Thursday, October 29, 2015

Revit 2016 R2 - New Family Types Dialog Format

My friend Rolly sent me a screen capture of the new Family Types dialog. It's been revised to use similar buttons as some of the other dialogs, like the Filters and View Templates dialog for example.


It is slimmer now. I liked the larger buttons with words personally. I struggle (a little) with the tiny pictures (see what I did there) on these icon only buttons. At least I can rely on muscle memory to click on them after awhile. It will be helpful require less screen real estate for the interface and allow for more practical editing of those really long pesky conditional formulas...if dabble with those.

It seems I have a growing number of friends who are concerned about my lack of new blog posts :) Thanks Rolly! It's so much easier when you send me pichurs :)

Friday, October 23, 2015

Revit 2016 R2 - Positioning by Auto - Project Base Point to Project Base Point

This is an interesting development for reconciling the misalignment of models. This gives us the option of linking a RVT model according to the location of its Project Base Point (PBP) and aligning it with our own.


Let's imagine a scenario where our structural engineer decides to mock-up a preliminary model but does so without the benefit of having the architectural model linked in yet. This new feature allows the engineer to either move the PBP un-clipped (see warning below) to an agreed upon grid intersection or to start by placing their grids at the default PBP location in their model.


All I have to do to get their model to align with my model properly now is make sure I move my PBP un-clipped (again see warning below) to our equivalent grid location or be grateful I was lucky to have guessed that we'd start our grids at the same location to start with. If I didn't guess correctly then moving it un-clipped puts it in the correct location and the link lines up nicely.


Being able to move the PBP un-clipped is helpful for Revit to Revit alignment. It DOES NOT address exporting to DWG however (nor appending to Navisworks). If each model is exported using Coordinate System Basis: Project Internal they will not line up with one another because the model's file origin is not altered. If each trade is careful to start modeling the agreed upon grid intersection at their templates's default PBP location (not moved at all) then they'll line up when their exported files are opened in AutoCAD or Navisworks.

I'm not sure we can rely on that if we can't count on them waiting for our model to use as a linked reference first? Still it is an interesting development. Hopefully it doesn't just contribute to the existing confusion regarding linked RVT file positioning.

My recommendations?
  • Make sure all trades agree to begin their work referencing their own PBP with the same understanding. For example, agree in advance that the bottom left grid intersection shall occur at the PBP location (like shown in my images). This will ensure that exported data will have the same file origin.
  • Don't move the PBP un-clipped to reconcile the PBP location IF you want to be able to export using Project Internal.
  • Only move the PBP un-clipped if you will rely on Shared Coordinates to deal with external model alignment in other applications.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Revit 2016 R2 is Available and Update Release 10 for Revit 2015

When I wrote about Revit Sunrise earlier I hinted that we might see a repeat of last year when Revit Sundial was followed by Revit 2015 R2. That's come true today.

You can CHECK OUT some VIDEOS about what is new in this subscription customer only release.

These are the features they've chosen to provide videos for:
  • Draw Visible Elements Only (performance)
  • Global Parameters
  • Family Element Visibility Setting (Family Editor)
  • Thermal Zoning (Analysis)
  • Enhanced Revit Links
  • Cancel Multi Sheet Print or Export
  • View Filter UI Improvements
  • Revision Enhancement
  • Isolate Solids/Voids with Filter Tool (Family Editor)
  • Per User RVT Link Unload
  • Improved Project Browser
  • Name Reference Plane
  • Autodesk Raytracer
  • Railing Preview
  • View Underlay and Orientation Improvements (descriptive language)
  • Enabled Copy Paste in Perspective Views
  • Choice to Select Wall Join Type (behavior) during Wall Creation
  • Fabrication Part Modeling Enhancement
  • Electrical Design Enhancements
  • Mechanical Design Enhancements
There is also a Update Release 10 for Revit 2015. For what it is worth, the Autodesk Application Manager is two for two now. It let me know about the last web update (service pack) and it let me know about both 2016 R2 and 2015's Update Release 10. That's encouraging, certainly better than my experience with it in the past.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

When Upgrading is a Downgrade

Dan Stine shared this dialog with me this morning. The wording it contains makes one think Revit is attempting to save in an older version, but that isn't possible.


In this case he had Revit 2015 open already and inadvertently double clicked on a Revit 2016 project file. He eventually saw another dialog that confirmed the file could not be saved in an earlier format. He, like me, thought the dialog was mildly amusing and passed it my way.