1. Constraints on elements will bust the group, whenever the conditions of the constraints change. My best example of this is: You cannot have walls with level-attached tops inside a group if any floors you wish to place those groups on another level that has a different floor to floor height.
2. Instances of Groups must be composed of identical elements. Like an AutoCAD block, if you remove an element from one, it is no longer contained in any other instances of that group. (R.I.P. April 15, 2008, with the ability to Exclude elements from an instance of a group – Hooray!) But, there’s a catch. Beware of hosted elements.

For this article, let’s focus on Rule #1.

The sneaky thing is: You may observe the behavior for walls inside groups is benign. As you may know, elements such as a wall can be given either an explicit height, or have its upper extent constrained to a level, floor or roof element, or a reference plane. Since nested elements must remain consistent in every instance of a group, those which contain walls that are top-constrained to a level, attempt to respect the resultant height of the constraint to the next adjacent level. At least the walls do not break the group if placed on levels whose floor-to-floor height varies. An override for Top extension is auto-magically placed on the new nested wall instances to keep them consistent, and no warnings are displayed. You have to be mindful of what really happened. A properties override, if you will, was assigned to the new walls during their creation. Looking at the walls from an section or elevation may not show any difference. The original constraints are still present so… can we do it?

Not So Fast! Remember this: If you attempt to change the height of your levels, you will be in a severe amount of pain. The feared warning will come up stating: “Group instances of the same type do not contain identical members.” When you are presented with the option to Fix Groups… Revit simply asks you to ungroup or make unique groups for the naughty thing we just did. Rule number 2 still applies.

Recommendation: Be cautious

So, it might be best to create groups for large room-based compositions which include walls to be designated by the level the were created for. New groups should be created for the other levels, and so on… You should ask yourself whether the walls are helping or hurting you if inside a group. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but you should consider the consequences. Because of all this chicanery, I still recommend for cases such as demising walls, or any other conditions where walls are to be stacked one on top of the other, don’t model these per floor, and certainly don’t place them in groups. You may be better served to model them with a single-spanning wall starting on the lowest level and connected to its uppermost limit. This is easier to make changes, and accomplishes an efficiency with less geometry in the model. Think shaft walls, plumbing chases, and tenant separation walls, as these are critical to be sure they actually stack. Unless you are building a construct-ability model, don’t build it the way it will be constructed in reality, but to convey design intent. Structural engineers and contractors will probably argue with me on this one, but at least in the early stages of design, it is a far easier thing to manage the building model this way.

Got any best practices of your own that you wish to share? Feel free to add comments, or drop me a note from the contact me page.

in three easy steps:

#1

Step # 2

Step #3

Any Questions?

Let the games begin. Today marks the torch lighting and opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC. Now, although it is technically winter, this part of the country has seen so little snow.  You have to wonder why the climate change deniers still continue to talk conspiracy theories, when all I have to do is see the brown topped mountains where we have previously held the world annual snowfall record. Yes Mt. Baker, practically in my backyard, had a record 1,140 inches of snow fall on it’s peak during the 1998-1999 season. Put your calculator away, that’s not a typo – it was 95 feet! This year, snow needs to be trucked in to Whistler, and the other locations. Well one sport that suffers from no ill effects is speed skating.

Perhaps I’ll see Stephen Colbert practicing for his bid to take all the gold. Seriously, we wouldn’t even be taking part in these events had it not been for his generosity in getting a leg up, and sponsoring the team along with donations from fans. Apollo Ohno may not be favored to take home the gold for Team USA, but always a fan of the local underdog, I’m routing for him. The five-time Olympic medalist, and 2007 Dancing With the Stars champion is back. There are so many taleted athletes in the men’s and women’s speed skating, I just think it will be interesting to watch. I grew up playing hockey, and how could I not, growing up in Boston and watching the likes of Bobby Orr, and Raymond Bourque glide across the ice, and occasionally crushing bones. Go Bruins! Although never as good as this guy, I really enjoyed the sport, and especially the feeling of the cold air and the pungent smell of the ice and sweat in an arena.

Which finally leads us to…

What do you think? Photo or Fake? Is this a clever rendering technique? Think about it, then hit the Read More link if you are on the main blog page. Otherwise, scroll down, when you’ve decided.

What you are seeing is not a model, but a long-exposure photograph. Andrew Doran, has taken some amazing photographs of the Richmond Oval, where the Speed Skating competitions heat up over the next two weeks. Designed by Cannon Design, another Revit firm (they seem to be everywhere these days), this project is an interesting one is its focus on sustainable design, and local materials — a real challenge when creating a giant icebox. The building received a LEED Silver rating, and the design team should be applauded for creating such a dynamic space to watch a sporting event. It’s only about an hour from my house, but during the olympic events does not allow cars to park in the lots. You must buy your bus tickets, if you were lucky enough to get access to an event, for security reasons and in the interest of reducing traffic congestion. Andrew’s blog discusses the process of how he produces these very interesting and emotive images. I wonder if anyone can create similar images in Revit or 3ds Max – hmm, I’ll have to give that some thought? Read on for a description of the photographic technique and more facts about this interesting building:

Expanding your style – Apply what you have learned

2010 Olympic Oval up for World Building of the Year award

http://www.cannondesign.com/#/expertise/project_catalog/40

The Proving Ground

The post on Grasshopper and the Revit API: importing points into a Conceptual Mass is brilliant. More please!

The Proving Ground by Nathan Miller: Streaming Grasshopper Points into a Revit Conceptual Mass.

Revit is a disruptive technology, which makes it frightening for some, but exciting to others. Revit and the BIM workflow it fosters has the power to transform the practice of architecture, in conjunction with IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) and sustainable design. With these tools, we need to figure out as a collective industry how to go from good to great. Read on for more of Jason’s insight, which is the first in a series of drawing parallels to the lessons from this excellent book:

Good to Great – “First Who… Then What” – Jason Grant Blog – Adaptive Practice by Jason Grant.

Archiculture Teaser from arbuckle industries on Vimeo.

FILM SYNOPSIS
Archiculture is a feature-length documentary that explores the role that architecture and design play in our daily lives. The film follows five architecture students through their final senior design projects in order to shed light on the critical issues impacting our built environment.

The Revit Kid.com!: Archiculture – Movie.

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

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.

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!

I’ve put together a final, but tentative schedule. Hey, anything can change this week. If you are teaching a class and I didn’t register for yours, it is only that there are so many to choose from this year – over 600 including the virtual sessions. Below is primarily an organizational attempt at figuring out where I need to be in addition to my Google calendar which I can happily read on my phone. The second, perhaps more compelling reason to share is that some of you may wish to meet up at one of these events to discuss Revit, Ecotect, the Mac, or simply come over and say hello. I resemble the image to the left on this blog’s sidebar, albeit with slightly higher color depth.

So, here it is:

Mon Nov 30, 2009

• 6:30pm – 8pm AU Bloggers Social - invitation only

Tue Dec 1, 2009

• 8am – 9:30am     | CP104-2 The Basics of the Autodesk® Revit® API | Where: MB Ballroom F
• 10am – 11:30am | KN108-1 AU Keynote and Welcome Address with Carl Bass | Where: North Convention Center, Events Center (Arena)
• 11:30am – 1pm ||Lunch || Where: South Convention Center, Level 2 Shoreline A
• 1pm – 2:30pm | AB114-1 Insanely Great Stairs and Railings with Autodesk® Revit® | Where: MB Ballroom C
• 3pm – 4:30pm     | DV118-1 Optimizing Your Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design Models for Project Newport | Where: Jasmine F
• 5pm – 6:30pm | Private Meeting
• EXHIBIT HALL – FIRST LOOK
• 8pm – 9:30pm | DS128-1 Cut&Paste: AU Design Slam, Preliminary Rounds | Where: MB Ballroom G
• 9pm – 10:30pm   | AB9130-1 Autodesk® Revit® Collaboration: Shared Coordinates for Projects Big and Small | Where: VIRTUAL

Wed Dec 2, 2009

• 6am – 7am | CR9200-1 Introduction to a BIM Execution Plan | Where: VIRTUAL
• 8am – 9:30am | CP204-3 Deep Dive on the Revit API: Advanced Topics | Where: Lagoon G
• 10am – 11:30am | AB208-3 Autodesk® Revit® for Urban Design | Where: South Seas H
• LUNCH/EXHIBIT HALL
• 1pm – 2:30pm      | CP214-2 Creating and Analyzing New Conceptual Massing Geometry With the Autodesk® Revit® API | Where: MB Ballroom C
• 3pm – 4:30pm      | AB218-4 Autodesk® Revit®: A BIM Manager’s Guide to Revit-alizing Your Office | Where: MB Ballroom D
• 5pm – 6:30pm | MA222-4 Content Is King: Working With Autodesk® Inventor® and Autodesk Revit® | Where: Banyan F
• 6pm – 6:30pm | Private Meeting
• 6:40pm – 8:15pm | AB226-1 Sustain Yourself With Revit® Architecture Certification | Where: South Seas F
• BEER and AUGI stuff…
• 8pm – 9:30pm | DS228-1 Cut&Paste: AU Design Slam Finals

Thu Dec 3, 2009

• 6am – 7am | ED9300-1 Incorporating Software Simulation Into Web-Based Training | Where: VIRTUAL
• 8am – 9:30am | AB304-1 Autodesk® Revit® for Film and Stage | Where: MB Ballroom B
• 10am – 11:30am  | DV308-3 Virtual Cinema and Architecture: A New Method of Client Visualization Is Born | Where: South Seas I
• 11:30am – 12:45pm | SB311-1 Autodesk Subscription Customers Help Shape Autodesk University 2010 With Lynn Allen | Where: North Convention Center, Lower Level, South Pacific E
• 1pm – 2:30pm | CM314-3 BIM Management | Where: South Seas B
• 3pm – 4:30pm        | AB318-4L From Fabulous to Fabrication: Real-World Digital Fabrication and BIM | Where: MB Ballroom H (Lab)
• 5pm – 6:30pm        | MA322-2 Taking the Dysfunction Out of Your Autodesk® Revit® Families:Best Practices for Manufacturer BIM Content | Where: Jasmine A
• 6:30pm – 9:30pm  ||AU Party AU Party – Food and Fun! | Where: South Convention Center, Level 1 Bayside B, Bayside B Foyer & Shark Reef

Fri Dec 4, 2009

• 9am – 10am | DV9406-1 Parametric Design Modeling with Autodesk® 3ds Max® | Where: VIRTUAL
• 11am – 12pm  | FM9410-1 Don’t Get Floored In Your Facility: Autodesk® Revit® Architecture as an Effective Facilities Management Tool | Where: VIRTUAL