It’s that time again. Yes football, not what we silly ‘mericans call soccer (and the rest of the known universe calls football).

Yes, I realize that not everyone across the globe is interested in our little Super Bowl coming up next weekend. On Sunday Feb 5th, the New England Patriots and the New York Giants face off in a rivalry that, while not as deep-rooted as the Red Sox/Yankees, should provide some real entertainment for those that watch for more than just the high-priced commercials. Why is all of this interesting? I present to you the Revit parametric football family.

Kelvin Tam, an architect in our Columbus office created a parametric family taking care of the variation in dimensions for NFL, NCAA and other organizations.  He used some very interesting tricks and techniques for building the complex forms of the laces, seams and logo. You can download the family for further deconstruction.

Grid Iron Gauntlet

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it? Anyone wish to tackle this complex form in the conceptual massing environment or Vasari? Feel free to DM me on Twitter and I will post the results here on gameday. Yes, if you use grasshopper/Rhino you may submit as well, I guess… wink, wink.

Download here: http://db.tt/aeDhZM9Y

Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. What more is there to say?

Slingshot! for Revit!

The Proving Ground by Nathan Miller: Slingshot!… for Revit?.

This video features Matt Jezyk and Zach Kron from Autodesk speaking about using Revit and Vasari to implement ‘performance-based design’ techniques. Are you a pre-rational or post-rational modeler? Find out by watching:

Performance-Based Design with Revit from James Vandezande on Vimeo.

Note: I have been trying to convince the Seattle Revit Users Group to follow their lead and make videos public, rather than just members only. That is all I want in my stocking this year. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Via: What Revit Wants: Dont miss out on this! Matt Jezyk and Zach Kron on Performance-Based Design …

Reporting Families for Revit/Vasari…

Echoing the echo from Steve. Way cool. I think this needs to go into the Revit hall of fame. If there isn’t one yet, buildz will be the main attraction. The future will be panelized. Go Zach, go!

Revit OpEd: No Way! Way! Live Slices.

Thinking about this a bit more, you want a panel unwrapping tool? Remember an elevation is just a section that isn’t cutting anything. And that is totally excellent!

The folks at Autodesk Labs just keep the good stuff coming… It’s a merry gift-giving Autodesk holiday season. See below for the details on the updates to eTransmit for Revit. It now works with Revit Server, and helps you perform some model cleanup prior to putting consultants’ RVT links live into your workflow.

eTransmit for Revit Technology Preview 1.1 – BIM Apps.

Autodesk University 2011, Part 1: Surfing the Waves of Disruption | Cadalyst.

Feeling stuck as a CAD or Model Manager? Stepping up to the challenges that await you as a BIM Leader is a healthy change we can all take boldly.

Be proactive, not reactive

Leaders are important throughout an entire organization. Understanding that the role of a leader is to inspire, this can happen at all levels of an organization – not just the BIM Manager. You can be seen by your fellow project team members as much more than simply a model manager. As a project BIM Leader, you must demonstrate the ability to effectively lead strategy, not just technology for successful adoption of a true-BIM workflow. Be proactive, not reactive.

AU Leadership Forum

I moderated a discussion during the Leadership Forum in an unconference session at Autodesk University last week. The topic: Leading Change – Reinventing BIM Leadership from the Ground Up. Participation was rather lively, and many who attended approached me afterwards with kind words. For those who would like to see the summarized notes, helpfully taken by Jason Grant on his iPad using my favorite new app SoundNote, you may download them from the links below. The beauty of the aforementioned app is the notes are timestamped and associated with the audio. Now, audio recorded even with the best equipment in a large room renders less clear commentary, so I provide with hesitation. Use at your own risk.

LF8081 – Leading Change – Discussion Notes

LF8081 – Leading Change – Audio Recording

And, for those who have the SoundNote App: Download the data file directly to your iPad. 

For those who attended my class: that roast duck hasn’t landed yet, has it? Take action. The sea of change continues to bring waves of disruption.

Looking for a new trick?

Last week, Project Vasari saw a new update, fixing some features around importing SketchUp models, and an Add-In (ported from the Revit SDK samples) which used to be a bit challenging to deploy. Both are now plug and play ready. Go now and download the updated Vasari, and the newly available Add-In: Parameters from Image. With a gray-scale image of Mr. Jobs in hand, and some know-how, you could create a digital version of the famous sculpture using a Mass family and using the Curtain Wall Panels by Pattern feature.

For further inspiration and examples, take a look at the entries for the 3rd Annual Parametric Pumpkin Carving Contest on Buildz.

There’s some really great experimentation going on in those entries. My favorite is the one above, from the extraordinarily talented Marcello Sgambelluri, voted “The Baddest”. NBBJ’s own Kelvin Tam has an entry as well. Below is his take on a parametric face. Be sure to check out all the featured entries, and download them to take a look at their stringy-flesh insides. Enjoy!

In case this missed your notice, there’s a newly released WhitePaper on how to get started using Autodesk tools to complete early conceptual energy analysis. Fear not, this is really a bit of fun once you get started.

It has been said, most important decisions affecting energy use happen in the earliest part of design. Comparative analysis of design iterations in a – “this one is 10% better or worse than the other option” can go a long way toward responding to climate in ways you may have previously thought would require months and an energy consultant. Not that you don’t, however, testing intuition against tangible results can help you have more meaningful conversations with those specialists. Your HVAC engineer will thank you for designing a more efficient building, so they don’t have to throw (as much) equipment at an inefficient building layout to meet your client’s energy goals.

Read on: Conceptual Energy Analysis & CFD Overview – The Sustainable Design Toolbox.

Coffee with Revit - just because, you know you want it. Image credit: RevitFamiliesOnline.com

Been looking for some way to learn more about conceptual modeling in Revit / Vasari? You can join the Vasari development team for some live sessions on specific topics. Join Vasari Talk every Wednesday, bring your own coffee. The announcement is here.

Back already? Good. I must admit after reading that announcement, I’m feeling a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves… as Steve pointed out, this slipped some of our notice, as three sessions have already happened (and luckily recorded as part of the Wiki). Read his post for more…

via: Revit OpEd: Vasari Update.