A li'l bit of Revit history…Part 4 (Revit 5 Features)

Luke Johnson

I found an interesting little PDF while using osun.org today.

It basically describes the features and benefits of Revit version 5.  Here is the link.

Here are a few gems:

Automatic sheet/drawing references
Ensures that no section, elevation, or callout ever references the wrong drawing or sheet.

Sketch-based hosts
Built-in-place items (wall, floor, roof, and so forth) are defined by simple 2D sketching, delivering flexible but geometrically complex 3D items in the building that can be iteratively changed by altering the sketch. 

And my favourite:
Align, split, trim, offset tools
These editing tools are like their CAD equivalents, but better. As you use these tools, they imply constraints between the things you pick so the model knows how to update as your design changes, saving effort and rework.

like their CAD equivalents, but better – what a way to sell it!

And some of the New Features in version 5:

“True North” views
View can be switched between Project North and True North orientation, saving time by eliminating the need to rotate text and symbols.

Temporary hide/show/isolate
Something getting in your way while editing? Now you can isolate your selection or temporarily hide it, reducing editing headaches.

It looks like Revit version 5 was released around December 2002.

Access Folders Fast (Folder Menu)

Luke Johnson

I recently received a comment on one of my previous posts about the program Folder Menu.  I had actually been meaning to post about it – it currently seems to be the best 64-bit replacement for Folder Guide.  It is relatively simple to use, and seems to work in all dialog boxes.

You can download Folder Menu from the Sourceforge page here.

Basically, middle button on the mouse brings up the menu, left-click to ‘navigate’ folders within the menu, right-click to actually Explore a folder.  If you want to always just Explore using left-click, change the Use browse mode when capslock is off option on the ‘Menu’ tab of the Options.

Give it a go and feel free to post your comments.

(image from Sourceforge page)

See Only Resize-Friendly Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) In Google Images | Lifehacker Australia

Luke Johnson

You can now filter Google Image Search to just show you SVG files. Here is an example search:
“Nintendo” SVG files

See Only Resize-Friendly Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) In Google Images | Lifehacker Australia

So what is so good about SVG? From the wiki page:

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic (i.e. interactive or animated).
The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) since 1999.
SVG images and their behaviors are defined in XML text files. This means that they can be searched, indexed, scripted and, if required, compressed. Since they are XML files, SVG images can be created and edited with any text editor, but drawing programs are also available that support SVG file formats.

Free Hash / MD5 Checker for Windows Shell

Luke Johnson

After installing, just right-click on any file and select ‘Create Checksum File…’, then open the .md5 file that was created.

HashCheck Shell Extension

What is Hash or MD5 checking?
A cryptographic hash function is a deterministic procedure that takes an arbitrary block of data and returns a fixed-size bit string, the (cryptographic) hash value, such that an accidental or intentional change to the data will change the hash value. The data to be encoded is often called the “message”, and the hash value is sometimes called the message digest or simply digest.

Basically, when you download something important off the Net, it lets you know that the file has not been corrupted or modified in some nasty way…