What Revit Wants

Update 6 for Autodesk Revit® 2015 download: 64-Bit R2 UR6 Direct Download Link

February 1, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

EDIT Thanks to Cornel for this great link, it shows a page with various flavours of the updates for Revit 2015:
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/2015RVT_RTM/UR6/AutodeskRevit2015UR6andA360CollaborationforRevitv3downloadlinks.htm

Here is the link for Revit 2015 R2:
http://download.autodesk.com/SWDLDDLM/Updates/Revit/UR6/Autodesk_Revit_2015_Update6_forR2.sfx.exe

Readme:
http://download.autodesk.com/SWDLDDLM/Updates/Revit/UR6/Autodesk_Revit_2015_R2%20_UR6_Readme.htm

Enhancements:
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/2015RVT_RTM/UR6/Enhancements_List_RVT_2015_UR6_forR2.pdf

Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2015 Updates
– Corrects the behavior that caused view templates to apply incorrectly for some views, if a temporary view
template was also applied to the view.*
– Improves stability when editing a families.*
– Improves loading and editing families which contain extensible storage.*
– Allows type parameters in upgraded families to swap from one type to another.*
– Improves stability when upgrading a project which contains corrupt families.*
– Improves notification reliability when closing a workset in which a rvt file link has been placed.*
– Improves stability while opening the Material Dialog.

Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2015 Updates
– Improves highlighting of circuits in the plan view from a panel schedule or System Browser.*

Autodesk® Revit® API 2015 Updates
– Improves querying of point cloud on RCS files using the Revit pointcloud API.*
Direct links copied here:

Please refer to the Readme links for installation and update enchancement information.

Revit 2015 R2

Link Description	Link	File Name
Readme	Download	Autodesk Revit 2015 Release 2 UR6 Readme.htm
UR6 for Existing Installs	Download	Autodesk_Revit_2015_Update6_forR2.sfx.exe
UR6 for inclusion within Deployment Image	Download	Autodesk_Revit_2015-x64_Update6_forR2_Deployments.exe

Revit Architecture 2015 R2

Link Description	Link	File Name
Readme	Download	Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Release 2 UR6 Readme.htm
UR6 for Existing Installs	Download	Autodesk_Revit_Architecture_2015_Update6_forR2.sfx.exe
UR6 for inclusion within Deployment Image	Download	Autodesk_Revit_Architecture_2015-x64_Update6_forR2_Deployments.exe

Revit MEP 2015 R2

Link Description	Link	File Name
Readme	Download	Autodesk Revit MEP 2015 Release 2 UR6 Readme.htm
UR6 for Existing Installs	Download	Autodesk_Revit_MEP_2015_Update6_forR2.sfx.exe
UR6 for inclusion within Deployment Image	Download	Autodesk_Revit_MEP_2015-x64_Update6_forR2_Deployments.exe

Revit Structure 2015 R2

Link Description	Link	File Name
Readme	Download	Autodesk Revit Structure 2015 Release 2 UR6 Readme.htm
UR6 for Existing Installs	Download	Autodesk_Revit_Structure_2015_Update6_forR2.sfx.exe
UR6 for inclusion within Deployment Image	Download	Autodesk_Revit_Structure_2015-x64_Update6_forR2_Deployments.exe

Using Save and Load Selection in the Revit Family Environment

January 28, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

In the Revit 2015 Project Environment, you can access the tools to Manage Selections from the Manage Ribbon:

However, this Ribbon Panel is not available on the default Manage Ribbon in the Family Environment (Build 20141119_0715(x64) Update Release 5). What to do? Well, we can just add these tools to the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar), so then at least we can use them while building families. There are a couple of ways we can do this, but here is how you can do it while staying in the Family Editor:

In the Family Environment, select more than one element
Right-click on the Save Selection button that appears in the contextual ribbon (the green one) and “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”
Save a Selection
Select more than one thing
Right-click on the Load Selection button that appears in the contextual ribbon (the green one) and “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”

You can also just add these items from the Project Environment, and as the QAT is shared with both environments, they will show when you edit a family.

However, while you can add the “Edit Selection” button to the QAT, it will not work in the Family Environment 🙁

Autodesk Screencast Pilot Program – version 1.6 for download

January 27, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

The (Windows) build is located here: https://screencast.autodesk.com/Pilot/ScreencastSetup.exe
via
NOW AVAILABLE – Autodesk Screencast Pilot Program (Windows version)

As you can see, the UI is more modern:

Introduction to Revit Macros (article by Troy Gates)

January 26, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

The next generation of successful designers will have one important thing in common – the ability to quickly build the tool they need to accomplish a given task. Revit macro coding is one way to do this (Dynamo is another, even powerful Excel spreadsheets can qualify as BIM tools). But if you have had limited involvement with Revit macros in the past, you might be wondering “So… What is a macro anyway?”

One good place to start would in this great little article by Troy Gates on AUGI. Here are three tips from the article to get you interested:

I highly suggest creating the macros in the application tab so you can reuse the macros in any Revit model. If you store the macro inside the model, then it is only available to that Revit model.
The Revit API also allows the use of Microsoft LINQ (Language Integrated Query) functions. LINQ allows you to use a database-like query system to filter the elements contained in a collection. It is much more powerful and easier to use, in my opinion, when working with collections of Revit elements.
your code needs to define objects that the Revit API will use to interface with these. These objects are called UIDocument and Document…

Read the whole article:
Introduction to Revit Macros | AUGI

Launch Navisworks Options Editor in Headless Mode to Fix Persistent Crash

January 23, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

Did you know that you can access Navisworks Options directly from the Start Menu? Just click on Start and type “Options Editor”. Then, if you hover over the entries in that list you can pick the Options Editor for the right version of Navisworks by reading the tooltip.

Why would we want to do this? Well, if you have a Graphics Driver problem, it might cause Navisworks to continually crash when you start the program. If you head into the Options Editor, you can go to Interface – Display – Drivers and disable various options until Navisworks decides to load up again.

For example, try unticking everything except OpenGL – you might find that Navisworks can now load (this tip may particularly help if you are trying to run Navisworks in a virtual machine).

Another stable choice may be to select only the software-mode drivers:

Tip for Working with Huge or Complicated Models or Families with Imports in Revit

January 22, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

Turn Snaps Off on the Manage ribbon, and then use the keyboard shortcuts to selectively turn “On” the snaps when needed. This stops Revit from continuously looking for snap points when you are trying to navigate the model or draw new geometry.

January 2015 updates to BIM360 Revit 2015 Addin and Recap 1.4.2.8 direct download links

January 18, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

BIM360 Revit 2015 Add-in link:
http://download.autodesk.com/SWDLDDLM/Updates/BIM360Addin/2015/4.35.1209/B3AddinRvt.msi

Recap 1.4.2.2_to_1.4.2.8 link:
http://download.autodesk.com/SWDLDDLM/Updates/ReCap/1.4.2.8/AutodeskReCap_1.4.2.2_to_1.4.2.8_SP_x64.msp

If you forget to close Revit before trying to install the Glue update, you might get this error. Just close Revit, remove the BIM360 addin and then reinstall it.

Dynamo For Dummies screencast… interested?

January 18, 2015May 7, 2017 Luke Johnson

Check out this free ‘practice’ screencast from Marcello, demonstrating how to extract points from Dynamo to Excel, among other things:
PRACTICAL DYNAMO EXERSIZE 4 EXTRACT POINTS TO EXCEL PRACTICE01 – Screencast | Autodesk Research (Embed)

via
Simply Complex: Watch a raw uncut Practice Session from my hands on lab at AU2014 “Dynamo For Dummies” Lab Exersize 4

Solution for Revit DB Link and Microsoft Access compatibility for 64 bit vs 32 bit systems

January 17, 2015May 8, 2017 Luke Johnson

The incompatibility between 32 bit Microsoft Office database systems and 64 bit Revit program architecture have been causing headaches for a while, but this technical solution may provide the answer you have been looking for: how to get 64 bit database drivers running alongside 32 bit Office installation.

Support page:
How to install 64-bit Microsoft Database Drivers alongside 32-bit Microsoft Office | AutoCAD Civil 3D | Autodesk Knowledge Network

The Problem:
“You cannot install the 64-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 because you currently have 32-bit products installed…”

User-added image

Quote and heads-up from LinkedIn:
… a way to get Revit 64 bit systems to export an Access 2010 DB link on a 32 bit version. Here is the link with step by step instructions: http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-civil-3d/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-install-64-bit-Microsoft-Database-Drivers-alongside-32-bit-Microsoft-Office.html

How to install 64-bit Microsoft Database Drivers alongside 32-bit Microsoft Office knowledge.autodesk.com

via
Finally a solution for DB Link and Access compatibility for 64 bit vs 32 bit systems | LinkedIn