and Autodesk Revit Structure 2013 software Application 2012-07-30
Timber Roof Framing Extensions for Revit 2013 Extension 2012-07-30

Download Free Online Course Materials from MIT OpenCourseWare

Luke Johnson

For example, there is this 2002 course on Computational Design for Housing, and you can download a ZIP file containing all of the Study Materials.

A few other courses of interest:
Computational Design I: Theory and Applications, Fall 2005

Inquiry into Computation and Design, Fall 2006

Drawings & Numbers: Five Centuries of Digital Design, Fall 2002

Just click on the Download Course Materials link in the left sidebar of any of the OpenCourseWare pages to access the ZIP package for that course:

Check out more architectural courses at:
Architecture | Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare

One Mask for many Faces

Luke Johnson

Masking can be a real pain in Revit.  Sometimes you just want to hide some bits of geometry on multiple views, but it is difficult to actually model what you want in 3D.  So you may resort to Masking Regions in Detail Groups, Copy-Paste Aligned – but all of that is suboptimal.

Today there was a great tip on Masking in multiple views over at Shades of Grey:
I could use a masking region, but this is like going back to CAD drafting … separate regions in each affected view.  What if I place the mask into a generic model family?  If this family has a vertical model line (use invisible lines) the masking region will show up in any plan where the cut plane intersects the model line.

Extending this idea into 3 dimensions I can create a family with 3 model lines (X,Y,Z) and 3 masking regions.  Give it instance parameters to control the size of this “virtual box” and it will mask out the finish layers for any view that cuts through the duct at right angles.

Read more:
Shades of Grey: MACAVITY UNMASKED

Increase your Windows and Office Productivity

Luke Johnson

I’m a big fan of Keyboard Shortcuts.  Revit, Windows, AutoCAD – I believe they are all faster when you use keys instead of the mouse alone.  I have previously posted about Revit keyboard shortcuts on various occasions.

However, this little utility is centred around teaching you the Windows and Microsoft Office keyboard shortcuts that will help you most …

Download and install Keyrocket
(direct link)

Run it by pressing Windows+K

You can easily search through keyboard shortcuts for various programs.

It will give you little tips from the tray when it thinks you could use a particular shortcut.

via
Learn Windows and Office Keyboard Shortcuts the Easy way • Raymond.CC