Creating Supplemental Drawings in Revit

The creation of supplemental drawings is common for design and construction projects, and they are typically used for addenda before the project bid or revisions after the bid.  It is ideal to create a permanent copy of the supplemental drawing to create a record copy that never changes.  Since the Revit model is dynamic, it can be difficult to keep that record copy within the Revit project file.  While a PDF or image can be created, it is nice to have the view of the supplemental drawing be a permanent aspect of the project file.  The Autodesk Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit includes the Freeze Drawings extension that is a great aid in creating supplemental drawings.

Revit Solid Filled Walls for Presentation Drawings

As an architect, I like to provide clients with a “presentation” type of drawing that shows the walls with solid fills so that wall locations stand out and clients don’t get confused by any other linework inside the walls.  While these plotted drawings are typically provided during the schematic design stage of the project, I like to provide these throughout the project for various presentation purposes.  Autodesk Revit provides an easy way to display walls in this solid filled method.

December AU Quarterly Newsletter

The December issue of Autodesk’s AU Quarterly Newsletter is out.  As always, there are some excellent AEC-related articles that benefit users of Autodesk’s AEC software.

Autodesk University 2009 In Review

There are likely several different people blogging about their experiences at Autodesk University 2009, but I decided to go ahead and throw my thoughts into the mix.  However, since I am an Architect and part of the Architecture and Building Design track, I admit that my comments will be a bit skewed toward that aspect.

Residential Stair Turn in AutoCAD Architecture

Residential stairs very commonly make an L-shaped 90 degree turn and have a riser (2 treads) at that 90 degree turn.  That can easily be accomplished in Autodesk® AutoCAD® Architecture with the AEC Stair object, but the method to accomplish this is not readily apparent.

Navisworks Exporter for BIM Models

Autodesk has released a utility that will benefit users that need to create a file to be used with the Autodesk’s Navisworks 2010 program.  This is excellent news as users no longer must have a licensed copy of Navisworks Manage installed on their computer to create this file.  This has real benefits to companies needing to create the exchange file.

Different E202 for Each BIM Project

The AIA E202 Document (by the American Institute of Architects) is the Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit and assigns the specific responsibility for the various project team members in developing model elements to specific levels of development for project phases.  This is fast becoming an extremely important document for a building project and must be carefully considered before being implemented for a project.  Many documents are re-used from project to project with little or no change, but the E202 should be modified per project.

Break Multiple Walls with One Door in AutoCAD Architecture

There are times when a door (or window, opening, or door/window assembly) gets placed into a wall that has another wall (or multiple walls) adjacent to it.  Even though a door can be placed in only one wall, it is possible to create an opening in the adjacent wall(s) so that when the door is relocated or changes size, the opening in the other wall(s) change accordingly.