Space Name Update to Room Name

Within Revit, it is standard procedure for architects to use “Rooms” and engineers to use “Spaces” to delineate areas of the building.  This is due to how Revit utilizes each of these 2 categories of items, so each have their place.  An issue with this procedure is that Spaces and Rooms for the same area should have the same name, but this does not happen automatically.  This can cause problems with consistency between the architect’s plans and the engineer’s plans.

Since the 2017 version, Revit has given us a tool to help keep Room names and Space names consistent.  Prior to 2017, we had to rely on either naming the Spaces manually or utilizing one of the 3rd party tools on the market.  With this command, we can update all of the Spaces in the entire model to be the same as a Room that is in the same bounded area (if there is a Room element there.)  Autodesk slipped this command into the menu system and I don’t remember them promoting it, but it is a fantastic tool for engineers!  It can save hours of work trying to get Room and Space Names consistent.

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Electrical Panel Feed Thru Lugs in Revit 2020

Revit 2020 has a new feature that will please Electrical designers.  Feed through lugs are now incorporated into Revit for your electrical distribution system.  Previously, electrical users had to utilize workarounds to represent this situation in their designs, so this will improve the documentation process and help with the electrical design.

As part of this new feature, Revit has added a new panel schedule template, which is called “Feed Through Lugs Panel“.  This panel is available in the Electrical-Default.rte and the Systems-Default.rte templates.  This panel template is accessible via the Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Panel Schedule Templates.

 

The process to actual set up the electrical panels to utilize the above Panel Schedule is shown below.

My Favorite Revit 2019 New Features

Most Revit users have heard that Autodesk has released the 2019 versions of its various software packages.  Autodesk has included a lot of nice enhancements with this release and delivered on many of the user wish list items.  While there are still many improvements to be made to Revit, I am pleased with enhancements in this release.

Pricing Transition with Autodesk Software

It is that time of year that my Autodesk subscription is up for renewal, so it makes me think about the latest pricing system that Autodesk has been implementing lately.

I had been on the “Subscription” plan for years, but that name was changed to be called the “Maintenance” plan in 2016.  The new “Subscription” program is entirely different than the old subscription program even though it has the same name.  Yes, that can be confusing.

Project Browser Enhancement in Revit 2018.2

Revit 2018.2 was just released and it has a nice enhancement to the Project Browser that can be easily missed.  With this release we now have more options available when we desire to expand or collapse information in the Project Browser.

Prior to Revit 2018.2, your only option to expand items in the Project Browser was to pick on the plus sign (+) next to the section’s name to expand the section and show additional information or the minus (-) sign next to the section’s name to collapse the section and show less information.  You still have those options, but the following menu is now available when you right-click over any of the sections in the Project Browser.

Enhancements For Advance Steel and Steel Connections

Autodesk is enhancing its product for structural engineers and is previewing those enhancements to Advance Steel and Steel Connections for Revit at NASCC 2017.

Following is Autodesk’s statement concerning the enhancements.

Autodesk Revit and Advance Steel better connect structural design and fabrication

Since acquiring Advance Steel in 2013, Autodesk continues to work towards better support for BIM-centric workflows for structural steel design and detailing. For instance, we have been working to strengthen the interoperability between Autodesk Revit design software and Autodesk Advance Steel software. In advance of tomorrow’s opening day of the NASCC conference, we’re happy to announce that the forthcoming Advance Steel 2018 release next month will now offer seamless consumption of LOD350* Revit models.

This exciting news means that engineers can deliver more accurate designs and bills of materials to the detailer and fabricator. And for the detailer, it means they can more quickly respond to design changes while delivering the files needed to drive steel fabrication. This interoperability will help steel detailers and fabricators take full advantage of the steel design model—a notable benefit for the industry.

Revit Electrical Panel Schedule Configuration Information

When using Revit for electrical design, using Panel Schedules should be an important part of your design process.  Revit provides the user with some default panel schedule templates with the software, but most organizations modify the templates to function and appear the way that they desire.  Revit allows the user to do quite a bit of customization to the templates, but be aware that there are still limitations to the customization ability and some nuances.

Revit Help has instructions for basic electrical template modification.  In this article, we will look at some aspects of customizing a template that are not so obvious to the user.

Autodesk 2017 Release Information

Many people are now aware that Autodesk has released the 2017 version of its various software packages.  There are many great blog posts about the enhancements in the packages and I really like some of those enhancements.  Before discussing any of those 2017 enhancements, I thought I would post some links to official Autodesk pages for you to peruse.

Revit 2016 R2 Update 1 Released

Autodesk has released Update 1 for the R2 version of Revit 2016.  Almost all of the improvements are stability related, so if you have been have any issues with Revit 2016, you will want to install this update.  But then, you will probably want to install this update to help avoid potential stability issues.

Get Update Here

See List of Revit 2016 Enhancements

Revit 2015 Update 11

Autodesk has released Update 11 for Revit 2015.  It appears that the release is primarily about stability of the software, but it is always a good thing to have better stability.

The following are listed improvements in Update 11.

• Improves stability after editing a dimension witness line and then moving the mouse outside of the Properties palette.
• Improves stability when creating dimensions.
• Improves stability when working within a worksharing model with central files on an unstable network environment.
• Improves stability when modifying a schedule’s appearance when the schedule does not contain table contents and headers.
• Improves stability when encountering conflicting non-unique extensible storage schemas.

Following are the build numbers for Update 11:

• Revit 2015 build: 20151207_1515
• Revit 2015 R2 build: 20151208_0715

Get Update Here

See PDF of Revit 2015 Enhancements

 

Unload Revit Link Per User

Autodesk has just released the Revit 2016 R2 update to users that are on the subscription program (both maintenance and desktop).  Autodesk has started providing these R2 releases mid-year and can include significant improvements.  While there are reportedly 25 updates in this release, there is one that I particularly like as a user working on a model with multiple other users.  That is the ability to unload a Revit link on a per user basis.

Prior to 2016 R2, if I unload a Revit link and Save to Central, the file will be unloaded for other users when they Save to Central or Reload Latest.

Being able to unload a Revit link on a per user basis means that I can unload a linked file and I will be the only user affected.  I can save the file to central with the file unloaded and when other users Save to Central or Reload Latest, their version will still have the link loaded.

There are definitely times when I want to increase my Revit’s performance and memory usage and I don’t need a loaded link throughout the day, but I can’t unload it because others need to have the link loaded for their purposes.  You can really annoy other users by unloading a link that they want to use or see.

AutoCAD 2016 is Here

For AutoCAD users, the latest big news is that Autodesk has released their 2016 version of AutoCAD.   Along with AutoCAD, you can also get the 2016 versions of AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD Electrical, and AutoCAD Mechanical.

As with each release, there are features that you will love and some that you really don’t care about.  However, which features are preferred vary per person and per discipline.  I will try to give a basic description of some of the new/updated features of AutoCAD 2016.