64-Bit Revit

I hate to just link to other's Blogs, but since I brought it up yesterday, and since there doesn't seem to be an easy to find press release or announcement by ADSK, ... and since Scott does such a good job of explaining things... well... HERE.

64-BIT REVIT MEP

I was on the Subscription site and I saw this:

When did this happen? Are they going to announce this? Hmmmmmmmm.....

AIA releases New Contract Docs for BIM and IPD

From a Press Release:

Washington, D.C., September 24, 2008 — The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced the upcoming release of six new AIA Contract Documents on October 17, 2008, including a new Building Information Modeling (BIM) exhibit, as well as two new Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) agreements, two new Design-Build agreements and a Scope of Services document. These new documents, collectively called the 3.5 Release, build on AIA Contract Documents’ 120 years of experience in defining the contractual relationships in the design and construction industry.

See the whole announcement here.

"Hidden" Revit Treasures

Apparently, fewer people know about this than I thought. When you open Revit 2009 (all "Flavors") in the right-hand pane of the welcome screen is a link to the Revit Web content library (or you can follow this link.)

First, if you haven't been here before, GO THERE! Stop wasting your time creating content when what you need may be right here. Granted, most people know about this resource.

Second, what most people overlook is the "Revit Instruction and Help Samples" page.

Look at BOTH the metric and imperial folders. I know you might not use metric content, but it will inspire you and give you a starting point. And, if you download the "Roof Forms" project, the SHEETS are instructional and tell you how to create the forms (taken from 2005 AU class.)

See examples below

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New face to Autodesk Subscription

OK, OK, last post of the night (sorry to those who subscribe to my RSS feed) Autodesk has put a new face on it's subscription site. Check it out.

Autodesk aquires license to Ambercore "point cloud technology"

From a press release:

OTTAWA, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Autodesk, Inc. has signed an agreement with Ambercore Software to license its point cloud technology and incorporate it into future releases of Autodesk software.

Isn't it funny how, when you're talking about an issue/technology/etc. it pops up everywhere? I have been to two industry meetings where laser scanning and Revit were discussed, now this.

AIA Minnesota Bim Breakfast Club

The BIM Breakfast Club (BBC) meets once a month to discuss BIM, IPD, and the effect that they are having on the industry. Yesterday morning, (09/23/08) at 7:30 in the morning, this group of forward thinking Architects, Contractors, and other members of the construction industry got together to share what they had been doing over the summer and plan future meetings. Some of the topics discussed were:

A BIM Conference in Arizona this summer; There is talk that Arizona is putting language in it's public contracts that deal with BIM. The focus of the conference morphed from last year's "This is what BIM is" to "This is what we are doing."

The CIFE conference; Investigations in to metrics that quantify the benefits of BIM and IPD

The downstream use of models created in the design process; are current designer produced models (created to show design intent) useful for contractors (who use models to investigate constructability.)

My favorite fact from the meeting (from Mcgraw Hill I believe;) of the $2 trillion of business the US construction industry does, 54% is waste.

My favorite question of the meeting (in regard to Automated Code Compliance:) Do "Smart" resources make for "less smart" designers? How do intelligent BIM objects effect the design?
This reminds me of a Kurt Vonnegut book (Player Piano I believe) that speaks about automated design and it's effects on designers. Hmmmmm...

The plan for the next meeting is to discuss either legal issues and BIM or laser scanning. I encourage anyone who is interested in attending to contact one of the Co-Chairs;

David A. Jordani, FAIA
Jordani Consulting Group
djordani@jordani.com

or

Karie L. Johnson, AIA
Adolfson & Peterson Construction
ConstructionKarieJohnson@a-p.com

Tools4Revit Roof Truss Generator

I've known about Tools4Revit for awhile, but I had a chance to go to there website and learn a little more today. I saw a thread on the AUGI forum that peaked my interest. If you get a chance, take a look at some of the Demo videos that show Truss+ in action.

This program not only generates the truss system, you can then break the trusses into individual members. As we all know, if it exsists in the Revit model, it can be schduled.

What about details of connections?... Well it does that too. From looking at the videos it seems that program produces a drafting view that documents connections as well as the indiviual elements themselves.

I imagine a truss manuafacturer looking at the construction market today and the direction we seem to be going could make good use of this.

Oh, BTW, it works with Revit Structural and Architectural as well. :)

MNRUG, Laser Scanning, and MEP Part 1

Last night (09/17/08) I attended a meeting of of the Minnesota Revit User's Group (MNRUG) held at the Field Operations Office (I think that's what the sign said, it was dark) of McGough Construction just north of St. Paul, MN.

Heather Kossila, with McGough, gave a talk about bringing laser scan point clouds into Revit. Unfortunately I came in a few minutes late and I missed what project she had been working on. I believe it is a remodel or restoration of Shubert Theater in Minneapolis (for those that were there, please correct me if I am wrong.) My understanding of the portion of the project she was talking about is that there was a desire to preserve the existing balconies in the theater and they wanted to use Revit to explore sight lines and make certain that they worked for the new programming. The conception of the workflow was to create a point cloud file (click here to see how that's done) convert to DWG, then import to Revit and apply walls, etc with the "building maker" feature in Revit.

One of the issues with the process is that the point cloud file was converted to a DWG that was composed of polymeshes. When that object was imported into Revit its was unreadable when cut into plan views and sections. After some research Ms. Kossila discovered that if she brought the DWG into an in-place mass family that she was able to view the information as intended in plan and section. The other issue was that the "wall by face" command didn't work as expected with the mass created from a polymesh object. The speed and accuracy of laser scanning along with conceptual presentation capabilities of Revit seem to make a great tool for exploring design options in existing spaces. While I don't think the technology is "quite there" yet, I do see the possibilities for recording as-builts and existing conditions.

Next post I will discuss a presentation about Revit MEP adoption, including challenges meeting office standards, workflow, and the ever present "model ownership."

HMC Architects Selects e-SPECS as Integrated BIM Specification Solution

From an e-SPECS Press Release:

Portland, Maine – September 16, 2008 – InterSpec Inc. today announced that its patented e-SPECS solutions have been selected as the BIM Specification Solution by HMC Architects, one of the largest planning and design firms headquartered in California, with offices strategically located throughout California and Nevada.