October 4, 2010

License File Add a Comment


This tip is from a colleague of mine.

If you want to put a comment in your license file, put a # character at the start of the line.  This is especially useful when you want to merge licenses together;

# Server Information

<server info>

# Product A

<product a license info>

# Product B

<product b license info>

October 1, 2010

Revit Sub. Advantage Pack Links


The blog world has been a buzz the last few days with introduction of Revit Subscription Advantage Packs. Autodesk at the same time launched packs for the remaining product line. See my post below for a list.

Revit’s package included Revit Server and Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis. I don’t plan on posting the ins and outs of how these features work, the blogging community has already done so. I will post two links that will help explain through text and video on how to use these two great features. Both links from Autodesk’s website

Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit 2011 (videos) – this links has both Revit Server and Conceptual Energy Analysis videos. Don’t forget to check out Revit Extensions provided in the above link.

Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis – this links has more on Conc. Energy Analysis.

*all items available to subscription customers only

September 29, 2010

AutoCAD WS for iPhone, iPad, iPod

Autodesk launched today on the app store AutoCAD WS for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This mobile app enables you to view and work with AutoCAD drawings on your iOS devices. Here is a link AutoCAD WS. Youtube Video here

Features include:

• Open DWG drawings uploaded to your free* AutoCAD WS online workspace
• See all aspects of your DWG file, including external references, layers, and image underlays
• Use Multi-Touch zoom and pan to more easily navigate very large drawings
• Tap objects to select, then move, rotate, and scale
• Draw or edit shapes with accuracy using Snap and Ortho modes
• Add and edit text annotations directly on your device; no need for paper mark-ups
• Validate distance measurements in the drawing while you are onsite at the actual location
• Save your edits to your AutoCAD WS online workspace, so your drawings stay up to date
• Share designs with others directly from your device
• Work with other people on the same DWG file simultaneously
• View edits to drawings in real time: AutoCAD WS immediately captures changes made by you and others in your online workspace.

Subscription Advantage Packs 2011 Released

Autodesk has just released this year’s Subscription Advantage Pack for all Autodesk’s 2011  Products.

Clients with subscriptions that are still active can log into Subscription Center to download the subscription packs and other Autodesk product enhancements and get early access to the latest software technology. I have also provided a link to Videos you can download that show off the Subscription Advantage Packs. Advantage Pack 2011 Videos

Product Releases with Subscription Packs are below with links to the pack itself. please note you need log in to access the links: Don’t forget if your not on Subscription speak with your local reseller.

Revit Architecture 2011
Revit MEP 2011
Revit Structure 2011
AutoCAD 2011
Navisworks 2011
AutoCAD Architecture 2011
AutoCAD MEP 2011
Inventor 2011
AutoCAD Mechanical 2011
AutoCAD Electrical 2011
3ds Max 2011
Maya 2011
MotionBuilder 2011
Mudbox 2011

If you are unsure how to access Subscription Center you can view several PDF guides that are an invaluable self-help support resource for using and managing your Autodesk Subscription Service. Guides Here

September 28, 2010

Revit 2011 Product Update #2

Autodesk has released web update #2 for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, and Revit Architecture. You can find more information on the download pages below.

Revit MEP 2011

Revit Architecture 2011

Revit Structure 2011

Enjoy!

September 10, 2010

Purge Unused - Revit

I have created a short video on how to use the Purge function in Revit. I demonstrate using Revit MEP software, the same method can be used with any of the Revit products. I also talk about file size and how you can reduce it not just by purging elements in your project but also by saving your project using the compact file option when saving.

You can approach purging unused elements in many different ways, my recommendation is not to purge all the time. Purging can be a time consuming depending on what elements you are looking to purge. Revit by default looks at your project and any objects not in use get a checkbox next to them to be purged. This can be beneficial and not beneficial, I explain in the video, reason it’s great would be I can purge all items at one time. I would only recommend if sending to a consultant or archiving that project.

If you still plan on working with this project you are better off making sure all boxes are unchecked and picking particular items manually that you wish to purge. This gives you control so that you are not accidentally purging text styles, dim styles, section markers, pipe types, duct types etc that you have not used in your project. Think about it the same way as AutoCAD, if you purge specific items and you need them back you will have to either re-import them or create those styles. Costing you time and money.

Also you have to take your template file size into account, remember if you put every family in your template and the template is let’s say 15mb. Your project when started will be 15mb. Try not to put to much into your template, if you want specific families you use on every project in then please add them but you might want to purge certain Types of that family so not all are in the model. My recommendation for template size would be 7 to 15mb, our here are around 8mb.

Lastly the compact file option when saving I show at the end of the video, will and could drastically reduce the file size. On this small project you will see the file size reduce in my opinion a great amount. In a past project I had it was 150mb I then purged the project went down to 115mb I then used the compact option and reduced file further to 90mb. about a 40% size change.

Here is the link to my YouTube video. Purge Unused Elements using Revit

Enjoy!!

September 8, 2010

Creating Custom Diffuser Tag


We all know that not all out of the box Revit MEP content meets our company standards, and often that is the result when we are talking about the diffuser tag in RMEP.

I have created a short video on how you can modify the OOTB diffuser tag to pull the neck size and type mark parameters from the diffuser itself.

The finished tag will look like this:

diff tag

Here is the link to my youtube video. Creating Custom Diffuser Tag

enjoy!!

March 31, 2010

FlexNet / LMTools 2011 updated version

A colleague I work with has confirmed that the 2011 release of Autodesk software contains an updated version of FlexNET / LMTools. Your Network license servers will need to be upgraded to the latest version (11.7) in order to ensure support for the latest 2011 and previous Autodesk product releases.

Upgrade procedure from Autodesk can be found below



March 30, 2010

Revit MEP 2011 - Conduit

As stated the other day I plan to post some of the new features in Revit MEP 2011 throughout the course of this week. Again many people have blogged about the features and done a great job. I have some small videos I would like to share, here is one on the new Conduit feature in RMEP. Note that I have not added audio, the video is a little quick but still real time, I must have been on a lot of red bull that day. enjoy!!

Be sure to click the FULL SCREEN button, sometimes the blog cuts off the video.

March 29, 2010

Revit MEP 2011 - Cable Trays

I have noticed a lot of post going around regarding the Revit 2011 products and many other bloggers have been listing the latest features of those products and doing a great job I might add. So what I thought I would do as the non-disclosure agreement has based with Autodesk is post a video on cable trays in Revit MEP 2011. Yes that is correct if you do not know already that Cable Trays and Conduit have now been added to the Revit MEP 2011 product.

Don't get me wrong, many other features have been added as well, but these two have been requested for a very long time and very much needed in RMEP. Here is a link to the video or you can view the video below I have embedded into this post. No audio in the video, just a small 2 min clip on Cable Trays.

Troubleshooting Whats New in Revit 2011

Autodesk posted a video last week on their youtube channel troubleshooting whats new in Revit 2011. This video here is intended to teach the common questions customers may encounter with the 2011 release of Revit products.

Understand how the new features will impact user we support through graphic generation, rendering, and work sharing.

I noticed the video had been viewed 305 times, not many considering the number of users, so here is the link again take a watch very useful information for the upcoming release of Revit 2011 products.

without Comics where would we be?

I was surfing the web the other day and came across a great site for comical relief the site is Architexts the creators have an almost daily web-based comic created for the amusement of user in the cad world.

I am now hooked after catching up and reading all the comic strip and have even added the site to my RSS reader for what I hope daily comical relief. If you become hooked make sure you read the tab on the website "Cast of Characters" this page gives you in site into the employees that are part of the comic strips.

enjoy!!

February 3, 2010

Revit Manufacturer Content

Edit: Bell & Gossett have just released Revit Content have added the link in this post and on my sidebar.

It's been awhile since my last post, I have been extremely busy. I have populated a list of manufacturer Revit content on the right side of my blog. I have just went through all the links and updated any broken ones.

I hope this helps in your search for content.

please refer to my AUGI link on the right hand side of my blog for RMEP content http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=99663