Clearance Zones in Revit Families – Part 2

My previous article discussed the importance of creating Clearance Zones inside Revit familes for equipment and items that need clearances for ADA, safety, air movement, or other reasons.  While that article also discussed the behind the scenes set up to get Clearance Zones into a Revit family, this article finishes the process of creating the actual Clearance Zone.

Clearance Zones in Revit Families – Part 1

Many pieces of equipment in a building have clearance zones that are required around the equipment for a variety of reasons.  It may be a drinking fountain that requires ADA clearance, an electrical panel that requires code clearance in front it, or mechanical equipment that requires air movement or access clearance around it.  For whatever the reason, it is good to build that clearance zone into the Revit family so that it be used for interference detection through Revit or Navisworks.

Access to Building Codes via Technology

Building codes are utilized all the time for the design and construction of buildings.  Most companies have hard-copy versions of the applicable codes sitting on desks or shelves in the office, but the codes can also be accessed online or via your smartphone for free.  This is great since we may not always have the hard-copy version available to us.  If we are out on a construction site, being able to access the codes with our smartphone or tablet is a great benefit.

Blog in Review for 2011

Thank you to all of the people who visited my blog this past year! I write articles on this blog to help software users in the AEC industry and I hope that I have been successful in that regard. May everyone have a great 2012!

Variable Length Grab Bars in AutoCAD

Dynamic blocks have been a part of AutoCAD since release 2006 and have some really nice usages for all disciplines.  Unfortunately, it seems that the architectural community that uses AutoCAD has not incorporated dynamic blocks to a very large degree for whatever reasons.  An item category that architects specify all the time that are conducive to being a dynamic block are grab bars of varying lengths.  I remember having different blocks for each of the different grab bar lengths that I would need on projects.  All of those different sizes can be incorporated into one dynamic block.

Finding Rooms in Revit with Default Name

When using Autodesk Revit Architecture, users typically place Rooms in the model and give each Room a name.  By default, the Room will receive the name of “Room”, unless the user selects a predefined name for that Room or changes the name.  When a project contains hundreds (or thousands) of defined Rooms, it is easy to lose track of Rooms that may not have been renamed to something other than the default “Room” name.  This article will show you how to create a filter that accentuates any Rooms that have the name of “Room”.

AU2011 in Review

Autodesk University 2011 is now in the history books and I thought that I would summarize my thoughts on this year’s conference.  Held last week in Las Vegas, NV at the Venetian resort, it was attended by over 8000 people from around the world.  This was my 16th consecutive year to attend AU and I found this year’s AU to be one of the good ones.

Free 3D Model Review Software Has Update

In February 2011, I reviewed a new free product on the market for 3D model review named Tekla BIMsight by Tekla, Inc. (Read review)   Tekla has recently released the new Tekla BIMsight version 1.3, and the big point is that it is still a free product.

As I mentioned in my first article on the BIMsight software, this is a basic clash detection software that allows you to bring several different 3-D models together for project collaboration and collision detection.  While it is not a robust software, it performs clash detection that can meet the needs of many people and that I believe warrants consideration.  It is a straight forward software that is not difficult in learning to use and also has a decent forum support system that is easily accessible from within BIMsight.

MEP Connectors and Revit Architecture

Revit Architecture 2012 has many family templates installed with the software during a standard installation and includes most of the family templates that are also installed with Revit MEP.  (A previous blog post lists each of the family templates installed with the various Revit packages.)  Revit Architecture also allows the user to place Revit MEP connectors in families, and that capability is the reason for this post since it has restrictions.

Legal Licenses of Design Software

With the economy still in the doldrums and the AEC industry suffering a huge downturn, we have seen a big change in the workforce of our industry.  As areas of the country see as much as 50% unemployment for architects, there are architects that are starting their own company due to that being their only employment option in their chosen field of architectural design.  When starting their own company, they will need to purchase their own legal copy of their choice of design software.

The cost of purchasing design software is a major expense for a company, whether big or small, but especially when an architect is starting out with limited resources.  If you are one of those architects starting their own firm and obtaining design software, there are really 3 options (not all legal):  1) Buy a new copy.  2) Buy a “used” copy. 3) Use someone else’s copy.

Win a Trip to Autodesk University 2011

Autodesk University 2011 will again be hosted at the Venetian Hotel complex in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 29 – Dec. 1.  It will be 3 days of seminar classes along with a trade show.  One of the vendors at the trade show will be giving away a trip to AU 2011 to some lucky winner.

3Dconnexion is offering a trip to Autodesk University 2011, as well as airfare, accommodations and a SpacePilot PRO 3D mouse.  To enter this drawing, please complete required fields in the form that can be found at this link http://bit.ly/qcWJii.   Submission will only be accepted by midnight U.S. PDT on November 7, 2011.  For details, please see terms and conditions.  The winner will be contacted by email or phone on November 8, 2011 and will have 3 days to claim prize

I recommend attending Autodesk University, as this will be my 16th consecutive year to attend.  This is an opportunity for you to attend at very little cost.  Good luck!

Templates Provided with Revit 2012

Autodesk provides many templates for use with Revit, but you will get different templates depending on the version of Revit that you purchase and install.  While it makes sense that Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP each have their own project templates specific to their discipline, there is not as much sense as to which family templates are installed with each package.