What Revit Wants
Check it out at OpenRFA.
There have been some similar attempts in the past. It is a bit of a challenge, because there will often be these ‘custom’ shared parameters that one company needs that are just very unique. But I’m interested to see how OpenRFA continues to grow. No doubt its success will depend on the number of contributors and their engagement.
You can request an account login at http://openrfa.org/user/register
Update use this code to get a discount on your Revizto annual purchase:
LUKEJH
Oh, and across devices too. You might say “hey, I’ve heard of Revizto before“. Someone tweeted today “”Even if we could get the model into a game engine, it would be difficult to navigate.” We can. It isn’t.”
Revizto has been providing smooth, great-looking visualizations of your Revit model for a while now. It has some very cool features, like Oculus Rift support (fun!) But its not just about the game-smooth graphics anymore.. I’m excited about something else…
Firstly, the big picture: what does Revizto do? Well, it shares your 3D model with others via the cloud, which is pretty normal these days. But over the past few months (and especially the last few days), it has added collaboration features that make it an extremely useful tool for BIM teams. Some of these are:
If you like videos, maybe start here:
Revizto bridges some obvious gaps in current Autodesk interoperability scenarios, as it allows you to easily:
Also, compared to various other collaboration services, it is relatively inexpensive, especially given the level of functionality it provides.
So how do we get started with Revizto? Here’s a quick few steps:
Once an issue is created, you can easily switch between multiple different representations:
You can also quickly create or export issues to BCF. It uses the bcfzip format, so imagery and viewpoint information is all included.
Issues can be quickly tagged to create custom lists of related issues too.
A few beginner-style tips:
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| Grids and Rooms visible in 3D Map view |
What’s New in 3.4:
Some more general info and screenshots below:
Manual Introduction • Revizto Editor User Manual
What is it again?
Revizto is a tool that transforms heavy-weight 3D data into navigable lightweight scene in one click. The resulting scene can be opened with free Revizto Viewer on PC, Mac, iPad and Android tablets or in any web browser with Unity plugin. Revizto Workspace allows users to upload their projects to cloud storage and access them from any point of the globe. Revizto works with the most architectural and 3D-modelling software (Revit, SketchUp and any software that supports FBX export).
Installation screenshot (addins):
Platform includes:
To conclude: give the latest version a go, and feel free to comment with your thoughts.
Update use this code to get a discount on your Revizto annual purchase:
LUKEJH
If you are interested in issue tracking, BCF, and multidisciplinary coordination, then the new “BIMcollab” offering from Kubus may be worth a look:
http://www.bimcollab.com/en/BIMcollab/BIMcollab
It looks essentially like a cloud manager for BCF issues. From the marketing spiel:
BIMcollab centralizes issue management in the cloud, simplifies this process and offers a structured way of storing, sharing and managing issues. But more important: you have the information right where it’s needed most: directly within your BIM model checker and BIM authoring tools.
If you are already using it, feel free to comment and let us know what you think.
UPDATE some links from the press release:
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BIMcollab® release |
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BIMcollab®
Why BIMcollab?
Features
Developer
Sign up at:
Welcome to Trimble Connect | Trimble Connect
Here is what the dashboard looks like:
Marketing stuff:
Downloads:
Quotes:
Read more:
We all want a better BIM Cloud, with smoother, faster, better team Collaboration. I know the guys behind this project – they are experienced BIM professionals who are keen to innovate, especially when it comes to using the latest technology to make the AEC world communicate more effectively.
The whole concept of moving forward together as teams, not individual silos, is one that is very enticing.
Its all a bit mysterious at the moment, but its definitely worth signing up:
I was approached by Reza Hosseini, who is currently completing his Phd, to have an interview about virtual construction.
It is embedded here:
Some of the topics covered:
I hope the background noise and sounds of cutlery aren’t too distracting 🙂
From Michael Ruehr, download at:
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6601245_87000438_296433
Sample slide:
Original post:
RevitworX: Collaboration and Work-sharing with MEP and Structure Consultants
I worked with a Structural Engineer recently who used to model Void Forms in his Structural Columns so that he could “cut” them into walls and other geometry.
However, this created a bit of an issue when the Structural model was linked into the Architectural – namely, orange voids would occasionally show up, because they were not cutting anything. Obviously, this type of scenario is not ideal, but it is actually quite common to come across modelling practices that associates or other companies use that don’t really fit directly into your own workflow. In those situations, you often need to find a workaround, or perhaps discuss this issue to try and come to a compromise.
In this case, the engineer recommended this course of action:
I just noticed some of the columns have the yellow voids displaying, this is a Revit gremlin that creeps in overtime and needs to be fixed every few days or before issuing but I forgot. I can fix it and re send alternatively if you have started working with the file, it is as simple as editing the family changing a parameter and reloading It, essentially doing a regen. The other option is to select all rectangular columns and change the parameter ‘void offset’ to say 2.
How do you deal with differing modelling practices? Have you been able to solve these issues, or have they become permanent headaches? At Virtual Built, it is our primary goal to make teams function more efficiently throughout the entire BIM process. Do you have a problem that needs solving? Or do you have a great workflow solution that you would like to share? Feel free to contact us. Let’s collaborate!
A new challenge faced by collaborative design teams – how to work concurrently, yet not do the same thing four times?
Consider these comments from Glenn Jowett:
“If you look at the process of designing a steel framed building there is the potential for at least four steel frame models to exist within one design team, four models that have been built from scratch by different people within that design team.
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The design team should sit down at the start of a project and map out who owns what elements at what stage of the project
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The copy monitor tools within Revit are far from perfect, but this seems to be the only option for walls at the moment.
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In traditional 2D, drawings would be issued and revisions clouded; in the 3D model revisions can’t be clouded and drawing issues between the design teams are becoming less and less frequent.”
via
http://revitst.blogspot.in/2013/08/revit-collaboration.html
Checklist:
Finally, some great ideas of what to discuss at a pre-project BIM meeting from the same post:
“An initial BIM or Revit meeting should take place at the start of every major project, purely from a Revit and collaboration point of view items for discussion should be:
· File format for data exchange
· How often are files exchanged
· Clearly define what the model is to be used for at what stage in the design process
· Who models what and when
· Who owns what and when does element ownership go from one discipline to another
· Level of development (LOD) – what level of model information should I expect to receive at what stage? And does that meet my expectations
· How often should clash detection take place
· Project coordinates and project north position.
It is important that the above items (at least) are discussed before a project really starts to evolve, and the decisions on each item should be documented and set out in a BIM Execution Plan. Collaboration will be much easier to manage if every member of the design team has the same set of core principles to follow from start to finish.”
To the above list, I would add at least the following:
