Monthly Archives: December 2009

No Help for You. Next!

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Revit has some embedded videos in the help system. The first time you discover these, it feels like you’ve discovered an unopened gift. As the excitement builds, you click on the link to play the video lesson. If you are on a 64 bit version of Windows, you will be caught in an endless ritualistic loop of installing the Flash plugin, clicking a link and seeing a broken image tag. It is as if one must know a secret handshake to get the videos to play. Alas, it is not your fault. You have chosen a modern, shiny new system, presumably for the access to vast quantities of RAM. It must be assumed that such an advanced user needs no access to these ‘help’ videos. Well it isn’t, and this time there’s little Autodesk can do to fix the problem, short of using some other technology to deliver the videos.

I’ve run across this problem myself, and solved it in much the same way as Harlan describes below. One of the baffling things is that 64 bit operating systems have been available for more than a few years now. You would think that a company such as Adobe would have been more on top of the move to 64 bit. Read on for the fix:

If you are running 64 bit Revit and you try to run a video from the Help files, you will notice that it doesn’t play. It will prompt you to install Adobe flash, and then the video will not run.

Currently Adobe Flash Player does not support playback in a 64 bit browser. It is possible to run it on 32 bit browsers installed on 64 bit systems, but unfortunately Revit will default to the 64 bit browser in Help. Click here for more information on Adobe’s schedule for Flash Player 64 bit support.

So, to view the videos, you can do the following:

  1. Launch the Help menu.
  2. Open the document with the video and select the video link.
  3. Right click inside the dialog and select Jump to URL.
  4. Copy the text from the Current URL dialog.
  5. Launch 32 bit Internet Explorer and paste the contents into the address bar.

Click here to view a short video illustrating this process.

Source: The Revit Clinic - Watching Help menu animations on a 64 bit machine

Two Revit Hotfixes Available

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A couple of critical Hotfixes for Revit have been released today and last week. I would have posted about the first earlier, but Autodesk University as well as more frequent Twitter activity sapped all my blogging powers. Do a quick search for #AU2009 on Twitter… So, I must recharge my batteries now and prepare a series of recaps for you all in the coming days. Hold on tight.

The first fixes some issues with wall editing! Boy if that isn’t something every architect and structural engineer needs… as well as some MEP folks. You should seriously consider applying this hotfix. Thanks to Harlan for sharing.

A new Wall hotfix has been posted.  This hot fix applies to Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP and addresses a issue that causes a crash when modifying or deleting walls. Files are included to fix Update Release 2 or the Subscription Advantage Pack, so make sure you download and install the correct files. Also, make sure to go over the readme files included.

Hotfix – Crash when modifying walls update 2 & subscription advantage pack release

Secondly, there is a hotfix that only applies to those who have installed the RAC (Revit Architecture) Subscription Advantage Pack. Does it repair the broken Classic Mode hack? Sadly no. But you will have control over the graphic display of Structural elements after applying this repair. Everyone else, move along, there’s nothing to see here. ;)

A new hotfix was released today for anyone running the Revit Architecture 2010 Subscription Advantage Build # 20090925_1815. After applying the Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit Architecture 2010, the structural settings dialog is no longer accessible.  The included hotfix will resolve this issue. I have included both the technical solution with additional information as well as a link to the hotfix below:

Structural Settings dialog is not accessible after applying Revit Architecture 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack

Hotfix – Revit subscription advantage pack structural settings dialog

Sources (The Revit Clinic):

1) New HotFix Available

2) Revit Subscription Advantage Pack Hotfix Available – The Revit Clinic.

Thoughts on the AU Keynote

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Some very amazing things have been shown and talked about at Autodesk University 2009 this week. If you have been hiding under a rock, then you may not know that the attendees, both in Vegas and virtually have invaded the Twitter-sphere or Tweet-Zone or whatever… Go to Twitter, sign up now and follow the conversations by searching for #AU2009.

So, on to the Tuesday Keynote and three ah-ha moments:

  1. It’s not about Revit… or BIM, but Digital Design tool synergies! Best of breed products that work well together to create new opportunities and break new ground. Use things not necessarily as designed. Maya can make buildings, Revit can make movie sets. Put everything in a bowl, mix and see what pops out. These are exciting times.
  2. Sustainability, talk by Amory Lovins, co-founder and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, approaches design with whole systems thinking. If a design feature can have more than one purpose, and is efficient,  it can drastically reduce energy use by leaps and bounds over traditional design, engineer, then build workflows. If you can make an SUV that is just as luxurious as a traditional model, but gets over 80MPG, why aren’t we all doing this now? If you can build a building that is so efficient you require no conventional systems to be comfortable, and it costs less to build, why not do it. Renovate the Empire State Building such that the energy savings are $4M annually and has a three year payback? That’s how you fix the economy. If we can upgrade just a portion of the existing building stock… think of the potential for jobs, increased profits, and reduced need for imported energy.
  3. Jeff Kowalski from Autodesk showed some radically amazing possibilities for integrated workflows within Revit. Sustainable design in the tool is a natural next step. The API in Revit 2010, thanks Matt Mason, already has the ability to cast rays and analyze points in the model which is much of the power available in Ecotect today. This has the potential to enable thermal, daylighting, visibility, and acoustic analysis in Revit. Let’s hope it’s in 2011… Time will tell. Along similar lines, which validates this assumption, Jeff talked about the current disconnected workflow of Design -> Analysis. Obviously, this removes the ability to iterate through design ideas either quickly or often. When he turned that workflow around with the idea of Analysis -> Design people literally had their tongues on the floor. The scenario went like this (with fabulous imagery): input some criteria about the site, and the building, and the analysis engine test many iterations of form, orientation, and massing. Comparing these to hit the sweet spot for efficiency, or daylighting allows the designer to move forward with a concept quickly.

Interesting times. Be Visual!