For those of you that made it to Autodesk University this year you may have noticed a new Revit add-in company called BuildEdge. Their booth was right next to the BIM9 booth, so I got to spend some time with them. As I found out Autodesk University was a kind of launch party for a new Revit add-In called BuildEdge Roof™. BuildEdge Roof automates and simplifies the input of pitched roofs within Revit.

Over the years I have heard lots of complaints about Revit. Roofs just seem to be one of those things that Revit does, but not very well. Unlike Revit, their tool allows users to input a roof that automatically snaps to the height of the walls in your project. There’s no need to worry about existing level heights and offsets, simply click on an existing wall, and the add-in will place the wall line at that height. This is especially useful when creating a roof that has one or more steps in plate height. Another part of the typical Revit roof tool is having to join roofs together. With the BuildEdge Roof tool users are not required to join a series of roofs together; rather, roof planes can be defined and automatically joined as a single roof.

BuildEdge Roof also automates the work needed to model more complex roof shapes, like Dutch hips or gambrel style roofs. Instead of modeling roofs with cut-offs, then drawing additional roofs on top, BuildEdge Roof simplifies the process by allowing users to define the pitch break location and automating the placement of those roofs.

The tool also has an Auto-Outline command that will create a footprint around a closed loop of connected walls. I am tempted to say that it will create any roof with a single click, but I know someone out there would make a real effort to find one that it will not do.  Let me just say every foot print I created and tested it did in one click. It does speed up the process of creating an initial footprint; getting you to that “fine-tuning” stage much faster

Additionally, the parameters provided by BuildEdge Roof are expanded from the standard parameters in Revit. BuildEdge Roof allows users to specify information specific to the actual framing that is used in construction of the roof (rafter or truss framing). By inputting this correctly, the time it takes to detail cross-section and elevation pages is reduced since the wall-to-roof framing geometry is correct from the beginning.

Overall anyone that does designs that include pitched roofs this tool is a massive time saver. You can get this product for Revit 2011 or 2012 for both 32- and 64-bit systems. The add-in retails at $199.

It is always nice when we can get the Club Revit community something special, in this case BuildEdge is offering 50% off the list price for a limited time. Visit www.buildedge.com and use the code ClubRevit from February 15, 2012 – February 29, 2012 to get the 50% off deal. You can also get a trial of the product from the website. It will let you create the roof but it will not let you import it into Revit. Next week they will be updating the trial to be a full version that simply times out after a few days.

Happy Roof Making…..

A message from Donovan

My thesis project has been nominated to be exhibited at Land of Tomorrow Gallery in September 2012. Please vote for my thesis project on the following link, and help make it happen.

It only takes one click.

http://www.suckerpunchdaily.com/2012/02/07/a-ball/#more-18830

More photos and information after the break

By amplifying the tessellation and porosity of the geodesic dome I am giving the geodesic dome a face-lift.

This thesis looks to misconstrue the face of the geodesic dome by amplifying its unintentional, yet inherent esthetic, and monumental qualities. I am proposing to bring depth and discontinuity to a typology that has been about continuity and surface. A face with no ears, no eyes, and no nose is not a face. Similarly, a building with no face is not architecture.

The dome has been the most celebrated forms in architecture since its genesis, while the geodesic dome has been adored by scientists and structural engineers. Buckminster Fuller’s interests were only in structural efficiency, not in monumentality or surface effects which were the driving forces of historic domes such as the Pantheon.

This is a 1,700 seat rock star arena sits weightlessly in Los Angeles’s Pershing Square, and acts both as an urban speaker screaming sound outward through its ears, and as a sound chamber that brings in the noises from the city.

This thesis project integrates Autodesk Maya, Rhinoceros 3d, Zbrush, and Zprint to create depth and discontinuity within the Geodesic Dome.  Autodesk Maya, a sculpting tool, was uses to model and form topological earlobes that were developed to reverberate noise at different frequencies, while also creating depth and porosity. Rhino was used for its precision, and the integration of Zbrush, and Zprint created texture and skin to further amplify the surface, and final construction of the large scale model.
Best,
Donovan Ballantyne

The 2012 certification days are:
February 10th
April 13th
June 15th
August 10th
October 12th

You can Click Here  or goto: http://atc.gilmoreglobal.com/ to register for these special days.

All certified testing centers will be part of these $25 days. So you can take the test at your local certification center.

If you are in one of the following areas and would like to take your certifications at the U.S. CAD office you can use the site codes below.

• Costa Mesa – AM3130
• Hawaii – AM3707
• Las Vegas – AM101204
• Los Angeles – AM3030
• San Diego – AM3483

WHY GET CERTIFIED?

Autodesk certifications are a reliable validation of your skills and knowledge, and can lead to accelerated professional development, improved productivity, and enhanced credibility for you and your employer.

Key Benefits

• Gain an industry recognized credential that proves your skill level
• Set yourself apart and receive industry recognition for your proven expertise
• Strengthen your existing and develop new skills through certification preparation
• List your name in the Autodesk Certified Professionals database
• Enhance the credibility for you and your employer

Dropbox is a cross platform cloud based storage service. Dropbox gives you 2 GB of free storage to store anything your heart desires. Need more space? You can get 50GB of space starting at $99.99 a year, the same price that MobileMe was. Dropbox works on my iPad, iPhone, Mac OS X, and within Windows. It automatically sync from Dropbox’s cloud to my computers.

What sets Dropbox apart from MobileMe is that my documents are synced, not just accessible from the cloud.  This gives me the following advantages:

• Faster access to my documents. Because my documents are synchronized to my computer they are on my computer and in my Dropbox.
• Faster directory browsing. This may seem like a small thing but when you are hunting for something in your documents folder you want it to be fast.
• Local backup.  When Dropbox synchronizes your file it places a real copy on your local hard drive, this allow time machine to backup my documents on my backup drive.  Having extra backups is a wonderful thing.
• Offline access. Again Dropbox places a real synchronized copy on your local hard drive. So I can access my documents where I don’t have access to the Internet.
• It just works and I know where my files are.

With Private BIM Clouds, or anything remote based computing you need to think about using the right tools for the job.  Private BIM Clouds are wonderful things, without Private BIM Clouds running a BIM project remotely is very complicated and difficult. Dropbox provides an easy way to transfer files from my laptop to my Private BIM Cloud.  Even though there is a way to connect to my local drive from my Private BIM Cloud, I am finding DropBox easier and one less thing to configure.

Overall I am quite happy with DropBox and would recommend it for my readers that chew gum.

If you would like to give Dropbox a try please use my referral link, this will give me some more space and make my day.  Here is the link http://db.tt/HEGegMsj

Autodesk University 2011 will be held between November 29 and December 1, at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada.

Several of your fellow Club Revit members and leaders will be attending, speaking and exhibiting at this years event. like most years several of us have teamed together for a few sessions. This year is no different, the team will be doing 5 sessions. Also like most years we have created videos that we will use to kickoff our sessions. Unlike past years we are making the videos available to you today.

Session CM4400 Link: CM4400-U: Supersize Me: A Guide to Autodesk® Revit® and BIM Management on a MEGA Project

CM4400 Video: http://clubrevit.com/AU2011CM4400

Session CM4771 Link: CM4771-U: On CLOUD 9 with BIM 9: A BIM/IT Managers Guide to Private BIM Clouds

CM4771 Video: http://clubrevit.com/AU2011CM4771

Session BO4423 Link: BO4423: Supersize Me: AnOwner’s Guide to the Real Cost of a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project

BO4423 Video: http://clubrevit.com/AU2011BO4423

Session LF4432 Link: LF4432 : Supersize Me: A Design Professional’s Guide to Integrated Design on a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project

LF4432 Video: http://clubrevit.com/AU2011lf4432

Session AB4768 Link: AB4768 : On Cloud 9 with BIM 9: Deliver on the Promise of Integrated Design with Private BIM Clouds 

AB4768 Video: http://clubrevit.com/AU2011AB4768

Enjoy the videos and we hope to see all of you at the sessions.  Lonnie, Bill, Beau and Joe.

It is that time of year again no not Christmas, AU baby. We are all getting ready and excited about our sessions at AU this year. Of course with that said we have to do a little shameless self promotion. We would love to see all of our sessions Max out. See session ID’s and descriptions below.

We hope to see everyone at AU this year……..

CM4400-U: Supersize Me: A Guide to Autodesk® Revit® and BIM Management on a MEGA Project -Full

CM4771-U: On CLOUD 9 with BIM 9: A BIM/IT Managers Guide to Private BIM Clouds - Full

BO4423: Supersize Me: AnOwner’s Guide to the Real Cost of a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project -Space Available

LF4432 : Supersize Me: A Design Professional’s Guide to Integrated Design on a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project - Space Available

AB4768 : On Cloud 9 with BIM 9: Deliver on the Promise of Integrated Design with Private BIM Clouds - Space Available

Descriptions Beyond the Break

CM4400-U: Supersize Me: A Guide to Autodesk® Revit® and BIM Management on a MEGA Project -Full

What does it mean to IT and BIM management when the client says “Yes, I want this over 1-million-square-foot building designed with Revit”? In this unconference session, we will explore the ins and outs of getting your company ready to do a MEGA project in Revit. We will take a hard look at hardware, software, network infrastructure, internet connectivity, and multi-office connectivity. We will talk about what it really takes to make it all work. You will walk away from this session with a checklist of what you will need to make that MEGA Revit project a success.

CM4771-U: On CLOUD 9 with BIM 9: A BIM/IT Managers Guide to Private BIM Clouds – Full

As a BIM or IT manager, it seems like every couple of days someone in the office comes up with an idea of how cloud computing can help them in their work. Of course with the complexity of BIM technology pushing it to a traditional cloud just does not work…or does it? Although a Private BIM Cloud (PBC) is not the same as traditional cloud computing, it does give you the majority of the benefits of a cloud and some benefits that the “real cloud” cannot offer. In this unconference session, we will be looking at what it takes to build a PBC from an IT professional’s prospective. We will talk about what you need to have a PBC and what it takes to host one.

BO4423: Supersize Me: An Owner’s Guide to the Real Cost of a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project – Space Available

You finally have a client who wants to use Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Revit on a very large project. You know that Revit can handle a mega project but, what does it really cost to make it happen? In this class, we will look at the business issues associated with taking on one of these massive projects. What are the technology differences between a typical project and a mega project? Will you need to upgrade systems, software, network infrastructure, or personnel expertise? What will it cost to make these changes?

LF4432: Supersize Me: A Design Professional’s Guide to Integrated Design on a Mega Autodesk® Revit® Project - Space Available

It is the hat trick of the building design industry: you landed a mega project, the client wants a BIM deliverable, and an integrated design process is required. The good news is that it has been done before. The great news is you are going to a class that will share with you how it has been done. This class is an overview of what it takes to make integrated design work on a mega Revit project. Find out how to use software, hardware, and even cloud computing to bring the promise of integrated design to your mega project.

AB4768: On Cloud 9 with BIM 9: Deliver on the Promise of Integrated Design with Private BIM Clouds

- Space Available

Are you wondering how to get integrated design to work when your team members work in different offices, cities, time zones and countries? The concept of integrated design is very promising and the benefits are easy to understand. The only question is how do we actually get all the team members in the same place to work on the project at the same time? We know that sending everyone to the the same location everyday is not feasible. Enter the CLOUD! If you can have all the team members on the same data network and working on the project files at the same time as if they were in the same office, then this integrated design thing starts to sound a bit more real. That is specifically what a Private BIM Cloud does. By allowing all your team members to work on the same project data at the same time, no matter their physical location, the promise of integrated design has a real chance of becoming a reality.

Read all about this Alto Saxophone Revit Family and my latest update on 3Dconnexion’s SpacePilot Pro:

After the two 3Dconnexion reviews I wrote a while back, I decided to put the SpacePilot PRO to another test in my latest ambitious project, the Alto Saxophone.

Links to the previous 3Dconnexion reviews:

http://clubrevit.com/2011/07/25/3dconnexion-invasion-of-planet-revit/

http://clubrevit.com/2011/06/15/will-revit-users-fly-with-this-device/

This time, I wanted to find out how it would fare in a family with multitudes of complex shapes. So for the benefit of Revit 2012 users, here is my latest update on this amazing 3D device…and the alto saxophone!

Please note that Autodesk just recently supported 3Ddevices from 3Dconnexion with the 2012 release of their products. They will not work in the older versions of Revit.

This project took me three weekends to complete. This translates to five working days if I had to do it in a regular office environment. Before I got started, I researched everything there is to know about the alto saxophone, including its construction and the famous musicians who used it. I’ve always been intrigued by its breathtaking complex shape. And so for my birthday last month, I bought myself an alto saxophone! My intentions were to learn how to play it and create a Revit saxophone family. After several practice sessions, I took the neck attachment piece and began to model it. This part is called the Crook and it is the bent piece of metal where the mouthpiece is attached to. The crook alone is a fairly complex shape because of the Octave assembly. It took me about a couple of hours to finish the general shape. Later on, I went back to it after finding out a solution on how to model the swooping metal piece around the base. Figure 1 shows the final modeled part in Realistic visual style.

Figure 1

Inspired by the outcome, I began modeling one part at a time after my regular working hours. To make a long story short, I spent the next three weekends modeling the obvious parts that can be seen by the eye.

Creating a complex family such as the Alto Saxophone family

To explain how I modeled this wonderful instrument will be difficult in this article. Instead, let me give you a few pointers on how to go about creating this type of complex family. They’re general principles and procedures I apply to all the families I create:

• For beginners and intermediate users, you have to know your modeling tools. Learn how the Form tools work. Read Revit books, blogs and articles. Experiment. This might be hard to do in an office environment so your best bet is to do it at home. If you can’t afford to buy Revit, get the 30-day free trial copy. After 30 days, you can still use the program but you won’t be able to save and print. That’s fine. Get a screen capture utility program to document your progress. Start out modeling simple objects such as tables and chairs. Start a file and fill them with notes on modeling procedures, methodologies and strategies. Collect families. Study how they are created. There are sites where you can download families for free such as RevitCity and Autodesk Seek. Ask questions. Your best friend is the Revit guru in your firm or an experienced user.
• A lot of complex families look extremely difficult to model because of their general shape and the parts attach to them. However, if you take each part and model them separately, you’ll find that they’re not that difficult to create. In the case of the alto saxophone, its overall shape is very intimidating. But looking closely at the parts, most can be created with solid extrusions, swept blends and revolves combined with voids. In this type of family, I wasn’t after an exact replica but rather, an accurate simulation. For some parts that I had difficulty with, I improvised by creating families nested to each other and again nested to another. You just have to be creative with the family editor tools as they have some limitations.
• Study and master Revit work planes. The alto saxophone family contains a lot of work planes. Take advantage of the Orient to View and Orient to a Plane>Pick a Plane methods from the ViewCube.
• Open multiple views and create new ones with the section tool. Use the Work Plane viewer (Home>Work Plane>Viewer). In some occasions, I stretched Revit across my two 24″ monitors so I can have as much as eight to ten windows open at the same time.
• Do an extensive research of the object you want to model: The internet is your most valuable resource. Get hold of cut sheets, dimensions and photos. Learn its manufacturing process. Communicate with the manufacturer and ask for brochures and catalogs. Some companies post youtube videos of their product manufacturing process. Watch them. If possible, get hold of a similar or actual object you want to replicate or base your design from.
• Nest families. The alto saxophone would have been extremely difficult to model without nested families. There are many nested families on this model. Most of them are face-based. Some contained voids that automatically cut holes on the saxophone. Some contained other nested families.
• Make use of parameters. The alto saxophone family contains rods with various lengths and distances from the surface of the body. I created a simple face based parametric family where I was able to control their lengths and distances.

The SpacePilot Pro (SPP)

The alto saxophone was so much easier to visualize with the SpacePilot Pro. I was able to navigate to every part of my model with just a push, pull or twirl of the controller cap. My sight and concentration was fixed on the model as I was rotating the SPP and trying to figure out modeling solutions and strategies.

The SpacePilot Pro’s programmable keys

In the first weekend I spent creating this family, I paid close attention to how I draw the profiles in Sketch mode. Based on this observations, I reconfigured the programmable keys again for a smoother work flow. Here is my latest configuration (see fig. 2):

Figure 2

I basically retained most of the configurations I showed in my previous article. However, I added a Delete button and located it at the upper right of the controller cap, next to an Undo key. This way, it’s still within reach of the thumb and can’t get accidentally pressed. The drawing tools are still on the left cluster while the modifiers are on the right cluster. Since I was using the ViewCube’s Orient to a Plane>Pick a plane command a lot, I added a Set Work Plane shortcut and assigned it to the Menu key. I also added the Move and Slice commands on the upper right keys. The small screen is a great feature that I took advantage of by setting it to display my keys configuration. By my estimate, I cut my modeling time by about 25% with the use of the programmable keys.

Keyboard, Mouse and SpacePilot Pro Location

The main obstacles I had to overcome in using the SPP are my previous work habits. I still had the tendency to use the keyboard to type commands such as TR (for trim) instead of the one-button key from the SPP. To overcome this problem, I rearranged my desk layout. Here’s what I ended up doing: I placed the SPP closer to the middle of the keyboard shelf and moved the keyboard on the upper part of my desk (see fig. 3)!

Figure 3

This made the SPP feel more natural to use. I still had to reach out for the keyboard to type other shortcuts. You can only program so much one-key commands on the SPP. Also, if you noticed, there is a yellow material on the key assigned to Esc_Twice (see fig. 4).

Figure 4

It’s a little piece of paper from a post-it note that I taped to it. It helps a lot when I’m concentrating on my work. I can clearly see it in my peripheral vision while looking at the screen. Getting to the right keys is so much easier. It also delineates the Option keys from the draw tools.

Revit Walkthroughs and 3D devices

We all know the value of walkthroughs in client presentations. Revit’s walkthrough feature is great for creating movies. Although rendering times can take hours (visual style set to Rendering), the final product is very compelling. A 3D device, however, can be a great time saver as another form of presentation. You can use it to navigate a project in live presentations. In situations when you have to send your clients some updates, you can create a quick walkthrough incorporating any of Revit’s visual styles. All you have to do is use a 3D device to navigate a project and record it with a screen capture program. The time involved is very minimal. There are no rendering times. The recorded movie can further be embellished with transitions and callouts. The final movie can then be:

• emailed to your client
• uploaded in a site where it can be downloaded
• posted on YouTube for private or public viewing

In the following clip, the time it took to generate the walkthrough with the SPP was the length of the movie itself (four and a half minutes). Editing and adding the notes and transitions took another half hour. So in about an hour, you have a decent walkthrough you can use to convey design iterations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osl9JqjbzC8k

Finally, here’s a rendered walkthrough of my alto saxophone family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpoY93MgUUI

Conclusion

Take it from me, creating complex objects will make you a good overall modeler! In late 2009, I had a four-month stint working for a company that incorporated Integrated Project Delivery system into their workflow. I was seated beside talented Revit modelers who were using Revit Structure and Revit MEP. Together, we modeled a very complex casino addition. This project consisted of complex archways, cornices, balustrades, ceilings, walkways, walls and other complex architectural elements. Most of them were created as families. Guess what? It was a breeze for me to create them compared to some of the custom families I create. If you shrink any of these architectural elements to the size of, say for example: a can opener family (see fig. 5), the kitchen appliance is actually more difficult to model.

Figure 5

The SpacePilot Pro (or any other 3Dconnexion device) is here to stay. I might be repeating the comments of some other users, but really, I just can’t imagine modeling without it. 3Dconnexion has their hands full as to its development. There are so many exciting design possibilities with their products. Check out their Facebook site and see what other users have come up with  in terms of 3D device design:

http://www.facebook.com/3Dconnexion?sk=wall&filter=1

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Disclaimer: I am not connected with 3Dconnexion. I wasn’t asked to write this article nor was I compensated for it.

Michael Anonuevo
Certified Autodesk Revit Architecture Professional

http://sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com/

The presentations were:

Lonnie Cumpton – Showing BIM9, Private BIM Clouds

Scott D Davis –  Covering Whats New in Revit 2012

The future:

We are planning to have meetings every other month with 1 a quarter being a larger session. If you have suggestions for future sessions please send them to Christina@clubr

evit.com . If you did not already know Christina is the one that keeps this thing moving and would love to get your feedback.

Thanks to all the sponsors that help make these events happen.

Photos of the Event:

Clubrevit_08_2011-01 – Wi-Fi

We are kicking off the Las Vegas User Group meetings again, but with a bit of a twist. While we are holding the event in Las Vegas we will also be broadcasting the event on GOTOmeeting (sponsored by U.S. CAD) to the world. So come join us for networking fun, technology presentation and did I say FREE DRINKS.

 Update:

Paul Aubin has donated a copy of his book to be given to one lucky attendee titeled: 

The Aubin Academy Master Series – Revit Architecture 2012

To Register to attend the event in person CLICK HERE

To register for the GOTOmeeting part of the session CLICK HERE

Come Join The Club

 Sponsored by:

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Be Part of the fun!!