Coordination Model Link: coordination model linking lets you use a Navisworks file as an underlay in Revit, making it easier to coordinate with outside teams that might not be working in Revit Railings: with Revit 2018 you can also attach railings to topography to model fencing, road barriers, or outdoor handrails New Structural Features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFL-YH4sFK8
Massive free time saver for changing or swapping fonts in a Revit project!
Unfortunately, its not quite ‘everywhere’ – Generic Annotations need to be manually fixed. You can copy a text type to a Generic Annotation by first placing an instance of that text type on a Sheet in the Project.
But what about SecretInternal Types?
This tool created another annoying problem for me… it exposed a whole bunch of ‘secret internal types’ in Revit.
How do we solve the SecretInternalTypes?
Here is what it they look like, along with how to fix them by deleting selectively with Dynamo.
Arrowheads:
Fixing / removing SecretInternal arrowheads with Dynamo:
Dimensions:
Fixing / removing SecretInternal Dimensions with Dynamo:
Removing the arrowheads resulted in a broken Elevation mark:
To fix this, I deleted the broken types and families (the Elevation Circle and Pointer) using the Project Browser, and then Transfer Project Standards – Elevation Types from a known good project.
So, now my fonts are changed and my SecretInternalTypes are fixed 🙂
But … there are a handful of people using other platforms 🙂 And I guess even the most dedicated Revit user has to use other content creation tools from time to time. That is why UNIFI has decided to develop and release multiformat support, initially for these platforms:
Also, UNIFI are offering a free copy of their “How To Create and Maintain BIM Standards” guide to everyone who registers for their upcoming webinar. Here are the details:
full title is: “Accelerating ROI from Your Firm’s BIM Investment By Leveraging Analytics To Effectively Implement and Maintain Your BIM Standards“
BIM is supposed to make things easier and more efficient, right? Then why do we often have to re-do work in different platforms, simply to get the result we want? Surely, we can do better… especially when it comes to high quality rendering and presentation workflows.
One common scenario is that you might export a Revit model to some 3D editing and animation software, perhaps like 3dsMax. Then, you will do some work, modify materials, tweak some lighting perhaps, and then render an image. That image might go into Photoshop where additional Entourage and effects are added. And you do get a kind-of good result. But, what if you change the model? Well, you have to go through multiple steps just to update things. Or, what if you want to take the nice material from Photoshop and bring it back to Revit? That can be a real pain. However, now there is a better way…
I have written about Lumion a few times before. It is a incredibly powerful tool for Architects to present and share designs. However, it may still have suffered a little from the ‘endpoint syndrome’ described above. But that is no longer the case! Now, Lumion offers a Live Link to the Revit model, meaning that work does not have be done over and over again.
Getting started
To get started, install a trial of Lumion 7.3, and install the Lumion plugin 2.01 for Revit. Open up a Revit project. Then, simply go to the Lumion ribbon and press the ‘Play’ button.
You will be prompted to launch Lumion. Press Yes.
After Lumion starts, you will be prompted to start a new scene from the scene templates:
In just a few seconds, it launches showing your Revit model. Seriously, it is really fast! This workflow is so much quicker than an export – import method, and will be familiar to users some of the other popular realtime visualisation solutions out there. You can immediately start navigating in this rendered environment. And of course, you can start building your Lumion scene by adding content from the immense library. However, we really want to focus on LiveSync. How does it work?
Here is a list of some things that work really nicely:
you can move objects in Revit, and they immediately move in Lumion
you can add new objects to Revit, and they will show up in Lumion
you can edit Revit materials, and they will update in Lumion
delete an object in Revit and it disappears from Lumion immediately
you can use terrain tools in Lumion to merge in with your Revit topography
I have created a short video that describes how to get up and running with Lumion 7.3 and LiveSync for Revit. Check it out here:
Further, this new Exporter provides a much tighter integration between Revit materials and Lumion materials:
Workflow Tip
After you have completed an editing and model building session with LiveSync, what happens next? Well, you can close Revit and Lumion, and Lumion will prompt you to save. It does actually save the embedded LiveSync object. So, later, you can open Lumion and do some scene development work without using Revit.
How smart is this connection? To test it out, I did this:
closed everything
opened Lumion 7.3
opened a scene that included a LiveSync model
then, I opened Revit with the appropriate Revit model
for some reason, it didn’t update… until I realised that the LiveSync model uses the File Name and Path to determine which model it came from. Because I had used ‘Save As’ on that Revit model and put it somewhere different, the link was broken. I then used a Revit model in the correct location, and Lumion immediately updated the import
This means that using a Revit model in a consistent location will allow easy updating of the Lumion model. You can work independently in Revit or Lumion, and then at any time restart LiveSync to updated the model in Lumion with the changes from Revit. Nice!
Demo
LiveSync in action
Video – Moving Objects
Video – Editing Materials
Video – Settings
Further Considerations
It is interesting to note that Lumion materials are essentially ‘disabled’ for LiveSync Revit objects.
This makes sense of course, because we are trying to keep as much intelligence as possible in Revit, and leverage the strengths of Lumion for high quality outputs.
If you find that your Revit model is ‘too low’ and embedded into the Lumion terrain, you can globally move it, just as you would with other Imports:
Items in worksets that are closed or invisible by default will not show. What this basically means is that the Lumion LiveSync addin does not work on the specific objects you can see in the current Revit view, but rather it works in a more ‘complete’ sense, showing all objects that would typically be visible in any view.
Summary
If you are already using Revit and Lumion, these new additions will make designing much easier and more efficient. If you haven’t used Lumion before, now is definitely time to try it out! This improved connection to Revit, along with the already powerful content creation capability of Lumion, will truly allow design and present in ways you have never even imagined!
To try LiveSync for Revit for free, go to this page on the Lumion.com website were you can download the trial based on Lumion 7.3 PRO. This trial includes the LiveSync for Revit.
From the Press Release: Make changes in Revit® and immediately see them appear live in Lumion!
Lumion LiveSync® provides a real-time high quality 3D view of your Revit® design. This plugin for Revit® creates a live connection with Lumion, so that changes in Revit® can be previewed in real-time in Lumion.
Live synchronization can help you work faster, for example in the early stages of design, when you are making frequent adjustments to your Revit® model.
Lumion 7.3 is a FREE update for Lumion 7 users and the Lumion® plugin 2.0 for Revit® is FREE of charge to anyone.
How does it work?
● You need a Lumion 7.3 license
● Download the FREE Lumion® Plugin 2.0 for Revit® from the Lumion website or Autodesk® App store (LumionPluginForRevit_2.0.exe)
Lumion Lumion® is easy-to-use, fast, high quality visualization software for architects. It is compatible with almost all 3D CAD software packages such as Revit®, SketchUp®, ArchiCAD®, Allplan® and many others. It offers a full package. With a CAD program plus Lumion you have all you need to make great presentations. It includes sky, water, an extensive library of materials, people, plants, cars and furniture and loads of special effects.
Before Lumion®, rendering used to be really hard. Setting up and completing a render used to take days. With Lumion® you can do it in hours. You can even make last minute changes before a meeting and update your renders in minutes. Anyone can sit down with Lumion® and within 15 minutes learn how to create videos, images and 360 degree panoramas. Lumion.com
For more information contact Linda van Wijk, Director Marketing Communications Lumion.Linda@Lumion.com
You ever face a problem and you just can’t stop until you solve it? I came across a model recently that was like that… it was an Revit 2015 MEP file that had a serious problem: Whenever you created a Duct or Pipe Fitting, it would always be created with System Classification and System Type “Undefined”.
No matter I did, I could not fix this. I tried all of the usual steps. Then, I took this pretty severe one: deleting all warning elements with dynamo:
And it kinda sorta worked, but not every time. I must have been doing something else as well. Was it Audit? Was it Purge?
Turns out it was Purge. And that was all this model actually needed – a good purge. But what element specifically was causing the problem? Well, does this look right to you?!?
Somehow there are multiple copies of Group 1. But purging Group 1s only didn’t fix it…
To fix this model all that was needed was to
Purge
select all Groups, using Shift to multi-select
press Ok
Immediately, Duct and Pipe fittings were created properly.
To fix any that were in a broken state, all you have to do is momentarily drag to disconnect one element, and drag it back into position. The system will heal itself, and all Duct and Pipe Fittings will adopt the system they are connected to (as they should).
When troubleshooting, try to always test one thing at a time. In that way, you can more quickly isolate the problem… and the solution 🙂
For years I have been an avid Firefox supporter, and to some extent I still am. However, Edge is getting much better (so fresh and so clean), and Chrome is really this ‘reference’ browser where most things just work. What I’m trying to say is that we can’t really be bound to just one browser anymore. But…
We have hundreds of passwords floating around. And for me, these were living in the Firefox Sync password system, and I couldn’t really get them out! I waited patiently for Edge to support importing data from other browsers, but sadly it doesn’t work for Firefox passwords. Chrome also currently has a bug importing Firefox passwords. Its almost like these browsers just want you to choose only one and stick to it 🙂
What is the answer?
Well, finally, Edge does support a few extensions. One of these extensions is LastPass. It allows you to import and sync passwords from basically all browsers, and even imports things like Windows Wifi passwords, and then syncs them across devices for you. Great!
Using LastPass, I imported all my Firefox passwords. Then, I installed the Windows app to grab other passwords like my Wifi profiles. Finally, I can now freely switch between browsers and my passwords are all in sync!
If you feel so inclined, LastPass can also store you standard form details and pre-fill web forms for you. Just depends how much you want to put in the cloud really…
You don’t have to toe the company line here…
I want to work on projects that use Cloud Services!
Navisworks works really well with Point Clouds, particularly in association with Recap. It will usually create ‘voxels’ – groups of points that you can hide or change colour or use in other Navisworks workflows.
However, sometimes the ‘point size’ seems too fine. To modify this, just open up Navisworks Options to Interface – Display, and change the Primitive size for Points to something that looks better. You can choose any size from 1-9.
Also, there are additional settings under File Readers – ReCap:
You can set an ‘interactive point size’ here, which is going to override the point display when you are zooming around or navigating the model.
The excellent and open-source IFC extension for Revit (previously known as IFC Exporter) has been updated. Please see below for download links and update details.
Readme details for the latest release:
General:
– Minor improvements to the Importer class to make it easier for developers to create a custom Importer.
– We now support the IFC4 Addendum 2 schema. Specific improvements based on that will be listed below. For this update, you will have to manually add the IFC4_Add2.exp file (included with this package), to the EDM subfolder of your Revit Program folder. We will automate this in a future update.
New Export Functionality:
– Allow overriding material names on export by using IfcName shared parameter.
– Expand the use of types for many elements that didn’t export types before, including beams (IfcBeamType), curtain walls (IfcCurtainWallType, and types for mullions and panels), and footings (IfcFootingType).
– Improved ability to export some geometry as IfcSweptSolid.
– Try to use axis information, if it exists, when exporting beams and members in addition to columns.
– (IFC4) Better support beam, column, and member base quantities, including weight.
– (IFC4) Collect material information for profiles for beams and columns.
– (IFC4) Expand use of FootPrint representations to columns and slabs.
– (IFC4) Expand use of IfcMaterialLayerSetUsage if the entity has a compound structure in Revit, as allowed by IFC.
– (IFC4) No longer create StandardCase IFC entities, as these have been deprecated (including IfcWallStandardCase).
– (IFC4) Support IfcMaterialConstituent and IfcMaterialProfileSet for a number of elements.
– (IFC4) Use Built-in parameter “Structural_Bend_Dir_Angle” to get “Roll” property for PSet_BeamCommon and PSet_ColumnCommon.
– (IFCAdd2) Support IfcPolygonalFaceSet.
Export Bug Fixes:
– Allow exporting to IFC while using Collaboration for Revit where the default directory isn’t local.
– Better support for MEP type entities, that didn’t always export correctly.
– Correct the parameters of the directrix of some IfcSweptSolids.
– Fix correct mapping of IfcBurnerType/IfcGasTerminalType and IfcElectricHeaterType/IfcSpaceHeaterType.
– Fix creation of types for sub-entities of IfcDistributionControlElement.
– Fix offset problem when using the “Export Linked Files as Separate IFCs” option in locales where the decimal mark is not a point.
– (IFC4) Correct names of IFC4 entity quantity sets.
– (IFC4) Fix the name of IfcCommunicationsApplianceType.
New Import Functionality:
– Add support for IfcDerivedProfileDef.
– Support IfcRelClassification.
– (IFC4) Support IfcMaterialProfile, IfcMaterialProfileSet, and IfcMaterialProfileSetUsage.
– (IFC4) Support IfcMaterialConstituent and IfcMaterialConstituentSet.
– (IFC4) Support IfcTessellatedFaceSet and IfcPolygonalFaceSet.
– (IFC4) Improve mapping from Roll parameter to structural bend direction angle.
– (API only) Allow for two new options, CreateDuplicateZoneGeometry and CreateDuplicateContainerGeometry, that disable the duplication of geometry for zone elements and containers, respectively.
Import Bug Fixes:
– Better reporting when importing an IFC file with invalid rectangular or circular profiles (e.g., a 0 radius profile).
– Don’t show the void geometry when subtracting a void from an empty solid as a result of an IfcBooleanResult calculation.
– Ensure that IFC2x schema files can still be imported.
– Fix import of some IfcSurfaceCurveSweptAreaSolids.
Parts allow some extremely powerful workflows in Revit. Did you know that you can take an in-place family, and when you Divide Parts, Revit will make an individual Part for each geometric element?
For example, let’s say you have a big sweep that represents a large part of a Building, and that Sweep is inside an in-place Generic Model family in the project.
Firstly, use some Voids to cut the sweep into the sections or pieces that you want…
and then select that Generic Model Family and click Create Parts. You will get a Part for each geometric piece, like this:
Then, if you edit the underlying Family and divide it with more Voids, Revit will automatically create and update the Part elements as needed. Very cool.
From here, you can export those Parts to Navisworks for animation or sequencing, if you so desire.
